Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love

Our Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love Collection features titles centered on love and all of its complexities. This Collection represents authors who have grappled with romantic, familial, and other forms of love through writing. With titles ranging from contemporary romance picks to works by Shakespeare, this Collection has something to offer any reader who has ever lost or found love.

The Paris Match

by Kate Clayborn

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Disability, Femininity, Mental Health, Place, Family, Marriage, Self Discovery

Tags Romance

Layla Bailey, a physician who works as a locum tenens doctor, filling temporary staffing needs at hospitals around the country, boards a flight to Paris for the destination wedding of Emily MacKenzie, her former sister-in-law. Layla and her ex-husband Jamie MacKenzie divorced nearly two years ago, and she has avoided the MacKenzie family since. On the flight, Layla treats a teenager who faints from dehydration. During the incident, a striking, scarred man in all black... Read The Paris Match Summary

The Paris Wife

by Paula McLain

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Marriage, Forgiveness, Love, Self Discovery, Art, Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Historical Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction

Paula McLain’s 2011 novel, The Paris Wife, is a work of biographical historical fiction that reimagines the marriage of the writer Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. Narrated largely from Hadley’s perspective, the story chronicles their passionate courtship and their life as American expatriates in Jazz Age Paris as part of the “Lost Generation.” The novel explores themes such as The Competing Demands of Love and Artistic Ambition, Defining the Self in a... Read The Paris Wife Summary

The Passengers

by John Marrs

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Hate & Anger, Love, Memory, Revenge, Mental Health, Death, Future, Environment, Teamwork, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Economics, Education, Globalization, Immigration, Nation, Politics & Government, Equality, Fame, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

... Read The Passengers Summary

The Phantom of the Opera

by Gaston Leroux

Publication year 1910

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Death, Loyalty & Betrayal, Art, Safety & Danger, Hate & Anger, Music, Love, Fear, Beauty, Nature Versus Nurture, Justice, Perseverance, Conflict, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Marriage, Good & Evil, Appearance & Reality, Fathers, Gratitude

Tags Classic Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Romance, Gothic Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux is a Gothic mystery novel first published serially in 1910. The novel follows a “ghost” who haunts the Paris Opera and the mysterious incidents attributed to this figure. The characters and the narrator himself try to uncover the secret of this ghost, who is really a masked man infatuated opera singer, Christine Daaé. The novel has been adapted into several formats, most notably a 1925 silent film... Read The Phantom of the Opera Summary

The Pirate Queen

by Ariel Lawhon

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Love, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Coming of Age, The Past, Environment, Nature Versus Nurture, Place, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Nation, War, Equality, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure

... Read The Pirate Queen Summary

The Pivot Year

by Brianna Wiest

Publication year 2023

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Love, Future, The Past, Self Discovery

Tags Business & Economics, Inspirational, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Self-Improvement, Psychology

... Read The Pivot Year Summary

The Price of Salt

by Patricia Highsmith

Publication year 1952

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Loneliness, Sexual Identity

Tags LGBTQ+, Romance, Historical Fiction, World History, Classic Fiction

Patricia Highsmith published The Price of Salt in 1952 under a pseudonym, Claire Morgan, because of the lesbian relationship between the two main characters—Therese and Carol. The Price of Salt is a romance, mystery, and coming-of-age tale. Highsmith wrote many short stories and over 20 novels. Like her other works, The Price of Salt contains autobiographical elements; like Therese, Highsmith worked at a department store, became captivated by a woman she met there, and was... Read The Price of Salt Summary

The Program

by Suzanne Young

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Memory, Grief, Love, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Romance, Depression & Suicide, Fantasy, Mental Illness

The Program is a 2014 young adult dystopian novel by Suzanne Young. Young is a novelist specializing in science fiction, thriller, and romance novels in the young adult genre. The novel takes place in a dystopian society where the government declares mental illness an epidemic. The Program follows seventeen-year-old Sloane Barstow, who struggles to reunite with her boyfriend James after a treatment clinic called The Program erases their memories in an attempt to “cure” their... Read The Program Summary