Introduction

I must confess that I have been a hopeless romantic my entire life, although it is not entirely my fault. Growing up, I became obsessed with love stories because of my mother. I always say that my mother is the heart of our family because she is the most loving and devoted person I know. She is my loyal guide through all aspects of life, especially love. It was my mother who told me the story of meeting my father at work as a teenager. It was my mother who taught me about unconditional love. It was my mother who introduced me to romance novels. Our shared love of romance novels is a core part of our relationship. Even now that I am in college, we still share romance book recommendations. My mother gives the best romance book recommendations. Upon reflection, every single romance novel my mother has recommended to me has taught me something about love. 

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

One of my favorite books that she has recommended is One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle. Just like the main character in One Italian Summer, I aspire to go to Italy with my mother and have that time with her in a country that we have both dreamed about visiting. At its core, One Italian Summer is a love letter from a daughter to her dead mother. It is about yearning for more time with your mother once she has passed on. I know that there will be a time (in the extremely far future) when I must say goodbye to my mother. There will be a time when I crave just one more lunch with her, one more show at The Fox with her, just one more moment with her. I doubt that I will be ready for it. However, Rebecca Serle encourages readers to remember that a mother’s love does not end in death. My mother’s love is evergreen. It is constant and fresh and grows a little more every day. Her love inspires me to love with my whole heart and to pour my love into the people who love me. There is nothing like a mother’s love for her daughter. I know that my mother will always be there for me in both life and death.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Every summer, my mother would take me to Shakespeare in the Park. It was sitting on a picnic blanket, attempting not to be eaten alive by mosquitos, that I was introduced to Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. While I (of course) loved the romance, I adored the character Beatrice. While watching the show and later reading the play, I was struck by how similar my mother and Beatrice were to one another. Both are feisty and powerful and independent women. They are also both loved by their husbands because of their fierce personalities. My mother has always insisted that I never have to change to be loved by anyone, especially in a romantic relationship. She says that my father loves her because of who she is and that the right person will love me for who I am. The right person will make me a better version of myself, but they will never change who I genuinely am. Both Much Ado About Nothing and my mother communicate that a strong, bold woman can not only find love, but her strength and boldness are why she is loved.

The Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

Countless romance novels portray love as easy. There is a belief that if you truly love someone, the relationship will simply work out. However, my mother did not raise me to believe this. It takes work to maintain a successful relationship. You must communicate honestly, hold each other accountable, and be vulnerable in order to build a resilient romantic relationship. She utilized A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera to highlight this. Some parts of love should come naturally, but the little moments of love can only blossom into a relationship with intentional effort. The couple in A Caribbean Heiress in Parisshowcases these principles of time, effort, and dedication. My mother and father also model these traits. My mother has always been honest with me about how relationships take effort to preserve a relationship. Even after 25 years of marriage, they still go on date nights at least once a month. Much like the characters in A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, my parents respect each other, build each other up, celebrate each other’s wins, and so much more. My mother taught me to never settle for a partner who is not willing to work side-by-side with me.

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

When I was a little girl, I did not know that there was something different about my Uncle Pete. He was just my Uncle Pete, with his dry sense of humor and quick wit. It was not until I was a teenager that I learned he had cystic fibrosis. It was my mother who guided me through my realization of my Uncle Pete’s condition, mostly with the help of a romance novel. When I was fourteen, my mother brought home a copy of Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott because I had so many questions about Uncle Pete’s condition. It tells the story of a young couple who both have cystic fibrosis. Five Feet Apart is about how love requires sacrifices. My mother has given up so much in order to provide and care for me: her time, her energy, her money. She has sacrificed in countless ways, some of which I am probably unaware of. Love requires action. It was my mother who helped connect me with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Teen Advocacy program. Side-by-side with my mother, I put my love for my Uncle Pete into action and sacrificed time out of my summer to inspire change. This was all thanks to one little book recommendation.

Conclusion

These lessons guide me through life as I attempt to write my own love story. My goal is to find a love story like the ones I have read about in my mother’s book recommendations and like the one my mother has with my father. Love is complicated, but my mother’s romance novels help make the knot of love a little less tangled. I know that when the time is right, my love story will be just like the one I read about in my mother’s recommendations because my mother taught me everything I know about love.

Bibliography

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott