LitQueuelitqueue

After

Untouched

Anna Campbell2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still historical romance

1 more ↓

  • Romancing the Duke

    Tessa Dare2014

    An impoverished woman inherits a dilapidated castle, only to find a blinded, reclusive Duke living there. They negotiate for the property.

    tense → playful, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

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.

    Same tense register

    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.

    tense → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Flowers from the Storm

    Laura Kinsale2003

    A high-society rake suffers a stroke that leaves him unable to speak. A Quaker woman cares for him while his family tries to commit him.

    tense → tender, still historical romance

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • In Her Highlander's Bed

    Lynsay Sands2023

    A Scottish laird finds an amnesiac woman hiding in his woods after she escapes a forced marriage. He protects her while she recovers her memory.

    tense → playful, still historical romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Kissing Madeline

    Lex Martin2015

    A college soccer player tries to win back his childhood sweetheart after a past betrayal. The story follows their reconciliation.

    tense → tender

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • This Is All I Ask

    Lynn Kurland1997

    An abused woman is married off to a reclusive, scarred knight rumored to be a sorcerer. They navigate their mutual trauma in a medieval setting.

    tense → tender, still historical romance

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

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.

    tense → propulsive

    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.

    Same tense register, still forced proximity

    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.

    tense → propulsive

    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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2