Love Stories to Read for Valentine's Day

Picture this: you're standing in an airport departure lounge, watching a couple say goodbye. She's heading to Paris for work; he's staying in Sydney. Their embrace lasts just a moment too long, and you can't help but wonder about their story. Will distance strengthen their bond or pull them apart? It's these moments—the messy, beautiful, heartbreaking reality of love—that the best romance novels capture so brilliantly.

"Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes throws us straight into love's most difficult question: what do you do when loving someone means letting them go? Louisa Clark and Will Traynor's story isn't your typical romance—it's raw, funny, and devastatingly real. Moyes doesn't shy away from the complexities of caregiving, dignity, and choice, creating a love story that will leave you ugly-crying into your tea.

For those who prefer their romance with a dash of the supernatural, "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger offers something extraordinary. Henry DeTamble can't control when he'll disappear from Clare's life, literally vanishing through time. It's a metaphor for every relationship's uncertainties, wrapped in a page-turning narrative that questions whether love can truly conquer all—even the laws of physics.

Of course, no romantic collection would be complete without Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy's verbal sparring matches set the template for every enemies-to-lovers story that followed. There's a reason we're still obsessed with Darcy emerging from that lake (even if that was only in the BBC adaptation)—Austen understood that the best romances simmer before they boil.

Nicholas Sparks' "The Notebook" takes us to post-war North Carolina, where Noah and Allie's summer romance becomes a lifelong devotion. It's unashamedly sentimental, and that's precisely why it works. Sometimes we need a love story that promises forever actually means forever, even when memory fades.

"Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon spans centuries—literally. When Claire Randall touches an ancient stone and wakes up in 18th-century Scotland, she meets Jamie Fraser, a Highland warrior who makes you understand why everyone's obsessed with men in kilts. It's romance on an epic scale: adventure, history, and passion rolled into one addictive saga.

Finally, "Red, White & Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston brings romance firmly into the 21st century. When America's First Son falls for the Prince of Wales, it's enemies-to-lovers with international incidents, social media disasters, and genuinely swoony text messages. It's fresh, funny, and proves that fairy tales can absolutely include two princes.

Start with "Pride and Prejudice" if you love witty banter, try "The Notebook" for a good cry, or dive into "Outlander" if you've got time for a proper binge-read. Each offers its own flavour of romance, but they all understand the same truth: love stories matter because they show us, at our most vulnerable and our most brave, exactly what we're capable of feeling.