Looking for a love story to curl up with and read? Goodreads compiled the top 10 romances just in time for Valentine’s Day. Goodreads based its top 10 on books with more than 1 million ratings and sorted them based on their average star rating. The verdict: A good love story is a good love story, whether it takes place in rural England in the Regency era or in modern-day America.
No. 1: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This classic love story remains as popular now as it was when it was first published in 1813. The novel continues to warm our hearts while it tackles friendship, family, class, love matches and countless Hollywood films.
No. 2:
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
This unlikely modern-day love story is set in a small English village where Louisa helps care for Will, a 35-year-old quadriplegic. The novel was made into a film starring Emilia Clarke in 2016.
No. 3: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
It appears after all these years, readers still give a damn about Scarlett and Rhett. The love story between a Southern belle and a rouge with a questionable reputation is set in Georgia against the backdrop of the Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
No. 4: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The first young adult title in the list, the novel follows Hazel, a young girl with terminal cancer, who finds love with a boy named Augustus at a cancer support group.
No. 5: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Published in 1847, the novel, told in the first person, follows Jane’s life from childhood through adulthood, including her time as a governess, where she falls for her reclusive employer, Edward Rochester.
No. 6: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
This love story begins when soldier Noah Calhoun returns home to North Carolina after WWII and meets socialite Allie Nelson. It became a hugely successful movie in 2004 starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gossling.
No. 7: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The novel follows the love story of Clare, an art student, and Henry, a librarian. Their love story is defined by Henry’s diagnosis of Chrono-Displacement Disorder which results in his spontaneously traveling through time.
No. 8: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The second book on this list by a Bronte, this time Emily. The 1847 novel follows and explores the tortured love affair between Heathcliff and Catherine.
No. 9: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Maybe not so much romantic as erotic, the novel, which was No. 1 on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list for more than 20 weeks, is about the relationship between literature student Anastasia Steele and entrepreneur Christian Grey.
No. 10: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The young adult novel inspired many girl-meets-vampire novels and film adaptations that shot Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson to stardom. The novel follows the love story between the human-born Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. (Text courtesy of USA Today)