10 Best International Romance Books Depicting Cultural Exchange
Are you an enthusiastic reader who relishes diving into the realms of passionate tales that transcend borders? Or perhaps a traveler stuck at home, yearning for an adventure from the comfort of your cozy armchair? Well, these narratives are about to flood your senses with love languages that go beyond the ordinary.
We're talking about the 10 best international romance books that beautifully depict cultural exchange. These novels aren't your run-of-the-mill puppy love stories. They depict deep, complicated, and exciting romantic relationships that span multiple nations, cultures, and backgrounds. These narratives will take you on a whirlwind journey around the globe, diving into the intimate intricacies of diverse cultures, their traditional beliefs about love, and the peculiar challenges that come with intercultural romantic liaisons.
Rollercoaster of emotions? Check. Unconventional romance? Double-check. A profound understanding of other cultures? Absolutely. Remember, though - these books aren't just about warm fuzzy feelings. They tackle serious cultural nuances, too.
So, strap in, fellow globetrotter, because we're about to embark on a tantalizing journey of exploration, appreciation, and love that defies boundaries. Prepare for your heartstrings to be tugged in ten different directions. You never know, you might learn a thing or two about the world... and perhaps even about your ideas on love.
『Heart and Seoul』
One woman learns that the price of belonging is often steeper than expected in this heart-wrenching yet hopeful romantic novel and first in the Seoul duology by USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick. As a Korean adoptee, Hara Wilson doesn’t need anyone telling her she looks different from her white parents. She knows. Every time Hara looks in the mirror, she’s reminded that she doesn’t look like anyone else in her family—not her loving mother, Ellen; not her jerk of a father, Pat; and certainly not like Pat’s new wife and new “real” son. At the age of twenty-five, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but when her father suddenly dies, an offhand comment at his funeral triggers an identity crisis that has her running off to Seoul in search of her roots. What Hara finds there has all the makings of a classic K-drama: a tall, mysterious stranger who greets her at the airport, spontaneous adventures across the city, and a mess of familial ties, along with a red string of destiny that winds its way around her, heart and soul. Hara goes to Korea looking for answers, but what she gets instead is love—a forbidden love that will either welcome Hara home…or destroy her chance of finding one.
Author | Jen Frederick |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | National Geographic Books |
Release Date | May 25, 2021 |
Source | Google Books |
『Sex and Vanity』
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • The author of the international phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians takes us from Capri to NYC, where a young woman finds herself torn between two men—and two very different cultures. "Another riveting tale of privilege, culture and romance ... extravagant fashion and deceit, resulting in one truly modern love story." —CNN On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can't stand him. She can't stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can't stand that he knows more about Casa Malaparte than she does, and she really can't stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin Charlotte. The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton, where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucie is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment building, and, ultimately, herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world—and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.
Author | Kevin Kwan |
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Price | $13.99 |
Publisher | Anchor |
Release Date | Jun 30, 2020 |
Source | Google Books |
『Call Me by Your Name』
Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and Written by Three-Time OscarTM Nominee James Ivory The Basis of the Oscar-Winning Best Adapted Screenplay A New York Times Bestseller A USA Today Bestseller A Los Angeles Times Bestseller A Vulture Book Club Pick An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Ficition A New York Times Notable Book of the Year • A Publishers Weekly and The Washington Post Best Book of the Year • A New York Magazine "Future Canon" Selection • A Chicago Tribune and Seattle Times (Michael Upchurch's) Favorite Favorite Book of the Year
Author | André Aciman |
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Price | $11.99 |
Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Release Date | Jan 22, 2008 |
Source | Google Books |
『Anna and the French Kiss』
Anna had everything figured out – she was about to start senior year with her best friend, she had a great weekend job and her huge work crush looked as if it might finally be going somewhere... Until her dad decides to send her 4383 miles away to Paris. On her own. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna finds herself making new friends, including Étienne St. Clair, the smart, beautiful boy from the floor above. But he's taken – and Anna might be too. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss she's been waiting for?
Author | Stephanie Perkins |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Usborne Publishing Ltd |
Release Date | Dec 16, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『One Italian Summer』
'An extraordinary, beautiful, magical book' JILL MANSELL The heartbreaking new novel from the author of the international bestseller In Five Years When Katy's mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn't just Katy's mum, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, the mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer before she met Katy's father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone. But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother's spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and - of course - delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life. And then Carol appears, healthy and sun-tanned... and thirty years old. Katy doesn't understand what is happening, or how - all she can focus on is that somehow, impossibly, she has her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman who came before. But can we ever truly know our parents? Soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue. Rebecca Serle's next great love story is here, and this time it's between a mother and daughter. With her signature 'heartbreaking and poignant' (Glamour) prose, Serle has crafted a transcendent novel about how we move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us. Bestseller in the US: New York Times, March 2022.
Author | REBECCA. SERLE |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Mar 07, 2023 |
Source | Google Books |
『Café Con Lychee』
From the author of Meet Cute Diary comes a delectable rom-com that’s brimming with zest and a sprinkle of sweetness. A must-read for fans of Casey McQuiston and Julian Winters. Theo Mori and Gabriel Moreno have always been at odds. Their parents own rival businesses—an Asian American café and a Puerto Rican bakery—and Gabi’s lack of coordination has cost their soccer team too many games to count. Stuck in the closet and scared to pursue his own dreams, Gabi sees his family’s shop as his future. Stuck under the weight of his parents’ expectations, Theo’s best shot at leaving Vermont means first ensuring his parents’ livelihood is secure. So when a new fusion café threatens both shops, Theo and Gabi realize an unfortunate truth—they can only achieve their goals by working together to cook up an underground snack operation and win back their customers. But can they put aside their differences long enough to save their parents’ shops, or will the new feelings between them boil over?
Author | Emery Lee |
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Price | $13.99 |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Release Date | May 10, 2022 |
Source | Google Books |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | |
Source | Google Books |
『The Sun Is Also a Star』
The #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Finalist from the bestselling author of Everything, Everything will have you falling in love with Natasha and Daniel as they fall in love with each other. Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story. Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us. The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true? *** "Beautifully crafted."--People Magazine "A book that is very much about the many factors that affect falling in love, as much as it is about the very act itself . . . fans of Yoon’s first novel, Everything Everything, will find much to love—if not, more—in what is easily an even stronger follow up." —Entertainment Weekly "Transcends the limits of YA as a human story about falling in love and seeking out our futures." —POPSUGAR.com
Author | Nicola Yoon |
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Price | $5.99 |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Release Date | Nov 01, 2016 |
Source | Google Books |
『Love & Gelato』
"After her mother dies, Lina travels to Italy where she discovers her mothers's journal and sets off on an adventure to unearth her mother's secrets"--
Author | Jenna Evans Welch |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Release Date | May 02, 2017 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Far Pavilions』
This sweeping epic set in 19th-century India begins in the foothills of the towering Himalayas and follows a young Indian-born orphan as he's raised in England and later returns to India where he falls in love with an Indian princess and struggles with cultural divides. The Far Pavilions is itself a Himalayan achievement, a book we hate to see come to an end. It is a passionate, triumphant story that excites us, fills us with joy, move us to tears, satisfies us deeply, and helps us remember just what it is we want most from a novel. M.M. Kaye's masterwork is a vast, rich and vibrant tapestry of love and war that ranks with the greatest panoramic sagas of modern fiction, moving the famed literary critic Edmond Fuller to write: "Were Miss Kaye to produce no other book, The Far Pavilions might stand as a lasting accomplishment in a single work comparable to Margaret Mitchell's achievement in Gone With the Wind."
Author | M. M. Kaye |
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Price | $14.99 |
Publisher | St. Martin's Griffin |
Release Date | Dec 01, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
So there you go, folks - 10 remarkable and eloquent international romance novels that beautifully weave together stories of love, passion, and cultural exchange. Each one presents an enchanting melody of different people, cultures, and traditions intersecting and intertwining, leading to captivating narratives of love and understanding. These stories will not only stir your emotions and satisfy your crave for epic love stories but also enlighten you with the diverse customs and ways of life from different corners of the world. They're not just romance novels, but powerful bridges that connect us to cultures unlike our own and invite us to dive deep into the sea of literature with an open mind and heart. I sincerely recommend checking out these charming gems in the realm of international romance novels. Whether you're a die-hard romantic or a curious traveler, or maybe both, I assure you these books will fulfill their promise of delivering an enchanting, unique literary journey.
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