LitQueuelitqueue

After

Daring and the Duke

Sarah MacLean2020

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • In Bed with the Duke:(Governess Brides #9)

    Christina Dodd2010

    A duke's heir returns to London under a secret identity to seek revenge. He becomes involved with a governess who discovers his true nature.

    Same earnest register, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

    A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

    earnest → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Paradise Logic

    Sophie Kemp2025

    A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

    earnest → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Seize the Fire

    Laura Kinsale1989

    A princess and a disgraced soldier flee across the sea to a desert island. The story focuses on the hero's trauma and deception.

    Same earnest register, still historical romance

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Drunk Dial

    Penelope Ward2017

    A woman makes a late-night phone call to her former childhood best friend, leading to a reunion years after they drifted apart.

    earnest → playful, still second chance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Life's Golden Ticket

    Brendon Burchard2007

    A man visits a mysterious, abandoned amusement park to fulfill his dying fiancée's request. He meets guides who offer life lessons.

    Same earnest register

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Paper Rose

    Diana Palmer1999

    A woman returns to her hometown to help the man who once rejected her after he becomes entangled in a political scandal.

    Same earnest register, still second chance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Savage Prince

    Meghan March2018

    A powerful man in the New Orleans underworld becomes obsessed with a woman and pursues her despite the danger of his lifestyle.

    earnest → propulsive, still enemies to lovers

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Professional: Part 2 (The Game Maker, #1b)

    Kresley Cole

    A Russian enforcer continues his pursuit of a graduate student across Europe. The focus is on their sexual power dynamic and his mafia duties.

    earnest → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Victory at Prescott High

    C.M. Stunich

    A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    earnest → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway1929

    An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles

    Thomas Hardy

    A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx1997

    Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2