I’d love to avoid as many played out tropes as possible and stereotypical romance stuff like “beautiful but she doesn’t know it”, manic pixie dream girl, “turned pretty when she takes off her glasses,” “she’s so small and weak she couldn’t possibly do XYZ thing” … all that shit.
It doesn’t have to even be a romance novel itself. I just want to feel affection again just through the words on the page.. I want to feel like love is always possible no matter what you look like. I want to feel my own heart burst and shed a little dumb tear at how moved I am.
It can be sacrificial love, love through shared experiences, love through trauma bonding, I don’t even care. I just wanna feel love through a book 😭 preferably fiction and without a tacky or sexist portrayal of a female protagonist
Please no fourth wing, ACOTAR, etc type stuff. I’m fine with fantasy but these feel like lust not love and I need ADULT love
by Protector_iorek
7 Comments
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I’m sorry you’re feeling like that 😞💜
I’d maybe suggest the Outlander series. She’s competent but misplaced in time and the relationships forged, not just the romantic ones, are well worth all the pages. The audiobook narrator is also fantastic.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Girl, this is a tall order. I’d go Pride and Prejudice. Don’t let its canonical reputation let you think it’s cliché!
{Convergence of Desire by Felicity Niven}
{At First Spite by Olivia Dade}
{A Gentleman Undone by Cecilia Grant}
If you like fantasy, I recommend the Paladin’s Grace series by T Kingfisher
The Poppy Denby books by Fiona Veich Smith might interest you. We’re kinda in the same boat with the loneliness you know.