On Valentine’s day, are you the one with ribbons in your hair, handing out roses or candy to your friends—or the one wearing all black, commemorating the St. Valentine’s Day massacre? Are you the one snuggling up to a loved one, or sighing in annoyance that even your pizza is heart-shaped (and not even anatomically correct!)? Are you smiling or sulking?

Whether you’re a romantic who loves love, or from the more cynical down-with-love crowd, we have the best February reading options for you here at SparkPress.

For the Romantic:
Love Reconsidered by Phyllis J. Piano
When Aleen Riddick’s marriage falls apart after her eighteen-year-old daughter, Sunny, loses her beloved boyfriend in a tragic accident, they look to the dead boy’s father, grief-stricken Ted Hammand, to help them heal and redefine life. When shocking developments force them to confront those who deceived them, Aleen, Ted, and Sunny must decide if forgiveness will drive them back to the pain of the past or forward to a future of possibilities. Love Reconsidered is about families―their grief, guilt, compassion, love, forgiveness, and hope.

Forks, Knives, and Spoons by Leah DeCesare
There are three kinds of guys: forks, knives, and spoons. That is the final lesson that Amy York’s father sends her off to college with, never suspecting just how far his daughter will take it. Clinging to the Utensil Classification System as her guide, Amy tries to convince her skeptical roommate, Veronica Warren, of its usefulness as they navigate the heartbreaks and soul mates of college and beyond.

Hostile Takeover by Phyllis J. Piano
Long-lost love, a hostile corporate takeover, and the death of her beloved husband turn attorney Molly Parr’s life into a tailspin that threatens to ruin everything she has ever worked for or loved. Molly’s all-consuming job is to take over other companies—but when her first love, a man who she feels betrayed her, appears out of nowhere to try and acquire her business, long-hidden passions and secrets are exposed. She must decide: does she have the courage to follow her heart and expose her painful past—a decision that may cost her everything?

*The Opposite of Never by Mary Kathleen Mehuron
Devastated when they lose their spouses, both Kenny Simmons and Georgia Best carry on for the sake of their children, although they are certain that the best part of their lives is long over. Then Georgia and her lifelong companions, Linda and Yvonne, meet Kenny while walking down a dusty Vermont country road, and the four of them hit it off. Soon, Kenny becomes a regular part of their hiking group, and he and Georgia grow more than fond of each other.

*But Not Forever by Jan Von Schleh
In the same house at the same moment, 120 years apart, fierce storms attack and identical fifteen-year-olds are mysteriously switched in time. As both girls struggle to adapt to this sudden change, destiny intervenes—Sonnet falls in love with a boy and Emma falls in love with a life—and in both their new worlds, astonishing family secrets are discovered. Torn, both girls find themselves wanting to go home yet reluctant to give up what they now have.

For the Down-With-Love Crowd:

The Infinite Now by Mindy Tarquini
Fiora’s a modern, forward-thinking young woman, uninterested in using old-world magic to make a way for herself—but when her mother’s magical curtain shows her that the old man who took her in when she was orphaned will shortly die of a heart attack, Fiora panics, and casts her entire neighborhood into a stagnant bubble of time. Not everything in the bubble is bad. Love, fresh and fascinating, ignites. Friendships take root. But as day drags into interminable day, the pressure inside the bubble world builds. Unless Fiora finds the courage to collapse the bubble, every one of her hopes will be trapped inside an unbearable, unyielding, unpredictable, and infinite Now.

The Absence of Evelyn by Jackie Townsend
Newly divorced Rhonda, haunted by her sister Evelyn’s ghost, travels to an old palazzo in Rome to confront Marco, the man who stole her sister’s heart—only to find out he’s vanished in the wake of Evelyn’s death. Meanwhile, Rhonda’s nineteen-year-old daughter Olivia, adopted by Rhonda at birth, travels to the mysterious and lush waters of northern Vietnam, where she’s been summoned by the missing Marco—a man she only knows from her parents’ whispers, a man she has never met or seen.

Found by Emily Brett
When Natalie meets Dr. Joel Lansfield, a physician who is also familiar with grief, she finds that Joel sees her for the strong woman she is, and loves her for all she has yet to figure out—but she’s not sure she’s ready to make room in her heart for love. Desperate to maintain her emotional distance with Joel, she continues to travel. In each country, however, she finds herself confronted with near-death accidents, from a poisoned drink to a severe food allergy to being thrown overboard in the Great Barrier Reef. Too many coincidences force her to ask herself a frightening question: Is someone trying to kill her?

*Just Like February by Deborah Batterman
Framed by the passions of the ’60s and the AIDS crisis of the ’80s, Just Like February begins with the wedding of Rachel’s parents when she’s five and ends with her sexual awakening as Jake is dying. As this poignant coming-of-age story unfolds, Rachel is forced to reckon with a home broken by the stormy love between her mother (a social worker) and her father (a Vietnam veteran) and a heart broken by the realities of homophobia and AIDS.

*Hidden by Kelli Clare
Small-town Connecticut art teacher Ellie James finds the intense connection she’s longing for when she meets Will Hastings, a seductive Englishman with an alluring darkness. But just days later, her sister and grandmother are murdered, and she must confront the unthinkable: is Will a man she can trust, a killer—or both? After surviving a near-fatal attempt on her life, Ellie makes a desperate move. She takes her young niece Lissie and runs to England with Will. There, passion becomes possession, London paparazzi call her by another name, and assassins of a secret society close in when the stunning truth about Ellie’s family is exposed.

*Not released yet, but available for preorder now.