Contest details are at the bottom of this post.
Enter to win 10 love stories, in a genre of your choice!
The world spent last week caught up in the whirlwind of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. What can I say—romance is infectious and addles people’s minds. What else could explain a certain BookPage editor (or several) waking up at 5 a.m. to watch a prince marry a “commoner”?
If you’re feeling a little downcast now that the royal couple has ridden off into the sunset, we have the cure for you. This week’s contest winner will receive 10 novels guaranteed to have a “happily ever after.” We’ll even tailor our selection to your favorite type of love story: contemporary romance, historical, paranormal, romantic suspense . . .
TO ENTER: Leave a comment with the characters of your favorite love story—from Romeo and Juliet, to Jacob and Marlena, to your very own grandparents. (Bonus points if you tell us why they make you swoon!)
CONTEST DETAILS: The prize is 10 romance novels, hand-selected by BookPage editors. One winner will be chosen using random.org. Prizes will be shipped to the U.S. The contest closes May 6 at 6 p.m. CST.
Jamie and Claire from Outlander. They have a real life romance, not a fairy tale.
My parents were married for 64 years when my Dad died at age 86. My mother is now 98, and, unfortunately, her mind seems to wander in and out of reality. She asks after my Dad constantly. He is always uppermost on her mind. Theirs was a true love story.
My favorite “love” story is JANE EYRE
I like the Debbie Macomber (sp?) about the shop in the little town.
Wish I could remember more details. The lady had problems but overcame them to open her shop. Now those who visit the shop get helped with their problems.
Oliver and Jenny in Love Story by Eric Segal–a story of young love which becomes bittersweet!
Dougless Montgomery and Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck in A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR by Jude Deveraux.
“Love Story” of course!
Colonel Clint Maroon (Gary Cooper) and Clio Dulaine (Ingrid Bergman) in SARATOGA TRUNK (1945). Based on the book by Edna Ferber.
This movie has a terrific cast of characters! I enjoy watching Clint and Clio fight. They are both so delightful!
Cynthia Ann Parker and husband Wanderer, Comanche warrior from “Ride the Wind” by Lucia St. Clair Robson. I have read, re-read this book for over 30 years! Based on a true story in Texas history.
I have to agree with Jane Eyre or almost any story by Jane Austin.
For me, it’s definitely Lady and Tramp from the Disney movie. As a child, they were the first “couple” to reel me in and I’ve been hooked on love stories ever since then.
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks! It was hard to choose one love story, because I think most all of his are wonderful!
Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, of course!
Wyatt Earp and Josephine Markus is the love story of all time. A beautiful match and love.
I loved the bride quartet by Nora Roberts. Those were some great romances and friendships in those books! I hated to finish the series – knowing there would not be another anticipate. Happily Ever After, Savor the Moment, Bed of Roses, Vision in White.
My favorite romantic couple of all time…wow, only one?!?! Sam & Alyssa from Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters.
I adore british “chick lit” by writers like Katie Fforde and Jill Mansell. It’s very escape-ist and with just enough British-isms to make it feel exotic as well.
Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy are my two favorite characters in the timeless romance novel of Pride and Prejudice. I never get tired of reading their push-pull boy meets girl, girl rejects boy, girl finds out boy is not so Prideful, and happy ending boy gets girl!
Jamie & Claire from Outlander!
I would have to say I think the love story between Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley is my favorite. It is kind of sad like Romeo and Juliet because it was a lifelong unrequited love affair. Because of Elizabeth being a queen and married to her “people”, I wonder what history had been like if she had not decided to be the Virgin Queen.
My favorite couple (aside from the obvious, Romeo & Juliet), I’d have to choose Maxim and the young bride from “Rebecca” I loved how the book combined romance and mystery. Still one of my top 5 favorite books!
For me, it’s Eve Dallas and Roarke from J.D. Robb’s ‘In Death’ series. I’m currently reading through the series for the third time. Sigh.
J.D. Robb – Dallas/Rourke in the _______ in Death series. Fun, exciting stories with romance in them.
I do love Jamie and Claire from Outlander. Spent some time in Scotland, but never found a Scot like Jamie!
The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank.
Henry and Claire (The Time Traveler’s Wife)
Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride & Prejudice!
my parents. they fit together like nobody else.
I love Janet Evanovich’s books so I would say the love story between Stephanie, Joe and Ranger. Stephanie and Joe really love each other but just can’t take that next step and Ranger is just always hovering in the back ground. May not be classic love story, but humerous and sweet at the same time.
Rhett and Scarlett!
although I am 46 yrs old, I’m a sucker (no pun intended) for Edward and Bella’s love story in the Twighlight series. It has that edge of obsession to it that makes it dangerous but exciting.
My parents. My father immigrated to this country from Cuba in early 1958 and knew he could be drafted. He chose to join the US Navy instread of waiting for the draft board to decide for him. My mother grew up a coal miner’s daighter in southern West Virginia. She joined the US Navy as a means to getting out of West Virginia. This was at a time when women who joined the service were conisdered strange. But my mother knew to get ahead in the world, she had to get out of West Virginia.
Both of my parents were stationed in Charleston, SC, when they met. My mother wasn’t sure about marrying some one who barely spoke Emglish as she put it. But they did marry and both stayed in the Navy until my father got orders to Formosa as it was called. This was a time when women were only allowed overseas as nurses and that was to Vietnam. So my mother was given a honorable discharge from the US Navy. That was the start of my parents’ travels around the world.
Military life and the travel that goes with it is hard on marriages. And even harder back in the days before instant communication. My family lived in Taiwan, San Diego, Midway Island, Charleston, Naples, Rota, and the Canal Zone. My parents may have fought at times but my brother & I never saw it. They showed us what a good relationship should be – give and take. Living so far away from family was hard. There was no support or backup for my mother when she needed a break from us kids while our father was gone for long periods of time on military duty. But they made it work. And even as my mother was dying from brain cancer three years ago, she made my father promise that he would go out with friends and enjoy himself. She did not want him to stay at home and be alone. It will be three years in early June since she died. And it will be three years in August since she was buried at Arlington National Cemetary with full military honors. My father goes down to her grave site every Saturday to talk to her and let her know what has been going on. That alone shows a devotion you do not find among many. That is why my parents are my favorite characters in a love story.
Sergeant Mike Flannigan and Katherine Mary O’Fallon from the story “Mrs. Mike” I found this book, in the trash of all places, back in 1991. I don’t know what it is about this story but it has always been a favorite of mine. I just think the couple had a very hard life and got through it the best way they knew how … kinda like a lot of people these days. This is a very “real life” love story.
I would have to say Aunt Estella and Uncle Harold who were married for over 70 years. Uncle Harold passed first and Aunt Estella just a few hours later, as if she couldn’t go on without him.
My Uncle and his wife were married for over 70 years and when he passed away she went within hours of him. As if she couldn’t go in without him. They were such a loving couple and are still missed by all of their nieces and nephews, as the never had children of their own.
Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe–such a sweet and innocent love.
Jamie and Clair from Diana Gabaldon’ s Outlander series….Jamie makes me swoon and I love the love that he and Clair share.
Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice!
I would have to say my own love story is my favorite. I’ve been happily married for 21 years to my high school sweetheart and it has been quite an adventure being an Army wife. As for my favorite love story in a book, I’d have to agree with those who said Jane Eyre. The passionate love that they shared that survived so much heartache and tragedy is intense, heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring.
Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth in Austen’s Persuasion. The odds they faced, the people who interfered and all the other trials they endured
make it a satisfying story. I like it much better than the more popular books she wrote.
There are so many to choose from but my all time favorites are Jamie and Claire from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Another favorite couple is Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester.
I like the romance between Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli. They are hot and steamy until Ranger comes into the picture. There are also sparks between Ranger and Stephanie. She has to be careful around Ranger because he turns her on too. Joe is her main man even when they get into an argument. Their relationship is fun to read.
My favorite love story has not been written yet, but is someday going to be…yes, I will be the leading lady and the leading man has yet to appear as an answer to my prayers. Things will be everyday and ho-hum to many, but it will be the greatest love story to ever be written-as soon as I also find a good publisher.
Rhett and Scarlett
I think that the greatest love story was “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeves as Richard and Jane Seymour as Elise. Every time I hear that melody, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Sigh….
Wulfgar and Lady Aislinn in the book The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodwiss. I just found this book again after reading it many years ago. It has captured me again…
I don’t think you can get any better than “Gone With the Wind!”
lots of favorites, most already mentioned. But, I’m reading A Discovery of Witches right now, and Diana and Matthew have me turning pages faster than a vampire can cross the room!
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall was a love that ended too soon.
Favorite love story is my paternal grandparents who were married 76 years – a diamond celebration & an inspiration to all xoxo
Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy does it for me.
Claire & Jamie from Outlander series
No question at all! Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Always!!!
“Gone With the Wind,” of course.
Gone With the Wind is the all-time romance!
I used to think it was the story “Love Story”, but now my all time fav is “The Notebook”.
Noah & Allie from “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks
That is one of the most beautiful & moving stories I’ve ever read. Noah is a wonderful & caring person.
Julie and Mike from The Guardian, also by Nicholas Sparks.
I cannot explain it all through words. I actually cried when I read it, but the combination of loving what’s left behind, triumph over loss, and finding strength even through deep despair connected for me. The wicked suspense added more emotion to the book too. Not to mention, ever since I read the book I’ve been hoping and praying for a dog like Singer.
i love Roarke and Eve from JD Robbs “In Death” series.
Bella and Edward in the Twilight series. Only a good romance could get me to read a vampire series! LOL
Heloise and Abelard, brilliantly described in “Stealing Heaven”, by Marion Meade.
rhet bulter and scarlet ohara from gone with the wind
my favorite love story is Granny Dan by Danielle Steel! So Danina and Nikolai!!
I changed my favorite love story “Casablanca” to “Night in Rodanthe” where Adrienne finds love again with Paul. Beautiful, Bittersweet story that truly describes the saying ” It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all”. A very true story of mine.
The best love affair is Gone with the Wind. The beautiful and independent Scarlet and the ever faithful and dashing Rhett….
Gone With the Wind – Rhett and Scarlett.
I’ll have to say Heathcliff and Catherine (Cathy)in Wuthering Heights,the end was so right,they were joined again..forever.
My granddad’s first wife died,he had four small children,and farms,someone said go see Miss Jones,she’s a good woman ad never been married(28)so he went to her,said someone said you’d be a good wife and Mama to my family and me,they were married ,had 8 more children and raised his 4,and were married until he passed away. She made no difference in any of the children,they all loved her dearly,as we did both of them.They were very happy together.
My favorite couple was Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester
My favorite couple are Matt Farrell and Meridith Bancroft in Paradise by Judith McNaught. This delightful novel is about love and second chances. Such a magical read!
I am a big Outlander fan so for me it’s Claire and Jamie! Their romance is timeless.
I really like Jaime and Claire from Outlander, but I have also come to care about Lord John Grey who also loves Jaime and that love is going no where. Somehow they have turned it into a friendship. I like that whole thing. I am aware this is weird.
I’ll have to say one of the most touching relationships in literature recently has been the romance between Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti in the “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” books. Poor Mma Makutsi has spent her whole life taking care of sick relatives and has given up on love since she’s not a “glamorous girl.” Phuti is a successful businessman, but hampered by a terrible stutter. They find each other and are both able to overcome their shortcomings!
LaVyrle Spencer’s November of the Heart. Poignant, funny, a little sexy, well developed characters and all set in Victorian era Minnesota.
Loved it.
Richard Collier and Elise McKenna from Richard Matheson’s Bid Time Return. He was a young man when he met Elise as an old woman, and he traveled back in time to meet her when she was young. Such a romantic story — the movie Somewhere in Time is based on this book.
Has to be Rhett and Scarlett!
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Jamie and Claire are the ultimate lovers and Gabaldon twists and turns the manuscript in places that keep you turning the pages and awaiting the next installment.
Definitely Claire and Jamie from Outlander. They stick with each other through thick and thin, flaws and all and they constantly show how much they love each other – there is no doubt at any time that they do. Sure they hit bumps, what life isn’t full of those? But, they get through and move on and continue loving one another. One of the reasons I can’t stop re-reading this one. I’ve owned many copies and those that haven’t fallen apart have been given away to people who refuse to give them back
I love The Notebook. Nicholas Sparks is great and I’ve enjoyed all of his books. There are so many authors that do a great job that it’s hard to choose just one!
Shanna & Roark in the Kathleen E Woodiwiss classic Shanna. Spirit, intrigue, adventure, wit and passion abound. It’s a book that I’ve read over and over again. I read it for the first time at 20 years of age and the latest at 54. For me, it’s the classic love story.
Jamie and Claire from Diana Gabaldon books…
It would have to be Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, from Catherine Coulter’s FBI series. Not only do they have a great love story, but they can kick butt too!
Madam Bovary and Scarlet Letter
Romeo and Juliet because their love was forbidden and heartbreaking.
The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank
Violet and Edmund Bridgerton (Julia Quinn Bridgerton series). We never actually see their love story, yet see the results in their eight children and Violet’s responses to her children’s marriages.
I love the Outlander series, Jamie and Claire are phenomenal. However I also really like Brianna and Roger too.
I started with Romeo & Juliet as a child and will stick with them.
The love story between the Rev. Clare Ferguson and Police Chief Russ Van Alystyne in Julia Spencer Fleming’s current series, the latest being “One Was a Soldier.
my favorites are CLAIRE and Russ,too I was very pleased to learn JULIA SPENSER-FLEMING has a new book out I am on the list at the town library to read it .
Heathcliff and Cathy from Wuthering Heights! Kate Bush sang an awesome about them in the 80′s/90′s. Everytime I think of Wuthering Hdeights I have that song in my head.
I am replying to your name…my maiden name is Shoup (spelled the same). I am originally from Iowa…wondered about you and your name.
Definitely Clare and Jamie from the Outlander series.
Gone With the Wind
I have been reading Linda Lael Miller’s McKettrick series of romances which take place in the west (far from me!). I was given one and it lured me into reading them all! The romance is natural, but very compelling reading. Each brother’s love story is different, but equally romantic!
Hadassah and Marcus from ‘A Voice in the Wind’ by Francine Rivers. Hadassah’s love went beyond the physical, her concern for the spiritual well being of those she loved was first and foremost!
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy
Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester- I love that their romance survives heartbreak and tragedy and is based on a mutual respect, and how they become attractive in each other’s eyes.
Many, but I do like Gone with the Wind.
Jennifer Crusie is one who writes romantic stories with “screwball” plots which make them highly enjoyable.
Rhett and Scarlett, none better. Gone With The Wind has it all!
Selfishly, I’d have to say my husband and I…from high school sweethearts to 41+ yrs of marriage..and we are more in love, and love each other more, than ever!
My favorite love story is whatever love story I happen to be reading (most of the time – there’s always that time where the story doesn’t come off) at the time.
Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler forever !!!!
I have to go with “Gone with the Wind”. It is still the most memorable.
I read so much that it’s hard to come up with one love story. I could pick a movie – Ghost.
Lucy and Daniel in Ann Brashears book “My Name Is Memory”. Definitely the most romantic story I’ve ever read. Of course…. There’s always Edward and Bella too.
I love the romance between Juliet and Dawsey from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is a quiet, understated, yet passionate attachment that just makes your heart swell. Never was I so happy as when they realized their love for each other. Fabulous!
My all time favorite romance was The Knight in Shining Armor. The time travel was wonderful and I got chills in the last scene on the airplane!
Well, the classic for me would be Edward and Bella from Twilight. I also like most of the romantic endings to stories written by Dorothy Garlock as well.
My most favorite romantic novel would be Colleen McCullough’s
“The Thorn Birds”. I have read it over and over again. Love the Australia background and how the story unfolds.
Another reader commented that they loved A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Devereux. I loved that book, too. It is an incredible book. One of those love stories that stays with you. You all should read it.
My all time favorite characters from a love story are Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.
But I also enjoy the stories about generic, staid heroes falling in live with energetic and wild heroines who fill their lives with happiness and love. I’ve read a couple books with those general ideas of the characters, including one recently by Christina Dodd titled “Tongue in Chic” that was fantastic.
The book i loved and remember being a wonderfull love story was FOREVER AMBER! READ IT UNDER THE COVERS WHEN I WAS 13 YEARS OLD, AND LOVE BOOKS EVER SINCE (I AM NOW 8O) THIS EAS MY FIRST ROMANCE NOVEL, BUT I CAN’;T REALLY REMEMBER THE CHARATERS, JUST THE LOVE BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN. hAVE BEEN READING ROMANCE EVER SINCE!
I love the grandma and the security guard in the Princess Diaries films. In the first one you could tell he really liked her. By the end of the second one, you could see it was mutual. So when Mia opted not to marry when she was not in love and then her grandmother and the security guard married, it was an awe-inspiring moment!
The Notebook is my favorite because I still hope to find that type of enduring love.
I would have to say Edward and Bella from the Twilight series. So young and innocent and intense!!
The characters of one of my favorite love stories are Father Tim Kavanagh and his wife Cynthia Coppersmith Kavanagh, written by author Jan Karon in her Mitford Series and Father Tim Novels. Their love story begins in their golden age, when Father Tim is nearing his retirement. I love the story so much because it unites Cynthia Coppersmith, a beautiful woman, a successful artist and children’s book author with a balding, seemingly unattractive Father Tim whose offerings are bad health, compassion, gardening and a treasury of friends. As it turns out, they share the same love of food, gardening, pets and family and friends. Beautiful story. I’ve treasured them for years and re-read the books many times.
My favorite couple has been and will always be Anne Shirley Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe from the Anne of Green Gables series of books. I’ve read these books numerous times. They’re wonderful! Anne and Gilbert met as children and for a long time were not friends. When they became friends, their friendship grew. Gilberyt loved Anne long before she realized she loved him but she always knew she could count on Gilbert to be there for her and support her. Gilbert understood what Anne needed and accepted her eccentricites, honored them and loved her! Anne came to realize what a treasure Gilbert was and that he wasn’t going to try to control her or suffocate her.
Thank you!
~ Amy
Aimala127@gmail.com
My grandparents fell in love through letters written to each other in WWII…this year they will be celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary and are still madly in love!
Also I will always love Henry and claire from time travelers wife!
My favorites are always the ones were the characters are disguised somehow and yet still fall in love. One of favorites is Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. These two have been featured in poems as well as Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale… And of course it goes without saying Beauty and the Beast.
I think my favorite love story is my own:). Girl goes off to college only to return to her high school sweetheart whom she marries and lives happily ever after with!! Hee hee!!
But as far as well known stories, my favorite love story of all time is that of Cinderella. Has there ever been a better story??? I think not!!!
Darcy and Ethan from Something Blue. I loved watching their story unfold and watch Darcy mature and grow in love with Ethan.
I guess all girls remember Cinderella and how we all sighed when we read it, then went to sleep and dreamed of finding our our Prince Charming one day!
The couple from the Outlander Series–Claire and Jamie Frasier. They have survived many years and many sorrows.
Loved Outlander series! Their love conquered Time!
Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy would have to be my favorite–classic, classic, classic romance! Amelia Peabody & Radcliff Emerson would have to be my “modern” favorites–and of course, any couple who needs more than one book to tell their story!
My favorite love story is surely Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth in Jane Austen’s Persuasion! That letter he writes to her! There is something to be said about love lost and then found. My heart sank and soared along with hers throughout the novel as she navigated the fakes and the falls and finally ended up with her prince in Wentworth: )
Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson in The Bridges of Madison County. Love that story!
Aaarrrrggghhh! Its so hard to pick! I love Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Edward and Bella, but I would have to say that currently the two who are at the forefront of my mind are Eric and Sookie. I have quit watching True Blood because I just enjoy the books so much more, but I still picture Alexander Skaarsgard as Eric when I’m reading the Sookie Stackhouse series and I gotta say, “YUM!” I love me some Eric! And Sookie is so easy to connect with – southern, tough, and practical, with a very healthy sex drive. The two of them together always makes me go hunt up my husband!
Here’s a blast from the past. My all time favorite love story is still Kathleen Woodiwiss’, The Flame and the Flower with Heather and Brandon.
I know this isn’t a typical answer for a love story, but John Galt and Dagny Taggart from Atlas Shrugged. A meeting of the strong and the stronger.
I have more than a few favorite romantic couples but one of my first was Jane Eyre and Rochester…the whole gothic setting, a strong woman, a tragic hero, and all that mystery…how could I not resist?!
My favorite love stories are the ones where the characters hate each other in the beginning because of preconceived notions about each other and then end up loving one another.
My favorite love story is my parents they have stuck with each other through the thick in the thin.
My parents are the greatest love pair. They don’t have a big sweeping love story that happens in different countrys, etc. Instead they are the true and steady love story that has now reached to 52 years of marriage. They have loved each other and loved us 2 kids and their love is true and steady with a solid flame that will never end.
Grade A stuff. I’m unqutesioanbly in your debt.