5 Books on Love

Amanda Brooks shares with us five books about love, romance and sex! Perfect for those in or out of a relationship.

Gone With the Wind
There was never a heroine like Scarlet O’Hara. Scarlet is livelier on the page of this sweeping tale about misplaced passion than most people in real life. And you’ll be wishing for a Rhett Butler to pursue you through war, marriages, death, poverty and fortune. They had sizzling sex, she fit herself in 17-inch corsets and the book’s ending is probably the most famously ambiguous ending of all time. She loves Ashley (arguably more than herself), Rhett loves her, Melanie loves her, Ashley loves Melanie and most of all she loves Tara – the plantation she grew up on and fights for. You’ll be sorry when the book ends because there is no sequel by Margaret Mitchell.

Harold and Maude
One of the quirkiest love stories around, it’s funny and memorable and very real. Harold loves Maude and Maude loves life. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll wish you knew Maude too.

The Scarlet Pimpernel
A swashbuckling tale told from the woman’s perspective. Though intrigue and the French Revolution is the background, the real story is a beautiful, caustic Frenchwoman single-handedly saving her marriage and realizing the love of her life. It doesn’t get any more romantic than this!

Kushiel’s Dart
Another romantic thriller through the eyes of a woman, though this woman is just a little bit different. Trained as a spy AND courtesan, Phedre falls in love (quite a few times, actually) and saves her country. Her determination reminded one reviewer of Scarlet (see above), though Phedre is slightly less self-centered. There are battles and queens and gorgeous men, amazing tattoos, beautiful clothes, lots of sizzling sex and a society that celebrates prostitution. Not to mention one of the best villains ever — Melisande.

Memoirs of a Geisha
Not only a journey through the world of geisha, one of the sweetest, most aching love stories. Though the account is fictionalized, the female voice is so very real. Suri loves The Chairman and no one else from the time she is 9 years old. Will she ever get his attention and win his heart? Everything else is almost beside the point (in her mind) as she pursues her one dream through debt bondage, cruel inter-geisha politics, war and rebuilding her shattered life.

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