Time Travel Romances (Books and Movies)

Hi everyone! Welcome to this new part on my blog which I wanted to launch FOREVER and now I FINALLY get around to do it. It’s called “Book Lists” and here I’d like to collect lists of books based on specific topics. Today’s topic is Time Travel Romances and I decided to include both books and movies, because they are some of my all-time favourites!

So we have already established that one of my all-time favourite bookish (and filmish – is that a thing?) tropes is time traveling. But when the main character then also falls for somebody living in the past and is torn between living in their own time and the past, that usually makes for an especially nice read (or watch) for me. I guess I’m just a sucker for both romances and time travel, and these two combined in one story – some way or other – is just the best!

Do you agree with me even in the slightest? Well, then this list might just be what you’ve been looking for! Here I want to collect all the books and movies I’ve already read or watched that include the two tropes, and hopefully the list will continue to grow in the future. In a second part I also take note of all the ones I still want to read or watch – if you have any recommendations for me please get in touch (on here or on Twitter)! I wanted to make this post about books only, but there are some magnificent movies that I just had to include!

Books / Movies I Already Read / Watched

1. Outlander series – by Diana Gabaldon

I’m sure you ALL know this one, but I still have to mention it because this list wouldn’t be complete without it! Featuring the greatest couple of them all: Claire, a former combat nurse who served in WW2, and Jamie, a Highland warrior (*swoon*). On holidays in Scotland with her husband, Claire travels back to the 18^th century and meets Jamie – amongst many others. This series was published way back in the 90s, but it’s gotten bigger and bigger the past years. The 2014 released TV series definitely didn’t hurt in that regard – it’s one of my all-time favourites and I have watched it over and over again!

 

2. The Rose Garden – by Susanna Kearsley

The Rose Garden is another of my all-time favourite time travel stories, and one that I have read a number of times already! After a stroke of fate, a young woman returns to the one place she ever truly felt at home – an old house at the coast of Cornwall, where her childhood friends still live. She, like Claire from Outlander, finds her way to the past, albeit in a very different way, and also finds true love there. Soon, the main character questions her place in the present. Where does she truly belong? You can read my full review here if you are interested in finding out more! I reread this book every now and then, it’s so beautifully written that you feel yourself surrounded by the magical Cornish setting after the first page. A must read and so underrated!

 

3. Ruby Red trilogy – by Kerstin Gier

The Ruby Red trilogy is probably one of the first time travel romances I came across back in my teenage years, and I still love it. It features our main character Gwyneth Shepherd, who quite accidentally falls back in time. And that is very surprising – after all her beautiful, sophisticated (and very mean) cousin Charlotte is supposed to have inherited the time travel gene in her family! It was also Charlotte who has been prepared to travel in time all her life, so Gwyneth is faced with many (even life-threatening!) problems! This book features contemporary and 18^th century London, family secrets, history, mystery and a dash of romance – it’s fun and thrilling and amazing – you just HAVE to read it!

 

4. The Time Traveler’s Wife (movie) – based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler’s Wife features Henry, the main character, who jumps back and forth in time, whenever his genetic clock decides to reset. In the beginning of the movie, Henry finds himself in a car accident that kills his mother but he survives – by traveling back to two weeks earlier. A few moments later Henry is helped by an older version of himself who has also traveled back in time. Many years later Henry meets his later wife Clare in the library he works in. She is overjoyed to see him but for Henry it is actually the first time meeting her. Clare explains that she met Henry’s future self when she was a child, and that he informed her then that they would meet in the future, which is happening at the moment. Since childhood, Henry has been Clare’s best friend and has visited her whenever he could. This movie is emotional and moving, funny and romantic. The only slight negative I have to name is that the time travel aspect is quite confusing at times (which I’m sure you realised while reading my summary lol), but it’s still a must watch for fans of time travel stories!

 

5. About Time (movie)

At the age of 21, Tim’s father reveals a huge secret: The men in his family have the secret ability to travel back in time to moments they have lived before. The only thing they have to do is to clench their fists and visualize the memory they wish to travel back to. His father discourages Tim from using this special gift to acquire fame or money, so Tim decides to use it to improve his love life instead. At first he fails, but then he meets the love of his life, Mary, and… well, you have to find out. This movie is romantic, deep, unique and beautiful – I strongly encourage you to watch it. I think it’s very underrated!

 

6. A Different Time

The newest addition to my time travel book collection and my most favourite of them all is this absolute gem. My complete review (here) will tell you all about how much I loved it. It’s about Keith, a comic book collector, who comes across home video tapes on one of his hunts on the flea market, and falls in love with the woman on screen. There’s a catch… I don’t want to give too much away, but this story is absolutely beautiful, and you would so miss out if you won’t read it yourself, so I urge you to do so right now! You can thank me later 🙂

 

Books / Movies I Still Want To Read / Watch

 

1. The Necklace Of Goddess Athena by Effrosyni Moschoudi

In one of my tweets fangirling about A Different Time, the very lovely author of this book herself has replied to me and told me that one of her books has a time travel romance too, so I had a look and instantly knew I had to read it. It’s about a 20-year-old guy from ancient Greece who has been sent to modern-day Greece by his father. He is shocked and confused – why is he here? Romantic love, war, Olympian gods, friendship – this book seems to have it all, and I can’t wait to read it! Thank you, Effrosyni, for this recommendation!

 

2. A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux

When I suffered from bad Outlander withdrawal I searched for books that were somehow similar. This is one of the top candidates! After a fight with her boyfriend Dougless Montgomery goes to a churchyard to cry her heart out on a cold tombstone (as you do), wishing for a knight in shining armor to appear – and bam – there he is: the Earl of Thornwyck who, based on the information on his tombstone, died in the 16^th century. A miracle? A scary story? Fate? I don’t know yet, but I want to read this book!!

 

3. Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

Since I already loved Susanna Kearsley’s The Rose Garden, I obviously had to check out her other books as well. Especially Mariana sounds very promising, and it has been sitting on my shelf for so long, waiting for me to pick it up…which will hopefully happen soon! It’s about Julia, who moves into a 16^th– century farmhouse. She senses something is off about the place though, and soon she finds out about Mariana, a young woman who lived there three centuries ago. Was it destiny that brought her there? Does that sound thrilling or what??

 

4. Sophia’s Secret by Susanna Kearsley

Another book by the queen of time travel romance (don’t mind the cover, I know it looks a bit weird): Carolyn, a writer of historical novels, finds herself face to face with an author’s worst enemy: writer’s block. A change of scenery leads her to a cottage in the North East of Scotland, and her book takes a whole new direction: She starts writing about the attempted Jacobite invasion of 1708 – this sounds perfect for all of us Outlander-fans!!

 

5. Waterfall (River of Time series #1) by Lisa Tawn Bergren

This is one of the books that’s been on my shelf forever, and I have no idea why I haven’t picked it up yet! Most American teenagers dream of a summer holiday in Italy, but for Gabi and Lia, this just means hanging around on dusty archeological sites where their archeologist parents work. Boring…until Gabi places her hand on an ancient tomb and finds herself in 14^th century Italy – in the middle of a battle between two knights! All of a sudden, her summer seems to be much more promising… As does this read, doesn’t it?!

 

6. The Lake House (movie)

The Lake House is a romantic drama starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and some people who have read my review of A Different Time have recommended this film  to me and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it before!! It’s about the two main characters who correspond via letters in the mail box of the lake house – where they have both lived at separate points in time!!! Sounds right up my alley and I can’t wait to watch it!

 

7. Kate & Leopold (movie)

A Duke of the 19^th century travels to present day (well…almost present day lol, this movie is from 2001) New York, and falls for a modern woman. It has portals and comedy and love and sounds like the perfect movie for me – I have no idea how I have never watched it!

 

 

Soooo. That’s it. Are you still with me? Perfect! Then maybe you have some recommendations for me? I LOVE time travel stories (if they have romance, all the better), so please let me know if you know of any you think I absolutely have to read! Or have you maybe watched or read some of the mentions on my to read / to watch list? I’d love to hear your opinion!

Thank you so much for reading

xoxo

Noly