Top 5 Saturday is run by Mandy @ Devouring Books. Every week showcases 5 books that share a common theme. This week’s theme is Love Triangles.
Honestly, I don’t really read for the romance. And I only like romance when it’s actually done well. Some of them come off really forced and kind of meh, so I definitely don’t read for the romance. And love triangles just drive me batty. Needless to say, this might be even harder than the Fire on the Cover theme from last week
The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams
Penny Bridge has always been unlucky in love.
So she can’t believe it when she meets a remarkable new man.
Followed by another.
And then another…
And all of them want to date her.
Penny has to choose between three. But are any of them The One?
The bestselling author of Our Stop will have you laughing, crying and cheering Penny on in this funny and feel-good exploration of hope, romance and the trust it takes to finally fall in love. Perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane’s If I Never Met You and Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare.
Why not go a step further straight into a square to start with? Actually, I wasn’t a fan of this book. The square was far from exciting, unless you enjoy reading about a confused woman who jumps in and out of bed with 3 guys and then tries to figure out which one she wants to be with. Okay, I see how that might be interesting, but the execution was really not there.
When I Was You by Amber Garza
It all begins on an ordinary fall morning, when Kelly Medina gets a call from her son’s pediatrician to confirm her upcoming “well-baby” appointment. It’s a cruel mistake; her son left for college a year ago, and Kelly’s never felt so alone. The receptionist quickly apologizes: there’s another mother in town named Kelly Medina, and she must have gotten their numbers switched.
For days, Kelly can’t stop thinking about the woman who shares her name. Lives in her same town. Has a son she can still hold, and her whole life ahead of her. She can’t help looking for her: at the grocery store, at the gym, on social media. When Kelly just happens to bump into the single mother outside that pediatrician’s office, it’s simple curiosity getting the better of her.
Their unlikely friendship brings Kelly a renewed sense of purpose—taking care of this young woman and her adorable baby boy. But that friendship quickly turns to obsession, and when one Kelly disappears, well, the other one may know why.
And…this one took a dark and violent turn! It’s kind of creepy as it starts out with two women with the exact same name in the same town. The whole book kind of revolves around a crazy love triangle, but in a really fun criminal way.
Snow Dust and Boneshine by Grendolyn Peach Soleil
Once upon a winter’s night, a lost cowboy finds himself in Purgatory Bend. Patrick Doolin is plagued by a wound that won’t heal, but winter is the season of miracles. As Patrick wanders through Wyoming, he meets Fawna Darling, the mysterious granny witch, who channels the folk magic of her ancestors. With nowhere to go and a secret Patrick doesn’t yet understand, he seeks shelter with Fawna in the snowswept prairie. Forbidden to fall in love, they form an eternal bond in the dreamscape, but when the bluebirds sing of summer and threaten their empire of dreams, they are faced with an impossible decision. Will Patrick stay in the land of the living, or will he cross over the prairie? Summer is the season of surprises, and Fawna’s childhood sweetheart, Dezi Ketchum, longs to win her heart too. When winter melts across the gold-slick prairie, Fawna searches for answers under the rose moon. Caught between fire and water and flesh and fantasy, she follows her heart and ventures into uncharted territory.
Maybe a bit of a stretch as the love triangle was only a tiny part of the story, and not even a tension inducing part. But it was sweet and full of respect as two men want to be with the lovely granny witch, Fawna. Of course, it’s also bittersweet, but handled so tenderly and delicately.
Split-Level by Sande Boritz Berger
In Split-Level, set as the nation recoils from Nixon, Alex Pearl is about to commit the first major transgression of her life. But why shouldn’t she remain an officially contented, soon-to-turn-thirty wife? She’s got a lovely home in an upscale Jersey suburb, two precocious daughters, and a charming husband, Donny. But Alex can no longer deny she craves more―some infusion of passion into the cul-de-sac world she inhabits. After she receives a phone call from her babysitter’s mother reporting that Donny took the teen for a midnight ride, promising he’d teach her how to drive, Alex insists they attend Marriage Mountain, the quintessential 1970s “healing couples sanctuary.” Donny accedes―but soon becomes obsessed with the manifesto A Different Proposition and its vision of how multiple couples can live together in spouse-swapping bliss. At first Alex scoffs, but soon she gives Donny much more than he bargained for. After he targets the perfect couple to collude in his fantasy, Alex discovers her desire for love escalating to new heights―along with a willingness to risk everything. Split-Level evokes a pivotal moment in the story of American matrimony, a time when it seemed as if an open marriage might open hearts as well.
Um, can I include spouse swapping? This one has two couples that switch off partners and some complicated feelings arise. I know, I might be stretching it here, but it felt confusing enough there might have been a triangle somewhere.
Requiem Moon by C.T. Rwizi
Salo’s queen has finally accepted his desire to be a mystic despite taboos concerning men’s use of magic. But her acceptance is not support; it is strategy.
Under a disguise of the queen’s making, Salo enters Jungle City as a pilgrim to the Red Temple, only to find a magical barrier barring his entrance. Left at the mercy of the warring political factions that run the city, Salo faces a series of obstacles wrought by an unseen hand, knowing he cannot return home without completing his pilgrimage.
But Isa, King of the Saire clan, has her own plans for Salo. She needs his help to extract the Covenant Diamond from the Red Temple’s inner sanctum—an artifact with the power to end her tribe’s divisions, prevent a genocide, and even save herself from her fate. His new task in hand, Salo navigates a cursed maze of invisible authority—and when he encounters shocking revelations about the power residing in the depths of the undercity, he must wield his magic to finally bring the truth about his world’s history to light.
Ugh. I’m stretching it again. This is the second book in the Scarlet Odyssey series. In the first book, all but two members of the royal family were massacred, leaving the princess to be crowned king while a usurper sits on the throne. The princess is in love with one of her guards, but his uncle is calling himself prince regent and is insisting the princess marry him.
Yeah, um, romance is really not my thing. I mean, I do like it when it’s handled well and is only a small part of the story, but I’m just not a fan. I think this theme was a lot harder than last week’s and definitely made my brain stretch itself. Somehow, from reading so many posts about it and book reviews, I thought love triangles were a lot more common. Probably just not in the books I usually enjoy. I hope to have better luck with next week’s theme: Desert Settings!
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The Lily Cafe 
Personally I hate love triangles, because I know too much about all the wrong things, ha ha.
Not to mention, I have a quirk where I tend to relate better to the male characters, so I often find myself thinking about how the main character isn’t someone I’d bother with competing for.
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So do I, but it’s also so true that the main character usually isn’t worth fighting for. As though there’s literally no one else worthy.
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I’m going to pick on Twilight because it’s pretty obvious, but the main character has absolutely nothing going for her. If I was some boring, average guy, and Bella and I just so happened to go to the same church, I’d marry her after turning 30 for the sake of being married. I sure as heck wouldn’t fight for her.
If I was an immortal vampire, I’d marry someone capable of holding an interesting conversation over the next thousand years.
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That’s a good point. I’ve never read the books, but have, of course, become familiar with the story. I’d want to spend an eternity with an interesting person, too.
Love triangles always feel like such a juvenile thing (maybe because of these books), so I just can’t see the point of two people fighting over the same person. As if there aren’t a ton of other people out in the world.
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I guess the question is: Why would you want to be with someone who isn’t sure if they want to be with you, or with someone else? Especially in modern era books, where the ‘winner’ could end up divorced later anyway.
I’ve never seen any love triangle story try to address that.
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I don’t even know why I’d even want someone who isn’t sure of what they want anyways. Turns out the book I’m currently reading seems to be attempting to answer a variation on that question. There’s a lot more going on in the story, but the romance just feels really meh.
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