Feeling the love (or the lust?) in the lead up to Valentine’s Day? Or have you had enough already? Whatever you’re feeling, I’ve rounded up a few of my favourite recent reads that aren’t necessarily romances, but flirt with the idea at least.

• Drowned Country by Emily Tesh is the continuation of Henry and Tobias’ story, a wonderful follow-up to Silver in the Wood. It follows the Wild Man of Greenhollow, content with his life in his forest cottage until the nearby Greenhollow Hall is acquired by the handsome and curious Henry Silver. A magical, fantastical, suspenseful, romantic, hilarious, and charming story… I was enchanted.
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is a story about stories. As with her debut novel, The Night Circus, I was right there for every step of the journey, excited to see what wonder would come next. I loved the mystery, the gorgeous imagery, the discovery, the romance and the danger. I previously posted about it here.
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell was the book that created Simon Snow, a fictional character from the book embedded within this book. Rainbow Rowell then actually wrote this book too, which became the Simon Snow series (I posted about these too). So, I came to this world back-to-front, but it works either way. Such a fun story!
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman is a gentle coming of age story, with characters exploring themes of friendship, love, sexuality, gender and mental illness. Heartstopper is sweet without being sickly sweet, fun and heartwarming, while still feeling grounded in reality. I previously posted about it here.

I hope you give one of these a go this weekend if you haven’t already read them! And while we’re talking about books with a bit of romance, might I throw my own books in as well…

Rise and Shine is my gay romantic comedy novella series with buckets of banter, dashes of comic tragedy, and more food and booze than any story ought to have.

Arthur is a highly strung closet case who may have just run into a reason to come out, and Gabriel has escaped the confines of his hometown only to find himself drawn right back into someone else’s orbit.

With our boys surrounded by a cast of chaotic characters and thrown into the most unlikely situations, the Rise and Shine series is a quick, light, and fun read. Start with Duck and Dive to find out how it all kicks off, then move on to Slip and Slide to see what happens next.