LitQueuelitqueue

After

Untie my heart

Judith Ivory2002

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Delicious

    Sherry Thomas2008

    A politician hires a renowned chef, only to realize she is the woman he shared a single night of passion with ten years earlier.

    wry → tender, still historical romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

2 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

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

    wry → tense

    pace+1·prose+1·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.

    wry → epic

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

wry → playful, still historical romance

3 more ↓

  • No Mistress of Mine

    Laura Lee Guhrke2016

    A nobleman planning a respectable marriage is interrupted when his former American lover returns to claim an inheritance.

    wry → warm, still historical romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Wicked Nights With A Proper Lady:(Dangerous Rogues #1)

    Tiffany Clare2012

    An Earl and his former flame reunite in 1846 London. While they navigate their past, his friends attempt to rescue her cousin from a suitor.

    wry → earnest, still historical romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Hard To Handle

    Lori Foster2008

    A life coach is secretly hired to help an MMA fighter recover his career. They live together while she hides her employer's identity.

    wry → playful, still opposites attract

    pace+1·prose-2·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.

    wry → propulsive, still enemies to lovers

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    wry → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    wry → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    wry → elegiac

    pace0·prose-1·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.

    wry → elegiac

    pace0·prose0·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.

    wry → elegiac

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2