This is one of the best parts of reading romance, in my humble opinion. Oh, those declarations of love! If you tell me you never rewound and and sighed a little bit and re-played that one part of a movie adaptation I will say I believe you . . . but secretly I will think you sit on a throne made of lies. Come on. It’s the best part!
My Favorite Bookish Confessions of Love
Leading off with the best. Really, who confesses their love better than an Austen hero? Captain Wentworth is the swoon-worthiest one out of the whole stellar lot of them. And Rupert Penry-Jones is and will always be Captain Wentworth to me.
It’s a classic for a reason. Despite the fact that Darcy gets eviscerated by Elizabeth’s very next sentence (seriously she nopes the fuck right out of there) this is still such a romantic thing to say. And it all turns out fine in the end after Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice get a little adjustment.
Okay, Charlotte knows her stuff. Mr. Rochester is the ultimate Damaged with a Heart of Gold character type and the ways he and Jane say “I love you” are amazing.
*Banging pots and pans together* Austen heroes are the best heroes, can I hear a hell yes? Along with Captain Wentworth, Mr. Knightley attains top spot as the best creation Jane has ever forged of paper and ink. The fact that Johnny Lee Miller plays him in the most recent BBC adaptation *might* have something to do with my ranking here. (Spoiler, it does. 100%.)
If you’re looking for some squee-worthy contemporary expressions of adoration, you could do worse than pick up a Nora Roberts. A little sassier & a lot more modern than Jane Austen, but the feels and tension and the passionate declarations are all there. Go read Nora Roberts, is what I’m saying.
Elizabeth Hoyt generally builds up to the declaration of love. Lots of tension, smoldering, will-they-won’t-they, and some sexy times all lead to that one heart-aching declaration and it’s always worth waiting for. Hoyt is an amazing author.
Tessa Bailey is always guaranteed to have heroes with a filthy mouth and a metric ton of emotional intensity. If that’s your thing, Bailey is absolutely the author for you. These declarations of love will sometimes make you stress-giggle in public but they’ll always leave zero doubt as to how a hero is feeling.
Yep, it’s Lisa Kleypas. Like Hoyt she makes her characters work for that final climax but it’s so, so satisfying. Even without the build-up this quote from Cam Rohan is sweet. But once you’ve read the rest of the book and been there for the entire journey with Amelia, this will make you swoon like a heroine in a Regency novel with no smelling salts.