But in all seriousness, what Valentine's Day truly brings is a moment to allow ourselves to indulge in all things romantic and love adorned — including literature. And, regardless if you're single or taken, regardless of how you feel on this Hallmark High Holy Day, we can all use a little joy derived from tales of love in a good book. With that, here's a list of recent charming best-sellers that will brighten any Valentine's Day.

Layoverland by Gabby Noone

It’s been said that this book is perfect for fans of The Good Place, and here's why: Bea is a 17-year-old just trying to get through life. She’s tough but has layers of love, and — as her younger sister Emmy often points out — Bea has a slight inability to not sweat the small stuff, including but not limited to: Bea fighting with their stepmother who has prominent “live, laugh, love” energy, getting into moral debates with unkind classmates who work at the local Chili’s. One day, Bea dies in a car accident and wakes up on a plane only to arrive in...Purgatory. She then learns that she has to work in the Memory Experience Department and save 5,000 souls in order to be promoted to heaven. This is when she meets the very charming Caleb, who is seemingly kind, not terrible to look at, and unfortunately kind of the reason that Bea died in the first place. Can you fall in love with the person who was involved in an accident that ended your life?

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the first son of the first female president of the United States. Alex often finds himself in the company of Henry, Prince of Wales — as children of leaders of the world/intensely powerful people often do. They’re grown men, in their early twenties, and for some reason they kind of hate each other. In an attempt to assuage their constant tension, their respective British and American PR teams attempt to produce a new narrative that Alex and Henry are besties. Pretty soon, the fake friendship develops into a genuine friendship, which develops into way more than friendship, which develops into each man being the center of the other’s universe. They begin to bear their souls to each other, and then a lot of super hot sex happens. An entertaining and meaningful novel; the end gave me chills.

Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption edited by Daniel Jones

If you're unfamiliar with the New York Times' Modern Love column — which is comprised of personal essay having to do with all the good, bad, complicated, simple, divine and sometimes awful that comes along with love — this is a good entry point.

If you're craving more of that kind of writing, True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption is a collection of some of the best, most affecting Modern Love columns from over the years. Some capture the particulars and trash timing of dating; some are funny; some make you feel like you’ve been punched directly into the emotional equivalent of your aorta. In all cases, there's always a nuanced takeaway. Further, the book is also now a television series for Amazon Prime featuring Dev Patel, Anne Hathaway, and others.

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

For me, this is the ultimate love book. The Sun is Also a Star — by the incomparable Nicola Yoon — is one of those books you finish that makes you believe that magic is real and attainable. The novel follows two teenagers, Daniel and Natasha, who fall in love on the most important and heartbreaking day of Natasha’s life, the day her family is being deported from the United States while she’s doing everything in her power to try to get the government to allow them to stay. This beauty of this book, about livelihood and human emotion, lies in the intersection of navigating blossoming love and connection while facing hard truths about identity and the immigrant struggle in America.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

This is a book about a woman who has been so disappointed by family and life that she uses her love for books to assuage her emotional pain — add to cart! Okay so, plot: Nina’s mom is very flighty, so much so that when Nina was eight her mom up and said, “You’re eight now, so I think I’m going to go travel the world by myself and just do me.” And so went their relationship for the next two decades, which Nina got used to by disappearing time and time again into her beloved books — because sometimes fiction is better than real life. But Nina's life is ripped asunder when she gets a phone call that her dad, whom she never met, has died and was, apparently, quite rich. To make matters more complicated, Nina’s half siblings are not thrilled that Nina could walk away with a portion of their inheritance, when all Nina wants is to make the whole situation go away, melt into her reading char with a book, and maybe — but not really but sorta kinda — be with Tom, the charming and attractive captain of her rival in her trivia team who, it appears, likes her. This one is perfect for anyone who, like me, loves to use books (especially books where people fall in love) to pause the occasional difficulties of reality.

Katie Tamola is a writer based in New York. She loves to write about books and love stuff. Her main food group is sugar, and her work has been featured in Shondaland, Marie Claire, Vice, Refinery29, and Elite Daily. She loves her two dogs very much and she probably loves you, too. Follow her on Twitter at @ktammm.