I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I don’t really like Valentine’s Day. Yes, I know, I read and write romance novels. Isn’t it required to like Valentine’s? Flowers and hearts and candy and poetical language and jewelry and love? What’s not to like?
The commercialism, I guess. The sense that it’s required, that it’s some sort of test for lovers to see if they get a good enough gift or a meaningful enough gift. Real romance is so much more quotidian and transformational than that.
But that’s not to say that I don’t like love songs and poems. So for Valentine’s, here are a few of my favorites.
Emma Barry 