Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Favorite Love Stories

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.  This week the list theme is

"Top Ten Favorite Love Stories"

1.  Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli - Four to Score by Janet Evanovich

How can anyone not see that these two need to be together.  They've known each other since they were little kids and have grown up in The Burg passing in and out of one another's lives, sometimes positively and sometimes not so positively.  They both have a fear of commitment while at the same time wanting to have a settled but also passionate life.  They both drive each other nuts but would die if anything happened to the other...

Sounds perfect to me :)

2.  Anita Blake and Jean Claude - The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton

A completely make-believe paranormal romance...but a hot one.  Anita and Jean Claude live their own lives and their relationship is certainly not all a bed of roses.  Jean Claude could have any woman in the world...or even every woman in the world if he so chose.  He could destroy Anita with a hand twitch...but she has him wrapped around her heart.  Anita is no wimpy little girl herself.  She battles the best and the worst of the paranormal world and has survived her own honest share of violence.  How can you resist a relationship where the deep connection these two feel is based on the knowledge that Anita would never die waiting for Jean Claude to save her.  She would simply save herself.

3.  Dracula and Mina Harker - Dracula by Bram Stoker

Yes, I admit that the original Bram Stoker's Dracula never intended to focus on a romantic relationship between Mina and Dracula and yes, I have allowed myself to be caught up in such a possible interpretation.  Mina is a woman before her time; and Dracula is a man (sorta) who has nothing to lose and knows that a woman of Mina's intelligence and spirit must be honored, cherished, and even set free.  Oh my...I feel faint.

4. Rhett and Scarlett - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

I'm a Southerner.  What in heaven's name did you expect??  My favorite scene is where Rhett picks Scarlett up and carries her up the stairs...with her kicking and struggling all the way...well, most of the way...Yowza!  Scarlett is also a woman before her own time but is afraid to be that real woman...she hides behind the facade of the Southern Belle...but Rhett sees through that and calls her on it.  Scarlett needs Rhett and he needs her...if only they had both realized it at the same time.

5.  Bill and Sookie - Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

I know that they don't stay together for long...but I think they'll end up together again someday.  Bill had to let Sookie go...so she could grow and find her own identity in the paranormal world.  The scene where Sookie comes to Bill after her grandmother's funeral is one of the most touching scenes EVER...I've read it again and again. 

Yes, I realize I'm a basket case.

6.  Robin Hood and Maid Marian



These two have the opposite relationship of Rhett and Scarlett.  As good of a man as Robin Hood is, he still enjoys being known for his deeds and having a way with the ladies.  Maid Marian sees through all of that and challenges Robin to grow up and be a man, making no bones about the fact that she's had enough of chivalrous idiots and useless tradition.  Stunned at first, Robin follows her like a lost puppy and is happy to oblige Marian's need for him to become a man.

7.  Jo and Professor Baehr - Little Women by Lousia May Alcott

A very patient and gentle man to match but not feel the need to "break" the feisty gung ho nature of Louisa May Alcott's heroine.   Still another example of a man who honors the independence of the woman he chooses to spend his life with.  The Professor is older than Jo and that makes so much sense to me...Jo was always wiser than those her own age and needed someone who could meet her halfway in an intelligent conversation that may not have anything to do with running a household, darning socks, or bearing offspring.  I don't think that it was a coincidence that The Professor was not American by birth. 

8.  Father Tim and Cynthia - Mitford series by Jan Karon

These two have just about the simplest love imaginable...they simply love; they simply trust; and they enjoy each other's company.  When you get tired of all the vampire craziness and the female or male protangonists who can't make up their minds about who the best mate is...you can always count on Father Tim and Cynthia to save you a place at the table for a quiet peaceful dinner...not boring, mind you...there are plenty of crazy things happening in Mitford and amongst their extended families.  But Father Tim and Cynthia weather it together with an honesty that just makes you feel dang good. 

I'm late posting tonight's Top 10 because I have searched and searched for #9 and #10...I've even cheated and skimmed a few other Top Ten lists...it didn't help.

:(

So, I guess this week, I'll only have 8 Top Ten Favorite Love Stories.

But, Man, are they good ones or what??

;)