Be Still My Beating Heart: five books that will make you want to fall in love.
These books are just the sort you’d want to take home to meet your family- with one exception (we’re looking at you Sarah J Maas and your sexy, sexy book). If you’ve lost the lustre in your love life, or you’re just in the mood, here a five books that’ll make you feel all giddy inside.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Fangirl is a story about loving people just as they are. When things are getting difficult in her first year at college, Cath turns to her fanfiction for refuge, but as an escape or a distraction? It’s easy to love two fictional characters falling in love, but that doesn’t mean it’s simple in real life. Rainbow Rowell has a knack for making you fall in love with characters you didn’t know you even liked, and giving you hope that, one day, someone in your life will feel the same way about you.
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray As Marguerite crosses dimensions to chases down her father’s suspected killer, she starts to ask some unexpected questions. Is there something intrinsically you, or are you a product of your circumstances? Is there such a thing as ‘meant to be’? This thriller has something for everyone. A Thousand Pieces of you is a dreamy combination of sci-fi, historical fiction, thriller and crime with a breath-taking romance. This book will steal your heart and you won’t even be sorry.
Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
If there’s one thing you can rely on, it’s Morgan Matson’s ability to write an incredible summer contemporary. Imagine being stuck in a car for days, with a handsome stranger and a crippling fear of driving, during the worst year of your life. This monumental road trip story will sneak up on you. The next time you’re on a car trip you’ll find yourself looking out the window and realize you fell head-over-heals for Amy and Roger.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas Feyre’s life was all about survival. In exchange for a monster she hunted and killed, Feyre must live beyond the wall that protects her people, in the realm of the much-feared Fea. This Beauty and The Beast retelling is a beautiful and incredibly sexy story about the cost of love. You may need to think twice before introducing it to your grandparents, but one thing is certain: you’ll be wanting a High Lord of your own.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Not all love is of the romantic variety. Blue comes from an eccentric family of wonderful women. So it seems out of sorts that she falls into step with four Raven Boys from the affluent school Aglionby. Against her better judgment Blue finds herself inexplicably drawn to these boys who should only mean trouble. The Raven boys will make you want the sort friends who feel like they’ve always been there and love the ones you have all the more. Stiefvater will make your knees weak with delicious and lyrical writing you’ll want to savour like a piece of chocolate cake.