I had an interesting inquiry for recommendations from Jen, and I've been struggling with how to title it – it's not quite “last chance” at love, but it's more than “surprise, you have FEELINGS.” Jen writes:
I am looking for a book I've never read and don't know exists. I am totally into the idea of lonely people finding each other. Either or both are lonely. And the writer does an excellent job of making the reader feel the loneliness and bleakness of their future.
Oh, and the romance when they find each other has to be pretty fucking hot. Any recommendations?
I asked for clarification, and queried as to whether Jen was “looking for stories wherein the heroine or hero has given up on ever finding anyone, and WHOOMP, there s/he is” and she replied, “Yes…but I would like to allow flexibility around the definition so I might have many books to look into. But, yes, essentially I would like to read about one or both parties either giving up or never having hope to begin with of having a true lifelong partnership love…but they find it.”
Well, darn. I kinda want to read that now, too.
The first book that I thought of was my favorite of the “Immortals After Dark” series, Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole ( A | BN | K | S | iB ). The hero is a tortured vampire held prisoner by his brothers, and the heroine is a ghost with a fabulous sense of humor.
That might fit Jen's reading curiosity – but I know you have more suggestions. Which romances do you recommend featuring characters who suffer from bleak loneliness but then find happiness?
You beat me to mentioning this one. I liked how the heroine considered her a spinster at the age of “nearly five and twenty years” and therefore never thought about marriage—and the hero couldn’t stop telling her how beautiful she is.
I would recommend a Balogh that no one ever talks about, Tangled. The tension and
loneliness between the two is heart breaking and the road to happiness is hard fought.
I’d like to recommend a brand new short story by Selene Grace Silver called “The Swing of Her Hips.” A English teacher and a Scot, both of whom have given up on finding lasting love, embark on a summer romance that neither wants to end. The heroine knows it will probably go nowhere, but is willing to take the chance with this particular guy. If it doesn’t work out, well, she’s survived disappointment before. Sometimes you have to take a big risk to find your true love.
I’d like to recommend a brand new short story by Selene Grace Silver called “The Swing of Her Hips.” A English teacher and a Scot, both of whom have given up on finding lasting love, embark on a summer romance that neither wants to end. The heroine knows it will probably go nowhere, but is willing to take the chance with this particular guy. If it doesn’t work out, well, she’s survived disappointment before. Sometimes you have to take a big risk to find your true love.
And yeah, the love scenes are pretty hot!
Try On Dublin Street by Samantha Young! Wounded heroine, wounded hero, steaming….
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake?
Heiress without a Cause is currently free on Amazon. Yay! Thanks for the recommendation!
Lauren Willig’s The Seduction of the Crimson Rose—two very lonely, bitter people fall in love against their better judgment.
Not hot, but all make me cry and sometimes laugh; these are special favorites. Blackberry Winter by Cheryl Reavis (and her others) , A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson (and her others), Prince at Midnight and Flowers from the Storm by Kaura Kinsale (and her others)
I would say Unsticky by Sarra Manning is so close to fitting this description. Both the hero and heroine have given up, or never believed in, love, and are both broken but manage to fit themselves together. It’s a great book, although you might have to give some time letting the hero grow on you, but the heroine is more than a match for him, in her own way. It’s also pretty hot too.
Sweetwater Seduction by Joan Johnston – it’s an older western with a spinster school teacher and hired gunman – neither h/h expect to ever find love (I think it’s oop but available as an e-book). Plus, it’s a hoot. The local ranchers and farmers are feuding, so our heroine convinces the women of the town to go on strike (in the bedroom) to get their menfolk to stop fighting. The men hire a lone gunman to seduce the lonely school teacher and hilarity and unexpected love ensues.
Keeping with the western theme – Nowhere Ranch by Heidi Cullinan, which is contemporary m/m with lots and lots and lots of hot, kinky sex. It’s also beautiful and makes me cry every time I read it. Both heroes are lonely, but the narrator Roe is particularly isolated and truly believes that he’s unlovable and broken (his conservative Midwestern family kicked him out for being gay, he’s a high school drop out and ex-con and doesn’t sleep with the same guy twice or believe in friends). And the reader really feels it. It’s told from his 1st person pov – he starts the book saying that this is the story of how he found home. And the way he finds it (with the owner of the ranch he goes to work for and with the friends he finds there) is so moving.
Marie Sexton also has a couple m/m contemporaries that I think fit the bill and that I love – A to Z, and Between Sinners and Saints.
Another steamy western: Should’ve Been a Cowboy by Lorelei James. Hero is vet who lost his leg in Afganistan. Has not had a relationship since his military career ending injury. Develops a friendship with a Ukrainian cook/waitress at the dinner, who has been in major lust with him since the met when he returned. Book starts when she finally pushes him to make a move. As with anything with Lorelei James, it is HOT HOT HOT.
An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan.
It’s a Regency where the heroine is nearing spinsterhood. The description from Amazon:
“As a young woman, clever, self-reliant Lydia Templeton scandalised society by rejecting Lewis Durrant, the county’s most eligible bachelor. Ten years later, having concluded that matters of the heart need no longer trouble her, Lydia is quite happy to remain unwed. But others still seek Lydia’s advice on their love lives, and when her godmother implores her to sort out her young ward Phoebe’s accidental double-engagement, it’s hard to refuse, although the prospect fills Lydia with horror – especially as she must go to Bath of all places to do it. However, finding a solution to Phoebe’s dilemma proves far trickier than anyone imagined and, as affairs become increasingly tangled, Lydia finds that her own heart is not quite the closed book she thought it was…”
It’s in the tradition of Georgette Heyer, which means no steamy scenes, but very fun to read, and touching. One of my favourite books. Jude Morgan has three Regencys I think, and I love them all.
If she wants the emotional aspect, go with The Bronze Horseman, by Paullina Simons. But for god’s sake, keep a giant at of Kleenex, chocolate and your best friend on standby for an emotional talk off the ledge. The book series (three) is great, but my god will it take your heart and stomp all over it, put it back together and then do it all over again. if she doesn’t mind looooong books, Diana Gabaldon.
A bit lighter and paranormal, I recommend Kresley Cole, JR Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Oh, you reminded me of The Sword and The Star by Kinsale – which fits the request perfectly. You really feel their loneliness and isolation, and really want them to make it together. The plot is kind of the definition of crazysauce, but the emotions ring true.
Sylvia Day’s “The Stranger I Married” is along these lines. Hero and heroine have a marriage of convenience in order to have their affairs in peace. Tragedy strikes hero and his soul-searching leads him to seek a real marriage with his wife, who is extremely reluctant to become emotionally involved.
Many of Meljean’s Brooks’ books have themes along these lines as well. “The Iron Duke” has a mixed-race heroine which (in their world, it’s sort of steampunk) makes her a freak that most people view with suspicion or hostility. The hero is wounded by his past, as well as isolated by his current image. In “Riveted” the heroine has a secret to hide which isolates her (although she hasn’t completely given up on love, she is very lonely and fears she may always be due the choices she has to make because of this secret) and the hero was crippled and has mechanical body parts and scars.
Kresley Cole’s “If You Deceive” has a world-weary hero *and* heroine. Hero is so dark he’s really an anti-hero, and the heroine has been fending for herself most of her life and thinks selling herself into marriage is her only means of escaping poverty. It’s pretty angsty, though, right up to the end.
All are hot to burning. 🙂
Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen book, and though it’s kind of more of a “second chance at love” story than a “I was so lonely story,” I simply must recommend it anyway! The heroine has pretty much resigned herself to an essentially lonely, unappreciated life, when she starts to live a little (and not just because of the hero’s return.) There are some great movie adaptations too.
And now for my traditional moment of silence for every time I realize that I’m older than Austen’s spinster heroine. I might need to listen to Beyonce singing about single ladies for a bit. There might even be dancing.
I stayed up to 1 am Wednesday night reading Table for Five by Susan Wiggs. Back blurb about heroine: “She guards her independent lifestyle with a ferocity that hides a fear of love …” She was so lonely, and yet had friends, a job, an active life. It sounds like the plot line the original poster wanted, and it’s a great book. Almost no sex scenes (there are three orphan kids! Loved the realism about no time, no privacy).
Gail Carriger’s Soulless. Set in a steampunk 1870’s England, a 26-year-old woman ends up falling in love with…Well, don’t wanna spoil it. She’s been told she’s ugly all her life, and all that.
But I love his answers to when her family objects because she’s considered an old hag, being unmarried and 26.
Not quite so much glasses-fogging sex as it is loads and loads and loads of tension for most of the book.
Features vampires and werewolves, but in a good way.
I would recommend Julia Quinn and her Bridgerton series…I loved them all especially the one where the identity of Lady Whistledown was revealed.
Can you give a name a few pf these “beauty and the beast” titles?..
The aforementioned Ravished is a good choice, but if you search Goodreads, Amazon or RT Reviews using “Beauty and the Beast Themes” you’ll find lots of recommendations and reviews.
My first though is Stardust of Yesterday by Lynn Kurland. He’s a ghost and she’s just inherited his castle. I would call it an adult version of the canterville ghost. I loved the Sir John Gielgud and Alyssa Milano version. There’s a lot of fun with him trying to scare her out in the beginning and then a whole lot of angist because they can’t touch each other. The ghost thing and all. A very enjoyable read.
I rec:
Montana Bride by Jullian Hart.
OMG, this is the Jen of said question…THANK YOU ALL for all these suggestions. I am going to check every single one of them out.
A book I am reading right now that fits what I want in some ways is “Veils of Silk: Book 3 of the Silk Trilogy” by MJP. It’s a little more hopeful than I’m looking for but it’s close.
Lissa reminded me of other LaVyrle Spencer books. Morning Glory is *wonderful*, but a few others might work, too.
Years is a historical set in North Dakota in the time prior to WWI. The heroine is an 18 year old new teacher, while the hero is an older man (35!) and a widower who’d given up on love.
Bitter Sweet is also a favorite of mine in the same vein – a modern romance with a widow who returns back to her hometown to run a B&B and falls back in love with her high school boyfriend, who is in a very unhappy marriage. The heroine’s father is a decent and good man, but her mother is a true harridan, so there’s a sub-plot relationship about that, too.
Family Blessings also has a widow (I think – or long-time divorced) whose adult son dies. It’s a modern romance. She ends up falling in love with her son’s friend (who is older than her son, but still definitely younger than her), which causes problems with the family.
Maybe this post should be in response to a “age difference” thread! But the older individual – hero or heroine – in these books have either given up on love or have lost it and found it again years later.
I’ve read Ravished and Morning Glory, both good books but not quite what I’m looking for. Morning Glory was so hopeful and beautiful. Ravished was fun but the two parties didn’t strike me as very lonely. Well, maybe the male but it seemed to go away as soon as that cave incident.
There are a lot of great suggestions here!
Hm, interesting! I’d like to read a book like this, too! Going to check out some of these recommendations. I have Table for Five, actually.
Of course, if you *really* can’t find a book like the one you want to read…you could write it. That’s what I’m doing!
I thought I suggested Laura Kinsale’s The Shadow and the Star earlier, but maybe that was another thread. It’s got a crazysauce plot – this is the one with the impoverished, virginal seamstress and the white ninja. Both characters are isolated and lonely and their journey to each other isn’t easy, or always comfortable.
Hi cleo, I’ve read The Shadow and the Star and it’s a really great book. But, while the male lead is an introvert, he is surrounded by love with his family, and the female lead is alone but I never got the impression of loneliness.
But, that is a really great book. My fave from LK is Flowers from the Storm. To date it’s my favorite romance. Though, it’s not what I am looking to read now.
As soon as I am done with a book (non-romance – Lee Child’s Reacher series) I will track down all the suggestions here I’ve never read before.
I second the recommendation of Sherry Thomas’s NOT QUITE A HUSBAND. It’s a fantastically angst-laden romance about two people first torn apart by love and much, much later brought back together by it. (Victorian England/India)
In that same vein, try AN AFFAIR BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Eloisa James. It’s heartbreaking, which makes the HEA that much more satisfying. (Georgian England)
For a contemporary take on reunited lovers who doubt they’re worthy of love, read A MOTHER’S HOMECOMING by Tanya Michaels.
I just read this and I have to say (1) it was pretty fucking intense, and (2) it’s about 75% of what I was looking for. The other 25% of what I am looking for is more plot and storyline. Don’t get me wrong – I REALLY liked it. So, thank you for recommending it. Charlotte did a GREAT job capturing the hopelessness of the two people.
I did read “England’s Perfect Hero” and I enjoyed it a great deal, though the villain was a bit immature and one-dimensional. I would recommend it.
I want to read this but it’s 12.99!
Noooooooo Christian fiction for this atheist, but someone else might like the suggestion. It’s not the lack of sex. I’ve tried CF in the past…I can’t take the pontificating and constant God referencing. For someone like me, who has a complete absence of a god in their lives it just completely pulls me out of a story. So, I just don’t try them any more.
Not-vanilla to me is that happened in Deep Desires…but I can’t get into multiple partners… Maybe it’s because I work in HIV research.
Not available in Kindle format in the USA. 🙁 Looks interesting…
Awesome! You may also like Sheltered.
If you find something that is 100% (or even just 75% again) what you are looking for, PLEASE share. It’s probably what I’m looking for too.
Yeah, it was REALLY close. Some of the sex was a little bit off-color for me (ew, rimming…) but in context with Ivan’s fuckedupedness I went with it. But the missing 25% could have really enriched things…and considering why he was so fucked up it would have been nice to see him become a father…but that would have made the book epic. I dunno…
But I’ll check out Sheltered, definitely.
And, certainly, if I find something that fits as well as these do I’ll come back and share.
I just read Bone Deep and I have to say it was a pretty good fit for what I was looking for. I would generally recommend it if you’re looking for this kind of book. It’s not super hot, but it does indeed hit the loneliness factor for both characters really well and has a really good storyline. I really enjoyed it. I could have done without the metaphysical aspect, but it didn’t kill the story. Thanks for the suggestion!