List Maniac #6 - Favorite Romantic Moments in Historical Romance

Being a romance reader, I have come to realize that what makes a book special to me are those wonderful small moments between the hero and heroine that reveal their true feelings, perhaps even before they are fully aware of them, and so, in the spirit of love, I'm sharing my top five favorite romantic moments in historical romance (to start)!

Spoiler warning, though, in case you haven't read the books I'm about to mention

5. Kate Sheffield and Anthony Bridgerton (Viscount of) - The Thunderstorm (The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn).
One night, during a house-party his mother is giving, Anthony finds Kate huddled under a table, shaking terribly and all because of a thunderstorm - she happens to be afraid of them since she was small and with good reason. So far, Anthony had been trying to court Kate's sister Edwina, but with little success for he can't get Kate out of his mind. Under normal circumstances, Kate would have never allowed Anthony to see her so vulnerable, but in that moment when she's out of her head with fear, Anthony shows his caring side, crawling under the table with her to make her feel safe. Later in the story, Kate calls Anthony, the nicest man in England, and from that moment under the table, I can very well believe it.

4. Maria Martingale and Phillip Hawthrone, Marquess of Kane - The Hair Ribbon (Secret Desires of a Gentleman by Laura Lee Guhrke)
Phillip and Maria have known each other since children, and he has been in love with her for nearly as much, even after sending her away when she was 18 - because marquesses and daughters of Chefs shouldn't mix - but he never forgot her. When the see each other again, Maria very much believes him to be slightly heartless, until she finds out that he has been carrying a hair ribbon she had lost, for over 12 years.

3. Matthew Swift and Daisy Bowman - The Button (Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas)
Mathew has been in love with Daisy for years, since the day he met her. The only problem -besides the stuff in his past - was that Daisy never liked him. All that changes in Scandal in Spring, and one of the sweetest moments of the book is when Daisy realizes just for how long Mathew has had feelings for her. It turns out that almost since they met, Mathew has been carrying a button which contains a lock of her hair (long story, but it's a sweet one, trust me). That button with her hair is practically his most prized possession.

2. Lord Hugh of Harrowfield (Red) and Sorcha of Sevenwaters (Jenny) - The Ring (Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier).
I've always said that, without it being a love story, Daughter of the Forest is one of the most romantic stories I've ever read. One of the parts of it I like the most is when Red asks Sorcha to marry him, and he gives her this little carved ring made from the heart of a tree, and she realizes that it was the 'thing' she had seen him work on for months and months. And even though he doesn't spell out his feelings, you can tell it was a gift of love and that he had made it just for her.

1. Derek and Sara - The Glasses (Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas).
As I've mentioned before, Lisa Kleypas writes these small moments like nobody's business. Dreaming of You was one of the first historical romances I ever read and it remains the standard by which I measure all others. It tells the story of Sara Fielding, a genteel, somewhat poor but kind of popular writer, and Derek Craven, a gamble club owner who climbed from the gutter to become a powerful, rich man. Sara is all the good, kind, honest things Derek never knew and he's fascinated by her even as he tries to scare her off (because she scares him!). One day Sara leaves her purse in his office and he can't resist the urge to investigate it's contents and ends up stealing her glasses and putting them in his pocket, just because he wanted to have a piece of her.

*sigh*

Now I feel like re-reading all of those books!

See ya soon for another list, and more reviews.

Love,