Top 5 Favorite
Romance Novels
5.
The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Vol. 2
by Keiko Ishihara
want
to spoil what occurs in the first volume. If it wasn’t
for
my sister urging me on, I would never have gotten around
to
reading volume 2 of this series. Don’t get me wrong the first
one
was good. However, it could have been better, but it could have been a lot
worst. I gave it three stars. Anyway, thanks to my sister I would have missed
out on a delightful romance manga. There are areas in need of development. For
instance, the main character’s relationship with her best friend. My sister told
me Ishihara wanted to develop it more, but her producers were worried it would take the focus away from the romance. All in all, The Heiress and the Chauffeur is a breezy read. However, that isn’t
to say this story doesn’t have some heavy moments of family turmoil.
*Content*
As mentioned above there are moments of family turmoil and I wouldn’t recommend
it to someone who might have a chaotic home life as it could be triggering.
There are also mentions of past injuries, and violence, and some very sensual
moments. 15+
4.
The Fairest Beauty by Melanie
Dickerson
My nostalgia glasses were on when I
decided
to
put this book on this list as it is the first non-middle
school
book I read for fun. It is a historical retelling of
Snow
White with a strong Christian focus. (It is set in pre-
reformation
Europe) Something that really attracted tween me to the protagonist, Sophie,
was her issues with letting go her past with the duchess, the fill in for the
evil queen, but Gabe, the fill in for Prince Charming who isn’t a prince,
encourages her to let God heal her. I like how both Gabe and Sophie better each
other because of their relationship even if there was one plot point at the end
which I found to be too convenient. (There is a reason this isn’t at the top of
this list).
Content
There are some frightening chase scenes and brief descriptions of violence,
wounds, death, and minor sensual content 14+
3.
First Date by Krista McGee
A modern retelling of Ester where Queen
Ester is Addy,
a
normal Teenager, King Ahasuerus is Jonathan, the president’s
son,
and they are in a reality show where the prize is going to prom
with
Jonathan instead of becoming the new queen. McGee pulls this
off
almost flawlessly. There are legitimately funny parts (especially Addy
interacting with the other contestants) and I found myself laughing out loud
many times. The romance is pretty sweet as far as teenage romance goes, but it
isn’t just “I like you. You like me. Let’s take cute selfies together”. Another
positive element of this book is the author doesn’t forget the protagonist
interacts with people other than the object of her affection. I was not only
interested in how Addy's and Jonathan's relationship was developing, but also
the relationships the protagonist had with the friend she made on the game
show, her uncle, and legal guardian, and her parents who although have been
dead for years (not a spoiler) and how their deaths still touch her more than a
decade later.
Content
There are some scenes of bullying and intense flashbacks in this book, but they
aren’t super explicit. It would probably be good for 12+, but I wouldn’t give
this to sensitive 12 and 13-year-olds. ie., I wouldn’t give this to
middle-school me. (I read this book in high school).
2.
Miki Falls: Summer by Mark Crilley
First things first, Mark both wrote and
illustrated
this
book by hand so I have to give credit to that because
the
artwork of this graphic novel is amazing. Yet another
piece
where I’ll have to avoid plot specific events to avoid
spoiling
the first one. This is the second out of four books
of
the Miki Falls series. Unlike The Heiress
and the Chauffeur, I had full intention of continuing with this series
after I finished the first volume, Spring.
However, I still find Summer to be a
stronger entry than Spring as I found
the latter to be more of an introduction. Summer
builds on what I learned from Spring
and does a very good job of showing the story as this is a graphic novel. The
frustrations that the two protagonists, Miki and Hiro, have with their
relationship and all the problems arising from it. I am now entering some
spoiler territory here so if you haven’t read this book yet I recommend
skipping to my number one Romance novel. The ending of Summer drove me to read
the next book even more than Spring
because...
He
found the arrow!!!
Content
Some scenes of relationship problems and mentions of death and the fear of
death. And some sensual content 13+
1.
Small Town Girl by Anne H. Gabhart
I first read this book when I was in my
Junior year
of
high school where my sister and I were trying to share
my
local library’s only copy. This is the second book in
Gabhart’s
Rosy Corner Series the first being Angel Sister,
which
is also amazing, but as the title suggest the love in
that
story isn’t romantic. Unlike the other two sequels I reviewed, I don’t have to
avoid plot specific events because this can be read without ruining much of Angel Sister's story. The main
characters, Kate and Jay, have a lot more than their relationship in mind. For
the most part, they are concerned about the WWII and the other people involved
in their lives. The plot is heavily focused on the characters and it works
perfectly with the diverse personalities of the people occupying the world of Gabhart’s
Rosy Corner series.
Content
There are scenes of family turmoil, mentions of the deaths of loved ones, a
scene where a character receives unwanted sexual attention, accidental
violence, the strain war places on people, and some sensual content. 16+.
*Note*
Top 5 Wednesday is a Goodreads group
where blogger/vloggers post about a bookish topic every Wednesday. You can
check it out right here. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday
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