Vday Special - Best "romance" scence

Preferably from Fantasy or SF, because I'm not interested in reading entire romance novels....

Books or writers? Who captures that "gooey" feeling well.

I can't think of many: Aragorn and Awen don't get much of a written description.

Killeshandra and Lahs Dahl on the beach maybe Crystal singer by Anne Mccaffery.

I'm waiting to see if Cherryh manages anything with Tristen in Fortress of Ice but she hasn't written many other romance scenes.

Well, there was plenty of sex in Heinlein's books. Not much romance, though. I do recall vividly how much Lazarus Long desired his mother, though. :oS

There is that great scene in Mists of Avalon when Morgaine celebrates Beltane with The Hunter. Not much romance there either, though. ;o)

This is totally right up my alley because these are the kind of books I love!!

What Do you Say to a Naked Elf? by Cheryl Sterling sort of reminds me of a very abbreviated version of Lord of the Rings and with a lot less characters running around. Much more emphasis on plot and story than most romance novels but, much more romance than you would usually find in fantasy novels. I would highly recommend this one to you.

Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon has a very strong Greek Mythology background, some time travel, paranormal happenings, etc. I'd very highly recommend it as well.

The Weather Warden series (start with Ill Wind) that I recently read is of the fantasy genre but there is a very strong romantic thread that runs through the stories. I've been making a lot of suggestions to people of these books and might have already mentioned the series to you.

Tinker by Wen Spencer is a, urban fantasy/sci-fi with some romance in it. I loved this book and the sequel Wolf Who Rules.

The Aisling Grey books by Katie MacAlister are urban fantasy/romance (cataloged as romance) are really good too. This is about woman who is working as a courier for her uncle and discovers that she is much more than she thought she was. I have reviews posted on all three books in the trilogy. The first one is You Slay Me.

If you like those books and want any more suggestions I would be happy to oblige :-)

A lot of Mercedes Lackey's work has a romantic thread in it. I especially liked the relationship between Talia and Dirk in the Arrows series and The Fire Rose is my favorite fantasy AND romance novel.

I like Susan Dexter's books Prince of Ill-Luck, Wind-Witch, and True Knight.

Has anyone else read these?

They are simple, relatively short books, but they are so sweet I just loved them. And there is a romantic sub-plot in all of them, but they are driven by plot.

OK, here's from the Le Guin department ;-)
> In Tehanu there's a nice lovescene, and the whole book is kind of romantic. As a plus there's evil wizards and some dragons as well, hehe. But it's a prerequisite to read the Earthsea trilogy /or at least The tombs of Atuan/ before reading Tehanu, so maybe not the best chioce if you just want a fast romantic read!

*OK, I know you know, reading_fox, but maybe not the others reading this :-) *

Anne Bishop's black jewels series generally...the stories in Dreams of the Flesh were particularly good.

I can't remember any specific scenes as it's been too long since I read the books, but my favorite couple is in Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy. There are plenty of violent sex scenes in the trilogy as a whole, but the central couple drives all that away and basically made the whole trilogy for me. I don't want to say who, because it came as a bit of a surprise (although not much). =) I just wonder if anyone agrees with me!

I know who you're talking about! :D And yes, they do make a good couple.

I've always loved the scene of Arthur and Fenchurch doing it in the clouds in So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish, especially the bit about the Fuolornis Fire Dragons.

>11 mrgrooism: I read that book a long time ago, back in high school. I'm thinking I need to read it again because I don't remember that at all! I remember Arthur trying to kill a deer and hijacking a run away couch, but don't remember much more (or was that a different book?)

#12 that's book three Life the universe and everything, by book four Arthur is back on more or less the real earth in the "current" time frame. And he has a girlfriend.

I can't remember the deer, there's the rabbit which is Argajax or what ever his name is, but I've no recall on the deer.

The deer was just what Arthur wanted to eat for lunch. I believe he was going to break it's neck when the couch chased it away. Something about smelling a certain way and making the deer stand still long enough to catch it....or maybe it was Ford Prefect that was doing that.

Sorry, my memory isn't what it should be!

Well, with my limited fantasy reading, I don't have much to draw from, but I always like Eowyn and Faramir in the Houses of Healing. A very tentative exploration and healing developing into an awareness and interest.

#14 you are right, it was one of Ford Prefects mental tricks.

I really like books by Trudi Canavan because of the romance! The Black Magician trilogy is really good.

#17 - so did you like/approve the ending? I think it did have to be that way, but poor Sonea!

I don't think of them as romance, though you are right it is a prevalent topic. Possably stronger in the age of gods, I've just picked up Last of the wilds so I'll see how it goes next week sometime.

I like Sam and Frodo... oh, no, wait, that's not really supposed to be romance, is it. Oops.

Um, I like Eowyn and Faramir. They are awesome and classy and dignified and not very sappy.

I also like Morwen and Telemain, because they are ridiculously not sappy. And Mendanbar's proposal to Cimorene because it's cute and awkward.

This isn't fantasy, but I like all the happy couples in The Importance of Being Earnest, because it is ridiculous and absurd and the best play ever written.

I just read Twilight (which I actually wasn't expecting too much from - and it was FABULOUS and definitely fits into the genre of "Romance Science." And I don't generally like Romancey books.

Has anyone else been having trouble with touchstones recently? The last three or four posts I've made it just says "searching" and then doesn't show up at all.

I've been having the same problem for a couple weeks and it is very Very VERY VERY annoying.

Did I mention it was VERY annoying>

#19 You're right, that is a great play. If I recall, one of the characters dwells on fantasy quite a bit. Unless that was just in the movie, I've not found the actual play to read yet.

#21 Yep, it's been a problem.
#22 Yep, it's annoying. Guess I just figure it doesn't matter terrificly, so I'm not very, Very, VERY, VERY annoyed. Phlegmatic temperament here.

>Phlegmatic temperament here.

Heh, not me. Though I'm probably (definitely) exaggerating how much it bugs me because... well, just because. :)

It's not like I'm losing sleep over it or ranting to my hubby.

Just to ya'll.

>#23, 24
I just don't want people to think I'm being laaaaazy.

I know! I feel like I'm being rude if I don't make sure everything is touchstoned.

I try to get touchstones but I've noticed that some just don't want to work, and Twilight has been MIA for quite a while, but it appears to be back now :-)

The thing is, when the touchstones get stuck like that, it's not like you can just hit refresh. I've copied my text a few times, and hit refresh and re-pasted it, and that seems to have worked most of the time. (But not always!)

Okay, I just have to revive this thread.
:o)

I just finished Twilight this morning. (Blasted touchstones!) I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book. *blush* My daughter borrowed it from the town library, and polished it off in a day or so. I just had to give it a shot myself. What a great story, told simply and cleanly, and *sigh* what a wonderfully romantic and thrilling page turner. I have renewed hope for the YA genre.

ROFL! I just realized, we are getting very close to Valentine's Day again, so it is serendipitous for me to bring this thread back from the dead. ;o)

I always loved the scene in The Princess Bride when Wesley is telling her he's going to go away to make his fortune, and she doesn't understand that he's doing it for her. Such a great scene!

I think it's been some time since I last mentioned The Lions of Al-Rassan, and this seems such an appropriate thread for it!!!
There's a great romance in that one, I think. The scene/s were Jehane wanders the streets of Ragosa during the carnival and ends up meeting *you know who* (won't tell, so not to spoil anything for those who haven't read it) is a special favourite with me.

One of the best romance scenes ever is in Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust & Emma Bull. The rest of the book is excellent, too!

My fav is not in a fantasy book, but it's the seduction on the roof scene in Illywacker. It's hilarious.

damn touchstones!

Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris). Whew! *reaches for metaphorical cigarette*

Most disturbing goes to Talyn, by Holly Lisle (although I haven't read Kushiel's Dart).

My favourite is in Fire Sword, where the heroine meets a Goddess and there is a really beautiful scene between the two. Actually I quite like the different aspects of love throughout the book.

Of a different style but always refreshing how about Verence and Magrat or Vimes and Sibyl

There's a poignant SF short story called "Finis" by Frank L. Pollack, where a very nondescript couple of scientists share their first (and last) intimate encounter just as the earth is burned to a crisp upon the appearance of a new star. Written a long time ago (1906). Quite touching, in a bittersweet way.

My favourite love story is from Cecilia Dart-Thornton The Bitterbynde TrilogyA story about Faery Kings fighting and much more. Thorn and the heroine * spoiler if I say names* have an exquisite romance. It's not graphic or lude but totally tantalizing!I got goosebumps! Already read it twice and want to go again. Yummy.

Edited to correct dyslexic spelling

How about Midsummer Night's Dream for romance? I love the mixed up love triangles but I'm always a sucker for the happy endings. :)

I second the Bitterbynde books - the story there is quite beautiful.

Also, and I count him as a fantasy author -

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night has lots of romance in it. It's just the juicy, snipy, confused love quadrangle kind.

I've also always had a soft spot for Beatrice and Benedick - they're so cute in their anti-social attempts at avoiding love.

I just finished Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett and I LOVE the last few paragraphs of the book describing the encounter with Susan (who is fast becoming one of my favorite fictional heroines of all time) and Lobsang.

"Even with nougat, you can have a perfect moment."

Sigh.

I'm working with romance in Fantasy at the moment, so I need all the recommendations of decent Fantasy romance in the world to help me.

I generally like warm and fuzzy romances rather than angsty romances, but there's always a bit of angst when it comes to love, because usually that angst should be resolved with a happy ending if it's warm and fuzzy.

Watching Bollywood movies really helped me figure out how romance can prosper without so much as a kiss shown on screen, but realistically there will be much kissing/hugging in a real relationship.

Any recommendations?

42 - Read the first four books of the Deverry quartet by Katherine Kerr (start with Daggerspell). It's obvious how the romance is going, really, but it's so sweet, and the complications involved (including multiple triangles and multiple reincarnations) are very interesting. There are more and more developments as the series goes on, but the first four are fantasy classics.

Does anyone else think that some fantasy is written (and often read) by people who are too embarrassed to actually write romance themselves?

Basically I'm trying to nail how a gutsy girl from a Matriarchal (Eastern) society now in the 21st Century would react to falling for a Changeling from an older time in the Western world who's more adjusted to men ruling the day, but not all the time.

It's complicated. I tend to feel for my characters so much that I feel their burn when they get "ownzored" by Cupid, that is, if he doesn't treat them well.

I found books like Train Man and Harry Potter helped me understand both how relationships work in both real/fictional settings. Will check out Daggerspell.