by Caylee Courtright
Whether you’re going to cuddle up next to someone for Valentine’s Day or you’re going to spend the day alone, here is my list of the top 5 romantic books to read for this Valentine’s Day.
- What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
For lovers of Love, Simon, here is a book that should strike your interest. Set in New York City, this book follows the story of Arthur and Ben, two boys who meet each other at the post office, but are then separated by a flashmob. The two try to find each other, since they didn’t have the guts to ask each other for their numbers, and finally, Arthur (one of the boys) finds the other, Ben. Slight problem: Arthur lives in Georgia and Ben is a New York native. Over the course of three weeks, will they embrace the uncertainty of their relationship, or will they fall to the belief that the universe fails everyone that begins to believe in it?
- The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
For lovers of a love story on the sadder side, this book should satisfy your interest. When Lydia Bird loses her fiance/boyfriend of 10 years, she doesn’t quite know how to go through life without him. He was her missing piece, the one person she could rely on no matter what, and now he’s gone. However, while in her treatment for depression and on a trial medication, she is brought back into her life as if Freddie never died, but only when she takes the medication before. This book follows Lydia in her processing of her grief alongside her sister, and Freddie’s best friend Jonah, and guide her along her process of moving on. In this she navigates the consequences of going back to a life that wasn’t meant to be.
- This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender
For those who enjoy LGBTQ+ love stories, here’s another one. Nathan Bird’s life has not been easy, with his father who died and left him and his mother to try to pick up the pieces, his best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again’s relationship has not been an easy one. The last thing he needs is for his childhood best friend, Oliver James Hernández, to come back into his life after leaving on a pretty awkward and painful note when they were little. But it might just be exactly what he needs. For readers who would like to support a Black author who writes about POC characters, here is a great read!
- People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
For those who enjoy reading a vacation-themed book here’s a good and easy read for you! This books circles around two characters, Poppy and Alex, two best friends who couldn’t be any different than each other, but always find one thing in common: a yearly week vacation together. Until two years ago, where everything went haywire and they haven’t spoken since. Poppy was happy up until that vacation, and she wants to set everything right, and now she has the opportunity. She finally calls up Alex, and miraculously he agrees to continue their yearly tradition, but will she set everything right with Alex in just a week?
- From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata
For the sports themed, enemies to lovers trope readers, I have the last pick on the list! Similar to the movie The Cutting Edge, it revolves around Jasmine Santos and Ivan Lukov, who hate each other. So much so that Jasmine invisions Ivan getting hit by a bus and her not caring. But when an opportunity comes that would change her skating career for the rest of its short life, she can’t not take it. But Ivan is involved. The two constantly argue, but throughout the course of this novel, Jasmine must begin to rethink everything, and maybe have a change of heart about Ivan Lukov. But her mind won’t allow her to think positively about Ivan. Will it?