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.

Publication year 1973

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Appearance & Reality, Siblings

Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Bullying, Children`s Literature, Action & Adventure, Classic Fiction

A Wind in the Door, a science-fiction novel published in 1973, was written by renowned American author Madeleine L’Engle. L’Engle is the author of more than 60 books and winner of numerous awards, including the Margaret A. Edwards award for her lifelong contributions to teen readership. A Wind in the Door is the second novel of the Time Quintet and sequel to the acclaimed A Wrinkle in Time. While A Wind in the Door did... Read A Wind In The Door Summary

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Forgiveness, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Gender Identity, Coming of Age, Appearance & Reality, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Politics & Government, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Order & Chaos

Tags Fantasy, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Romance, Action & Adventure

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Love, Disability, Family, Marriage, Loyalty & Betrayal

Published in 2025, Bad Bishop is the first novel in the Society of Villains series by L. J. Shen. A prominent author in the dark-romance subgenre, Shen is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author known for creating morally complex antiheroes. Shen is the author of several other popular dark-romance series, including Sinners of Saint and All Saints High.Bad Bishop is set in New York’s criminal underworld and follows the... Read Bad Bishop Summary

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Self Discovery, Sexual Identity

Tags Romance, Love & Sexuality, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction

A New York Times bestselling novel, Bared to You by Sylvia Day chronicles the relationship between independent Eva Tramell and successful Gideon Cross. Published in 2012, Bared to You explores the impact of trauma as Eva and Gideon navigate their past experiences with childhood sexual abuse. The first book of the Crossfire Saga, Bared to You precedes four novels that document the turbulent relationship of Eva and Gideon. Classified as erotic fiction, Day’s novel features... Read Bared To You Summary

Publication year 1995

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Forgiveness, Grief, Love, Memory, Mental Health, Race, Midlife, The Past, Animals, Family, Grandparents, Mothers, Immigration, War, Loyalty & Betrayal, Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Southern Literature, Depression & Suicide, Grief & Death, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

Pat Conroy’s 1995 novel Beach Music is a work of historical fiction. Set primarily in South Carolina, the novel follows a community fractured by memories of the Holocaust and the social upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s. Beach Music explores the nature of generational trauma and the way our pasts shape our futures. The power of forgiveness and the differences between duty and loyalty are also prominent themes. The setting and culture of the American... Read Beach Music Summary

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Joy, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Nostalgia, Death, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Place, Family, Friendship, Mothers, Community, Economics, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Animals, Romance, Canadian Literature, Classic Fiction

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Family, Good & Evil

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Southern Gothic, Relationships

Beautiful Creatures (2009) is a young adult paranormal romance novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Garcia and Stohl combine their interest in Southern Gothic literature with supernatural romance. Beautiful Creatures is the first book in the four-part Caster Chronicles. The novel follows the romance between Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes as Lena comes to terms with the supernatural powers that make her a Caster. Lena and Ethan struggle to find a way to... Read Beautiful Creatures Summary

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love

Tags Romance, Coming of Age, Love & Sexuality, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire is a new adult romance first published in 2011. The book became an international bestseller and was made into a feature film released in 2023. The book is part of McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster series; several of the subsequent books also became New York Times bestsellers. This guide refers to the Atria paperback edition published in 2012.Content Warning: The novel depicts and romanticizes character traits that are often precursors of abusive... Read Beautiful Disaster Summary

Publication year 1740

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Love, Family, Marriage, Social Class

Tags Fairy Tale & Folklore, Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Love & Sexuality, Relationships, Children`s Literature, French Literature, Romance

Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanna Barbot De Villeneuve first appeared in her collection of fairy tales La jeune américaine, et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales) in 1740 and was abridged into a Christian moral tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756. As a fairy-tale classic, Beauty and the Beast has been retold around the globe and in several mediums, including books, film, theater, and opera. The most well-known adaptations... Read Beauty and the Beast Summary

Publication year 1978

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Beauty, Family

Tags Fairy Tale & Folklore, Fantasy, Romance

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (1978) is author Robin McKinley’s debut novel. It’s an adaptation of the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale written in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, with genre elements of fantasy and romance and marketed for a middle grade readership. McKinley’s version of the story maintains an 18th-century setting while modernizing thematic explorations of outer versus inner beauty, ideals of faithfulness and selflessness... Read Beauty Summary

Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love

Tags Romance, Grief & Death, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

Before I Die is a young adult novel by Jenny Downham published in 2007. The narrator is Tessa, a 16-year-old British girl who has terminal leukemia. The novel’s title refers to the things that Tessa would like to experience and accomplish before she dies: having sex, taking drugs, and breaking the law.Plot SummaryTessa lives with her patient and devoted father and her younger brother Cal; her mother, who left the family when Tessa was twelve... Read Before I Die Summary