I must confess: I’m not big on worst-case-scenario entertainment. Plane crashes, train wrecks, little boys floating in rafts with tigers . . . it’s just not my thing. Watching people in high-stress situations makes me highly stressed, and it’s just not my cup of tea.

Me, I like love stories. No, scratch that. I love love stories. Love stories feed the heart, mind, and soul, and for my money, there’s no better storytelling around. And I’m not alone. It’s hardly a fluke that every myth that has been passed down through the oral traditions of the ancients started with love—the Egyptians had Geb and Nutt, the Greeks had Zeus and Hera, the Romans had Venus and . . . well . . . everyone. (Go, Venus.) Love speaks to the very core of what makes us human, it’s a need as real as food, clothing, or shelter, and without it, that core dries up and begins to crack.

Lucky for me, because love stories speak to such a core need, it’s the one storytelling element that is truly ubiquitous. While I can think of plenty of stories that don’t have horror elements, or comedy, or adventure, or science fiction, I can only think of a small handful that don’t include some element of love. And I’m not just talking about romantic, wind-in-her-hair, sex-in-the-surf kind of love, although I’d say easily ninety percent of the entertainment out there includes some of those elements. I’m talking about love in all its incarnations, which, when  …