Valentines Book Club Recs 💕

Book Babe Kristen, a self described, fairly serious, type A, realist, presents her Valentines Romance Recommendations!

Why do you like romance genres?

I am always on the go and by the book. Romance is a way for me to chill out, relax and enjoy a good love story as it takes me through the highs and lows of characters I (hopefully) root for. I am a person that doesn’t like to show my feelings many times to others. But when I’m reading a good love story, you can usually find me doing one of the following:

• Grinning ear to ear
• Eyes wide with jaw dropped
• Fanning myself (yes that happens)
• Laughing out loud with giddiness
• Crying 
• Yelling “Are you freaking kidding me, why the heck would he do THAT?”

It allows me to take a break from real life and be whisked away into somebody else’s relationship. Who doesn’t love to root for love?

What made you get into the romance genre?

Ever heard of the saying “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”. Well that would be me. I grew up with my mother reading all the time. She is the lady that shows up to a concert or sporting event (Pre-COVID of course) with a Kindle or Book in tow. This was also helpful considering how type A we all are and would arrive at events SO early! 

She got me into young adult (YA) romance when I started to read more, and we always loved Rom-Com movies. It was an easy transition into one of my favorite genres. 

What are your favorite romance snacks, food and drinks to serve  if/when hosting?

Need to grab that red wine or a good sangria for a chat over romance. If we’re really feeling fancy – a Watermelon Martini.

Puppy chow is good, who can resist chocolate? But honestly, my favorite easy, go-to dessert is delicate angel food cake with berries, covered in whipped cream, YUM!

Top 5 Overall Romance Picks:

💘 One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London:

Anybody else love reality dating shows but absolutely hates the lack of diversity they see? Not just racial diversity, but diversity in age, bodies, sexual preferences, etc. 

If that’s you then One to Watch is a great read! The story centers around Bea, a plus-size fashion blogger who features summaries of Main Squeeze (think the Bachelorette) on her blog and notes, “Who doesn’t love the fantasy dates, the kiss off rejections, the surprising amount of guys named Chad” but is SICK and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when do you have to be a size zero as a prereq for getting engaged on TV? 

After her post goes viral she gets a surprising call from a producer on the show wanting her to be the next star! She may agree but it is ONLY to supercharge her career nothing more! 

But we all know things can’t be quite as simple and straightforward as we think they’ll be once the cameras start rolling. 

Check it out for a cute and thought provoking story around a reality love show.

💘 The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang:

Helen Hoang’s debut novel that proves: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick. 

This was a Goodreads 2018 Choice Winner. 

Helen Hoang writes around a data genius Stella who thinks math is the end all, be all. She has an incredible job that she loves that focuses all around data and algorithms but is lacking in experience in the dating world. 

Stell has Asperger’s and believes she needs a LOT of practice when it comes to dating and getting close to somebody. Conclusion? Hire a professional escort. 

Michael Phan agrees to her offer but before long… their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. 

As a bit of a data nerd myself, I absolutely couldn’t put this book down and loved the steamy bits of the story as well.

💘 Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: 

Hollywood Movie Icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell her true and glamorous life story, including all of the scandalous details. 

She chooses an unknown magazine reporter, Monique Grant, to write the story who is a bit down on her luck. Monique is determined to use this amazing opportunity to jumpstart her career. 

Evelyn begins telling her story, from first making her way to LA in the 1950’s, to her decision to leave the spotlight in the late 80’s. Of course, this includes the stories of her not one, not two, but seven husbands along the way. Her life story reveals the truths around her ambition as a movie star, her friendships and answers the big question “Who was Evelyn Hugo’s great love of her life?”

💘 The Billionaire Bachelor by Jessica Lemmon:

Reese Crane is trying to convince the board of directors to name him CEO of Crane hotels but his playboy past is preventing them from doing so. 

If they want a man that is settled down to lead the company, that’s what they’ll get. 

Reese puts together a simple business contract that will include a six month marriage until he is named CEO with Marina Van Heusen, and in the end, he will gift her the funky boutique hotel her parents ran from within his portfolio. 

When sparks start to fly between them, they begin living in their worst nightmares… falling for their spouse. 

This book had a fun and flirty storyline throughout with quite a few steamy parts that had me loving the read! This book pretty much secured fake relationships as my favorite romance trope!

💘 Beach Read by Emily Henry:

If you love the Enemies to Lovers romance trope and laughing out loud at good sarcastic comments, this read is one for you. 

It follows a romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut. “When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.”

Really the only thing they have in common is that they’re living next door to one another as they’re bogged down with writer’s block. 

They decide to challenge each other to write a book of the opposite genre and see who the better writer is. They decide to help one another with research where he’ll take her to interview people who survived a death cult and she takes him on field trips worthy to be in any rom-com movie. 

This book had me laughing out loud with these sparring, sarcastic characters and tearing up at incredible character growth

Honorable Mentions:

• Things You Save in a Fire
• The Sun is Also a Star
• The Selection
• Passion on Park Ave
• Bromance Bookclub
• Well Met
• In a Holidaze
• Tools of Engagement

Happy Valentines Day to our lovely readers. Let u know what you read and eat for your February Bookclub!! 🌹🌹🌹