Since Valentine's Day is on Monday, today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is, not surprisingly, a love freebie. My mind always blanks on freebies and I'm especially stumped on this one because I'm just not much for romance. In fiction, anyway (in real life, I've been married to my college sweetheart for 24 years). I mean, I don't mind a love story; I just don't want it to be the only story in a book, you know? Still, there are a few romance novels I've seen around lately that I wouldn't mind reading. What do the books on this list have in common? They're light, sweet, and funny (at least as far as I can tell—if I'm wrong, let me know, please). Swoony, without being smutty (I hope). I'm a right prude, so I don't want anything more than that, thank you very much!

If you want to join in the TTT fun, click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

1. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood—This love-in-the-lab rom com sounds super fun (even though I'm not a fan of fake dating tropes). It's gotten lots of rave reviews all over the book blogosphere. Plus, just look at that cover. It's adorable!

2. Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis—Two strangers trapped in a snowstorm together fall in love in this "heartwarming" novel. This one got a lot of buzz around the holidays. Sounds like a fun Christmas read for the end of the year.

3. What You Wish For by Katherine Center—I've enjoyed several of Center's novels, so I'm definitely up for this one. Set in a school, it's about an unrequited romance between a librarian and her new principal that gets a second chance to blossom.

4. So Not My Thing by Melanie Jacobson—Jacobson's sweet, sassy romances are always entertaining. Her newest is the first in a duology set in the author's native Louisiana. It's an enemies-to-lovers story about a pop star and the woman whose most humiliating moment was plastered all over the Internet because of him.

5. Hope Between the Pages by Pepper Basham—This historical novel features a woman who helps run her family's 100-year-old bookshop in Asheville, North Carolina. When she discovers an old, forgotten love letter in the store's attic, it sets her off on a treasure hunt that just might end with a romance of her own.

6. A Reluctant Bride by Jody Hedlund—I've enjoyed other books by Hedlund, so I might be up for this one. It's the first in a series about a group of British women who board a bride ship bound for British Columbia in the 1860s in search of escape, improved circumstances, missing family members, and—oh, yeah—love.

7. An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn—Okay, this one is a bit of a cheat since it's more mystery than romance. It does, however, feature one of my favorite literary couples, so there ya go...This is the seventh installment in the Veronica Speedwell series, which is tons of fun. In this newest outing, Veronica and Stoker are tasked with deciding if a man with amnesia is really a client's long-lost brother.

8. The Happy Camper by Melody Carlson—I'm not someone who enjoys camping (although sleeping in an RV is infinitely more appealing than braving a tent), but this love story about a woman whose camper makeover mirrors the transformation of her life, looks like a cute, happy read.

9. Otherwise Engaged by Joanna Barker—I loved Barker's debut Regency romance, so I'm definitely up for more. This one features a spunky woman who saves a child's life, thus attracting the attention of her handsome older brother. As the two fall for each other, she must tell him the unfortunate truth—she's already engaged to marry another man. 

10. A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett—The plot summary of this historical romance is giving me Deanna Raybourn vibes (see #7). It's about a brilliant female scientist in Victorian England who is on a secret mission for the Crown. She's assigned a bodyguard, who turns her head more than she'd like.

There you have it, ten romance novels I might actually read. Might. We'll see. Are you a romance novel lover or hater? Which are your favorites? Based on the list above, what titles would you recommend to me? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!  

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

With the 1857 financial crisis causing panic all across The United States, families are becoming more and more desperate.  Farmers receiving less money for their grain are losing their homes and land.  Penniless parents are shipping their hungry children off on orphan trains.  Young working women like Elise Neumann are growing increasingly panicked as their meager earnings fail to cover the needs of their families.  Unable to properly care for her younger siblings, Elise reluctantly decides to take advantage of a program that's sending skilled workers to other states where jobs are more plentiful.  If she can send home enough money, she can save her family from starvation.

Thornton Quincy may not be destitute (not yet anyway), but the 24-year-old has problems of his own.  His dying father has issued a tantalizing challenge to Thornton and his brother—whoever can build a sustainable town along the Central Illinois Railroad and marry a suitable woman with whom he is truly in love within six months will inherit the old man's considerable fortune.  Determined to prove himself to his father once and for all, Thornton plans to win the bet.  What he doesn't plan on is meeting the beautiful, intriguing Elise Neumann.  The better he gets to know her, the more Thornton questions the value of what he's doing with his life.  Can he win both his father's respect and Elise's heart?  Or will he have to choose one over the other?

Although I expected With You Always, the first book in Jody Hedlund's Orphan Train series, to be about, well, orphan trains, it really isn't.  At least not yet.  This initial volume focuses instead on the adventures of Elise and Thornton as they establish new lives in the emerging town of Quincy, Illinois.  Theirs is an interesting time and place and I found the historical details in this novel fascinating.  I enjoyed the characters as well, although I would have liked to see plucky Elise save herself a few times instead of being rescued by others.  Although With You Always tells, overall, a hopeful, uplifting story, it doesn't shy away from tough subjects like poverty, women's lack of opportunity/rights, discrimination, etc.  I liked that, as well as the book's clean, upbeat feel.  Although this is technically a Christian novel, it never feels preachy or cheesy—which is exactly how I dig my faith-based fiction.  On the whole, then, I enjoyed With You Always and am definitely planning to continue with the series.

(Readalikes:  Um, I can't really think of any.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence, mild innuendo, and vague references to sex and prostitution

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of With You Always from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.