Top Ten Tuesday - Romance

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Of course, the theme this week is romance. Valentine's Day is on Thursday. I don't think I've ever shared my opinion about this particular holiday but they are nearly as strong as my opinion about Mother's Day (and Father's by default). It's artificial and an imposition. Firstly, loved ones and moms and dads should be treasured every day. If one is inclined to celebrate on a "special" day, don't spend a ton of money. Make it meaningful with home-made touches and attention, like conversation. Secondly, there are lots of folks without significant others or parents and the other-ness is kind of magnified on days like this.

My snark spills over into the romance novel. While I do love a good romance, my expectations are high and the minute the previously kick-ass heroine becomes an angsty fool, I'm done. Unfortunately, it seems to be the fate of heroines in most of the highly touted romances lately, paranormal and otherwise. As I perused the romance tags in my LJ blog and on Goodreads, I began to think that I ought to do a top ten idiotic romance list because there were more that I rolled my eyes over than thinking, "Oh yeah! That was cool." But I came up with a few.

1. Karou and Akiva in Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. I've read some reviews expressing disappointment over the lack of romance in the second book but I thought it was brilliant.

2. Puck and Sean in The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.  I thought this one was epic despite the fact that they barely share a kiss. Two likable, driven people after the same aim. This was a beautiful story.

3. PK and Critter from Jump by Elisa Carbone. This one was spunky and I just loved learning about climbing and the adrenaline rushes that climbers seek.

4. Charlie and Gloria in Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon. This one is smart and funny.

5. Lennie Walker in The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.

6. Ophelia and Hamlet in Ophelia by Lisa Klein. In this re-imagining, Ophelia's suicide is a ruse. She was actually spirited away.

7. Mia and Adam from If I Stay and Where She Went.

8. Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

9. 

Okay, I'm out of time because I need to get ready for work.