Another awesome reader email spawns another wallet-destroying Rec League! After reading Scandal in Spring, Reader Krystal is hoping to find more couples like Matthew and Daisy, where the hero has always been in love with the heroine. Here’s her initial request:
Amanda: Recommending Make Me by Tessa Bailey and Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas. In both, the heroes believe they aren’t good enough for the heroine. In Make Me, the hero is blue collar and the heroine is very Type-A and wealthy. He doesn’t believe she’d ever want him despite how much he wants to protect her and help her. It’s so sweet. It’s also a contemporary romance with some hot beach sex.Since you ladies are the experts, I was wondering if you could help me. My favorite romance novel of all time is Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas. I absolutely love the “hero has loved the heroine for years” theme. I mean these lines: “But that didn’t stop Matthew from wanting her. He had always wanted Daisy, with an intensity that seemed to radiate from the pores of his skin… Matthew had imagined being in bed with her more often than he should have. If such a thing could have ever occurred, he would have been so gentle… he would have worshipped her. Anything and everything to please her.” SIGH.
I love that he loves Daisy just as she is. Her spirit and personality. I love Matthew’s wonder at the fact that Daisy is finally noticing him. Everything about this book is my catnip and I can’t seem to find anything that evokes that same feeling.
If you could provide any help providing suggestions for books with similar themes I would be so grateful!
Seduce Me at Sunrise ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) has class differences and a heroine who was really ill when she was younger. The hero has known her all of her life essentially and does a lot of worrying and fussing over her.
Sarah: Unlocked by Courtney Milan ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) – a twist on the “he teases you because he likes you” except that has consequences. In my review I called it a “grovel-vella.” It’s lovely.
Redheadedgirl: It’s an agonizing read.
Sarah: Let it Shine by Alyssa Cole – though Ivan is very quiet about how much he admires her.
Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) – there’s amnesia, and a marriage of convenience because she’s about to be ruined.
Also To Wed a Wicked Earl by Olivia Parker ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Carrie: I think you mean that there’s AMNESIA!
Sarah: Ooooh, The Raider by Jude Deveraux ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Totally off the wall, but he’s got it bad for the heroine.
Oh gosh, and The Wedding Journey. The hero, a surgeon in a field hospital during the Napoleonic war, is shy and in love with Nell, whose father is horrible and tries to give her to a really gross dude to settle his gambling debt.
I reviewed it – it’s so good.
OH – this is an older one, and not quite “he’s pined for her for years,” but sort of close – Power Play by Deirdre Martin ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). She’s a soap opera actress who needs a high- profile relationship to keep her job status, and he’s a hockey player who gets set up with her. He’s also a huge soap opera fan (the whole team is – they watch it while they work out) and he’s been crushing on her for a long time.
Amanda, I think you’d like that one a lot.
Amanda: I think you recommended it to me on the sports podcast episode we did!
Sarah: Wrecked by Shiloh Walker – he’s in love with her for years and years and years.
Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), but you’d kind of be better off reading the rest of them in order to get the full impact of the story.
Vision in White by Nora Roberts ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). He’s got a crush on her and asks a totally ridiculous co worker for advice on how to approach her.
Okay, I should stop now.
What about you? What “pining-away-for-the-heroine” heroes do you love? Let us know your recommendations in the comments!
kkw, the Joanna Bourne book you’re thinking of is Rogue Spy. It was a fun read though not my favorite of her books.
“The Hating Game” by Sally Thorne. A DEBUT novel no less! The perfect romance novel.
Love this trope too. I second all the Sherry Thomas recs. Tempting the Bride is one of my favourites because she gets down into the hero’s desperate and torturous love so well. In some ways I feel Jenny Crusie’s Crazy For You kind of also fits in here. It’s not obviously discussed but a few lines in the book do suggest some long unacknowledged romantic feelings on the part of the hero for the heroine.
Oh and Lauren Layne’s “Cuff me”. So good.
For Historical, I have to agree with Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan because I adore the way that Sebastian knows Violet so truly and so well and proves his loyalty again and again. It is mega swoonworthy.
For Contemporary, The Princess Royal by Molly Jameson. Phillip is in love with his best friend’s younger sister, has been since they were kids and she’s a hot mess and then he says this and I’m so there:
“You see, I’ve spent thirty-odd years letting things happen to me. I haven’t taken much initiative. For the first time, that seems like disaster, because you’re not going to happen to me. You’d drift off and never think of kissing me again, and I’d brood on it my whole life. So I’m going to happen to you, Lizzy.”
Phillip is so my type.
I also love this trope. The one that came to mind for me was Bittersweet by Noelle Adams. The hero and heroine meet at a diner (or restaurant of some sort) and ate lunch together everyday, but the hero was kind of shy and never asked her out. One day she meets his cousin/business partner and he asks the heroine out. They end up getting married and he dies (this is where the book starts, so not a spoiler). While they were married, the hero distanced himself and the heroine actually came to think of him as arrogant. So the book is about her finding out that he actually was in love with her the whole time and her coming to terms with falling in love with him and grieving her husband.
And Penny Reid’s Friends Without Benefits.
Sarina Bowen’s Bittersweet and Steadfast.
Shiloh Walker’s Ruined (although I liked Wrecked better)
Laura Florand’s All For You
Jill Shalvis’ Second Chance Summer
Sonali Dev’s The Bollywood Bride
Kelly Hunter’s What the Bride Didn’t Know
Rachel Gibson’s Truly Madly Yours
And that’s just a quick scan through the misc. Contemporary folder on my kindle….
Not going to inundate y’all by going through my other kindle folders (Suspense, SciFi, Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical, etc), but I can’t sign off without mentioning Edie Harris’ Blamed, or Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, Meredith Duran’s Duke of Shawdows, Joanna Bourne’s The Black Hawk…. Ok. I’ll stop now.
What about If I Had You but Lynn Kurland? Historical romance, but part of her time traveling series – even though this one really isn’t.
Secrets of the Heart by Candace Camp – hero loves heroine and is set to marry her. She tries to run off with another man because the hero seems boring and uptight. In order to stop a scandal the hero agrees to marry the heroine to save her reputation because he loves her.
They are married for several years when the events of the book take place – each living their own lives. The plot goes completely crazysauce from this point – hero secretly does undercover work for the government, heroine has a mystery to solve and along the way the hero uses his investigative skills to help her WHILE PRETENDING HE IS HIS ILLEGITIMATE HALF-BROTHER (who doesn’t really exist). The plot is just as crazy as it sounds, but I always found the hero’s quiet yearning for the heroine terribly sweet.
A newish one I would recommend is Heart Of Iron by Bec McMaster it’s Steampunk/historical and the hero has secretly loved the heroine for years but pushed her away to protect her. It’s one of my favorites.
I would also argue Adrian “Hawker” and Justine from Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster series fit the bill as well. It all starts chronologically in The Forbidden Rose and finally wraps up in BlackHawk.
One of my all time favorite books (though historical fiction) is The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley and the hero Florent loves Genevieve even when she is young with a noticeable limp while everyone else worships her beautiful blonde sister. Let’s just say Florent is a 17th century Gilbert Blythe who appreciates a smart woman. Highly highly recommend it.
This is Krystal. Thank you everyone for the wonderful recommendations! I am so excited to delve into this list and the books in the comments. This is more than I could have asked for!
I love Vision in White. It’s soo good.
This is my all-time favorite trope so I have been adding to my wishlist like mad.
Here are my recommendations:
In the Clear by Tamara Morgan [contemporary] — Shy, slightly nerdy hero with a “secret” life as a volunteer with a Search & Rescue team has a major crush on a childhood friend who is zany, but not overly quirky. I believe I discovered this book on the Smart Bitches podcast last year.
Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh [contemporary] — Novella in the Rock Kiss series with a sexy drummer who is in love with his band’s publicist. The memos between the two were a real highlight for me.
Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt [historical] — Part of the Maiden Lane series. Heroine is blind and the hero is her bodyguard who has fallen for her. Lots of catnip in this one!
The Farmer Takes a Wife by Genevieve Turner [historical] — The hero has crushed on the heroine for two years despite the fact that they have never actually spoken and she has sworn off marriage. I appreciated how the author emphasized the need to really know a person (not just the image you develop in your head) before true happiness can be obtained.
Ruined By Rumor by Alyssa Everett [historical] — Hero, of course, has been crushing on the heroine for years. After her engagement is falls apart, his attempts at comfort result in scandal and they are forced to marry. The most emotional part of this book was the fact that the hero spent much of the book believing his wife was still in love with her former fiance even though it was clear she was falling for him. The heroine had a few bratty moments, but, I thought, she made up for them by the end.
I also agree with the commenters who recommended As You Desire by Connie Brockway, When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn, Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair, The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan, and Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas.
I thought of a few more after I posted last night:
Emma by Jane Austen – Mr. Knightley, enough said
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins – Peeta and Katniss, I ate that romance up with a spoon – one of my favorite pairings ever
The Marrying Season by Candace Camp
I want to strongly second Amanda’s recommendation of Make Me by Tessa Bailey – I LOVED it
Also if you are interested in reading a series I would suggest Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters. There is a long romance arc between Sam and Alyssa (Sam loved Alyssa from basically the first time he met her) through several of the Troubleshooter’s series – I believe their story starts in The Defiant Hero or Over the Edge and they get their own book several books later in Gone Too Far. While Sam and Alyssa plays out as a secondary storyline, the main romances in Over the Edge, Out of Control and Into the Night are AWESOME – I have read them many times over.
I have to recommend Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. Derek Craven is a brooding gambler that doesn’t think he’s good enough for Sarah Fielding. It’s one of my all time favorite books.
This is one of my favorite tropes, too.
I second “Truly Madly Yours” by Rachel Gibson. That book has one of the best “I’ve loved you forever” speeches I’ve ever read. 🙂
For those of you into m/m, “Sutphin Boulevard” by Santino Hassell is another good one; from the first chapter it’s evident that Michael and Nunzio have been in love with each other forever, but only one of them is aware of it. “Hot Head” by Damon Suede is also one of my favorites.
How about “Rock Chick” by Kristen Ashley? The H and the H have known each other since diapers (also works as a best friend’s older sibling trope). The H has been in love with the H since she was a preteen, but he rejects her because of the age difference, first because he’s sixteen and sees her as a younger sister and later because he doesn’t want to get arrested for statutory rape. The last of the rejections hits her hard and so she starts avoiding him. Meanwhile, he’s decided that they’ve grown up enough to pursue this thing. Shenanigans ensue. It’s wacky and ridiculous, but I enjoyed the series as a whole.
Thank God for Krystal for finding the time to ask you to make this list! I have been meaning to request one but haven’t found the time to do it.
And thank you, guys, for all the recommendations being added. I just created a shortcut icon of this link on my desktop and added it to my phone’s home screen for easy access.
Yes to Austen’s EMMA, the Sherry Thomas books mentioned, and Julia Quinn’s WHEN HE WAS WICKED.
I would add the following:
PERSUASION by Jane Austen
REMEMBER THE TIME by Annette Reynolds
SWEET LULLABY by Lorraine Heath
PANTS ON FIRE by Meg Cabot
Also by Sherry Thomas: “Learning a Secret on Christmas Eve” (The author has mentioned before that she intends to have this short story–or novella–published one day, when the story is finished.)
I’m an absolute sucker for that trope.
Just want to second Molly’s recommendation of The Hating Game. I’ve had real concentration problems reading the last few years, but I read this one right through. I love hate-turns-to-friendship-turns-to-love-although-one-or-both-has-actually-been-in-love-with-the-other-the-whole-time books.
Also second vaultdweller111’s recommendation of Fire and Ice because Anne Stuart’s Ice series is one of my favourite series of all time. (Her new Fire series is excellent too)
Also highly recommend anything by Mhairi McFarlane, but to fit into your request, You Had Me At Hello. She’s a VERY special author.
A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess is fantastic for the whole best male friend in love with the heroine theme. It’s a great read but a little self-conscious of its ‘coolness’ at times.
Ooh, I love this trope too! So much. Looks like most people have been giving historical recs, but in case you (or anyone else) wants something a little different, I thought of two that aren’t historical. First, In Safe Hands is the 4th book in Katie Ruggle’s Search and Rescue series, and the hero has been in love with the heroine for years but stays away for some believable reasons. I love that book, though it’s maybe not quite as emotional as some of the others because it’s written only from the heroine’s point of view, so we don’t quite get the hero’s angst as strongly. We can SEE it, but not hear about it.
Another one I love is Instant Temptation which is the 3rd book in Jill Shalvis’s Wilder series. Hero has pined for the heroine for years, and finally they get their chance. It’s cute and lovely.
I know I’ve read so many more but I just can’t think of them right now!
Oh I thought of one more! I finally got around to reading Blood Magick, the 3rd in Nora Roberts’s Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy. The couple have been in love forever but couldn’t be together because of Magical Reasons. You have to read the trilogy to see the heartwrenching build up, but by the 3rd book you just hurt for them. Frankly, it felt like the challenges were sort of dispatched a little too easily in the end given how much hand wringing had happened, but I still really enjoyed it. The hero’s inner monologue in particular had me good-sighing, just like you did for the Kleypas hero. He loves her more than anything but he can’t have her and it’s just soooo good.
@CelineB – can’t believe I forgot about Bittersweet! So good! A couple others that have come to mind…
Contemporary: Best of Friends by Jilliene McKinstry – I had a couple issues with some things and would not give it 5 stars… but the love story itself was pretty adorable (friends since childhood, both denying feelings for each other, coming around to how perfect they are together, etc.).
Brit Chick Lit: Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married – takes a while for Lucy to wake up to who she should be with, which can be frustrating, but the H is adorable.
M/M: C.E. Kilgore’s Right Back Where (which is free for kindle)
Not in a “loved-forever” vein, because they didn’t meet until adulthood, but a loved-from-the-start-but-took-the-h-a-while-to-catch-on way, I also highly recommend Lynn Kurland’s fantasy Morgan and Miach series (first book is Star of the Morning). If I could pull any literary hero into reality for myself it would be Miach. Also the Cat and Bones urban fantasy series by Jeaniene Frost. Bones falls in love for the first time in his 200+ years of existence, and he falls hard. Loved those two!
Loretta Chase’s earlier book, Sandalwood Princess is gorgeous! It tracks the hero’s love for the heroine through a battle of wits and jewel thievery-style competition. One of my faves!!
I’m SO late to the party, but would highly recommend Vivienne Lorett’s The Elusive Lord Everheart. There’s a bit of mystery related to anonymous love letters, a hopeless romantic book worm heroine, and an adventurer hero. Oh, and also; a matchmaking dog. The writing feels a bit “stuffy” at first, but starts to pick up and really becomes charming. My biggest critique would be the main characters (mostly on the hero’s part) attraction felt a little farfetched. They didn’t really seem to know each other well enough, but then in life there are people you meet who you just get and they just get you. So, I can relate in that sense, plus the hero really does some lowkey pining, Lol, and that was so sweet to read. It’s part of a trio and all 3 were on sale on Amazon for a steal!
In a Fix (Ciel Halligan, #1) by Linda Grimes a very fun series. So many tropes- best friend (super funny and gorgeous as it happens) has loved her forever, she has loved someone else forever who now notices her but there is a budding romance with the besdt friend. Love triange, danger, paranormal but contemporary at the same time! YAY!