Ode to Happy Endings

I read a lot. It doesn't matter if the kids are screaming or a deadline is looming, I have to read. Fiction, nonfiction, all books call to me but at the end of the day I gravitate towards books with those gosh darn happy endings.

I'm not talking about fluffy or cotton-candy-pink kind of happy (though I've read some of those, too). I'm talking about books with a hero or heroine we find ourselves rooting for, watching in both horror and fascination as they navigate the unwieldy circumstances...