Valentine’s Recommendations
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
This isn’t just a love story, it’s story of family, friendship and struggles one person can feel when they have the weight of the world on their shoulders.
This Young Adult book follows Mallory and Nolan. Mallory is the oldest of three sisters, she looks after her family when her mum, who has a chronic illness, cannot. She pays the bills, she buys food and she gave up her freedom to keep her family afloat and above all, she gave up her love of chess.
Nolan is the world champion in the chess world and is the reigning “bad boy” of chess. Mallory is swept back into the world of chess on a one off game against Nolan, where she wipes the floor with him. Leading to a sponsorship and tournaments that might just save her family from losing their home.
Seven Exes by Lucy Vine
A rom-com about Esther, a woman on the verge of being thirty. She has a great job and flat shares with her two closest friends. Despite how great her life seems to be, Esther feels like she’s missing out on having that special someone in her life.
Tired of being single and sick of bad date after bad date, she thinks she’s found the answer to her romance problem in an old women's magazine. According to the magazine’s dating column, there are seven archetypes a woman will date before finding Mr. Right. It all seems silly at first, until Esther realizes she has exactly seven exes that match the The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Overlap, The Friend with Benefits, The Missed Chance, The Bastard, and The Serious One. Is it so hard to believe that perhaps one of them is The One?
So Esther decides to embark on the journey of contacting each of her exes and seeing if maybe, just maybe one of them is the one for her.
Still Unwritten by Caroline Khoury
This is a fast-paced, forbidden romance that follows Fran. She has forty-eight hours to find her passion. Seven days to find his way back on stage. One chance to take a risk on love. If she doesn’t nail this audition for a major TV role, she’s officially done as an actress.
Enter stage Jae-seung, the nephnew of Fran’s landlord and also lead singer of global sensation, JYNKS, who is currently MIA.
Together, they embark on an international journey of Fran, to track down her estranged mother and unlock her tightly guarded heart; Jae-seung, to continue (reluctantly) with his tour rehearsals. The chemistry between them is off the charts. But Jae-seung’s life is in South Korea, under strict contracts and constant scrutiny. Would a fling unleash Fran’s passion, or break the heart she’s learning to open?
Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out by Ryan Love
This is a touching and heartwarming story of acceptance, first love, heartbreak and finding where you belong.
When 79-year-old Arthur Edwards gathers his family together to share some important news, no one is prepared for the bombshell he drops: he's gay, and after a lifetime in the closet, he's finally ready to come out.
Arthur's 21-year-old grandson, Teddy, has a secret of his own: he's also gay, and developing serious feelings for his colleague Ben. But Teddy doesn't feel ready to come out yet – especially when Arthur’s announcement causes shockwaves in the family.
Arthur and Teddy have always been close, and now they must navigate first loves, heartbreak, and finding their place in their community. But can they – and their family – learn to accept who they truly are?
She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick -
One of the best Young Adult rom coms I’ve had the pleasure of reading with two completely different personalities that come alive on the page.
Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.
Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.
My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
A debut romantic comedy that follows Cassie Greenburg, an artist that is struggling to make a living. On the edge of being evicted, she desperately tries to find a new place to live and can’t believe it when a listing comes up for an unbeliebably affordable price. There has to be a catch…
Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean.