Our Favorite Grownup Love Stories

So often romantic stories feature characters in their 20s or even younger — Romeo’s Juliet was only 13, for goodness’ sake! But there also are some wonderful books featuring older lovers, people in their 40s and beyond who may be craving more of a soul-to-soul connection than heart-pumping bedroom action (though sure is nice to get both). We asked top romantic fiction writers for their favorite grownup love stories. Here are their picks.

Kristin Hannah

Author of the blockbuster best seller, The Nightingale (2015), and last year’s The Great Alone

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (2015)

“A beautifully written, deeply emotional story of two people, shaped by grief and loss, who find hope and a second chance at happiness when they least expect it. It is a complex, intimate portrait of life and loneliness, family expectations, and love.”

Katherine by Anya Seton (1954)

“One of my all-time favorite novels. It a grand, sweeping, tragic, and ultimately redemptive true love story. Set in 14th-century England among the royals, it is a gorgeous portrait of two people who must fight incredible odds to be together and don’t find their ‘happy-ever-after’ until the twilight years of their lives.”

Elin Hilderbrand

Author of best-selling romantic fiction, including last year’s The Perfect Couple

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (2015)

“Redcliffe Whitshank meets his wife-to-be, Abby, when they're still in their teens. They move into Red's family's storied home (sumptuously described by Tyler) in Baltimore, and raise four children, one of them not their own. It’s an exquisitely rendered love story that manages the impossible feat of providing both breadth — the story spans three generations — and depth, as we dive into both Red and Abby's psyches and explore the topography of two complicated hearts. Tyler is at her most masterful in this novel, and I recommend it without reservation.”

Robyn Carr

Mega best-selling author of The Best of Us (2019) and more than 50 other novels

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor (1944)

"This epic romance was a controversial best seller when it was originally published in the 1940s and is one of my longtime favorites. Anyone who loves <em> Gone with the Wind</em> will find themselves taken with Amber St. Clare, a heroine who is equal parts compassionate and scheming, as she navigates the complex, often treacherous excesses and mores of 17th-century Restoration England. Don't let the size of the novel scare you off — Winsor is such an eloquent writer that even on a second read I couldn't stop turning the pages."