Who could love anything more than Gollum loved the one ring? It took him from being a fairly insignificant Hobbit-like creature living near a river to being…well, a weird, decrepit guy living in a cave under the Misty Mountains. Still he had become a player. And he had his precious…yesss, his PRECIOUSSSSSS, and a love that made him immortal, invisible, and nasty.
~John F.
My favorite love story is the romance
between Kate and Curran in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (first book
is titled Magic Bites). What I really like about this series
is that the romance is slow-played. Do they get together in book 1? No. In
book 2? No. In book three? Read the series and find out. I also like that,
once they are together, it is not happily ever after. There are issues, as there
would be in any normal relationship... Well, as normal as can be in a dystopian
world with vampires, shapeshifters, magic, and where your honey is a werelion
and the Lord of the Beasts. ~Mary P.
One of my favorite love stories is the friendship between Jesse and Leslie in Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia. Paterson, also known for her other works Jacob Have I Loved and The Great Gilly Hopkins, isn’t afraid to allow her characters to express strong emotions just because they are children. Jesse Aarons feels like an outsider in both his family and the fifth grade. Leslie Burke is the new girl who just wants to make a friend. Their imaginary forest sanctuary of Terabithia becomes the one place where they both feel welcome. Jesse is at an age where he is starting to develop more complicated feelings – he has a crush on his music teacher – and is experimenting with a new vocabulary to express those feelings (he recognizes the graceful way Leslie runs as “beautiful”). Leslie is the one person he feels like he can be himself around – he doesn’t have to hide his creative side. Their intense bond is only undone by an untimely tragedy, but their friendship ultimately changes Jesse in profound ways.
~Meredith T.
In Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, one finds
perhaps the greatest love story of all time: Scrooge is a man who loves his
money. He loves it so much, he abhors letting it out of his sight. Having to
part with any little piece of it is a misery and to be avoided. For the most
part, money treats him well too. It allows him to open a business, save,
invest, and live a solitary life with his beloved. He wants nothing more than
peace and quiet in his home, but oh nay nay! Three nasty spirits must come
along and interrupt his love affair. Soon, he and money become distant and
eventually, though Scrooge continues to work with money everyday, they break
up. All good love stories must end.
~Kristin M.
I've read lots of different romances, but I figured I would choose outside the box here and interpret "love story" a different way; I think the love story of the Baudelaire children in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events is one of the best. The children love each other so much that they will fight for each other, put themselves in danger, and stand against some pretty formidable opponents, like Count Olaf. They occasionally bicker, but their love never waivers. It is an interesting view of siblings in fiction that we don't usually see. A lot of the time siblings are at each others' throats, but in these books, they are always looking out for one another. Sunny, Violet, and Klaus Baudelaire will always protect one another.
~Cailey W.
My pick for this blog has all the elements of a classic love story—an all-consuming love, a burning desire and conflict, because getting what you want isn’t always easy. This conflict defines the book and forces the reader to face her own desires as she inevitably has to deny the protagonist of his.
I am of course talking about Mo Willems’ classic Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.
A truly remarkable, life changing read.
~Amanda D.
Meredith! Bridge to Terabithia makes everyone cry!
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