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Books to Fall in Love With 2019

Valentine's Day (Books To Fall in Love With)

Books to Fall in Love With 2019

Congratulations to the five winners of our Valentine's Day contest! These readers received a copy of each of our seven featured books and some delicious chocolate. Those who entered had the option of responding to the question “Who is your all-time literary crush?” which many of you answered, much to our delight. We had so much fun compiling your top 10 “Literary Loves and Lusts,” which you can see below. Many thanks to all who participated!

This year's featured Valentine’s Day titles are:

  • AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones
  • EVERY BREATH by Nicholas Sparks
  • THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves
  • GOOD RIDDANCE by Elinor Lipman
  • HOW TO BE LOVED: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship, by Eva Hagberg Fisher
  • I OWE YOU ONE by Sophie Kinsella
  • TAILSPIN by Sandra Brown

Winners

Emily from Lone Tree, CO
Ezell from Burlington, NJ
Laura from Biloxi, MS
Leslie from Hardy, AR
Linda from Woodland, CA
 

The Top 10 Literary Loves and Lusts
1. Heathcliff from WUTHERING HEIGHTS
2. Rhett Butler from GONE WITH THE WIND
3. Jamie Fraser from the Outlander series
4. Jack Reacher from the Jack Reacher series
5. Mr. Darcy from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
6. Noah Calhoun from THE NOTEBOOK
7. Ranger from the Stephanie Plum series
8. Will Traynor from ME BEFORE YOU
9. Atticus Finch from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
10. Sherlock Holmes from the Sherlock Holmes series

 

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones - Fiction


Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.

Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks - Romance


Hope Anderson has been dating her boyfriend for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family's cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future. Tru Walls is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. He hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother's early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable. But their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves - Romance


Annika Rose is an English major at the University of Illinois. Anxious in social situations, she'd rather be surrounded by the order and discipline of books or the quiet solitude of playing chess. Jonathan Hoffman joined the chess club and lost his first game --- and his heart --- to Annika. He admires her ability to be true to herself and accepts the challenges involved in pursuing a relationship with her. What follows is a tumultuous yet tender love affair that withstands everything except the unforeseen tragedy that forces them apart, shattering their connection and leaving them to navigate their lives alone. Now, a decade later, fate reunites Annika and Jonathan in Chicago.

Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman - Romantic Comedy

Daphne Maritch doesn't quite know what to make of the heavily annotated high school yearbook she inherits from her mother. The late June Winter Maritch was the teacher to whom the class of '68 had dedicated its yearbook, and in turn she went on to attend every reunion, scribbling notes and observations after each one --- not always charitably --- and noting who overstepped boundaries of many kinds. In a fit of decluttering, she discards it when she moves to a small New York City apartment. But when it's found in the recycling bin by a busybody neighbor/documentary filmmaker, the yearbook's mysteries --- not to mention her own family's --- take on a whole new urgency, and Daphne finds herself entangled in a series of events both poignant and absurd.

How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship by Eva Hagberg Fisher - Memoir

Eva Hagberg Fisher spent her lonely youth looking everywhere for connection: drugs, alcohol, therapists, boyfriends, girlfriends. Sometimes she found it, but always temporarily. Then, at age 30, an undiscovered mass in her brain ruptured. So did her life. A brain surgery marked only the beginning of a long journey, and when her illness hit a critical stage, it forced her to finally admit the long-suppressed truth: she was vulnerable, she needed help, and she longed to grow. She needed true friendship for the first time. HOW TO BE LOVED is the story of how an isolated person’s life was ripped apart only to be gently stitched back together through friendship, and the recovery --- of many stripes --- that came along the way.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella - Fiction


Since Fixie Farr's dad passed away, she spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings. When a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees, but ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life. His lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons, and she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants.

Tailspin by Sandra Brown - Romantic Suspense


Rye Mallett, a fearless "freight dog" pilot, is asked to fly into a completely fogbound northern Georgia town and deliver a mysterious black box to a Dr. Lambert. As Rye's plane nears the isolated landing strip, more trouble than inclement weather awaits him. He is greeted first by a sabotage attempt on his plane that causes him to crash land, and then by Dr. Brynn O'Neal, who claims she was sent for the box in Dr. Lambert's stead. Despite Rye's "no-involvement" policy when it comes to other people's problems, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the intrigue surrounding his cargo…and to the mysterious and alluring Brynn. Soon Rye and Brynn are in a treacherous 48-hour race to deliver the box before time runs out.