Oh my god, Jacqueline Carey FOREVER AND EVER. She does EXACTLY what I want to do - mix romance and sex with action and adventure and just a touch of philosophy and spirituality. Basically, the woman combines everything I love about stories into one beautiful, heady mix. DO WANT.
The end of Brokeback Mountain, when Ennis looks at their bloody shirts hanging together with the postcard and says, simply, "Jack, I swear." I think it's the strong imagery combined with the sparse dialogue and the tragic and forbidden nature of their romance that tears me up every time.