Messy Romance Books Perfect for Valentine's Day

Kate Landry has plenty on her plate already, from running her café to raising her teenage niece while dealing with a recent breakup. She's not sure what to do when her first crush, Micah Guidry, returns to town as the hunky local librarian. Messy but still heartwarming, this New Orleans-based story from Rebekah Millet is a perfect second-chance romance. 

It's been fifty years since Freddie abandoned Posy. Now, he's back and proclaiming his affection once again, but Posy has five decades' worth of heartache to contend with. Couple that with the family drama surrounding her two sons and the house that seems to be crumbling around her, and Posy is in well over her head. 

Author Lucinda Riley spins a poignant but uplifting yarn in this multigenerational novel set between the 1950s and the present.

Caleb Colbourn is a retired hockey player turned project manager. He needs this construction project to go smoothly so he can earn his place with the family business, but the woman in charge is none other than Emma Sumner, the woman who made his life hell in college. 

Forced to work together for the sake of the beautiful and historic renovation, Emma and Caleb's thoughts are far from love… at least, at first.

An angsty new-adult romance for fans of Euphoria and Outer Banks, the novel follows June White as she moves to Laguna Beach. She's surprised to find that most of her new classmates take an immediate liking to her, with one notable exception. James Hunter is reckless and has a bad reputation. June knows she should stay away from him… but she's not sure she can.

This novel is so messy that it was actually banned in several countries. Lady Chatterley's Lover was published in 1928 and details how a lonely woman trapped in a dying marriage rediscovers herself through a forbidden, erotic affair with the gamekeeper of her husband's estate. 

Camryn, the heroine of this novel, begins by renouncing her purpose-driven life after a wild night at a club in downtown Raleigh. Deciding she wants to expand her horizons, she sets out on a Greyhound bus seeking adventure and finds Andrew instead. Living like there's no tomorrow is natural for Andrew and he pushes Camryn to be more daring both in the bedroom and in life. He's keeping a secret, however, which might destroy everything they've built.

It's messy enough to fall for your best friend's fiance, but way messier to confess those feelings. What happens when those feelings are returned? That's the basis of Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed, a debut novel perfect for Jane Austen lovers. Rachel has always played by the rules—she even became a lawyer—and watched as her charmed best friend Darcy got everything she ever wanted. Now, as the wedding date draws near, Rachel must decide whether this love is worth risking everything for.

If you're a film junkie, Something Borrowed was also turned into a movie of the same name starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and John Krasinski.

Bestselling author Janet Evanovich has fun in the mess with her Stephanie Plum novels. A private investigator used to working with all sorts of strange individuals, Stephanie has plenty of practice with men like the shadowy Diesel. He has a job for Stephanie, and he won't take no for an answer.

"Evanovich's characterizations are models of screwball artistry. The intricate plot machinery of her comic capers is fueled by inventive twists." —The New York Times