Listen To This | 16 of My Favorite Love Stories (& Why We Need More of Them!)
A Collection of Audiobook Recs for Friday, February 14th
Welcome to Listen to This, a new feature within Welcome Wanderer. Each day, I share a favorite podcast episode or audiobook —one that moved me, challenged me, or simply made my life a little brighter.
Love stories come in many forms and flavors, varying levels of spice and sex and sweet. This list represents only a teeny tiny portion of that love spectrum. For awhile, I shamed myself for needing to always have a sweet romance in my current reads rotation, but not anymore.
I am a total romance novel convert! I know some people detest this genre, and that’s fine. But for me, these kinds of books open me up to accepting more intimacy, possibility, and hope in my life.
So…here are 16 of my favorites. And when I say favorite I mean they made me cry, they made me laugh, they made me take longer bike rides and walks so I could listen to a few more minutes, and they made me believe that love can be more beautiful than I’ve ever imagined it to be. (AND please scroll to the end for Katherine Center’s exquisite words on WHY she won’t stop writing love stories. I dare you to argue with her!)
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey
Idea of You by Robinne Lee
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune*
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan*
Funny Story by Emily Henry*
Is She Really Going Out With Him by Sophie Cousens*
Seven Summers by Paige Toon*
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center*
The Accidental Dating Experiment by Lauren Blakely
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reed*
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez*
Expiration Dates by Rebbeca Serle*
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo*
* I will read EVERYTHING by this author and probably already have!
In closing, I want to share these words from Katherine Center (which I continue to hold with me since the day I read them) on why she continues to stand up for (and write!) love stories. She says this is The Hill she will die on, and I couldn’t agree more.
Love stories can be built out of infinite plots involving almost anything—ghosts, murder, pirates, movie stars, firefighters, whatever—but one inevitable truth about them is that, no matter what, the behaviors that drive the story toward its Happily Ever After are pro-social ones.
Our lovers might not be good at love when they start. But if they want that happy ending, they damn well better figure it out.
And so, over the course of the story, they master the many arts of listening, and connecting, and nurturing, and care-taking, and trusting, and appreciating, and savoring, and sharing, and empathizing. They have to overcome their prejudices, learn to apologize, forgive each other, and sacrifice.
When we read love stories, we get to see kindness in action. And human compassion. And connection made visible. And people choosing to be the best versions of themselves in the face of it all. Love stories show us people getting better at love— in real time.
-Katherine Center, Author’s Note (to read the full note go here.)
Question for you: Which of the above books do you want to read or listen to next?
Happy Hearts Day!
-Charissa
PS: Not sure how long this experiment will last, but I hope you enjoy receiving an audio rec a day to build your curiosity and bring some wisdom to your path.