Like most writers, I’m a voracious reader and my favorite books to read are those that bring out the emotion in me. In fact, when I first decided to start writing my goal was to make my reader cry. I figured if I made the reader cry then that reader was emotionally invested in my characters. That’s still my goal. I love to write stories driven more by the characters and their emotions than the actual plot. To me, the plot is secondary. For me, it’s about how the characters adapt and overcome.
There have been so many books that have touched me emotionally but a few stand out. Ironically enough, the one that stands out the most isn’t a romance at all. Well, it’s sort of a romance, but not a traditional romance.
How To Talk To A Widower by Jonathon Tropper. Oh, my. Be prepared for a roller-coaster of emotion when reading this one. I remember when I read it I was sitting by the pool and one minute I’d be laughing out loud and the next tears would be pouring down my face. It’s about a man who lost his wife in a plane crash. The story begins a year after her death and explores how he’s coping. He has a stepson who still needs emotional support and a host of quirky family members who think it’s high time he gets back into the dating scene. I highly recommend this book.
Another one is probably one many of you have read but which touched me in so many ways. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. I was riveted by Jamie’s story and cried like a baby at the end.
Another good tear-jerker is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I read that one when I was something like 15 1/2 months pregnant with my son (okay, I wasn’t that pregnant. It just felt like it). I was supposed to go to a friend’s house for girls night out but I ended up being late because I was at the end of the book and couldn’t put it down. Needless to say I showed up with a blotchy face and a runny nose.
So has a book ever brought you to tears? If so, which book was it? And what does it take to move you as a reader?
If you comment, you’ll be put into a drawing to win an ebook of Her Dark Knight, my newest release from Carina Press.
Madelaine Alexander is on a mission. When her boss sends her to the hottest nightclub in town to meet with the owner, she won’t be deterred, even if that means standing in line for fifty-eight minutes in torturous heels while she’d rather be home in her pj’s with a bowl of popcorn.
Knight of the Templar, Christien Chevalier was given immortality along with the responsibility of protecting the treasure of the Templars. He’s been unwavering in his task for centuries until his one true love—who died seven hundred years ago—shows up in his club, demanding his attention.
Christien couldn’t protect Madelaine when they first fell in love. She was married to a lord and he was simply a knight. Now, through some unknown miracle, she stands before him again and they have a second chance. But Christien fears that Madelaine is being used as a pawn in a dangerous game, a game of good versus evil that could affect all of mankind…
Buy links
Kindle | Nook | From Carina Press
Sharon Cullen is the author of paranormal romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance and historical romance with Samhain Publishing and Carina Press. If you’d like to find out more about her and her books, you can visit her at her blog or her website. She’s addicted to social networking so you can find her on Facebook and Twitter. Friend her! Like her! Follow her! She’d love to hang out with you and talk about her passion—books.
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