Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Love Stories

Today's "Top Ten Tuesday" is favorite love stories, in honor of Valentine's Day. As many of you know, I'm not a romance reader, but that doesn't mean that I don't still have some favorites, mainly from the classics. These are pretty roughly in order, though a few might go up or down a notch depending on which I had read most recently.

1. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth from Persuasion by Jane Austen. Such a lovely story, so gentle and beautiful. I think this is her finest work, I truly do.

2. Maxim and the new Mrs. de Winter from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Not only is this an amazing novel full of suspense, tension and secrets, it's a novel of true love that is willing to face all the odds. I truly respect the young, never named, new Mrs. de Winter.

3. Rassendyll and Princess Flavia in the Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. Swashbuckling thrilling adventure and true love that sacrifices itself for the good of all. I LOVE this novel!

4. Charlotte Vale and Jerry Durrance from Now, Voyager by Olive Higgins Prouty. I have never been one to enjoy a romance involving an already married person, but this novel is very different and the self-sacrifice and the characterizations and just plain well-written-ness of it make it an exception.

5. Rae and Constantine from Robin McKinley's Sunshine. Another stunning and well written novel whose romance element is without the fairy tale ending--plus it's about vampires!

6. Judy and Jervis in Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. It's a lovely surprise for the first time reading and afterward and enjoyable read even knowing the surprise.

7. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. It's fun to see them grow up and change and fall in love.

8. From the LOTR mythology: Aragorn and Arwen, who waited all that time for him. While Tolkien is not known for romance, it's still a lovely story.

9. I hate to come back to Austen, but. . . Emma and Knightly from Austen's Emma is another couple that I love. Knightly is so well able to both enjoy and overlook her bad points and help her see them when they become hurtful to others. She's an appealingly flawed character and it's hard not to love her despite her selfishness. I enjoy them immensely.

10. To finish my list, I have to confess to yet another Austen couple. Yes, Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. While I don't love them as much as the two other Austen couples mentioned, they are still a top ten favorite love story.