Books for a love filled weekend
With Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend we wanted to share some of our favourite romantic reads. Perfect for sharing with your significant other or curled up on the couch by yourself! Our list has something for everyone.
Find some of your new favourite romance reads below.
Modern Love
I Give My Marriage A Year by Holly Wainwirght
Lou and Josh have been together for 14 years. They share two kids, a mortgage, careers and plenty of history. Now, after a particularly fraught Christmas, Lou is ready to ask herself: is this marriage worth hanging on to?
Every month for a year, Lou sets a different test for their relationship – from daily sex to brutal honesty – to help her decide if she should stay or go. Secrets are exposed, old wounds reopened and a true-to-life suburban love story unfolds.
The Question of Love by Hugh Mackay
What really goes on in a marriage?
Richard and Freya are, on the surface, a perfect couple. He has a thriving architectural practice; she plays the violin like an angel. They live in a beautiful home. They seem respectful and caring of one another.
They should be happier than they are.
Iconic Love
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something?
As Bridget documents her struggles through the social minefield of her thirties and tries to weigh up the eternal question (Daniel Cleaver or Mark Darcy?), she turns for support to four indispensable friends: Shazzer, Jude, Tom and a bottle of chardonnay.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
Bridget’s second diary ushers in a reformed woman. She is no longer a smoker (well, not much), the wilderness years are over, and she is at last united with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. But things aren’t perfect: there’s an eight-foot hole in the wall of her flat, she’s increasingly worried about a certain boyfriend-stealing beauty, and her friends’ mad advice is getting her nowhere – something has to change. And so Bridget decides to embark on a spiritual epiphany to the palm- and magic-mushroom-kissed shores of Thailand. Surely it will be the perfect place to set her life on course once and for all . . .
Young Love
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince across the pond. When tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
A truce is staged between the two rivals. But soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage to be the people we are meant to be?
Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer
Chronic overachiever Prudence Daniels is always quick to cast judgement on the residents of her coastal town. Her dreams of karmic justice are fulfilled when, after a night out with her friends, she wakes up with the sudden ability to cast instant karma on those around her.
Pru giddily makes use of the power, flexing it on everyone from public vandals to karaoke hecklers. But there is one person on whom her powers consistently backfire: Quint Erickson, her slacker of a lab partner and all-round mortal enemy.
Soon, Pru begins to uncover truths about Quint, her peers and even herself.
The Wrong Mr. Darcy by Evelyn Lozada and Holly Lorincz
When Hara Isari meets basketball rookie Derek Darcy, she finds him handsome, but obnoxiously proud and with a major chip on his shoulder. He is completely indifferent to her dedication to her career as a sports writer. When a twist of fate brings them both together, Hara suddenly finds herself off her game and trying to keep up.
In this sparkling Pride and Prejudice inspired romantic comedy, Lozada and Lorincz show us the error of judging by first impressions and the beauty of family, friendship and love. This book will charm you through the last page.
Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale
Josie Pie has dropped out of high school to pursue her Broadway dreams, but after months of failed auditions, she finds herself broke, beaten-down … and nannying in Missoula, Montana. Lonely and directionless, Josie checks out the local bookstore, looking for the ultimate escape.
And escape she does. Literally. She falls into the plots of her books, including a bodice ripper, a dystopian thriller, a YA romance, and more, all filled with swoony co-stars who just make her yearn to repair things with the boyfriend she left behind in NYC.
What starts as a welcome break from her lackluster life soon begins to feel like a stifling nightmare—is it too late to get back to the real world?
Stories of Friendship
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
It is 1974 and the summer of love is drawing to a close. Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the secondary school social food chain. Then, to her amazement, Tully Hart – the girl all the boys want to know – moves in across the street and wants to be her best friend. Tully and Kate became inseparable and by summer’s end they vow that their friendship will last forever.
For thirty years Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship, jealousy, anger, hurt and resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart. But when tragedy strikes, can the bonds of friendship survive? Or is it the one hurdle that even a lifelong friendship cannot overcome?
The Best Kind of Beautiful by Frances Whiting
Florence Saint Claire is a loner. Albert Flowers is a social butterfly. Good friends who think they know each other.
But, somewhere between who they are, and who people think they are, lies The Best Kind of Beautiful.
Self Love
Confessions of a Forty Something by Alexandra Potter
Nell Stevens’ life is a mess. When her business goes bust and her relationship with it, Nell’s happy ever after in California falls apart and she moves back to London to start over. But a lot has changed since she’s been gone. She feels like a f*ck up. Even worse, a forty-something f*ck-up.
But when an old work contact lands her a job writing obituaries, Nell meets the fabulous Cricket, an eighty-something widow, who is also adjusting to her new life and they strike up an unlikely friendship. Together they help each other heal their aching hearts, cope with the loss of the lives they had planned, and push each other into new adventures and unexpected joys.
Because Nell is determined. She’s going to completely turn her life around. This time next year things are going to be very different. First, though, she has a confession . . .
Change Your Thinking to Change Your Life by Kate James
Many of us experience feelings of being stuck in the wrong life and disconnected from our true selves.
Australian mindfulness expert Kate James introduces us to a range of techniques, based on her knowledge of mindfulness, positive psychology, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), creativity and neuropsychology, that will help us clarify our goals, realise our purpose and connect more fully with the wonder of life.
Change Your Thinking to Change Your Life will help you get to know yourself well, overcome the thoughts and beliefs that inhibit inner peace and limit you in your life choices, find your way to your version of a fulfilling life.
This is the perfect companion for negotiating transformation in an unsettled age.
Saturday Night Pasta by Elizabeth Hewson
Saturday Night Pasta is therapy for the modern-day food lover, teaching self-care through the humble act of making pasta. Like the practice of meditation, making pasta by hand is a way of achieving self-discovery and mindfulness … with delicious results. Including stories, mantras, step-by-step guides to making different pasta shapes and basic doughs, trouble-shooting tips and 40 utterly mouthwatering recipes (with dried pasta substitutes for the time poor), this is a cookbook to inspire and empower.