Romance

I now write in defense of beautifully staged, meticulously lighted, handsomely dressed, genuinely acted, and shrewdly contrived soppiness. I make no apologies. You'll either detest the new musical Love Story , which has all that and more at the Walnut Street Theatre, or you'll give yourself over to stunning manipulation. You may regret it later - you've been played like a soulful cello by a cast of Yo-Yo Mas - but while you're being sucked in you'll be fully in the moment. That's what happened to me. In retrospect, it happened against all odds, in a show that has so much kissing, I wonder about the production's ChapStick bill; that's a stretch at 100 intermissionless minutes; that offers stereotyped characters cut from cardboard; that - like the book it came from - is a jarring mixture of glib repartee, lovey mush, and, finally, overwhelming sadness.

Recent romance releases include a sweet story about struggling newlyweds, a twist on a very familiar theme, and a bittersweet tale of love among Shifters.   Midnight Promises By Sherryl Woods Harlequin Mira, $7.99 paperback Midnight Promises continues the story of single mother Karen Ames and sexy personal trainer Elliott Cruz. We first met them in Woods' Feels Like Family , a previous entry in the Sweet Magnolia series, in which they were secondary characters.

Before becoming a bride eight times over, Elizabeth Taylor was a 17-year-old starlet scribbling letters to her first fiance, charting on pale pink stationery his progression from her one-and-only to the one who got away. "I've never known this kind of love before - it's so perfect and complete - and mature," Taylor wrote to William Pawley on May 6, 1949. "I've never loved anyone in my life before one third as much as I love you - and I never will (well, as far as that goes - I'll never love anyone else - period)

The endearing romance between troubled teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and perpetually young blood-drinker Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) takes a decidedly grown-up turn in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 , which Summit Entertainment is to release at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The fourth installment in the mega-popular teen vampire romance has Bella and Edward procreate. Their baby, it seems, poses a danger to the Wolf Pack, introducing more hair-raising, tingly conflict.

The world wondered if Tiger Woods would ever return to being the dominant figure in golf after more than three years of problems with injuries and the revelation in 2009 of repeated episodes of infidelity that crippled his public image. Now, however, as Woods arrives in town to prepare for Thursday's start of the 113th U.S. Open at storied Merion Golf Club in Haverford Township, he appears to be healthier and happier than he has been in years. Not coincidentally, he has returned to a form approaching the earlier part of his career, when he once held all four major championships at the same time.

Clint Eastwood flinched first and settled a lawsuit yesterday with ex-live-in Sondra Locke minutes before a jury was to render a verdict in her favor. Neither side was talking how much, but her lawyer said it was a straight cash deal with no future considerations. Locke had sought $2.5 mil for Eastwood's alleged sabotaging of her directing career. A juror said damages were discussed from $15,000 to $10 mil. The lawsuit was over a movie deal he supposedly brokered for her at Warner Bros.

FREE-SPIRITED romantic that she was, Julia Papazian Law had big plans to recreate a magical scene from her favorite movie, "Moonstruck. " Law was excited about attending a performance next January of Puccini's "La Boheme," the opera featured in a memorable scene in the film, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She especially wanted to see it with her new love, her boss, high-profile defense lawyer A. Charles Peruto Jr. "She wanted to recreate the scene. We were going to dress up, have champagne.

Her dream is to row in the Olympics. Twice she has come so close - only to be named an alternate. She has invested eight years of her life in this quest. Now she is 30, a high school crew coach working for her ex-boyfriend. Sparks still fly between them, yet the Olympic flame still flickers. What now? Such is the predicament of Abi Brooks, the protagonist in Backwards , an independent film being shot in and around Philadelphia, especially Boathouse Row, the epicenter of the city's rowing culture.

  NOT LONG AGO, in my parents' Philadelphia attic, I unearthed a slip for my father's bail, some mimeographed handbills about organized labor, and copies of my parents' teacher certifications. This discovery happened the same week that the city of Philadelphia voted to close 23 schools. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the hugely impactful Philadelphia teachers strike, and the academic year is ending without so much as a nod from the press. My parents not only participated in the strike, but, as young singles, shared what Mom calls a "picket romance.

If you're looking for excuses to hate Rod and Bob Jackson-Paris, you don't have to look far. You could dislike them for political or moral reasons. The Jackson-Paris guys are gay. They're gay and they're married. They're gay, married and making a pretty good living publicizing it. As if that weren't enough, they're gorgeous. Bob and Rod are buff. They're hunks. Bob, formerly Bob Paris, is a former Mr. Universe. He has curly brown hair and a voice as gravelly as a country road.