One of the best ways to spend Valentine's Day is with someone(s) you love. However, it isn't always possible to spend time with them, especially these days. One of my favorite ways of spending Valentine's Day -- and the whole month of February -- is by reading. Below are 10 of my favorite love stories (and a few unconventional ones) to check out!
"Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes
Unfortunately, I saw the movie before reading the book, but "Me Before You" is one of the greatest love stories I've ever read.
The story follows Louisa (Lou) Clark as she job searchs and ends up taking a job being a caregiver to Will Traynor, a quadriplegic with no will to live.
Throughout the story, Lou comes to realize Will wants to live, he just needs to find his reason. Will, however, discovers that Lou has more to offer than he first realized and his paralyzed heart starts beating again.
Definitely read with a box of tissues because you will not see the end coming.
"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I devoured it within two days. I have a strong urge to read it again since it's been a long time.
"The Night Circus" begins with the setting up of Le Cirque des Reves, a circus that arrives without warning and in the middle of the night.
The book goes back and forth between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and tells the intertwined, connected stories of Celia and Marco, two magicians for the circus in which they were born and raised.
You never know who you'll fall in love with under the stars...and the big top.
"The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger
This is another of my absolute favorite love stories. The movie does it justice save for a few parts changed. I couldn't put it down and just had to know what happened to Claire and Henry.
Henry has a power believed to not exist; time travel. From the very first time, he meets Claire, his future wife. Claire comes to realize his power and, despite it all, falls in love with him.
Unfortunately, time traveling can have its downsides...and Claire and Henry's life will never be the same.
"YOU" by Caroline Kepnes
Okay, this is a bit of an unconventional love story. Alright, it's an insane love story of obsession and voyeurism. However, it *is* a love story.
"YOU," if you aren't familiar, is the story of Joe. Joe is not a typical man. He is on the search for the perfect match; his perfect match. And he finds it in Beck. Beck is a small-town-girl-turned-New-Yorker. She wants to be the next great author.
Beck believes Joe is the greatest person on Earth. She is wrong.
This one may make you question everybody you love, but sometimes, it's okay to do that.
"The Sun is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
This is one of those books I saw the trailer of the movie for then insisted on reading.
"The Sun is Also a Star" tells two different stories of two different people from two different worlds who become one.
Natasha, Jamaican-born, finds out her family is being relocated back, meanwhile Daniel decides the pressure his family put on him is suffocating and he decides to get away for a day.
With Natasha having 24 hours to save her family and Daniel with only 24 hours away from his, the two discover the true meaning of love, and that it has no bounds.
Another one requiring a box of tissues.
"Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell
The number of times I've read this book and continuously fall in love with Cath and Levi's story is insane, but here we are!
Cath and Wren, complete opposites, are starting college. Wren loves the spotlight while Cath prefers behind-the-scenes.
Where Wren loses herself in human interaction, Cath immerses herself in her fanfiction and creative writing class.
Throughout the book, Cath meets Levi, a tall, lanky boy who makes her realize that life is much better when it's reality-based and not fanfiction.
If you've ever been in love with a character and wished to be with them, this story is your chance.
"Looking for Alaska" by John Green
This book has been in my Top 5 for as long as I can remember. I've never read a book that is as moving, loving, caring and cruel all in one as "Looking for Alaska" is.
John Green's books are always heartbreaking, whether it's geared toward a side character or the main ones.
This is Pudge and Alaska's story. Pudge's story of falling in love with a mysterious hurricane of a girl. Alaska's story of not knowing what love feels like and what it means to live.
Their story choked me up for days after I read it. The spine on my poor copy is cracked beyond repair and the pages have caught so many tears. Definitely worth it.
"Splintered" by A.G. Howard (#1)
This is another of the unconventional love stories that I can never get enough of.
Howard has expertly crafted Wonderland with a mix of Carroll's and Burton's to create this beautiful, gothic land.
Alyssa Gardener discovers Wonderland is real. However, she doesn't make the journey alone this time and brings another human, Jeb -- the love of her life.
Jeb and Alyssa soon realize that another Wonderlandian, Morpheus, captured Alyssa's heart when she was younger. As the two battle over her heart, Alyssa battles over the Queen of Hearts herself.
The other books are "Unhinged," "Ensnared" and "Untamed."
"Wicked" by Gregory Maguire
At first, I hated this book. It wasn't anything like The Wicked Witch of the West was supposed to be.
But she wasn't born a witch.
She was born Elphaba, the little green girl who went away to Shiz University because her mind was exceptional. That little girl, Elphie, grew into Elphaba, the young woman who fell in love with Fiyero, was friends with Galinda (Glinda) and who realized the Wizard was never a wiz but a man ashamed of himself.
This is one of the greatest love stories I've ever read. Highly, highly recommended if you ever thought the witch was pure evil in "The Wizard of Oz."
"The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King
The greatest love story Conan Doyle never told.
Who would have thought the great Sherlock Holmes would fall in love with young Mary Russell, a firey, feisty, outspoken young woman who proves Holmes wrong; that love is a dangerous thing to play with.
This is the first in a large series of Holmes & Russell books and it gives you a glimpse into the heart that Holmes did have and just never showed.
I couldn't put this down and I've read it six or seven times since. Every time you find something new and it's beautiful.
These ten books are some of my favorite love stories to read and, even in some of them, you don't realize until after you're done reading it that the love all along was what you felt for the story itself.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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