Hey guys, welcome to another installment of my sporadic series, Rayna Recommends! This is a time where I recommend books, movies, and TV shows to you based on the genre or type of books I wanted to talk about.

Today’s recommendations are swoony reads! What are swoony reads, etc., you ask? They’re books/movies/shows that I’ve found myself to feel all giggly inside because of the romance aspect within them. They make you squeal with delight when you think of the romantic relations within them, and you can’t help but smile.

I know this is very similar to my romance recommendations post, but I wanted to give more swoony/romance recommendations.

For this particular topic I have a bunch, so I’m going to list three per section.

Books

• Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi. Guys. These books are really good, not only in the way they’re written, but also in the story, too. It has one of the best character arcs I’ve ever read about, and it’s got a SUPER SWOONY romance because IGNITE ME IS EVERYTHING. It’s about a girl, Juliette, who is in an asylum because when she touches people she causes them pain and can potentially kill them. It’s her story through love, trials, learning her powers, and more.
• Air Awakens series by Elise Kova. There is so much angst and romance and fighting and oh man, read this series. Not only does it have elemental magic, but it’s about a library apprentice, Vhalla, who saves the life of the crown prince, Aldrik. She ends up having to fight for the crown and it focuses a lot on the relationship that grows between her and Aldrik. I just need more, right now, because THAT ENDING TO BOOK THREE. AHH.
• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. The ANGST. The DRAMA. The steamy make out scene! Oh man, I love it. But not only that, the sisterhood-like friendship that is in this book is one of the best I’ve ever read about. It’s about Safiya and Iseult and how they want to have their own freedom and be accepted in the world. They’re witches with powers and they’re totalyl kickass. But not only that, I really believe that there are two romances forming, and I really hope I’m right about that because OTP UP IN HERE.

Movies

• Mansfield Park. Based off of the Jane Austen novel, Mansfield Park follows a young woman named Fanny who goes to live at her uncle, Sir Thomas, and while there she becomes close to Edmund, her uncle’s son. She grows and is beautiful, capturing the attention of a neighbor, but her heart and mind are elsewhere. I thought that this was a super funny and cute story that I really want to watch again. It had a lot of wit and humor, but there were still some serious undertones to it.
• Pride & Predjudice. Another movie based off of the Jane Austen novel, this one follows a girl, Lizzie, and her sisters as their mother wants to marry them off soon. One day, Mr. Darcy, comes into her life but he is very prideful as he does not want to fall in love with a girl below his class. But can both of them overcome their pride and prejudices? AHHH. THIS MOVIE. I LOVE IT. This story is a classic romance and I think it’s beautifully done. Just go watch it and swoon over them. Go.
• A Walk to Remember. Funny how all of these are based off of books, but this one is based off of the novel by Nicholas Sparks. It’s about Logan, a high school senior who just wants to goof off with his friends and get through the year, when he gets caught trespassing and has to participate in after school activites as part of his punishment. There, he meets Jamie, the pastor’s daughter, and though he’s reluctant to be around her they slowly start to fall for one another. It’s one of those heartbreaking romances that you love, but then it hurts and makes you cry.

TV Shows

• Arrow. Okay, so I’m going to admit right now that I’ve watched a couple episodes of season one before my husband started watching it and then I started watching when he was on season three, so my thoughts may be a little skewed, BUT I really think that the relationship between Oliver and Felicity is tragic and beautiful and heartwarming. I think that their relationship definitely constitutes this show as a swoony one.
• Devil Beside You. I LOVE THIS TAIWANESE DRAMA. I’ve watched it multiple times and I think that it’s definitely swoony. It’s got the bad boy, Jiang Meng, otherwise known as Ah Mon, and good girl Qi Yue, and it’s about how these two are joined by his father and her mother coming together for marriage, but Qi Yue and Ah Mon slowly develop feelings for each other. If you like foreign dramas then definitely check this one out if you can.
• Boys Over Flowers. This Korean drama is so funny and dramatic and I love it. It follows Geum Jan-di, a low class girl who ends up getting sent to a high class school where a group called F4 reigns and she becomes their next victim. This drama has, well, drama, but also lots of funny moments, serious moments, and a very slow burn romance. It’s definitely one to check out!

And there you have it for my recommendations this time around! I really struggled with the TV shows because I don’t watch a whole lot of TV anymore, so… yeah. But I hope that you check out all of these at some point because they definitely all have lots of swoony moments in them.

What are some of your swoony recommendations? Do you agree with mine? What do you look for in a swoony read/movie/show? Let me know!