It’s a bit after Valentine’s Day, which to be honest, isn’t a holiday I particularly like, despite being happily married for nearly a decade. But, I do love romance, and so I figure February is a great time to celebrate romance! These are just a few of my favorite book couples, with a few extras from film and tv at the end – if they’re adaptations, though, I’ve included them with the book.
Lately I’ve been reading A LOT of hockey romances, they’ll get their own list-icile later.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
(P&P review to come, so here’s the review for Austenland)
I recently re-listened to a P&P audiobook and I still love this story as much as the first time I read it in high school. I also, with my friends, have a regular movie night and we’ve made ourselves friendship bracelets with “Bosom Sisters” inscribed on them, a reference to one of my favorite adaptations, Austenland. I’ve included the graphic for Austenland above, the review of Pride & Prejudice itself is forthcoming! Favorite couple? Both Lizzie & Darcy and Jane & Bingley.
While I know some of the films below can be quite ridiculous (I’m looking at you P&P&Zombies), I love them all.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I will always love Jo & Laurie. I know they were much better suited to being platonic soul mates, but they will forever, together, hold a very special place in my heart. Greta Gerwig’s adaptation with Saoirse Ronan and Timothee Chalamet is also pure gold. I also have always respected the crap out of Meg for choosing the traditional relationship and marriage and I will also always love her and John Brooke’s romance, especially as I’ve gotten older and realized I’m really more a Meg than a Jo.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
I got my first copy of Ella Enchanted at RIF (Reading is Fundamental) in 3rd grade and I read it over, and over, and over, and over again until it completely fell apart and I had to get a new copy. It was one of the first love stories that I ever read, and I never dreamed of a prince charming, but specifically, the Prince Charming, who preferred to be called Char.
Much as I love Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy, the movie is absolute crap. Don’t watch it.
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
(I’ve been meaning to review this forever, so stay tuned)
Continuing the Cinderella adaptation trend, Just Ella was the book I re-read over and over in middle school. I very much loved that Ella didn’t wind up with Charming, instead preferring her tutor, Jed.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Tibby & Bryan, Lena & Kostos, and ultimately Bridget & Eric, problematic and unrealistic as some of them were, I loved all the couples in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and especially how they were all portrayed in the movies. The fact that America, Blake, Alexis and Amber are all still friends in real life just proves the power of the pants.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Juliet and Dawsey are so well suited to each other, and reading their story is like being wrapped up in a warm hug. Lily James and Michiel Huisman portrayed them beautifully in the film adaptation as well – there are some differences, but it is definitely worth a watch!
Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty
High school book crush Marcus Flutie, my first literary bad boy, was one of my all time favorite characters to read, and I will always love his and Jessica’s story.
Lovely War by Julie Berry
Hazel & James and Collette & Aubrey are two of my favorite couples. Their stories, during the First World War, are inspiring and heartbreaking. And lest you think I’m recommending a book on here where everyone dies, just know at the end, the couples are still together.
A Court of Mist and Fury series by Sarah J. Maas
It wouldn’t really be a list of favorite couples without Feyre and Rhys, right?
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
(Another forthcoming review, I absolutely loved this one!)
Dare I say I like Fisher and Saeris better than Feyre and Rhys? Yes. I think I dare. I like Fisher and Saeris better.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I’d honestly be okay if this was the only book in the series. Yes, I have all three, yes I’ve obsessed over getting the ones with the sprayed edges, but every subsequent book in the series will fail to live up to the first. I really love Violet and Xaden in this book, just this one right now, and I’m happy to keep living in my own little bubble where Fourth Wing is the only in the book in this world.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Like many millennials, my introduction to The Taming of the Shrew was from the iconic 1999 film adaptation, 10 Things I Hate About You. And while theater and literary scholars may constantly and endlessly debate the meaning of Katerina’s speech at the end, questioning whether or not Petruchio truly “tamed” her, or if it was really an early feminist manifesto and completely sarcastic, those of us who grew up with Julia Stiles interpretation, know full well that Kat and Patrick are simply meant to be. I recently re-watched all 20 episodes of the television series that aired in 2009 on ABC Family, and Katrick didn’t disappoint on that count either.
Film & Television
A few favorites from the big and small screen, in no particular order.
Celebration of Books 