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Heat Up Your February with 5 Steamy Reads 

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It’s the perfect time for a romance novel. After all, it is February—the most sugar-sweet, love-filled month there is.  

Every year the NYPL (New York Public Library) publishes a list of the top 50 romance novels. Here, NYPL supervising librarian Anne Rouyer shares five favorites from that list. 

Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman 

Set in Victorian-era London. After her businessman father dies Isabelle must find a suitable husband or possibly lose everything. She enlists the help of Aaron, the kind and helpful synagogue custodian to help her vet the prospects. A book that beautifully celebrates Judaism with a connection between the leads that is truly b’shert. Plus, it has some of the sexiest midnight garden rendezvous you’ll read this year.  

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston 

Clementine opens the door to her late aunt’s Manhattan condo…and finds herself seven years in the past. Navigating her life between past and present, she tries to reconcile the differences between the sweet guy she meets there and the man he becomes. A dreamy, sensual New York City romance full of the magical realism of falling for a handsome stranger on a hot summer’s night and the grounded reality of what comes next.  

Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert 

When Evelyn steals treasure from her ex-situationship, she flees to Threshold, a realm protected by the corrupt Cwn Annwn. There she meets telekinetic ship’s captain Bowen, and the two must deal with mutiny, a vampire, and the attraction growing between them. This is pure, crazy, sexy fun. Katee Robert always aces the craft of creating unique and detailed worlds while also nailing erotic scenes and delving into believable emotions. 

Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea 

High school senior Charlotte Wu and her archnemesis J.T. Renner, roughly collide into each other while decorating for prom and wake up 13 years later, naked in bed together with their wedding to each other only days away. With no clue what’s going on or how they got there, they must navigate this new reality together if they have any hope of getting back to their seventeen-year-old selves. A witty, nostalgic enemies-to-lovers, slow burn romance that will have readers pining for that annoying and charming, handsome boy from their past who “remembers everything”. 

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera 

In 1889 Paris, heiress Manuela offers ambitious businesswoman Cora her Venezuelan property in exchange for one last thrilling summer before her impending marriage of convenience. Sweepingly romantic and steamy, Herrera once again has written a romance full of history and diversity with two maverick, female characters who both push against societal conventions and love passionately in equal measure. 

Fiorella is a writer, editor, creative, and brand consultant. She is a contributing editor at The Wall Street Journal, her writing has appeared in Vogue, Town & Country, Allure, and New York Magazine, among others; and she has worked with brands like Google, La Mer, and Madewell. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner, daughter, and dog.