I’ll probably kick myself afterwards for spilling out my guilty pleasure like this, but hey something’s gotta give. When I was still in my early teenage days, I remember my mom had these piles after piles of fashion, news, and political magazines. You name it, she most likely had it. I enjoyed flipping through those old pages. I read almost all of them — er, except those lengthy discussions on politics. Even that early, I knew when I grow up I wouldn’t want to become a politician. Anyway, most of these magazines were in the attic (well, ceiling-cum-attic), where most of the forgotten furniture and whatnot were left to rot. It was also here where I met Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, which led me to love classic literature. But that’s another story.
During summer vacations, the attic was my favorite hideout. Mother was in her office, father in his shop, my brother and sisters downstairs, and well, nobody really bothered about me. Ah, except during meal times, I’d better get down or else…Oh summer days. It was on one of those days that I found these small books, wedged among my mother’s college textbooks, that had a musty odor with front and back covers completely ripped out. With no title and hardly any picture, I tentatively began reading one of them. To my delight, it was a story, a love story in fact. I continued reading, and just when the hero and the heroine were about to come together, I noticed the last few pages were missing. I rooted around for that page that contained the ending. It wasn’t there.
Armed with an Internet and an Ipad more than a decade later, I finally learned the title and how their story ended. But that was already after I hunted down book sales, thrift stores, and all sorts of stores that sell old romance novels. By this time, I have read countless romantic stories set in far and exotic places. Yeah, that was how I was introduced to the romance novel genre. I have never looked back. So, need you really ask if I have romance in my bones? Obviously, I do.
Here’s my list of 5 books that stuck with me through the years. The numbers are just that, numbers. I normally choose based on author and heroine’s personality. I rarely deviate.
1. Hills of Kalamata by Anne Hampson
Anne Hampson has to be one of the most prolific romance writer in her time. I have read many of her novels, mostly set in Greece, sometimes in parts of Africa, and even other times in Southeast Asia. I’ve read somewhere that she traveled a lot for her books. In her era when the Internet had not been born yet, she must have been a conscientious writer. She has a knack for describing places that make her stories come alive.
Kept under lock and key by the hero, in retaliation to her friend’s calculated plan that went awry, the heroine fought tooth and nail for her freedom. Sounds very much like a Stockholm syndrome, huh. I’m afraid so. The story, kept alive by the bloodthirsty grandmother, rugged landscape, and ready-to-do-combat personality of the heroine, captivated me. Though, if you are the sweet-moments-cheesy-lines variety, keep away from this one. It’s a mile away from the usual. But there’s something about the ending that struck me as odd, sweet but odd.
2. The Honey is Bitter by Violet Winspear
Violet Winspear is one of the best among her contemporaries, so I’ve read. Her books somehow has this little extra than what was conventional in her time. The usual plot of her stories are somewhat far removed from reality, if sometimes overdramatic. The kind one would see in fantasy/romance/adventure movies today. I have to admit that her heroes fascinate me. They look tough and dangerous on the surface, but really full of passion and tenderness on the inside. They also almost always have a troubled past, one way or the other. The only bothersome aspect for me is her heroines. I never really acquired the taste of those damsel in distress. But what her heroines lack in our social norm today, she compensates them through their personality. I usually end up admiring their spirit.
This was how I came to love the name Domini. To protect her family from recriminations, Domini was forced to marry Paul. Not exactly original. But, the thing that kept me on my toes and made me hate her a little was how her path seemed to continually crossed with Barry, a guy she met way back and thought herself in love with. The story, peppered with foreign phrases, fused with intense emotion, with a lot of description and narrative, and climaxing in one of the blackest moment I’ve read from this genre, were what made Paul and Domini unforgettable. The ending was just powerful and beautiful.
3. Song of the Waves by Anne Hampson
This is a story of a beautiful young heroine who is dying from a terminal illness. From that alone you’d know the book is a tearjerker. But wait! Following her doctor’s advice, she sold her home and embarked on a world cruise and readied herself for the end. And then she met a fellow passenger.
Normally, I would dismiss a dark subject like this. I’m not really fond of tragic endings. If I want a reality check, I’d read something else. Surprisingly, this book was a very pleasant read all throughout. I enjoyed the variety of exotic locales they visited on the cruise. The side characters were lovable and funny. Wendy is really sweet and a very likable heroine. Er, it might be a good idea to have — um, tissues on the ready.
4. The Taming of Tamsin by Mary Wibberley
I have read quite a number of her books and I enjoyed them. If ever there would be a contest among romance fiction writers of who has the most quarrelsome main characters, I think Mary Wibberley would win any day. Her usual plot is the proverbial, the more you hate the more you love. She portrays them convincingly too, without bordering on infuriating. Her heroines are usually rich, pampered, beautiful, but bored with her life. Added to these are her strong personality, a string of admirers in tow — um, count the hero out, and my most favorite part, at least in some books, a black belt or some such in martial arts. Yeah, bring it on! The heroes, of course, are the alpha male. Never backs down on a fight and combats his attraction towards the heroine like the plague.
Tamsin, a confirmed man-hater, was given an impossible assignment. Hiding two children in a cottage until their parents sorted out their legal wrangles, she could handle that. With a man? For five weeks? Now, that’s something else entirely. Their bickering mixed with the element of danger in the process is just the perfect backdrop for Blaise and Tamsin’s love story.
5. The Magic of His Kiss by Jessica Steele
This was my first book from this author, she has been an auto-read for me ever since. She’s a pretty good storyteller. Her writing style certainly keeps me riveted. What I like about her stories is her heroines are always a virgin — not the wimpy-naive kind, but the feminine-working-woman kind. The heroines also always have a strong filial devotion. She doggedly remains loyal to her family, grandparents included, no matter the circumstance. I find this particular characteristic endearing. But, this also almost always lands the heroine in hot water.
This pretty much sums up Gemma in The Magic of His Kiss. Trying only to protect her sister, Gemma played along with a stranger’s contrived scheme to extract some form of payment out of her sister from supposedly jilting his brother. I love how Jessica Steele creates sexual tension and I love even more that part when the hero realizes his mistake and tries hard to make amends. Who wouldn’t love a good grovel?
These 200-page paperback fiction stories are my usual answer to light reading. Thankfully, these are available online now. It makes life easy. Though I still hunt for book sale shops and thrift stores, I don’t buy these kind of books anymore. I’m not sad. On the contrary, I’m grateful that I could easily access them, along with hundreds of others in the comfort of my Ipad. Isn’t life great? Guess I’ll be rereading old world romances whenever the fancy takes me.