Welcome to The Book Nook, a biweekly piece for book lovers who don’t know what to read next and just want to curl up with a good read, on a cushy window seat, surrounded by an endless library of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
There are lots of places to find love this Valentine’s season, and it doesn’t always have to be in the real world. In the romance genre, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone.
For the lonely soul just looking for someone fictional to fall for on Valentine’s Day, fantasy, historical and contemporary romance all have much to offer.
Contemporary romance has become much more popular recently. However, if comfort reads and nostalgia are the goal, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jenny Han is the way to go.
Not only can the trilogy fill up a whole day, but it can be followed up by the Netflix original movies that are arguably more popular than the books.
The high school romance features the much-loved “fake dating” trope, where the main character Laura Jean Covey will definitely fall in love with her “fake” boyfriend, Peter Kravinsky.
Graduating from high school straight up to doctorates but sticking with fake dating, is “The Love Hypothesis” by Ali Hazelwood. This novel spices up Olive Smith and Adam Carlsen’s fake relationship with the cult-classic “enemies to lovers” trope.
Unlike the previous novels, “Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston has a whole cast of swoon-worthy characters, including the president’s son Alex Gabriel Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor.
This romance is a “star-crossed” situation with a secret relationship, enemies to lovers and somehow also a “fake friendship” trope. There’s definitely a lot going on, but with a wonderful supporting cast of side characters, the boys will surely figure things out.
The “Bridgerton” TV series created by Chris Van Dusen made a huge splash in the historical romance genre, but don’t ignore the books just because the show is amazing. The original “Bridgerton” book series by Julia Quinn contains eight books, one for each sibling’s love story.
Although the Bridgertons were named in alphabetical order, the order of the books threw that completely out the window. They don’t need to be read in order, anyway. In fact, many people suggest skipping the first book entirely.
The Bridgerton siblings’ love stories range wildly from crashing weddings, rescuing damsels from their own fathers, to scavenger hunts for lost diamonds and even a “Cinderella” story.
Inspired by the real lives of C.R. Patterson and his family, “The Davenports” by Krystal Marquis is set in 1910 and follows four black women: two sisters from a very wealthy family and their two best friends as they search for love.
None of them find it where they are supposed to, especially their best friends who both chase after their brother, John Davenport.
“The Empyrean” is an in-progress five-book series by Rebecca Yarros which begins with “Fourth Wing” and currently has three books published. It has everything a reader could want: dragons.
Also magic, hot guys and hot girls, but also dragons.
The main character Violet Sorrengail was never supposed to be a dragon rider and almost died multiple times while training to become one on her mother’s command. It didn’t help that Xaden Riorson wanted to kill her. Naturally, they are meant for each other.
It would be remiss not to include Sarah J. Maas, specifically her eight-book series “Throne of Glass.” This series has magic, monsters, assassins, witches and royalty, but most importantly Fae males, a staple in many romantic fantasy novels.
Celaena Sardothien, one of the aforementioned assassins, gets caught up in a revolution she wants nothing to do with and leaves a trail of broken hearts behind her. Just two, really, but each of them play their own parts in Sardothien’s reluctant revolution.
There are at least four love stories in “Throne of Glass,” five if you want to be traumatized by the prequel, and each as satisfying as the last.
Although it’s probably not possible to read the whole series on Valentine’s Day, it’s definitely worth a try.
