RARM: My Favourite Romance Reads

 

So here it is, my favourite romance reads. I hope you all appreciate the agonising effort that went into picking my favourites. 

As you may have gathered I had a pretty hard time selecting my favourite books, I am quite an indecisive person at the best of times. Anyway, this list is not necessarily definitive and if you hold me to it I'll deny everything.

Each book title is craftily also a link so you can go check out the official (and full) synopsis over on Goodreads.com.

Kiss Chase - Fiona Walker: This was the first romance book that I ever read, some of you might remember me mentioning it in my last post. Kiss Chase tells the tale of Felix, sinfully irresistible with one nasty habit, he likes to make girls fall in love with him and then break their hearts. Phoebe is hired by her 'frenemy' Saskia, a past victim of Felix, to exact her revenge and do exactly to Felix as he did to her.

Walker's novel is a bit of a tome standing at 800+ pages but it's the detail that helps to make it one of my all time favourite romance novels. At first it is hard to like Felix but Walker works hard to get you to see his vulnerable and charming side. Phoebe is the original feisty heroine, witty and confident she avoids all the clichéd traps of most romance heroines. Felix and Phoebe share an amazing chemistry and a realistically fraught relationship. Perhaps a bit dated, Kiss Chase chronicles the lives of the 90s London yuppie/sloane ranger set (think the 90s version of 'Made in Chelsea') and is full of glorious details and side-plots, a must read for any 'Brit lit' fan.

Perfect Timing - Jill Mansell: Mansell must be one of my all time favourite authors, she is truly one of the romance greats and a master of the British romance. It was particularly difficult trying to pin down which of her books was my favourite but I finally decided on Perfect Timing as it is usually the one that I lend to friends in order to convert them into a fellow Mansell fanatic. Perfect Timing is the sweet story of Poppy who decides to move to London when her life gets that little bit too complicated right before her wedding. Poppy moves in with the delightfully arty Casper and the uptight Claudia and sets out to start a new life and try and find the man of her dreams that she met, inconveniently, on her hen night.

Perfect Timing is the epitome of Mansell's novels; sweet, charming, witty and quintessentially British. All of Mansell's novels are packed with likeable heroines, charming heroes and a host of delightful supporting characters that they are always sure to entertain. I can't explain why I love Mansell so much over other authors other than that I have never been disappointed and know exactly how I am going to feel when I read one of her books.

Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie: Crusie herself is said to have claimed that Bet Me is the best romance novel that she'll ever write and I have to say that I agree. Those of you who read my review of Anyone But You will know how much I adore Crusie and her books but Bet Me just (just) edges forward of all the others and is definitely one of my favourite books of all time. Bet Me is a book about Min and Cal, two seemingly mismatched people who are entirely right for one another. Like all good romances their relationship develops slowly and solidly throughout the book and is perhaps one of the sweetest and most enviable that I have ever read. As usual, Crusie's book is as much about her supporting characters as it is her hero and heroine and the cast within Bet Me is perhaps one of my favourite ever.

I can't really go in to too much detail about why I love this book so much, I just end up gushing about it nonsensically - can you tell? Needless to say it is romantic, clever, extremely funny and I highly recommend it to everyone.

The Boy Next Door - Meg Cabot: In a way I was surprised that Boy Next Door made it into my top five romance reads, while it is definitely a favourite it snuck up on me and it was only once I was desperately trying to construct this list that I realised just how often I do read and enjoy it. I won't go in to too much detail as I've actually already reviewed the book in length here (which of course you all knew already).

Boy Next Door is one of my shorter go to books that I always reach for if I want a quick pick-me-up. Written entirely in emails it's light and witty and perfect to read on the go too.

Talk Me Down - Victoria Dahl: Victoria Dahl is a relatively new author to me but she is undoubtedly a firm favourite, the woman herself is brilliant I highly suggest you all check her out on twitter for some great entertainment. Talk Me Down is the story of Molly, an erotic fiction author, who returns to her home town to escape a manipulative ex and Ben, resident hotty police chief and Molly's unrequited crush. 

Talk Me Down is the steamiest book on the list, actually now that I think about it, it's the only one with any considerable "heat factor". While I don't necessarily mind sex scenes in books I think there is a fine line between a good sexy scene that benefits the book and those that seem arbitrarily thrown in. Dahl writes some of the steamiest scenes you're likey to read whilst still keeping them relevant to the plot and characters. Her books are also hilarious and Talk Me Down also benefits from some well crafted suspense and an entirely too believable creep factor. 

There, done! Has anyone read any of my favourites? Let me know below as well as letting me know some of your favourite romances.