Top Five: Books That Make Me Go "Awww"

So it's Valentine's Day. Y'know, in case you hadn't noticed from the 367 smug updates in your Facebook newsfeed (what, was that just mine?). Whether you're a lover or a hater, it's a good excuse to talk love stories. These are some of my fave feelgood reads...

Source: Hark! A Vagrant

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. As if any love story list would be complete without Elizabeth and Darcy. Do I even need to explain why? I'll just leave this quote here to simmer:

"The happiness which this reply produced, was such as he had probably never felt before; and he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do. Had Elizabeth been able to encounter his eye, she might have seen how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face, became him; but, though she could not look, she could listen, and he told her of feelings, which, in proving of what importance she was to him, made his affection every moment more valuable. They walked on, without knowing in what direction. There was too much to be thought, and felt, and said, for attention to any other objects."

2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I've been whoring this book out since I read it back in July. It's got everything you need for the perfect romance: A relatable, awesome heroine; an adorable, smart, funny, devoted guy (with the bonus of a cute accent); an obstacle (or two) to overcome; a beautiful setting; strong secondary characters and a helluva lot of sexual tension. Le sigh.

"Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?"

3. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Sure, Buttercup might be a complete idiot, but Westley is amazeballs enough for the two of them - and hey, it's True Love. Westley comes back from the dead for it - twice. Buttercup... er, jumps off a ledge and... almost stabs her "perfect breasts" for it. Ahem. Like I said - True Love.

"I've been saying it so long to you, you just wouldn't listen. Every time you said 'Farm Boy, do this' you thought I was answering, 'As you wish', but that's only because you were hearing wrong. 'I love you' was what it was, but you never heard."

4. Persuasion by Jane Austen. I know I probably shouldn't make two out of five books in this list by Jane Austen - but frankly, they're worth it. I love Persuasion almost as much as Pride and Prejudice - which is saying a lot. The relationship between Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot is a little more angsty than Darcy and Lizzie's, but it's perhaps even more beautiful and powerful because of it. Plus, Persuasion contains one of the greatest love letters to ever grace the pages of fiction.

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago."

5. Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery. From the moment Anne breaks her slate over Gilbert's head, I fell head over heals in love with her - er, I mean, Gilbert did. Seriously, though - it's a fantastic beginning to an amazing relationship. Their attraction-turned-hate-turned-competition-turned-friendship-turned-love is one of the loveliest love stories ever.

"As she held out her hand, their eyes met and all doubt was swept away in a glad certainty. They belonged to each other; and, no matter what life might hold for them, it could never alter that. Their happiness was in each other's keeping and both were unafraid."

What are your favourite happily ever afters?