Valentine's Day recommendations

 Since this is the day of love I thought I'd share 3 favourite relationships of mine: two literary and one popular culture related pair that I absolutely adore.  

Along with them let me recommend things to watch and listen to; in case you don't have much time to read today.

So here we go:

Couple No1:

Let's start with a classic from the 19th century...

Margaret and Mr. Thornton 

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Goodreads

Guys, seriously, forget Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy for a second and consider this adorable couple. Mr. Thornton is a mill-owner, seemingly cold and hard just like the industrial north but he is all heart inside. And Margaret, fierce Margaret, sweet as the flowery south; a truly determined and smart female protagonist. When they meet they are like fire and water. But do they tame each other eventually? Hell, yes. I guarantee your will cheer for them throughout the book.

In case you'd rather watch a series today:

Check out the 2004 mini-series featuring Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret and Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton.

Couple No2:

An LGBTQ romance

Maurice and Alec

Maurice by E. M. Forster

Goodreads

If you are more up to a M/M romance today pick up Maurice by E. M. Forster. I could go on and on about how much this book means to me, this was the first LGBTQ classic I ever read. 

Maurice is a young man who discovers he is attracted to men but of course it is not easy to digest this fact if you live in a world where you can be arrested if you get caught kissing a lad. There is so much struggle in this book but it promotes the importance of self-discovery along with the importance of finding someone to love and this really gripped me. Maurice has to go through a lot till he finds real attachment and when he does it surprises him what a green fellow can teach him about love.

If you'd rather watch the movie:

Have you ever seen a bad Merchant & Ivory production? Because I haven't. This 1987 film is not an exception it's pure joy to watch. Also, do you remember Inspector Lestrade from BBC Sherlock? Of course you do! Surprise, surprise: Rupert Graves plays young Alec in the movie:

Couple No3:

Okay, I will be a bit of a cheat here because my last pair is not in love with each other... or at least their love is not canon. This is also not a book pairing even if one in the pair is the protagonist of many books as well as a film/series and many audio adventures. So here comes a pairing that I ship but you can interpret their relationship however you want:

The Eighth Doctor and Charlotte Pollard

Doctor Who

Yes, Doctor Who is a TV series but it is much more than that. I'm brave enough to include this pairing here because Eight and Charley had many adventures together, all of them in audio form and believe me, audio adventures are so much like audio books!

India Fisher and Paul McGann aka Charley and the Doctor

I ship Charley and the Doctor in a romantic way because it is so obvious how much they care for each other. At one point the Doctor has to choose between Charley or the Universe's survival and he chooses Charley. Yes, wow. I love their banters and that Charley often tries and succeeds in saving the Doctor from himself. They are a real dynamic duo.

If you love Doctor Who but haven't discovered the audio adventures yet I recommend to start with the Eighth Doctor main range (The first adventure is called Storm Warning).

Goodreads

So these are my Valentine's Day recommendations for you.

Stay safe, read, relax, love and be loved.