LitQueuelitqueue

After

Passion

Lisa Valdez2005

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • In Bed with the Duke:(Governess Brides #9)

    Christina Dodd2010

    A duke's heir returns to London under a secret identity to seek revenge. He becomes involved with a governess who discovers his true nature.

    Same earnest register, still historical romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Denser prose

2 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

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

    earnest → tense

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    earnest → epic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Duke and I

    Julia Quinn2000

    A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.

    earnest → playful, still historical romance

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Beautiful Bastard

    Christina Lauren2013

    An MBA intern and her demanding media executive boss engage in a series of sexual encounters while competing at work. It is an erotic romance.

    earnest → playful, still erotic romance

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Love Comes Softly

    Janette Oke1979

    A widow on the 19th-century frontier enters a marriage of convenience with a widower to survive the winter and care for his daughter.

    earnest → tender, still historical romance

    pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

earnest → 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-2·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.

    earnest → playful, still erotic romance

    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-2·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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-2·prose+1·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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+1·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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Wuthering Heights

    Emily Brontë1846

    Two families on the Yorkshire moors deal with the arrival and subsequent revenge of an adopted orphan. The story is told through nested narrators.

    earnest → bleak

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose-1·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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2