I think that was a minor part. The plot seems to be more about the motherly care and advice Pilar gives María that helps to develop a new relationship as Pilar reminisces about her own relationship with Pablo and how it has changed over the years. She still sees the young strong man she fell in love with, but she also sees the years that have changed him and diminished him.
Most books that get classified under “Historical Fiction” have a love interest - Gone With the Wind, Outback, any of Mitchner’s books (after you get past the first 6 chapters about the dinosaurs that he almost always puts in!), Clan of Cave Bear, etc.
In the romantic thrillers, J.D. Robb is another pen name of Nora Roberts. Zane Grey’s westerns have actual stories, not just shoot-em-up gore.
Do you have a used bookstore nearby to browse in? If you were close I’d say stop in at my husband’s store. You can find “penny books” on Amazon but S&H is going to cost you $3.99 - that’s how we can make a small profit on those books, since postage usually runs around $2.50.
How about Romeo and Juliet, if he hasn’t already read it in school?
Princess Bride
Shogun by James Clavell contains a beautiful romance but a whole lot more too about Samurai society. The TV miniseries years ago focused largely on the romance at the expense of a lot of terrific political intrigue. I’m about due to read that one again.
Me too. 
Princess Bride is good, and I don’t know why I mentioned “American Gods” when I could have mentioned “Stardust”. (both by Neil Gaiman).
I second IB’s suggestions of the Gaiman books.
How about Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy? A bit heart-breaking in the end, but admirably uncompromising and unpatronising.
I’ll second or third or whatever The Princess Bride.
Some of Sinclair Lewis’s less-preachy books are very romantic and also great reads. My absolute favorite book I’ve read in the last 10 years or so is Free Air. Our Mr Wren and Bethel Merriday are a couple of others that come to mind.
That trilogy is one of my favorites.
I’m going to check out Gaiman. I like the movie version of Stardust. Most likely, and as is often the case, the book is better.
I actually found the movie to be better in this case. Stardust is one of the few things I can that about, though.
-Seconding Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey/Maturin volumes. Not romance per se i.e. ripped bodices, but an involving history with yearning, fine personal and social characterization and “hooks” to propel interest in the tale.
-For Japanese romances-
“The Tale Of Genji”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Genji
-or the Musashi stories of Eiji Yoshikawa, the latter an epic, violent feudal tale of humor, noble hearts and a long-developing love story suitable for tender years.
-John Steinbeck’s “The Acts Of King Arthur And His Noble Knights”- fighting, romance, nobility
scandal, human weakness
I used to have a copy of a translation of the Tale of Genji. It was an enormous Doorstop of a book. That doesn’t deter me. I’ll read anything. But this was tedious. People would sit around writing poems about how sad Autumn was. Apparently this is par for the course for the period the book was (books were) written. The romances I found completely impenetrable. I read it from end to end - twice - and could not make head nor tail of it. I got rid of it. It takes a lot for me to get rid of a book, especially if it’s a classic, even a classic in another language.
You may find it fascinating. But I certainly didn’t. And I like Japanese culture.
By contrast, the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon is not exactly a romance, but has a certain amount of romantic interest in it. It is fascinating in its detail of court life.
Brokeback Mountain is good. It’s different from the movie.
If he can handle an early Christian point of view, Quo Vadis is quite good. A Roman patrician soldier falls in love with a Christian peasant girl, and is both intrigued by her innocence and enraged that she won’t…well, don’t want to give too much away. Fascinating historically, spiritually, and romantically. AND told from the man’s point of view.
T
The Ladies of the Club. Yeah. That one. I never read it but it sure is big and I see it at lots of book sales.
Justine and Juliette by the Marquis De Sade come readily to mind.
I remember reading “Justine” when I was a teenager. Not sure if I managed to find a copy of “Juliette” though. I did find “180 journees de Sodom”. And “Venus in Furs” by Sacher Masoch. They are not as fascinating as the teenage mind imagines them. It’s worth reading them just to get them behind you.
It’s stretching it to call them romances. 
I read the Justine and about 1/4 of Juliette and got bored. I read part of “180 days” and it wasn’t much better than the others. I’ve never read Sacher Masoch but have always wanted to.
I was just joking about the “romance” aspect.
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz, author of Quo Vadis, is the greatest romantic writer of all time, shoot just his name proves it. His trilogy is the greatest work of European literature of all time! Blood, gore, guts, heart breaking chivalry, there is absolutely nothing else like it. It is what made him a Nobel Laureate.
Speaking of Neil Gaiman, Sandman: The Dream Hunter is brief but a very good spinoff of an ancient Japanese tale. You have to believe not only in Gaiman but in the Japanese version of animal/human shape shifting. The reproductions of Amano Yoshitaka’s paintings are tremendous.
Sandy
Oh I just had and idea,(scary when that happens) it’s got the romance, WWII, but it’s also just an entertaining read- not too deep, but not shallow either- might be just right-
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
So, what book(s) did “The Kid” get/read/turn down?