Which WOTR Romance Has The Best Story?

Think of the alignment restrictions for romance more in terms of narrative than in terms of numbers on paper. A Good character falling for both Arue and then breaking her heart for good would be incredibly cruel. Even if the game didn’t shift the Good character down to Evil as a result, they’d be violating their own moral code. An Evil character, on the other hand, could be using romantic conquests to try to manipulate people or to further their own interests. In that case, it would be entirely within their character. The system is there to give you a framework, but it’s up to you and how you choose to play the story out as to whether it’s heroic, villainous, or something more tragically human. A sandbox for exploring the ethics of story.

One of the most satisfying historical romances to read is one that defies most expectations of the genre. Courtney Milan’s The Duke Who Didn’t is a Regency romance about a Chinese-British duke who falls for a woman from a Hakka village in rural England. The woman makes sauce for a living. The book is joyful and funny and treats with depth the realities of being a person of color in 19th century England without letting that become too depressing for the romance at hand. The historical research about Hakka communities in England is great and very fresh. The novel follows the long-held crush of a man on a woman. He secretly identifies with her, and they share a common cultural heritage. It is a very warm, clever, and deeply romantic novel, which explores in a thoughtful manner the history of a people of color in a bygone era. In short, a perfect escape read that is also very perceptive.

Ultimately, the "best" romance in the game is whatever each individual player wants it to be. And honestly, that's what makes this system so wonderful. Rather than forcing one "perfect" romance on every player, the various storylines and connections work so well because they can be meaningful to so many different people in so many different ways. Really, the true "fan favorite" of the various storylines in the game is how it allows for so much personal, emotional connection with characters in the Dark Hour, and that players can experience their time in that world in uniquely personal ways, even in which characters they choose to spend their limited time with.

Jealousy is kind of the root of so much of sports romance. Athletes are typically super competitive, so there's already that rivalry element in place. Plus most sports have a really close knit team, so everyone knows each other’s business. And then there’s the fans. In Kulti by Mariana Zapata, the jealousy is slowly revealed because the main character is a retired soccer star turned coach, and the other main character is on his team of young female soccer players. This means that initially any sign of jealousy is squashed under his respect for her, his ages difference from her, and his overall grumpy demeanor. But every now and again his jealousy will peek through in the form of very protective actions, and somewhat rude comments. It’s all very tense because of the power dynamics at play here, and the fact that they have to keep their relationship a secret, so every time his professionalism wavers it’s a huge deal. And it pays off in legendary fashion.

The most powerful story in “Somebody Told Me” is about the last diner in a dying town. I sit at the counter and listen to a group of very regular people tell stories to each other about their lives, and somehow, the plate of eggs in front of me becomes a elegy to the passing of an era. He has a very darkly funny piece about the courthouse dog (yes, the dog comforts the crime victims), and I find his witty and compassionate take on the goings-on of very local people perfectly balanced. His portrait of a sharecropper’s daughter, her hands rough from her work in the fields but her voice full of hope for her dreams is heart-wrenching and hopeful. The way he can find the universal in these very hyper-local stories is his magic.

Anomen’s romance is all about seeing worth in him despite his usual flaws. His entire self-esteem is rooted in becoming a knight and redeeming his family name. As he struggles along the way, you help him realize that he has worth even when he fails. When he finally succeeds, you help keep his ego in check. The Anomen romance explores ways to challenge toxic masculinity and deal with the incredible pressure that our culture puts on its males. Sure, Anomen is a jerk at times, but he’s also a product of a rather demanding and strict culture, and it’s up to you to help him find his way to either change or peace with himself.

I really liked the audiobook for Dearest Milton James by NR Walker, and Madison Square Murders by C.S. Poe. The narrator for the big bad wolf series by Charalie Adhara ends up being amazing by the end of the series, but the first book is not great. He really improved after that tho if you’re willing to try it.

Oh, the novels of Renaissance romance are just so beautifully, magically crafted to contain so much passion and politics and poetry. One of my absolute favorites of all time has to be The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster, which, yes, is rather outside the mainstream of typical romance novels in being very dark indeed. Yet it is such an utterly fascinating and so very intense novel, and this particularly in terms of its exploration of the power of love. Written as it was by a playwright (of another epoch), the novel offers a powerful sense of drama, and remains as forceful and as moving as ever. As for arcadian romance, Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit by John Lyly is another absolute treasure, above all for the dialogues which are so full of wit and of sparkle. For a more grounded exploration of the tortured conflicting feelings of love, however, it would be hard to think of anything better than Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney. The rather cardboard characters in this sprawling, rather idealized novel of a half-dozen or so love stories all involving rather knight-like shepherds are so beautifully and imperiously mapped out against the backdrop of a completely fictional idyllic rural context, with all their conversations consisting of the sharpest and wisest repartee, and their glances at each other swimming with hidden meanings. Another different approach to the romance novel of the Renaissance era is found in ‘Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit’ by John Lyly. Most readers would consider it to be outside the genre of romance yet there are many great dialogues regarding the complexities of love and friendship. For something totally different, maybe one of the most celebrated poems of the Renaissance era would be ‘The Faerie Queene’ by Edmund Spenser. Written as an allegorical romance featuring knights, damsels, enさ chantresses and fantastical quests, it is a magnificent read with lots of romance woven throughout the very moral tales of the imaginary land of Faerie. Yes, it is written in a very rich and dense language but after a while you can fall into its rhythm and be transported by a mighty wave of beautiful poetry. I love Renaissance romances, including their imperfections. The great love stories of the past are not as neat as modern tales with happy endings. Rather, they are fraught with the agony and politics of love and contain many unpredictable human interactions. Every time I return to a book I have read before, I discover something new about the human experience and the time period in which the author lived.

I'm taking a chance here and suggesting 'A Little Romance' (1979). It's about two young teenagers who set off to Venice. An older man is their guide for the two of them. While this isn't a stepmom, it has the intergenerational feelings of a mentor/special guide to two young teens falling in love. This is, after all, a movie about a forbidden love that is also guided. Many stepmoms function as a first safe guide into the sex love of a teenager, plus often is forbidden at first too. I am therefore associating the ‘stepmom’ figure with the archetype of the ‘initiator’. Stories featuring initiation, mentorship and first love/s set within unusual social contexts will all hit some of the same notes as this trope, even if they don’t literally feature a step-parent. Looking for examples of ‘An Education’ or ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ (note that the latter’s teacher-student relationships are purely inspirational, and not romantic in any way) might therefore prove fruitful.

Why choose a romance crime novel? For starters, ‘In the Woods’ by Tana French is a fantastic choice of romance crime novel. The desire between detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox is as compelling as the murder of a young child that they are trying to solve. Then there’s ‘The Wife Between Us’ by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, another twisty and addictive love story. Add historical twist to the mix by grabbing ‘The Alienist’ by Caleb Carr, a chilling 19th century mystery set in New York that has subtle undertones of romance. Without exception the books of crime listed here show that even when you’re in the grip of the central plot of the book, love can creep in and keep you enthralled until the very end.