It’s that time of year: the cynics come out about how much they loathe the Hallmark holiday of Valentine’s Day and the romantics find themselves swooning with the idea of what the day should be. Then there are the realists who say it lands somewhere smack between the two and move on with their lives while enjoying bags and bags of chalk candy hearts. But rather than offer up a booklist that features traditional (or non-traditional) romance, I thought I’d go a little more literal this time. These books feature hearts on their covers. Some of these books are romances. Some are not what you’d consider romances. But they feature the aesthetic commonality of the heart. There are some that even feature the heart in both the title and in the cover image.

All descriptions come from WorldCat. I’ve limited myself to books published in the last few years, and I’d love any other suggested titles if you have them.

Love Drugged by James Klise: Fifteen-year-old Jamie is dismayed by his attraction to boys, and when a beautiful girl shows an interest in him, he is all the more intrigued by her father’s work developing a drug called Rehomoline.

Recovery Road by Blake Nelson: While she is in a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abuse, seventeen-year-old Maddie meets Stewart, who is also in treatment, and they begin a relationship, which they try to maintain after they both get out.

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen (paperback cover due out in April): Following her parents’ bitter divorce as she and her father move from town to town, seventeen-year-old Mclean reinvents herself at each school she attends until she is no longer sure she knows who she is or where she belongs.

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo: A fifteen-year-old Australian girl gets her first job and first crush on her unattainable university-aged coworker, as both search for meaning in their lives.

Heaven by Alexandra Adornetto: Bethany, an angel sent to Earth, and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier, defy Heavenly law and marry–leading to a confrontation with the Sevens, rogue angels bent on keeping Beth and Xavier apart, destroying Gabriel and Ivy, and darkening angelic power in the heavens.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith: Hadley and Oliver fall in love on the flight from New York to London, but after a cinematic kiss they lose track of each other at the airport until fate brings them back together on a very momentous day.

Purity by Jackson Pearce: Sixteen-year-old Shelby finds it difficult to balance her mother’s dying request to live a life without restraint with her father’s plans for his “little princess,” which include attending a traditional father-daughter dance that culminates with a ceremonial vow to live “whole, pure lives.”

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler: Hudson Avery gave up a promising competetive ice skating career after her parents divorced when she was fourteen years old and now spends her time baking cupcakes and helping out in her mother’s upstate New York diner, but when she gets a chance at a scholarship and starts coaching the boys’ hockey team, she realizes that she is not through with ice skating after all.

Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby: Sixteen-year-old paparazzo Jo forms an unexpected bond with teen idol Ned Hartnett after going undercover to sneak pictures of him.

The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone: Since a tragedy she cannot remember, thirteen-year-old Louise has changed her name, given up gymnastics, moved in with her grandparents, and locked her feelings inside but through her friends Reni and Hen and notes from a secret admirer she begins to find herself again.

Love? Maybe by Heather Hepler: Wary of romance following her mother’s second divorce and resistering her friends’ attempts to fix her up with the hottest guy in school, Piper’s life gets complicated when she receives a series of Valentines from a secret admirer.

Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow: Sixteen-year-old Colby is barely hanging on with her mother dead, her long-haul trucker father often away, her almost-girlfriend dumping her for a boy, and her failing grades, when a stray dog appears and helps her find hope.

Between You & Me by Marisa Calin: Phyre, sixteen, narrates her life as if it were a film, capturing her crush on Mia, a student teacher of theater and film studies, as well as her fast friendship with a classmate referred to only as “you.”

Drain You by M. Beth Bloom: Even after Quinn Lacey learns that the coast of Southern California is crawling with vampires, she still tries to keep her job at the video store, convince her parents that she is eating well, and rescue her best friend from a fate worse than death.

Being Friends with Boys by Terra Elan McVoy: Living with stepsisters and having a bad history with female friends, Charlotte enjoys the easy relationships that come with managing an all-male band but things get complicated when dating becomes an issue, and she is urged to sing in public.

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin: In a future where chocolate and caffeine are contraband, teenage cellphone use is illegal, and water and paper are carefully rationed, sixteen-year-old Anya Balanchine finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight as heir apparent to an important New York City crime family.

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace: Traces, through the course of a year, Ann’s transformation from a happy A-student, track star, and popular senior to a solitary, abused woman whose love for the emotionally-scarred Connor has taken away everything–even herself.

Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker: High school junior Lacey finds herself questioning the evangelical Christian values she has been raised with when a new boy arrives in her small town.

The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder: When Britney, the most popular girl at Penford High School, invites April Bowers to her lunch table April is thrilled with her sudden change in status, but soon finds that Britney’s friendship comes at a steep price.

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors: When her famous romance-novelist mother is secretly hospitalized in an expensive mental facility, sixteen-year-old Alice tries to fulfill her mother’s contract with her publisher by writing a love story–with the help of Cupid.

Hooked by Catherine Greenman: After their relationship survives Will going to college, their love is tested again when Thea realizes she is pregnant.

The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski: Fifteen-year-old Sheridan, a master cake-decorator like her mother, loves her small Michigan town so when her father announces they will move to New York City, where his dream of hosting a cooking show will come true, Sheridan fears for her budding romance and becomes desperate to contact her long-absent mother.

Jenna & Jonah’s Fauxmance by Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin: Two popular television stars who dislike each other intensely must pretend to be a couple for publicity purposes, and when the truth is discovered their relationship goes through many changes.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson: In the months after her sister dies, seventeen-year-old Lennie falls into a love triangle and discovers the strength to follow her dream of becoming a musician.

And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky: Devastated by her parents’ decision to split up, pressured by her boyfriend to have sex, and saddled with a case of chicken pox, fifteen-year-old Keek finds consolation in her beloved, well-worn copy of Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar.”

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker: Taking the family sailboat on a summer-long trip excites everyone except sixteen-year-old Clementine, who feels stranded with her parents and younger sister and guilty over a falling-out with her best friend.

Glass Heart by Amy Garvey: Wren Darby is struggling to keep her life in balance as she juggles her blossoming relationship with Gabriel, shocking revelations about her family’s past, and the darker side of the powers that have been passed down to her from her parents. 

My Beating Teenage Heart by CK Kelly Martin: Two unexpected and heartbreaking deaths cause the lives of two very different teenagers to become intertwined as one struggles to deal with his grief and stay in this world, and the other finds herself inexplicably caught between this world and the next.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff: Followed everywhere by the ghost of her recently deceased best friend, Hannah investigates the serial murders of young girls in her community.

Bonus: here’s a short list of titles that don’t necessarily have hearts on the covers (the Ockler being an exception) but have a heart in the title.

• Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kimberly Culbertson

• Break My Heart 1000 Times by Daniel Waters

• Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniels

• Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

• Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler (available in summer 2013)

• I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

• Rebel Heart by Moira Young

Can you add anything to the list?