LitQueuelitqueue

After

Dreaming of You

Lisa Kleypas1994

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Marriage Bed

    Laura Lee Guhrke2005

    A husband and wife have lived in silence for nine years following a betrayal. They are forced to reconcile when they return to the same house.

    Same tender register, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Lolita

    Vladimir Nabokov

    A middle-aged professor documents his obsession with his twelve-year-old stepdaughter. He uses complex prose to justify his crimes.

    tender → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

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

    tender → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Corinthian

    Georgette Heyer1940

    A wealthy dandy helps an heiress disguised as a boy escape an unwanted marriage. They travel across the English countryside together.

    tender → playful, still historical romance

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Almost Heaven

    Judith McNaught1990

    A ruined countess and a wealthy gambler meet again years after a scandal destroyed her reputation. They navigate Regency social hierarchies.

    Same tender register, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Devil in Winter

    Lisa Kleypas2006

    A shy heiress proposes a marriage of convenience to a notorious rake to escape her abusive family. They travel to Scotland to wed and manage a club.

    tender → warm, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Forbidden Lord

    Sabrina Jeffries1999

    A woman seeking her missing brother encounters a man she believes is a dangerous lord, but who is actually an undercover investigator.

    tender → warm, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

tender → propulsive

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 Professional: Part 2 (The Game Maker, #1b)

    Kresley Cole

    A Russian enforcer continues his pursuit of a graduate student across Europe. The focus is on their sexual power dynamic and his mafia duties.

    tender → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    tender → 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.

    tender → 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.

    tender → 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.

    tender → 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.

    tender → 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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2