The GREATEST Love Stories I've Ever Read (In my entire life)

While I've read plenty of romance books before, there are only a few love stories that have ever felt eternal. And the kind that survive wars together, that fight against the fabric of time and space, a kind that wait for each other for years and choose integrity over passion and still come back to each other. That is the kind of love story we are going to be talking about today.

other for years and choose integrity over passion and still come back to each other. That is the kind of love story we are going to be talking about today.

Thank you so much to the sponsor of today's video, Surfshark. More on that later. If you're sitting on the other side of the screen thinking, I have been wanting that spark when their hands touch for the first time, forbidden love, and they're not supposed to be looking at each other as they do the waltz because it's scandalous. These are the book recommendations I have for you.

love, and they're not supposed to be looking at each other as they do the walts because it's scandalous. These are the book recommendations I have for you.

Greatest love stories I have ever read. And yes, I am saving the best love story ever written for last. I would bet money that you probably would not expect a sci-fi thriller to contain one of the most beautiful love stories ever written, but I'm here to show you today. Recursion does that. Recursion by Blake Crouch. If you've been around here for a while, you know I love this book. And I don't want to say who the romance is between, but I do want to tell you that this story has so much going on. Yes, there is a heavy dose of romance in this book, one that you don't really expect to be so gut-wrenchingly beautiful. It's an epidemic that looks like a disease that is spreading. It's driving victims mad. And so through all this, you're following a detective and a neuroscientist who is tied very closely to this mysterious mind disease. And so they are both in search of answers. And they're going on this journey separately. And this book is just so intricate. I mean, at the end, I was just crying listening to Gracie Abrams. This love is anything but convenient.

written, but I'm here to show you today. Recursion does that. Recursion by Blake Crouch. If you've been around here for a while, you know I love this book. And I don't want to say who the romance is between, but I do want to tell you that

The world in the fabric of time and space is literally falling apart. But these people still choose each other despite all this happening. But also, they do understand that they could lose each other in the end. The lengths they are willing to go for their love and for humanity. But apparently I love when time tries to tear two people apart because this next one is also time-defying love. And that is 11/22/63.

mad. And so through all this, you're following a detective and a neuroscientist who is tied very closely to this mysterious mind disease. And so they are both in search for answers. And they're going on this journey separately. And this book is just so

Be careful when I'm holding this because I could like cut someone down with this.

The world in the fabric of time and space is literally falling apart. But these people still choose each other despite all this happening. But also, they do understand that they could lose each other in the end. The lengths they

This is a chunky book. And let me tell you, every page is worth the read because by the end, by the last chapter, you will wish it was longer. Why I love this romance in this one is because once again, it's unsuspecting. And once you see it, you see it. You know that these two people are just meant to be together. You really want to see Jake succeed in his mission to go back in time and try and prevent the assassination of JFK. I'm talking like he has to travel back 50 years in the past. And what happens if you meet someone in the past and fall in love with them? What does that mean? Can their love withstand? And there's so much beauty in this book. I mean, so many people that read it, like myself, just continue to talk about it because it's such a deeply impressive story that Stephen King has produced. And while this book is so genre bending, it is, you know, a little bit of sci-fi with time travel. It's historical fiction for sure. And then of course you've got the romance, which I am more of a romance subplot girl, but I especially love it when it seems to seamlessly intertwine itself with the main genre of the book. Before I continue on, what is the greatest love story you have ever read?

Be careful when I'm holding this because I could like cut someone down with this.

Because I'm going to need a ton more recommendations. Now, this next one is also quite genre bending. It is a fantasy romance but also historical fiction. Heavy on the historical fiction and that would be Lovely War by Julie Berry. Look at this gorgeous cover. She's literally holding the Eiffel Tower in her hand. This is actually even better. There are two romances that you were following. This is all about does love conquer war. It was so insightful on the horrors of World War I with Lovely War. It felt really special being able to get back into the studies of like World War I and really read about the warfront and the front lines. I would actually recommend this to people that want to get into historical fiction that love romance because this is a great like gateway into that. And there's so much at the end where she talks about the studies that she did going into this book and like the historical note. This is actually told from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess who is being put on trial by her husband. I know that sounds confusing. It's a whole thing. But you follow four different characters Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. Their devotion under these grueling circumstances is so heartfelt. And I just love the unique flair of these Greek gods like observing their love, especially from Aphrodite recalling on their story and how she intervened in their love stories. Now, I know a lot of these books actually have adaptations and some of them are actually good if you're catching my drift. And if you're wanting to watch it but can't get access to it, award-winning VPN Surfshark can make that possible. Sponsored by Surfshark.

again, it's unsuspecting. And once you see it, you see it. You know that these two people are just meant to be together. You really want to see Jake succeed in his mission to go back in time and try and prevent the

If you don't know what Surfshark VPN is, it's a virtual private network that keeps your online identity safe by encrypting all the information that's sent between your device and the internet. It changes your IP address so you can virtually travel all over the globe. Not only do Ian and I actually love using VPNs to watch different shows that aren't shown on our Netflix here in the US, but also, you know, we love working and reading at a coffee shop, which is not always the safest going through that cafe's Wi-Fi. It is so easy to hack a public Wi-Fi network and steal your data. A VPN also protects you from that. VPN encrypts your online data and helps secure your personal information whenever you are using these public Wi-Fi. And Surfshark's CleanWeb feature blocks ad trackers, malware, so much. Also, Surfshark does not monitor, store, or track what you're doing online.

much beauty in this book. I mean, so many people that read it, like myself, just continue to talk about it because it's such a deeply impressive story that Stephen King has produced. And while this book is so genre bending, it is,

You can go to surfshark.com/ashlin and use my code ASHLIN to get 4 months extra of Surfshark VPN. Thank you so much Surfshark for sponsoring today's video. A beautiful but yet devastating romance and that is Homeseeking. I almost hit myself in the face. That is Homeseeking by Carissa Chin. If you know, you know. I talk about this book all the time. I read it over a year ago, which is crazy to say, and it ended up becoming probably my favorite book of 2025. This book does not shy away once again from the horrors of war. This is a tough one to read most certainly and there's definitely difficult scenes throughout this book as well and it just really makes your heart break for these characters especially Hywin and Sushi as they are the main couple in this book.

itself with the main genre of the book. Before I continue on, what is the greatest love story you have ever read?

This book is all about how a single choice can define and determine the rest of your life. For Hywin and Suchi specifically, they meet when they are children and they kind of form this like awkward friendship, but really they're smitten with each other. As they grow up and start to seriously date one another, the Chinese wars start to get really, really bad. And this book sheds so much light on like the Chinese war, the famine, and this actually follows them through six decades. For most of the book, you're jumping back and forth between Shanghai and Los Angeles. But one day, Hywin decides to enlist in the nationalist army to save his brother from being drafted in the war. And all he leaves Suchi with is a note that says, "Forgive me." And his violin. And Suchi is left without closure for decades to come. And you see their stories continue to unfold during their time apart. And it is definitely a hard read as far as the conditions of which they were living in and the war. At the beginning of the book, they reconnect for the first time actually in Los Angeles when they're older. Actually, both of them are telling the story in different ti

Berry. Look at this gorgeous cover. She's literally holding the Eiffel Tower in her hand. This is actually even better. There are two romances that you were following. This is all about does love conquer war. It was so insightful

on the horrors of World War I with Lovely War. It felt really special being able to get back into the studies of like World War I and really read about the warfront and the front lines. I would actually recommend this to people

that want to get into historical fiction that love romance because this is a great like gateway into that. And there's so much at the end where she talks about the studies that she did going into this book and like the

historical note. This is actually told from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess who is being put on trial by her husband. I know that sounds confusing. It's a whole thing. But you follow four different characters Hazel James Aubrey and Colette. Their devotion under these

grueling circumstances is so heartfelt. And I just love the unique flare of these Greek gods like observing their love, especially from Aphrodite recalling on their story and how she intervened in their love stories. Now, I know a lot of these books actually have

adaptations and some of them are actually good if you're catching my drift. And if you're wanting to watch it but can't get access to it, award-winning VPN Surf Shark can make that possible. Sponsored by Surf Shark.

If you don't know what Surf SharkVPN is, it's a virtual private network that keeps your online identity safe by encrypting all the information that's sent between your device and the internet. It changes your IP address so you can virtually travel all over the

globe. Not only do Ian and I actually love using VPNs to watch different shows that aren't shown on our Netflix here in the US, but also, you know, we love working and reading at a coffee shop, which is not always the safest going

through that cafe's Wi-Fi. It is so easy to hack a public Wi-Fi network and steal your data. A VPN also protects you from that. VPN encrypts your online data and helps secure your personal information whenever you are using these public

Wi-Fi. And Surf Shark's clean web feature blocks ad trackers malware so much. Also, Surf Shark does not monitor, store, track what you're doing online.

You can go to surf shark.com/ashlin and use my code ashen to get 4 months extra of Surf SharkVPN. Thank you so much Surf Shark for sponsoring today's video. A beautiful but yet devastating romance and that is Homeseek. I almost

hit myself in the face. That is Homeseeking by Carissa Chin. If you know, you know. I talk about this book all the time. I read it over a year ago, which is crazy to say, and it ended up

becoming probably my favorite book of 2025. This book does not shy away once again from the horrors of war. This is a tough one to read most certainly and there's definitely difficult scenes throughout this book as well and it just

really makes your heart break for these characters especially Hywin and Sushi as they are the main couple in this book.

This book is all about how a single choice can define and determine the rest of your life. or Hywin and Suchi specifically, they meet when they are children and they kind of form this like awkward friendship, but really they're

smitten with each other. As they grow up and start to seriously date one another, the Chinese wars start to get really, really bad. And this book sheds so much light on like the Chinese war, the famine, and this actually follows them

through six decades. For most of the book, you're jumping back and forth between Shanghai and Los Angeles. But one day, Highwood decides to enlist in the nationalist army to save his brother from being drafted in the war. And all

he leaves Succi with is a note that says, "Forgive me." And his violin. And Sushi is left without closure for decades to come. And you see their stories continue to unfold during their time apart. And it is definitely a hard

read as far as the conditions of which they were living in and the war. At the beginning of the book, they reconnect for the first time actually in Los Angeles when they're older. Actually, both of them are telling the story in

different timelines. So, Sushi is starting from the past and moves towards the present while Hywin starts from the present and moves towards the past and tells his story. you see how the things they went through really shaped them as

individuals and how much they've changed since they last saw each other. I just loved this book with all of my heart and this story just has the pain of like what could have been during the time of political upheaval and I could not

recommend it enough genuinely. And next, I'm going to need my romance girlies to really listen up on this one because this is the blueprint for second chance romances. And that would be Persuasion by Jane Austin. Look, it's not that big

of a book either. Now, I will say this is the only Jane Austin book I've read.

I love Jane Austin and I have been reading back in time. I love seeing like these characters have prejudices between their classes and how that is something they have to overcome together. You're following Ann who is more quiet and

reserved. She's such a sweet heroine but also there's a lot of regret. I think what's so fascinating too about this story in particular is in I want to say she's 30 years old which at this time that was like oh you're an old maiden

and you're not married you don't have children what's wrong with you and with an she is like well past that societal marital age range that they wanted people to be in she made a very bold decision in actually turning down a

marriage proposal by Captain Wentworth and at this time like being proposed to even by someone that you didn't love, you don't really turn down their proposal. You would be seen as crazy.

And I just love how mature Anne feels in this story. And even same for Captain Witworth. And it's just so wonderful because just like the title insinuates, she may have been persuaded when making her initial decision. And shall I

mention the letter scene? I just received a letter myself from my husband that was written so beautifully like the letter in persuasion. Now, one of the beautiful things about all of the book recommendations I've given so far, these

loves all look different. They're not one sizefits-all. For this next one, it's especially the case. Echoes for Little Women. Now, I was debating if it had a place on this list or not for a while, but I ultimately decided yes, but

not exactly in the way you may think. Maybe this is a stretch. Maybe it's just me finding any reason to talk about Little Women. I just really pray that you do not hold that against me. But this is my second to last book, and the

last one is the best. So, let me just go ahead and talk about Little Women. This is a love that transcends. This is a familial love and also growth for not just the main character but multiple characters. This follows the March

sisters living in New England actually during the time of the Civil War. Full of four sisters, Beth, Joe, Meg, and Amy. Although that's not an order of their ages. I don't know why I said it in that order. They all have such

differing personalities. It's such a lovely story, but mainly you're focusing on Joe. Joe is so unconventional, especially during this time period.

She's very ambitious with her goal. She wants to be an author. And this is also at a time where they needed to get married. That gave their family so much security. And with Joe, she hates the societal cuffs that have been put on

her. And so she gives this a lot of push back, especially when she has someone in her life that deeply loves her and desires to have that love reciprocated.

And I just love this story because I feel like Joe is just such a consistent character throughout the entire novel.

Louisa May Elcott is such a beautiful human being for writing this story. And while Joe remains true to who she is, she has a beautiful arc throughout the entire story. And I would love to talk more about the romance, but I feel like

I can't without spoiling things. But I love the book for the sisters, but thought I would throw it on this list because I do also love the romance that does kind of bloom in a way that you just really would not suspect unless you

were taking careful notice throughout the book. And if I had to choose the greatest love story ever written, it would be which copy of the book do I want to hold up? It would be Jane Air by the wonderful, the wise Charlotte

Bronte. I have been enamored by this story since I started it. Um, I have been talking about this consistently for the past like two months. I cannot get this book off of my mind. the best fictional story I've ever read in my entire life. It's

the best romance I've ever read. I wish I could do a full spoiler review on this subject, but Jane Air is a gothic romance. It's timeless for a reason.

Like, Jane is such a remarkable main character. She is strong willed. She has to find out what she wants while sticking to her morals and her beliefs.

She has to go through really hard things and does she sometimes make the wrong decisions? Yes. Is she kind of stubborn sometimes? Yes. Above all of that, she's endearing and actually feels like a friend. Like this is a weird

relationship we have because I actually feel like I know Jane Air as well as Charlotte. It's actually really bad. And I think one reason why I love this story so much is because we literally see Jane grow up. Like the story begins when

she's 10 years old. Jane takes a position as the governness for a little girl named Adele at Thornfield Hall. And this is the Rochester's residence. And there's so much mystery around Mr.

Rochester and around this estate. This little girl Adele has all of those lovely gothic elements, but the romance, the romance. This is not Insta lust.

Like this story is about people that fall in love through conversation. Jane demands respect. And a lot of these heroins during these times, they demand equality and like respect with their spouse and that is when they feel they

are seen clearly and she chooses her integrity first and I think that is such a beautiful display of love. I just thought that said so much about Jane and the kind of woman that she is. I think it's so timeless to today for literally

a million reasons, but specifically talking just about romance today and love stories. She did not compromise or abandon her moral compass. And these characters actually feel true to their time, but also our time now. Like the male written in this book, he he's not

sugarcoated. And same for Jane. I mean, she's just lovely and amazing and sweet, but these characters are so raw and vulnerable, and I just love them so much. And even Jane, she gives so much push back too. And like at a time when

this was written, this was like so radical. And so I don't want to get on that whole topic because we're not doing that today. This love story isn't incredible or impactful because it was easy. It's the opposite. Because these

characters actually had to change and grow. Jane has to find herself, especially at a time when she was doing something so daring. That is all. and I am looking to add many more to this list. So once again, please drop tons of

book recommendations down below. I think next up I'm going to read Emma by Jane Austin, maybe possibly. So I want to say thank you so much again to Surf Shark for sponsoring today's video. You can go to surfshark.com/ashlin.

And don't forget to use code ashen at checkout to get an extra 4 months at Surf SharkVPN. And I will see you in the next video for a reading challenge.

Bye.