The essential February book-list if reading is your love language  

February invites us to deeply focus on love, not just as romance, but also as longing, memory, devotion, and desire. In literature, love has always been layered: tender as it is tumultuous, fleeting yet intense at times, forever and contemplative. This month’s reading list brings together both timeless classics and compelling contemporary voices, each offering a distinct meditation on what it means to love deeply, imperfectly, and often irrevocably. Whether you’re drawn to sweeping passion, quiet companionship, or love that defies convention, these stories promise intimacy, beauty, and emotional resonance: perfect companions for the most romantic month of the year.

Better in Black by Cassandra Clare
Walker Books
 

Cassandra Clare’s Better in Black revisits the beloved Shadowhunter universe through an introspective lens. This collection of short stories explores love in its most vulnerable forms, shaped by sacrifice, secrecy, and moral complexity. The anthology revisits familiar faces — including Jace and Clary, Will and Tessa, and Simon and Isabelle — as they navigate love, danger and supernatural intrigue. Each tale blends action with unexpected tenderness, and as romantic bonds unfold alongside themes of loyalty and loss, readers are reminded that love often thrives in the shadows as much as in the light. Long-standing fans of the series will appreciate Clare’s signature writing style, sharp yet tender, that offers emotional depth beyond fantasy’s familiar tropes. It’s a love letter to the characters who choose devotion even when the cost is high.

Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake by Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe
Penguin Random House India 

This warm and gently humorous novel blends romance, food, and memory into a deeply satisfying story. At its heart is love in its many-splendoured forms — familial, romantic, and nostalgic — woven together through the ritual of baking a legendary love cake. Set on a lush, unnamed tropical island echoing Sri Lanka’s spice-scented landscapes, this atmospheric debut interlaces two timelines. In the modern timeline, former war reporter Katharina Silvaria has retreated to her ancestral house to bake cakes from an old recipe, seeking solace from her traumatic past; her life shifts when wounded fugitive Rajiv Almeida seeks shelter amidst rising political unrest. In the 17th century, European trader Santiago De Melo defies social norms by marrying Maria, a local pepper farm owner who despises colonial powers. Their love — and defiance — draws them into the brutal politics of the profitable pepper trade, where ambition, loyalty and tragedy collide. The novel richly evokes food, power and history, exploring how legacies of colonialism shape love and resistance across generations.

Time Stops at Shamli by Ruskin Bond
Penguin 

One of my absolute favourites, Time Stops At Shamli, is a gem by Ruskin Bond. It is a classic novella about the gentlest nuances of romance, set against the stillness of a small hill town that seems to hold its breath. From the description of languid villages, a sleepy hotel, and a powerful reckoning as two lovers come face-to-face after several years, the story unfolds with exquisite grace, focusing on moments rather than declarations. The prose is as restrained as it is emotionally-charged, and we, the reader, are tenderly led to the realisation that love is profound, defined by emotional connection. Bond’s signature prose is simple, evocative, and deeply nostalgic.

The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi 
Hodderscape 

Roshani Chokshi crafts a lyrical romance steeped in myth and folklore in The Swan’s Daughter, a story of forbidden love, transformation, and destiny, where desire is both beautiful and dangerous. Prince Arris is desperate to find true love, while Demelza hides secrets of her own. But together, they might each find what they’re truly searching for. Chokshi’s prose is lush, atmospheric and richly metaphorical, exploring the interplay between identity and desire as the protagonists grapple with unbreakable oaths and the fragile possibility of love. Through lush world-building and evocative character arcs, this tale redefines the classic fairy tale, infusing it with emotional complexity and the challenge of reconciling duty with the yearnings of the heart. The novel explores what it means to belong, and what we risk when we love.

All Roads Lead to Rome by Sabrina Fedel
Delacorte Romance 

This contemporary romantic novel follows Astoria “Story” Herriot, the worldly daughter of a US ambassador, who plans to spend her final summer before college in Rome nursing a bruised heart and poring over art history. But when paparazzi storm her sister’s wedding and a distressed Scottish public figure, Luca Kinnaird, needs a decoy companion, Story agrees to a summer-long charade of romance. Together they traverse iconic piazzas, colonnaded ruins and trattorias, their fabricated partnership slowly deepening into something genuine and unexpectedly vulnerable. Fedel’s narrative is light yet thoughtful, perfect for readers who believe love often finds us when we’re not looking, making it a modern love story with cinematic charm.

Bridgertons: Happily Ever After by Julia Quinn 
Piatkus 

If you, too, are craving more Bridgeton content whilst waiting for the second part of the series to come out by the end of the month, here’s a romantic indulgence. This elegant collection expands on the beloved Regency-era universe, offering “second epilogues” and additional stories about the family after their original novels conclude. Each story revisits couples like Daphne and Simon, Anthony and Kate, and the rest, exploring the richness of their married lives with emotional nuance and period wit. Julia Quinn balances heartfelt intimacy, social sparkle and satisfying character closure, delivering fresh insight into how love evolves beyond courtship, marriage and expectations. It’s a reminder that happily ever after isn’t an ending, but a continuation, and it’s comfort reading at its most romantic and rewarding.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Virago Classics 

Another one of my personal favourites, Rebecca is a Gothic masterpiece by Daphne du Maurier that unfolds when an unnamed young woman marries the brooding widower Maxim de Winter and moves to his sprawling Cornish estate, Manderley. There, she lives in the shadow of Rebecca, Maxim’s first wife, whose presence permeates the house through the unsettling vigilance of housekeeper Mrs. Danvers. As insecurity and mystery mount, the new Mrs. de Winter uncovers unsettling truths about Rebecca’s marriage and the sinister events that defined it. Rebecca merges psychological suspense with a haunting meditation on identity, memory and power within love. It’s a classic narrative of obsession and revelation, one of literature’s most compelling explorations of passion. Romance here is unsettling, intense, and deeply atmospheric. 

The Wrong Way Home by Shunali Khullar Shroff 
Bloomsbury India 

A contemporary Indian novel that explores the emotional terrain of relationships and self-discovery, The Wrong Way Home follows a protagonist navigating life after a fractured romantic relationship. Nayantara is picking up the pieces after an unexpected divorce, is chasing a career in an alarmingly modern world, and navigating new beaux. Shunali Kullar Shroff’s writing is intimate and reflective, resonating with contemporary readers. It’s a reminder that sometimes the love story we have with ourselves sets the tone for all other relationships, as well.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 
Penguin Classics 

Few novels portray love as fiercely as Wuthering Heights. Before the movie comes out this week, it would be nice to get a refresher on the original story. It centres on Heathcliff, an orphan brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, and his fierce, obsessive love for the daughter of the house, Catherine Earnshaw. Their destructive bond reverberates across generations, setting in motion cycles of revenge, passion and emotional ruin. Through nonlinear narration and stark natural imagery, Brontë probes the turbulent extremes of love, its capacity to uplift and devastate. This classic novel defies conventional romantic structures, offering instead a raw and elemental vision of desire, belonging and vengeance. This is not a romance of comfort, but of extremes. A haunting exploration of love’s darker, untamed side.

Rumi: The Book of Love, translated by Coleman Barks 
HarperOne 

This luminous collection brings the 13th-century Persian mystic Rumi into vivid modern English through Coleman Barks’ celebrated translations. It is a meditation on love as a spiritual force: vast, transcendent, and eternal. Through Barks’ accessible translation, Rumi’s words speak of devotion that dissolves boundaries between the self and the beloved. Love here is mystical rather than romantic, rooted in surrender and longing for the divine. The verses invite reflection, stillness, and emotional openness. It’s a book to return to slowly, letting each poem linger. A reminder that love, at its purest, is transformative.

Lead image: Getty 

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