Two people who where not meant to fall in love, but they did anyway, when they least expect it. When we are bored with our daily routine and seek diversion or when you have too many people around you absorbed in their own lives, you go about seeking attention elsewhere. Some people seek those little curiosities around them and like to explore more, some seek magic. We all know magic is fictional. But then, it is in the eye of the beholder!
I recently re-watched When in Rome. There is no better way to put it, that movie is just a silly love story, with comedy scenes placed at the right time. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. At the same time it did show the emotions in the right light. Parts of the movie can indeed be someone’s problems in real life. And if you are a hopeless romantic, you would very well be crying an Ocean watching such Rom-com movies. Sweet Home Alabama, Sleepless in Seattle, The Proposal, The Holiday, 27 Dresses, Two Weeks Notice, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Letters to Juliet and many more I can’t remember now, have that effect on me.
There is just something magical about the way they have shown the lead characters falling in love in the movie When in Rome. She desperately wants to believe it is real with Nick but the poker chip keeps coming up! For Melanie, it was staring her right in the face, in Sweet Home Alabama! But she had to make her own mistakes to realize she was already in love with her high school sweetheart! That last office scene in The Proposal, just love Andrew’s speech! And how Sophie thinks Charlie is off the market, only gets to know later that it was a misunderstanding in Letters to Juliet. Ah, the balcony scene, which is a cliché but has made many women swoon!
For a person who is watching these movies, only get to see the emotions shown by the actors. Most of the times they are depicted well, sometimes it is lost in the translation. A Walk to Remember is one of my favorite books, but somehow I feel, the movie did not do justice to the book. Nicholas Sparks’s books are known for his heart wrenching love stories. What is the whole point of making a movie if you can’t show that emotion to the audience? I did not get the chance to read The Notebook, but the movie was a good one to watch.
Back to reading, when you read a particular story, you would feel for the characters and connect with them on some level. You would feel confused right along with the characters, falling in love, the jealousy, the contempt, falling apart at the seams, laughing and crying, everything!
There are not many books which had that effect on, just about 50 or so! In the last couple of years I was and am obsessed with Bethany-Kris’s books. I am sure these books fall under the category of mafia. But, she somehow managed to create love stories along the plot. She has created a web of series with the characters in the books, with multiple spin-offs. A couple of series that has torn my heart apart while reading were: Cross & Catherine Legacy series and Renzo & Lucia Legacy Series. Both series talk about young love, heart break, growing apart and finally falling back in love and living happily ever after! It is not the happily ever after we look for in a book when we start with it. It is the journey that makes the story worth it. It is the ups and downs, it is sticking together beating all the odds and above all knowing that for the rest of the lives they are going face difficult situations and choosing to do it together. How often do we get to see that in real world? Not often enough!
If there was ever a modern day re-write of The Beauty and The Beast that has made an impression on me, it is Broken written by Lauren Layne. I managed to finish the book in one go. It is the concept, which is fascinating to me. She has written a number of books that had made me connect with the characters. The Stiletto Series is like any other regular Rom-com books, but the problems faced by the characters are quite relatable. Disclaimer: Never a judge a book by its cover, pun intended.
Saving my most favorite book of all times to the last, which is like Wuthering Heights to Sandra Bullock in The Proposal, The Cornerstone from The Walshes Series by Kate Canterbary. The entire series as such is quite engaging. But I read this book at least once a year. I haven’t understood the pull I have towards this book yet, but I enjoy the easy banter of all the characters from this series.
Maybe it is magic! Living in the pages of a very well written book, knowing it is fictional. At the same time, it gives your heart the kind of solace, the real world cannot manage to give!
