What are some of the books that just make your heart go pitter-patter when you read them?
Today I'm participating in a blog hop hosted by Candlelight Reads.
I used to read a lot of romance when I was younger, but I have two all-time favorites that still make me sigh with a racing heart by the end. One is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. When I was younger, that moody, broody Mr. Darcy was exactly my type of guy(except all the moody-broodies I knew were actually not very nice people). When Darcy redeems himself near the end of the story, I always find myself grasping at my heart and dabbing a tear from my eye.
The second novel is The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, for a completely different reason. The story does not necessarily end predictably, but I sigh with satisfaction at the characters' use of restraint and decisions to do the right thing.
Incidentally, The Age of Innocence inspired my novel Song from the Ashes, which I'm giving away free via ebook through random drawing. Just comment below with a book that makes your heart go pitter-patter, and you'll automatically be entered to receive a free ecopy.
Here is an excerpt from the novel:
Landon felt the
blood rush to his face. He knew once he began saying the words he wouldn’t be
able to stop, and they would change the precarious balance of all that had been
between them.
“April and I had
a heart to heart while I was there. She confronted me with something—with the
reasons why she felt I was rushing the marriage.”
Ella
moved to sit in the chair closest to the bookshelf—the furthest one from him.
“She
thinks I just want to hurry it along to convince myself of my feelings for her,
when it’s really someone else I want to be with,” he said.
Ella’s
face colored as her expression of surprise froze her features. “Someone else?”
He
nodded, watching her eyes darting around, considering his words. Even so,
Landon felt he couldn’t sit another minute; his right leg jittered up and down
furiously.
“The thing is,”
he rushed on, “I told her she had nothing to worry about. She remembered a girl
she saw me with at church a few times, and I assured April that girl is long
gone—out of my life. But…,” he paused at the word, looking up at Ella who
looked stricken—as though her breath had caught in her throat. Her mouth was
slightly open and the muscles in her neck constricted.
She
stood up and walked toward him. “Landon, I don’t think you should say—“
“She
guessed right,” he rushed on, knowing he had to get the words out. “April
guessed right.”
Ella
stood in front of him, looking up at him, shaking her head. “No.”
“What
time do you have to leave?” he asked, his voice sounding thick and unlike
himself.
Without
moving, Ella glanced at the clock behind him. “I should be leaving soon—now,
really. My ride’ll be here.”
He
slumped a little, nodding slowly.
“You
should come with me,” she said softly.
The
thought crossed his mind, but in actuality, he didn’t want to go with her. He
wanted her to stay there with him. He didn’t want to leave the house or have
her leave; he wanted everything to stay exactly as it was right then in that
moment—just the two of them alone in the world.
“April
was right when she guessed I wanted someone else,” he got the words out,
meeting Ella’s gaze—watching her eyes well with tears. Minutes seemed to pass
as they stood there, staring at one another; the weight and reality of his
words sinking in.
She
turned suddenly and retreated to the safety of the couch where she sank down, shaking
her head just as the tears spilled over her cheeks.
“Don’t do this
Landon. Do not mess with my head. I
can’t take that—not from you.”
He
stood his ground feeling the adrenaline rushing through him, “I’m not messing
with your head, Ella. I wouldn’t do that, but I have to tell you how I’m feeling.
I don’t know how I could live with myself without being honest…with myself and
with you. I think I want things to be ….different.”
She
looked up at him, and her face was wet with tears.
“Different?
Things can’t be different, Landon. You haven’t broken anything off with
April—in fact, now you’ve set them on the fast track for marriage. How can
things be any different?”
Her
words hurt; they held a mirror before his face and he saw his weakness. “How do
you feel about me, Ella? Tell me how you
feel.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head vigorously.
“Don’t put me in that position, Landon! I’m not going to pour my heart out to
you—to another woman’s fiancé—only to have my heart smashed all over again. You
know what I went through with Grey.
I’m not going there again.”
Landon
sat beside her on the couch, wanting desperately to be close to her. He had
hoped his confession of feeling would bring her heart closer to his, not push
her away. He didn’t want to argue with her. He took her hand in his, and
although she didn’t clutch his fingers the way he’d hoped, she didn’t pull away
either.
“I’m not like Grey
Dyer, Ella. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
She
nodded, her eyes wide and shining with tears, “I know. But you can’t be my
husband.”
He
studied her face, his hand squeezing hers, “Why can’t I be? You’re the woman I want to be with,
Ella.”
“Please,
don’t say that,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Why
not? It’s true!”
“But
there’s April…”
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