Kiss of the Highlander

Spell of the Highlander

Karen Marie Moning2005

An archaeology student accidentally releases a 9th-century Highland warrior from an ancient mirror. They must break a curse while being hunted.

pace0·prose0·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.

playful → 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.

playful → 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.

playful → dark

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Warrior

Angela Knight2008

A genetically enhanced soldier travels from the 23rd century to 2008. He must protect an artist from a time-traveling assassin.

playful → propulsive, still paranormal romance

pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Warrior Rising

P.C. Cast2008

Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.

Same playful register, still fated mates

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Fantasy Lover

Sherrilyn Kenyon2002

A Spartan warrior cursed to be a love-slave inside a book is summoned by a modern woman. She takes him into the world to live as a man.

playful → earnest, still paranormal romance

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Ill Wind

Rachel Caine2003

A weather warden on the run from the law uses her ability to control storms to protect people from rogue elemental forces.

playful → propulsive, still paranormal romance

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Paper Princess

Erin Watt2016

An orphaned girl is taken in by a wealthy family with five hostile sons. She must navigate high school bullying and mansion politics.

playful → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

playful → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

Same playful register

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.

playful → 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.

playful → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

playful → 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.

playful → elegiac

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

Bright Side

Kim Holden2014

An optimistic college student moves to Minnesota for a fresh start while hiding a terminal diagnosis from her best friend.

playful → tender

pace0·prose0·bleak+2