“So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday.” 
 ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

“We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox.” 
 ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

“You are, and always have been, my dream.”
 ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Best Couples

I've already said that Unraveling came to me because of a guy. Well, this guy is pretty special to me. He always listens to me, he buys me flowers some times just because I'm having a bad day, and when I'm stuck and feeling frustrated during the writing or revising process, he's always up for brainstorming--and these are just a few of his best qualities.

But he's out of town for Valentine's Day this week, so I'm going to have to celebrate with my favorite fiction, and I thought I'd share them.

So these are my top five favorite romantic couples.

5. Bella and Edward from Twilight

When I first read the Twilight books, I loved them--like more than I'd care to admit.

I read Twilight and New Moon two days in a row, and then I waited impatiently for twelve weeks for Eclipse to come out.  And then I was one of those people who stood in line and went to a midnight release party at my local B&N when Breaking Dawn came out. And of course, I've seen all the movies.

No matter what the critics say, so many people have read and loved these books, and the relationship between Bella and Edward is at the center of that.

And, ready for a cringeworthy moment, when I was in the middle of reading Breaking Dawn my boyfriend at the time was trying to argue with me about something, and I actually told him the argument would have to wait because I was reading the conclusion to one of the great love stories of our time.

4. Rhapsody and Ashe in The Symphony of Ages Series (Rhapsody, Prophecy, and Destiny)

Other than The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings I hadn't read much fantasy. It wasn't until I was introduced to Elizabeth Haydon's first novel Rhapsody that I realized how much I loved reading about other words.

Over the course of The Symphony of Ages trilogy, I sat enraptured by the main character, Rhapsody, who fell in love on her thirteenth birthday with a boy who claimed he was from somewhere else and then disappears the next day.

It's a love story that spans time and civilizations and surrounds two people who were never supposed to meet let alone end up together, and there are dragons which is just plain awesome.


3. Westley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride

I love everything about The Princess Bride in general. It's a fabulous fairytale with great characters. It's got humor, romance, and adventure.

But mostly I love the story of a boy who loves a girl and will set out to earn his fortune in order to marry her, survive the Dread Pirate Robers, brave a giant Turkish wrestler, an expert fencer, a criminal genius, the fire swamp, come back from the dead, and kill the evil Prince, just to get her back.

What guy is better than that?




2. Allie and Noah from The Notebook

I read my first Nicholas Sparks novel in 2002 (It was A Walk to Remember and it was right before the movie came out). After that novel I was hooked, and I read all of his books, but my favorite couple from all of them is definitely from his very first published work.

One of the things I love most about them is that they're a real couple. They argue and fight and they have different opinions, but they love each other at the same time. And of course there's the fact that they're from two different worlds, they shouldn't end up together in the eyes of society and her parents, and yet everything he does is in some way for her.

Oh, and there's those amazing and swoonworthy romantic scenes, depicted so well in the movie (and Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams were perfect!).

1. Claire and Henry in The Time Traveler's Wife

In 2004, I wandered into Mysterious Galaxy feeling aimless and looking for something new to read. I follow a few series religiously but I was reading faster than the authors were writing and needed a new book.

I picked up Time Traveler's Wife based on the cover and flipped it open to the first page. And I was sucked right in.

I bought it, read it that night, and fell head over heels for Claire and Henry. I love the aspect of romance spanning time, and I love that she's been in love with him her whole life, and for most of his life, she's the only person who knows his secrets.

Some of my other favorite couples on TV include Buffy and Spike from Buffy, Damon and Elena from Vampire Diaries and Max Evans and Liz Parker from Roswell (I never read the books for the last two). I love Taylor and Jonah in Jellicoe Road and Sam and Grace from Shiver.

Which ones did I miss? Who are some of your favorite couples?