My Favorite Old-Fashioned Romance Novels

I am an unapologetic bookworm.

I have been ever since I could read THE FAT CAT SAT ON A MAT.

I also am not a single lane book lover. I love all kinds of genres. In fact, my parents had a hard time keeping up with me when I was a kid.

I had a tendency to wander into genres not so appropriate for my age level...even though my reading level was on par with the book I happened to be reading.

Some of my all-time favorite romance stories happened to be of more of a wholesome nature, however. Today they would be considered old-fashioned and almost corny. But, I have also found that there is nothing wrong with old-fashioned. And, in fact, maybe our young girls need to be introduced and exposed to a few more old-fashioned ideas and notions.

I am not including a few of my ALL-TIME favorite books and characters on this list. After all, they are rather obvious. Even though my very favorite novel, Jane Eyre, has the very best ending line EVAH...Mr. Rochester did keep his first wife locked up and was willing to marry Jane Eyre while married to his first wife (her being locked up). Not exactly wholesome.

And (on my soapbox again) there really isn't anything harmful about a little corn in your romance. Bring me all the corn things!

I thought I would share 5 of my very favorite Old-Fashioned books about love and romance. You might know a few of them and have read them yourselves. Some of these are free to read online or in an e-book like Kindle. I'll try and find them for you to check out.

1. The Blue Castle - Lucy Maude Montgomery. 

LM Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables, is one of my favorite authors. She has written some of my most treasured stories. The Blue Castle is right up there in my opinion. Valancy Stirling at 29 is an old-maid. She lives with her impossible mother and is treated like a weak-minded and fragile child. She decides to "rebel" from her gossipy and miserable family when she is given an unexpected diagnosis.

I do not recommend Valancy's method of finding love and true happiness, but the ending is so satisfying and Montgomery's writing is so lovely. It is just a pleasant novel all the way around.

You can find it on Amazon Kindle or at Project Gutenberg. Here is a link to the paperback version. I am not an affiliate.

 Daddy-Long-Legs - Jean Webster

Jerusha Abbot has grown up in an orphanage. When she was 17, she was told a benefactor was going to pay her way through college. Her only responsibility was that she needed to write this benefactor every month. The novel is written through the letters Jerusha (she changes her name to Judy) writes to her benefactor.

I still have the same copy I had when I was 12. There is also a film version I have seen several times starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron.

You can find it on Amazon Kindle or on Amazon as a paperback.


Crimson Roses - Grace Livingston Hill

Grace Livingston Hill is a well-known Christian romance author. She is most-certainly treasured in that genre and most-certainly considered old-fashioned. I have dozens of her books in paperback. This one I first read when I was a preteen and it was one of my beloved books.

I thought it was just so romantic.

Marion Warren has been treated extremely unfairly by her brother and his scheming wife. She breaks free from that life to find one of her own. Part of her self-discovery is to attend the symphony as often as she can. She begins to find mysterious crimson roses in her seat during the symphony nights.

One thing I love about Grace Livingston Hill's stories is that the heroine always finds justice and love in the end. And this one doesn't disappoint.

You can find it on Amazon Kindle or in paperback.


Christy - Catherine Marshall

This book needs to be on every young girl's reading list. Or every old girl's reading list.

Christy Huddleson is the daughter of a well-to-do family in Asheville, North Carolina. After a need for help with a missions program in the Appalachian mountains is revealed during a revival meeting, Christy convinces her parents she needs to lend her services as a teacher. She moves to Cutter Cap, Tennessee and her eyes are opened.

Not only is this a romance novel, but it will tug at your heart in so many different ways. There was a television series and a movie made based on the books, but they pale in comparison to the original novel (in my opinion).

You can find it on Amazon Kindle or in paperback.


Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maude Montgomery

I could have picked the original Anne of Green Gables, but I have HUGE love for Anne's House of Dreams. You will understand when you read it. Not only does it portray the grown-up mature love of  Anne and Gilbert, but it has new and old romances.

LM Montgomery has such a way with words. This is one I had to add to my list.

You can find it on Amazon Kindle or in paperback. You can find another FREE version online here.



You will notice that along with Jane Eyre a few other obvious choices didn't make it on the list....Little Women, Pride and Prejudice...but those are rather obvious, aren't they? Another not-so-obvious old-fashioned romance classic is The Girl of the Limberlost.

I'm all ready to read back through these now! Corn and all. What are your favorite old-fashioned romance novels?