I suppose that I am going to have to accept the fact that I am in the minority when it comes to people who thought Katniss made a bad choice in The Hunger Games. To me it just felt like gale Hawthorne was a much better match for Katniss and that she could really be herself around him. The way that the helped each other out and knew the type of hardships the other endured because they came from the same background made it seem like they were destined for each other. Peeta on the other hand hasn't struggled in the same manner as the other two and when he does show kindness to Katniss it is done in a way that makes her feel like she "owes" him something. The whole romance with Peeta felt to me like it was "forced" on Katniss and that he was more manipulative than Gale. I don't want to give away any spoilers (as if there is anyone left that hasn't read the books yet), but the whole thing with Prim also rubbed me the wrong way and felt like an easy out for the author. Oh well, I sppose stories can't always be exactly like we want them to be.

Some of my favorite young adult books also contain some of my favorite romantic couples. Number one is definitely Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from the Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. The fact that Peeta was in love with Katniss since elementary school and held on to this love even after all the brainwashing and torture the Capitol subjecting him to is nothing short of amazing. Initially Katniss doesn't appear to share the same feelings, but her love for him clearly grows over the course of the books and I couldn't be more pleased by their ending.

My other favorite romantic couple is from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling, but I don't want to mention their names to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn't already read the books or watched the movies.

I can already see all the Bella and Edward or Christian and Anastasia answers incoming, so I'll try and offer a slightly less knee jerk response. As much as people seem to like those characters and hold them up as perfect romances, they are nothing of the sort. Romance is hard enough work as it is, so all these books that bring vampires and billionaires into the mix just doesn't feel genuine to me. I know that they are very popular and have millions of readers, but at the end of the day there are better books available with really romantic couples that are actually relateable. If any of you lot ever had to choose between a vampire and werewolf for a date on Saturday nights or got stalked by a billionaire with weird kinks, then good for you, but I prefer my romance a little more grounded in reality.

With all of that said, my all time favorite romantic couple in literature would have to be Noah and Allie from The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Their story features the type of love and bond that most people in life crave and few ever really attain. The book had me in tears and just the fact that Noah remained so devoted to Allie even after everything that happened in their lives is such an inspiration. People who get married now and then just call it quits the first time something goes wrong could learn a lot from these two characters. Another couple who seem to be doomed right from the start, but prevail in their love anyway is Augustus and Hazel from the John Green book, The Fault in Our Stars. You know you are in for lots of tears when the romantic couple meet each out while attending a cancer support group.

There is a tremendous amount of romance books on the market and after reading so many of them the characters tend to kind of blur together making it hard to remember names. I mean the details of their romance sticks with me for a while, but often it is just the names and settings that change while the rest is interchangeable. I don't know if this is the case for other genres of literature too, but I often find myself starting a romance novel and then halfway through it I get a sense of deja vu leaving me wondering if I haven't in fact already read the book. I'm a little older now and maybe a tad more forgetful than when I was still a spring chicken, but these are the couples that stayed in my memory as the most romantic.

1 - Romeo and Juliet from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare ~ Even if you have never read a book in your life I am quite sure that you will not only know the names Romeo and Juliet, but also know that they were deeply in loved. This story of star-crossed lovers who were kept apart and driven towards a tragic fate thanks to their families is one of the most famous ones penned by Shakespeare. I also find it a little ironic that "the greatest love story of all time" as many people call it, has such a tragic ending.

2. Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ~ I'm not really sure if I would call what Catherine and Heathcliff had in Wuthering Heights "the most romantic" but there is certainly no ambiguity about how they feel about each other. I mean Heathcliff continues being madly in love with Catherine even after she passes away and goes to the length of starving himself just to join her in the afterlife. If that is not devotion, then what is.