10 Romantic Must- Read Novels for Everyone

The French window of your room slides to the view of wooing misty mountains. The mountains have soft snow dripping from their apex to their shoulder, slowly. The amorous moon is hiding behind the frail murk in the sky. Your room is lit with vanilla candles all over, and there’s a bunch of dark chocolates and strawberries sitting on your bedside, gazing at you with their goo-goo eyes. You slip into something silky and lay your back on the pillow, unwrap a dark chocolate and get ready to turn up the heat with some romantic stories — from Gothic to contemporary, which will fit so perfectly in the atmosphere, and which will set your heart fluttering to be in love — all over again.

Here are 10 romantic must-reads for you to warm the cockles of your heart:

1. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” The novel opens up with this sentence.

This masterpiece by Jane Austen revolves around love, reputation, class, integrity, gender and last but not the least, family. Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most cherished love stories in English literature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. It’s a scheme circling around the Bennett sisters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia, and who later become the lovers, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy and Wickham. At a ball, the wealthy and newly arrived Mr. Bingley takes an immediate interest in the eldest Bennet daughter, the beautiful and shy Jane. The encounter between his friend Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth is less cordial. Although Austen shows them intrigued by each other, she reverses the convention of first impressions: pride of rank and fortune and prejudice against the social inferiority of Elizabeth’s family hold Darcy aloof, while Elizabeth is equally fired both by the pride of self-respect and by prejudice against Darcy’s snobbery.

Who’s prideful and who’s prejudiced? Who marries whom? Dive into this English classic to know!

2. OUTLANDER BY DIANA GABALDON

This novel is the first in the eight-novel series of Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’. It is a historical-romantic-fantasy-fiction, which encapsulates the concept of time travel.

Claire Randall is a combat nurse, who reunites with her husband, Frank Randall, a history professor, after the end of Second World War for a second honeymoon to Inverness, Scotland. Near the standing stones on the hill of Craigh na Dun, she hears a buzzing noise, she touches one of the stones and faints. She wakes up to find that it’s Scotland of 1743. Claire appeared as a ‘Sassenach’ or an ‘Outlander’ to the Scots. Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire meets the gallant and valiant Jamie Fraser. They fall in love with each other. But Claire’s truth to Jamie is still unknown. She’s caught by her own will-which world to choose, 1743 or 1946, and which love to choose?

For fantasy and suspense lovers, this book comes with a lot of thrill. Delve into it to dig all the secrets Claire holds.

3. THE NOTEBOOK BY NICHOLAS SPARKS

This is the story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson an old man is reading to an old woman in a nursing home, suffering from an Alzhiemer’s disease. The plight of the old man is that this woman is his wife, and she doesn’t recognize him. He tells her how Noah and Allie, who loved each other unconditionally, meet after the separation of 14 years and how seeing each other brings on a flood of memories and strong emotions in both of them. Nicholas handsomely unfolds the course Noah and Allie’s lives will take from there on. “She wanted something else, something different, something more. Passion and romance, perhaps, or maybe quiet conversations in candlelit rooms, or perhaps something as simple as not being second.” The book comes up with obstacles every love story faces, and Nicholas has very artistically portrayed them. The turn up is that the old man is Noah and the old woman is Allie. But Allie doesn’t recognize him.

Will Allie, suffering from Alzhiemer’s, ever be able to recall that this is her Noah? Will Noah ever be able to receive his love back again from Allie, or will it be left iffy?

4. ME BEFORE YOU BY JOJO MOYES

Louisa Clark, 26, is an ordinary girl, she has no lofty ambitions, and worked at a café until she lost her job when the café shut itself down. Her younger sister, Treena, eclipses her in every aspect. William Traynor is a 35 year-old successful and affluent man. After being hit by a motorbike, he becomes quadriplegic. His impairment leaves him moody and bitter. Camilla, Will’s mother, appoints Louisa as his caretaker, believing in her spirit. Little did he know that Louisa would be the one coming with colours to fill his tarnished life. Louisa soon gets to know that Will has attempted suicides many times, and he will go to Dignitas, the Swiss non-profit organisation to end his life after 6 months. Travelling through, Louisa confesses that she loves him. But soon, Will leaves for Switzerland. Moyes with his compelling narrative, will surely keep your attention to this story till it ends. But…..

Will he come back to Lousia? Or will Will end his life in Dignitas?

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5. GONE WITH THE WIND BY MARGARET MITCHELL

Scarlett O’Hara loves Ashley Wilkes, her husband’s sister’s spouse. Scarlett’s husband dies serving in an Army Confederate, leaving her a widow, and his son father-less. Rhett Butler is a vagabond businessman who falls for Scarlett. She is manipulative, cunning and very ambitious. Her financial greed continues and she marries Frank Kennedy, to whom Scarlett’s sister was engaged to for many years. Shortly after, Frank dies too. Set amidst the austere beauty of Georgia, Gone with the Wind will surprise you at every turn. Rhett’s attraction towards Scarlett’s is growing day by day. Rhett proposes to Scarlett to marry him.

Will Scarlett accept his proposal? Will it be love or her quest to acquire more and more money? Where was Ashley Wilkes now?

6. IT ENDS WITH US BY COLLEEN HOOVER

Lily Bloom was a prisoner of her past. The fact that her father abused her mother changed the pattern of relationships she wants in her life. In Boston, she meets Ryle Kincaid. This story can be very relatable if you’ve ever encountered someone who has an aversion towards serious relationships and you love them, but they only want casual flings. Well, Ryle is that man; though brilliant and a charismatic surgeon, he fears relationships. Lily’s past has Atlas Corrigan, her first love. When Ryle and Lily finally get into a relationship, Atlas shows up to Lily after 9 years and tells her why he didn’t come back then. Ryle and Lily get married, but Atlas wants a relationship with Lily. Ryle turns hostile on finding Atlas’s phone number in Lily’s phone and pushes her down the stairs. Lily resembles this situation with what her father and mother had, and wants to end this. She figures out that she is pregnant. She rushes to stay with Atlas for several days.

Will Lily come back to Ryle? Or will Atlas rejuvenate his past love with Lily?

7. THE THORN BIRDS BY COLLEEN McCULLOUGH

It is the story of the ill-fated romance of beautiful Meggie Cleary and the handsome Roman Catholic priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. Meggie is nine when she meets Ralph. They fall in love and kiss after a ball when she’s 16. Mary Carson, the clan matriarch, is jealous and ends the romance by bequeathing the enormous sheep ranch to the Roman Catholic Church, ensuring that Ralph will be elevated to bishop, far away from Meggie. Heartbroken, Meggie gets married to Luke O’Neill and moves to Queensland. Her life will be changed forever.

8. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME BY ANDRÉ ACIMAN

Elio, 17 and Oliver, 24─ two young men who spent the summer of 1983 together at the Italian Riviera. Aciman has captured the essentials of the human soul adroitly and put them together under this book. Oliver is a handsome American doctoral intern who works under Elio’s father. The narrative is an intensely emotional reminiscence of Oliver’s time in Italy. The novel focuses on Elio’s obsessive analysis of the details of Oliver’s words and behaviors. With Oliver’s fellowship nearing an end in Italy, both of them take a romantic vacation in Rome. After a year, Oliver marries a lady and becomes a father of two. Elio reminisces in his relationship with Oliver. The author’s genius is the juxtaposition of Elio’s sensitive and emotional behaviour, and Oliver’s cooler and more detached personality.

9. THE HATING GAME BY SALLY THORNE

Lucy Hutton gives ‘nemesis’ another synonymーJoshua Templeman, who is her colleague at Bexley and Gamin, a publishing house. They both compete unprofessionally and professionally wherever possible, in very immature ways. When the position for the chief operating officer was vacant, Lucy started competing with Joshua even more. But soon she has a sexual dream about the two. Over the days, her notion for Joshua changes, and she begins to like him.The Hating Game is the perfect example of how hate is turned into love.

But does Joshua like her too?

10. ELEANOR AND PARK BY RAINBOW ROWELL

This is a story about Eleanor Douglas and Park Sheridan, set up in Omaha, Nebraska. Eleanor has a younger sister and 3 younger brothers, a mom and a stepdad, Richie. Richie is physically and emotionally abusive to her mother and often drunk. Eleanor resides in a relative’s house after Richie kicked him out of their house. Park has a loving family. He’s a misfit who is unenthusiastic about taekwondo, something his father values. He feels insecure about his size and Asian heritage, despite getting along with the popular kids at school. Eleanor’s first day in 10th grade is when Park and Eleanor meet on the school bus. They go through friendship and then, love, with misunderstandings, and both of their parents involved.

So what are you waiting for? Grab any of them — from the classic pleasure of Jane Austen to the contemporary lub-dubs by Sally Thorne — and get a steamy experience with what these prolific and sensual writings have to offer you. These were the top 10 romantics which, while reading, will take you with them on their journey, and you’ll be sorry to see their story end. All these stories will leave an impression on your soul, deep enough to make you delve into them again and again.