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Romantic Fiction

Between the sickly sweet of Nicholas Sparks and the pure raunch of bodice rippers, romance novels have fallen into disrepute. They're considered (in most cases, rightfully so) to be unrealistic, shallow and poorly written. Such representations of the romantic bond between a man and woman lead invariably to expectations that not only will never, but can never be fulfilled. Why fill our minds with such drivel? More to the point, why let our kids fill their minds with such drivel?

Yet men and women fall in love and get married all the time. Or get married and fall in love, as the case may be. Our best literature examines and chronicles the realities of existence—do we make an exception for matters of the heart? Do we cut out all the bad romance novels....and with them, the works of Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and George MacDonald?

Just because something can be misused doesn't mean we also need to dispense with its good manifestations. Really, anything can be misused, including those things we value most. Hands aren't bad because people kill each other with them. Words aren't bad because people lie. It's the same with literary genres. Because certain "writers" abuse the romance genre doesn't mean we shouldn't read good romance novels, and even (horror of horrors!) enjoy them.

There are few more universal stories than that of a boy and girl in love. As much as we want to keep our children pure (especially in our debauched society), we also want them to see and appreciate the beauty of true romance. We also want them to understand the difficulties love entails, the self-sacrifice and the frustration, the pain as well as the joy. That's why you won't find any books by Nicholas Sparks or Danielle Steele here, that celebrate one element of love over others, that honor love as a feeling or impulse, but not as a choice or decision.

For that reason, Jane Austen may be the best romance writer of all time. Nothing terribly exciting happens to any of her characters (just as nothing terribly exciting happens to most of us), there are always obstacles to happiness (no romance is truly easy), and yet each honorable romantic attachment ends where it should—in marriage. You'll find all of Austen's books in this section, and many others like them, books that promote purity and honor and humility over the lust and blind passion that fills the romance novels of today.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Agnes Grey
Penguin Classics
by Anne Bronte
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.00
Agnes Grey
by Anne Bronte, Illustrated by Edmund Dulac
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of the Island
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Anne of the Island
Puffin Classics
by L.M. Montgomery
Reissue from Puffin Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$5.99
Anne of the Island
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by L.M. Montgomery, illustrated by Mark Graham
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of the Island
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by L.M. Montgomery, illustrated by Mark Graham
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of the Island
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Anne of the Island
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne #4
by L.M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne #4
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne #4
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Aunt Jane's Hero
by Elizabeth Prentiss
from Calvary Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Autumn's Brightness
by Daisy Newman
Special Family Bookshelf Edition, 1989 from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Awakening of Miss Prim
by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera
from Atria Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Baron's Apprenticeship
Thomas Wingfold #3 of 3
by George MacDonald
from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Baronet's Song
by George MacDonald, edited by Michael R. Phillips
1st THUS from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beckoning Road
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
American Historical Fiction for 7th-12th Grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Betsy Was a Junior / Betsy and Joe
by Maud Hart Lovelace
from William Morrow & Company
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Betsy's Wedding
by Maud Hart Lovelace
from Thomas Crowell
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Black Rose
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Captain Blood
Penguin Classics
by Rafael Sabatini
from Penguin Classics
Historical Romance for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Christy
by Catherine Marshall
from Zondervan
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Classic Library: Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights
from Smithmark Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Daddy-Long-Legs
Thrushwood Book
by Jean Webster
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dear Enemy
Thrushwood Book
by Jean Webster
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dear Enemy
by Jean Webster
from Yearling
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dobry
by Monica Shannon, illustrated by Atanas Katchamakoff
from Puffin Books
for 4th-8th grade
1935 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Dobry
by Monica Shannon
15th printing 1967 from Viking Press
for 4th-8th grade
1935 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (2 in stock)
Dot and the Line
by Norton Juster
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-2nd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Eight Cousins
by Louisa May Alcott
from Whitman Publishing Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Emily Climbs
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Emily Climbs
Emily #2
by L. M. Montgomery
1983 Printing from Seal Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Emily of Deep Valley
by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Vera Neville, foreword by Mitali Perkins
Reprint from Harper Perennial
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Emily of New Moon
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Emily's Quest
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Emily's Quest
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Emma
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00
Emma
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$26.00
Emma
by Jane Austen
from Oxford University
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.95
Emma
by Jane Austen
from Bantam Books
for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Emma
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$12.99
Flight into Spring
by Bianca Bradbury
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.50
Freckles
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Freckles
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Dover Publications
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Gabriel and the Hour Book
by Evaleen Stein
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.95 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Gabriel and the Hour Book
by Evaleen Stein
from Unknown Publisher
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry
from Picture Book Studio
Realistic Fiction for Nursery-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Girl of the Limberlost
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Girl of the Limberlost
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Dover Publications
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Golden Road
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Romance for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$20.99
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer
from Sun Dial Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Hannah Coulter
by Wendell Berry
from Counterpoint, LLC
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.95
Harding's Luck
by Edith Nesbit
from Aegypan
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Heidi Grows Up
by Charles Tritten
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Heidi Grows Up
by Johanna Spyri, Charles Tritten
from Dell Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
High Towers
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
In This Mountain
Mitford Years Book 7
by Jan Karon
from Penguin Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
In This Mountain
Mitford Years Book 7
by Jan Karon
from Viking Press
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Inheritance
Penguin Classics
by Louisa May Alcott
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$15.00
Jane Austen Hardcover Collection
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$144.80
Jane Austen Softcover Collection
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Putnam
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$51.85
Jane Eyre
Puffin Classics
by Charlotte Bronte
from Puffin Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Jane Eyre
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Charlotte Bronte
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Jane Eyre
Everyman's Library
by Charlotte Bronte
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$28.00
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
from Dover Publications
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
from International Collectors Library
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, Illustrated by F. H. Townsend
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jane Eyre
Rainbow Classics
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Nell Booker
from World Publishing Company
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights - 2 Volume Set
by Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Keeper of the Bees
by Gene Stratton-Porter, illustrated by Gordon Grant, decorations by Lee Thayer
from Purple House Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.99
King of Elfland's Daughter
by Lord Dunsany
Fourth Printing from Ballantine Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Laddie
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.95
Lantern in Her Hand
by Bess Streeter Aldrich
from Puffin Books
Realistic fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Little Minister
Popular Classics of the World
by James M. Barrie
from Caxton House Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Little Minister
World Juvenile Library
by James M. Barrie
from World Publishing Company
for 5th-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Little Minister
World Juvenile Library
by James M. Barrie
from Books, Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Little Princess
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from HarperFestival
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Little Women
Puffin Classics
by Louisa May Alcott
from Puffin Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$9.99
Little Women
Whole Story Series
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by James Prunier
from Viking Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Louis Jambor
from Grosset & Dunlap
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Little Women
by Lousia May Alcott
from Penguin Putnam
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00
Little Women
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Reisie Lonette
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
Sterling Classics
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Sterling Classics (Location: FIC-STE)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Lousia May Alcott, illustrated by Harve Stein
from Garden City Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Anna Marie Magagna
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Derek James
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Kate Aldous and James McGairy
First Edition from Parragon Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Judith Cheng
Special from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Louis Jambor
from Grosset & Dunlap
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Little Women
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Louis Jambor
from Grosset & Dunlap
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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