As Valentine’s Day approaches, it’s not just a -12 degree chill that’s in the air… it’s also love. So, whether your February 14th plans involve a romantic night with your partner, a group hang with your pals, a steamy hookup, or a cozy night in by yourself, we’ve got a list of books for you that celebrate all kinds of love.

If the love you’re celebrating is love itself…

Loves of Our Lives by Josie Balka

TikTok sensation Josie Balka is back with her second book, Loves of Our Lives, a poetic journey through the relationships that make us human. Full of beautiful imagery, and big feelings, these poems get straight to your heart, exploring six types of love: familial, toxic, romantic, friendship, self-love, and lost love. Loves of Our Lives invites readers to reflect and celebrate in equal measure, in this “love letter to love”.

If you’re healing from a broken heart…

Notes on Heartbreak by Annie Lord

Annie Lord’s Notes on Heartbreak is a love story told in reverse. Covering the beautiful, the messy, the euphoric, and the painful, in this book, Lord revisits the past, exploring her history of love and heartbreak in a book that’s about so much more than just one breakup. From the moment she first fell in love, to the shared intimacies and intertwinings of a long-term relationship, to the slow erosion of a bond of five years, this is an unflinchingly honest and relatable reminder of the joys and pains of being in love – perfect for anyone who has ever had a broken heart.

If the love you’re celebrating is messy and complicated…

Wants and Needs by Roxy Dunn

Roxy Dunn’s Wants and Needs is both devastating, and beautiful. It’s about coming-of-age when you thought you’d already done that. It’s about independence, commitment, starting over, and finding new ways to love. Misty is struggling to gain back independence. Just a few months ago, she was planning her life, and living with her fiancé. Now, she’s freshly single, living in her childhood bedroom, and recovering from knee surgery, needing to rely on her mother for help with the smallest of tasks. So she turns to the dating apps, immediately becoming intrigued with the handsome and charming Christopher. So much so that by the time she discovers that the “ENM” on his profile stands for “ethical non-monogamy” — she’s already developed feelings for him. She decides to date Christopher for the next six weeks, while his partner is away, and hopefully it will teach her to become less attached before her next relationship. But is what she wants what she really needs? This is a surprising story in the way it grips you. It’s funny and refreshing, while also being poignant and relatable. This is a heartfelt and unputdownable story for people who saw themselves in Fleabag. 

If the love you’re celebrating is with your book boyfriend…

Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia

Iman Hariri-Kia’s Female Fantasy was a delightful romp. Fast-paced, and funny, with unforgettable characters, and SO much charm, this book is partly a love letter to book boyfriends, partly a love letter to yourself, and partly an unforgettable love story. Joonie is living in a fantasy — at least that’s what people keep telling her. Men in the real world disappoint her over and over again, but she knows she deserves better, and she’s got a blueprint for what “better” looks like, thanks to Ryke—the fictional male lead of her favourite fantasy romance series…who just happens to be a merman. So far, her “book boyfriend” is meeting her needs more than any “real man” can – so when she learns that Ryke’s character is based on someone the author knows in real life, Joonie is determined to track him down, and take her shot at happily ever after. But as she makes her way to him, she learns that if you want to live in a fantasy, that means you have to take ALL the tropes that come with it… not just the fun ones. This was unhinged, and unforgettable.

If the love you’re celebrating is one you didn’t see coming…

How to Write a Love Story by Catherine Walsh

This is a book for book lovers. Catherine Walsh’s How to Write A Love Story follows an ambitious editor who heads to Ireland to help the daughter of a legendary fantasy author finish her father’s final book… only to fall for her in the process. Ciara Sheridan’s father has passed away, leaving her with his ramshackle Irish estate, and the outline for the finale of his bestselling epic fantasy series — and he wants her to complete it. She’s struggling with writer’s block, and when her publisher sends a hotshot editor to help, she’s surprised to see a young, good-looking American. Ciara and Sam have two weeks, during the hottest Irish summer on record, to finish this book, and secure Ciara’s father’s legacy. Those burgeoning feelings between them? That’s a plot twist neither of them expected.  Compelling, romantic, and unputdownable — this will have you giggling and kicking your feet.

If the love you’re celebrating is a little steamy…

Songbird of the Sorrows by Braidee Otto

Braidee Otto’s debut Songbird of the Sorrows is a whimsical and heartfelt romantasy story following an outcast princess turned spy, on a mission to infiltrate a rival kingdom. Princess Aella was ousted from the palace of sorrows as a child, destroying her world, and forcing her to abandon her lineage. She was raised in The Aviary, a secret order that trains spies, disguising itself as a school for orphaned children. Now, she’s twenty-three, and has been summoned to join Alpha Flight, the Aviary’s elite team of assassins, which is led by her former flame, Raven. Everything about him calls to her, but is he worth breaking the rules and risking everything she worked so hard for? Before she can decide, the Alpha Flight team is sent on a dangerous mission, where she must assume her former title of the Princess of Sorrows, and compete in the bridal trials held by the prince of Eretria. As old sparks alight, she must decide if she’s brave enough to disobey her superiors and stand up for what she believes is right.

If the love you’re celebrating is epic…

Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean

Emiko Jean’s Love Me Tomorrow is a beautiful and moving romcom about a teen who starts receiving letters from the love of her life, writing to her from years in the future. Seven-year-old Emma doesn’t believe in love, not after her parents’ divorce. So when she attends the festival of Tanabata, her wish is simple — she wants proof that love is real, and that it can last. She doesn’t think much of her wish, until she finds a note claiming to be from her greatest love, writing to her from the future. She writes it off as a prank, but as the notes keep coming, she is forced to accept that this is somehow really happening.  But who is it? Is it Ezra — the musical prodigy who makes her pulse race? Theo — the boy next door who’s known her since childhood? Or Colin — the overly confident rich kid she meets while cleaning his mega mansion? As she tries to uncover the identity of her letter writer, she learns that love is more than just real — it’s been waiting for her all along.

If the love you’re celebrating is (probably) just a couple of swipes away…

The Tinder Sonnets by Jennifer LoveGrove

So maybe it’s not love exactly. Maybe it’s lust, or intrigue, or infatuation… or maybe you just love the game. Either way, The Tinder Sonnets is a messy and complicated collection of poems that celebrate our contemporary life, and what romance looks like. From dating apps, to sex, to difficult conversations, to pleasure and disappointment, family and identity, Jennifer LoveGrove’s poems confront readers, helping them shed any expectations about “women of a certain age” as invisible, non-sexual and polite. Each poem is based on a date, a relationship, or an insight on contemporary dating, highlighting the ways misogyny impacts how we connect (or don’t). Subversive and unforgettable, this is the perfect collection for anyone dipping their toes into (or fully submerged in) the dating pool.