LitQueuelitqueue

After

Beyond Innocence

Kit Rocha2015

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • In the Service of the King

    Laura Kaye2012

    A warrior king and a healer find they are fated mates in a fantasy world. They navigate political duty and physical attraction.

    Same propulsive register, still erotic romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

    A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Paradise Logic

    Sophie Kemp2025

    A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

    propulsive → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Mad Mabel

    Sally Hepworth2025

    An eighty-one-year-old woman with a history of killing people tries to hide her past when a curious young girl moves into the neighborhood.

    propulsive → dark

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Animal Magnetism

    Jill Shalvis2011

    A kennel owner rear-ends a pilot's truck while transporting several animals. They begin a relationship in a small Idaho town.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Driven

    K. Bromberg2013

    A woman working for a charity meets a volatile race car driver. They navigate a sexual relationship complicated by their respective past traumas.

    propulsive → tense, still erotic romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Spun Out

    Lorelei James2019

    A woman enters a polyamorous relationship with two male friends in a small-town setting. The story focuses on their shared history and dynamic.

    propulsive → earnest, still friends to lovers

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

Same propulsive register

3 more ↓

  • Savage Prince

    Meghan March2018

    A powerful man in the New Orleans underworld becomes obsessed with a woman and pursues her despite the danger of his lifestyle.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Warlord Wants Forever

    Kresley Cole2011

    A vampire general hunts a valkyrie who stole his heart centuries ago. They are forced together during a magical competition.

    propulsive → playful, still erotic romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Victory at Prescott High

    C.M. Stunich

    A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway1929

    An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles

    Thomas Hardy

    A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx1997

    Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2