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February has been quite an eventful month thus far. Snow and ice continue to wreak havoc all across the country, the Super Bowl was red-hot (with the halftime show garnering much of the public's attention), and the red carpet will be laid out in Hollywood earlier than usual, as the Academy Awards are scheduled to air on the 29th. Did we miss anything? Oh yes, Valentine's Day on the 14th --- the day when love and romance are in the air (not to mention lots of hugs and kisses).
Wondering what to buy for the special someone in your life?
We have assembled 21 books --- both fiction and nonfiction --- that look at love, sex, marriage, friendship, and, yes, even heartbreak. The characters in our fiction titles seek love and affection, but finding that special someone and living happily ever after can be quite a challenge for them. Our nonfiction titles cover such topics as openness, honesty and communication --- all of which are vital in better understanding your partner's needs and desires, and achieving a higher level of love, sex and intimacy in your relationship.
Spice up your Valentine's Day with these selections. Sure, flowers are beautiful and chocolates are mouthwatering, but you'll savor these books --- and the words contained within them --- for a long time to come!
FICTION:
 BET ME
Jennifer Crusie
St. Martin's Press
Romance
ISBN: 0312303467
Minerva Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet --- even if he is gorgeous and successful Calvin Morrisey. Cal knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again.
But fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal meet again. Soon they're dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a freakishly intelligent cat, Chicken Marsala and riskier propositions than either of them ever dreamed of. Including the biggest gamble of all --- true love.
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 BOY MEETS GIRL
Meg Cabot
Avon
Fiction
ISBN: 0060085452
Life is tough for Kate Mackenzie. She works for Amy Jenkins (the Tyrannical Office Despot), sleeps on the couch because her boyfriend has serious commitment issues, and can't afford a studio apartment anywhere in New York City. Things can't get much worse for Kate --- but unfortunately they do.
Amy Jenkins forces Kate to fire a popular employee, and that employee is now suing Kate for wrongful termination. Kate now must give a deposition in front of Mitch Hertzog, the scion of one of Manhattan's wealthiest law families, who embraces everything Kate despises. However, there are two things she can't deny --- his nice smile and his unbelievable body.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 CHARMING GRACE
Deborah Smith
Little Brown & Company
Romance
ISBN: 0316805874
Hollywood meets the small-town South when an action-movie star comes to a quirky Georgia community to film the true-life (and death) story of a heroic local lawman. The dead hero's widow, Grace, is determined to stop the filming of her late husband's very private story.
She soon wins love and assistance from the movie star's personal bodyguard, a goodhearted ex-con with sad memories of his own. The movie star's nerdy son develops a crush on the heroine's shy niece, and Grace's colorful, cantankerous grandmother falls for a mysterious man from her (and her family's) past. When heart-tugging secrets come tumbling out, hero, heroine and movie star are all surprised --- and changed forever.
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 DAISY'S BACK IN TOWN
Rachel Gibson
Avon
Romance
ISBN: 006000925X
Daisy Lee Monroe returns to her home of Lovett, Texas only to find that little has changed. Her sister is still crazy, her mom still has pink plastic flamingos in her front yard, and Jackson Lamott Parrish --- the bad boy she left behind --- is still irresistible to her. She would like nothing more than to avoid him, but she can't. Daisy has something to say to Jackson, and she's not going anywhere until he listens.
Jackson learned his lesson about Daisy the hard way, and all he wants is for her to leave. But she's popping up everywhere, and it seems that the only way to keep her quiet is with his mouth. But kissing Daisy had once been his downfall. Is he strong enough to resist her now and watch her walk out of his life again? Is he strong enough to make her stay?
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 GUILTY PLEASURES
Laura Lee Guhrke
Avon
Historical Romance
ISBN: 0060541741
Prim and shy Daphne Wade loves secretly watching her employer, the Duke of Tremore, as he works the excavation site on his English estate. Anthony hired Daphne to restore the priceless treasures he's been digging up, but she has trouble concentrating on her work, especially when she sees him take off his shirt.
When his sister decides to turn Daphne into an enticing beauty, Anthony declares the task to be impossible. Daphne is devastated when she overhears this --- and is determined to prove him wrong. Now a vibrant and delectable Daphne has emerged from her shell, and the tables are turned. Will Anthony see that the woman of his dreams has been right there all along?
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 HAVE YOU SEEN HER?
Karen Rose
Warner Books
Romance
ISBN: 0446612812
Special Agent Steven Thatcher has sworn to find the serial killer preying on cheerleaders in a small North Carolina town. As the investigation pulls him one way, his family pulls him in another. A widower haunted by loss, he now worries about his son Brad slipping away. But there's a bright light in his life: his son's teacher, Jenna Marshall, has reached out to help. She's beautiful, kind and considerate --- and slowly, she and Steven are starting to fall in love. But both have been hurt before --- badly. And as the two try to find the courage to bare their souls, a murderer who has taken the lives of many is looking for the real treasure he craves --- Jenna herself!
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 KISS ME ONCE, KISS ME TWICE
Kimberly Raye
Warner Books
Romance
ISBN: 0446613991
For Skye Farrel sex is a business, and business is good! Her Girl Talk seminars are the talk of the town, with professional women jumping at the chance to learn the art of sexual fulfillment. But while she teaches her students how to heat up the sheets, her own love life is on ice.
Enter retired Nascar hunk Clint MacAllister, who is currently searching for a wife. Clint makes Skye a deal she can't refuse: her sex tips in return for insight into the male mind. With each new private lesson, Skye grows closer and closer to her new student, but Clint is the marrying kind and Skye isn't. Can Clint convince this liberated woman that the greatest race of all is the one for her heart?
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 LOVE IS THE DRUG
Sarahbeth Purcell
Atria Books
Fiction
ISBN: 0743476158
In Sarahbeth Purcell's touching first novel, we meet Tyler. An incurable romantic, Tyler's chief obsessions include music, list-making --- and David, the man who broke her heart. Despite a detailed list of reasons why she should forget about David once and for all --- including (but by no means limited to) chronic illness, terminal self-absorption and geographical inaccessibility --- Tyler remains hopelessly hooked on him. So she decides to embark on a wild ride, a ride that takes her from her hometown in Tennessee to sunny Los Angeles, all in the hopes of saving David from his ominous view of life.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 LOVE MONKEY
Kyle Smith
William Morrow
Fiction
ISBN: 0060574534
Tom Farrell is an average guy. He lives alone in his rented apartment with nothing but condiments and alcohol in his refrigerator. He spends Saturday mornings watching cartoons and devotes the rest of the weekend to his other favorite hobbies: sports and girls. Although he has a decent job writing headlines for the New York Tabloid, he recognizes that neither his personal life nor his professional life has any forward momentum, and at the age of 32 it suddenly occurs to him: there's a fine line between being picky and being a loser.
Enter a sly, beautiful co-worker named Julia. After a few passionate dates, Tom is hooked. But the closer he gets to Julia, the more elusive she becomes. Frustrated, Tom seeks the dubious advice of his friend Shooter, a shallow sexual gladiator. But then tragedy strikes, and everyone's attitudes toward life and love change --- and even Tom begins to see himself in a new light.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS
Ellen Sussman
Warner Books
Fiction
ISBN: 0446531413
Blair Clemens and Luke Bellingham met in high school, but had very little in common with each other. Now, years later, Luke is one of the country's most acclaimed screenwriters, while Blair is a struggling single mother with a teenage daughter --- and a tragic secret that will test all of her emotional resources. She loves no one other than her daughter and she intends to keep it this way. That is, until she crosses paths once again with Luke. Now, Blair is faced with the decision of her lifetime: what to do when the right man comes along --- but at the wrong time.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 REMIND ME AGAIN WHY I MARRIED YOU
Rita Ciresi
Delta
Fiction
ISBN: 0385335857
Lisa Strauss abandoned her writing career and her ambitions of fame and glory when she married her boss Eben, gave birth to her son and became a stay-at-home mom. She begins to wonder if this is all marriage is and can ever be: bonded for life to a man who may never again be the red-hot lover of their pre-marriage union. Lisa and Eben search --- apart and together --- for the answer to the question that has plagued husbands and wives since the dawn of time: Can love survive marriage?
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 SLIGHTLY TEMPTED
Mary Balogh
Dell Publishing
Romance
ISBN: 0440241065
Meet the Bedwyns --- six brothers and sisters --- men and women of passion and privilege, daring and sensuality. Enter their dazzling world of Regency high society and breathtaking seduction, where each will seek love, fight temptation and court scandal --- and where Morgan Bedwyn, the willful youngest daughter, discovers that true love is a temptation no woman can --- or should --- resist.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
NONFICTION:
 365 DAYS OF SENSATIONAL SEX: Tantalizing Tips and Techniques to Keep the Fires Burning All Year Long
Lou Paget
Gotham Books
Self Help
ISBN: 159240037X
Renowned sex instructor and bestselling author Lou Paget brings her sophisticated yet sizzling approach to a new book about sustaining passion in a relationship. In 365 DAYS OF SENSATIONAL SEX, she reveals her best secrets and advice for women and men who want to keep their sexual spark alive long after the initial seduction. Based on her nearly twenty years of research and interviews with couples (or "Great Lovers"), Paget shows readers how they can achieve and maintain an attitude towards sex that is open, curious and committed to passion --- forever.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 THE BIG BANG
Emma Taylor and Lorelei Sharkey
Plume
Human Sexuality
ISBN: 0452284260
Em and Lo, contributing editors at the popular website Nerve.com, have produced an informative and fully illustrated manual that not only touches on the kinkier aspects of sex, but also covers a number of important issues, such as sexually transmitted diseases and birth control. No matter what your age, gender or sexual preference is, this guide is a keeper!
Read a Review
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 CINEMATHERAPY FOR LOVERS: The Girl's Guide to Finding True Love One Movie at a Time
Beverly West and Nancy Peske
Delta
Self Help
ISBN: 0440509270
From the bestselling duo who brought you CINEMATHERAPY, ADVANCED CINEMATHERAPY and BIBLIOTHERAPY comes CINEMATHERAPY FOR LOVERS, a video guide jam-packed with over 150 new reviews of classic and contemporary movies --- and warnings about Happily Never After love stories that are recipes for relationship disasters. This book will help you find the perfect movie prescription to cure all of your relationship woes --- even if you're not a fan of the big screen!
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART: A Memoir
Susan Shapiro
Delacorte Press
Memoir
ISBN: 038533723X
In this honest and hilarious memoir, journalist Susan Shapiro dares to do what every woman dreams of: track down the five men who had broken her heart and find out what really went wrong.
Between the ages of thirteen and thirty-five, Susan fell in love five different times. All of these relationships resulted in heartache, with each breakup being more hurtful and humiliating than the next. For years Susan blamed her boyfriends for their infidelity and immaturity, but now --- shockingly --- she is now able to pinpoint the precise moment where she herself screwed up each relationship.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 LOVING IN THE HERE AND NOW: Re-Create Your Relationship and Bring Love Back into Your Life
Jane Parsons-Fein
J. P. Tarcher/Putnam
Self Help
ISBN: 1585423009
Countless books have told us that communication is the key to successful relationships, but communication involves more than just words; our relationships are shaped by verbal and non-verbal language. Each of us carries around unmet needs and unhealed wounds, and intimate relationships make us most vulnerable to the emotions surrounding these earlier hurts.
LOVING IN THE HERE AND NOW shows readers how to become conscious of their own and their partner's "hot buttons," how to dismantle them, and how to heal the patterns of the past in order to have a loving future.
This practical book is full of exercises designed to help readers revitalize an old relationship or jump-start a new one. It will enable readers to create a relationship that is different from previous disappointing ones and communicate with their partner in ways that draw them closer and promote greater intimacy.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex
John Gray, Ph.D.
Quill
Relationships/Love & Romance
ISBN: 0060574216
Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set in: they forgot they were from different planets.
Based on years of successful counseling of couples and individuals, MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS has helped millions of couples transform their relationships. Now viewed as a modern classic, it has helped men and women realize how different they really are and how to communicate their needs in such a way that conflict doesn't arise and intimacy is given every chance to grow.
This phenomenal book is now available in paperback for the very first time! So what on earth are you waiting for?
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 NERVE'S GUIDE TO SEX ETIQUETTE FOR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
Emma Taylor and Lorelei Sharkey
Plume
Human Sexuality
ISBN: 0452285097
This outrageously helpful handbook is committed to saving single adults and devoted couples from a lifetime of sexual faux-pas. Em and Lo provide readers with indispensable advice on a variety of sexually driven topics --- including one-night stands, dirty talk, making the first move, three-way etiquette and admitting fantasies --- in addition to witty "pearls of wisdom" and hilarious sidebars.
Anyone with a sense of common courtesy --- and a desire to attract that special someone --- will agree that Em and Lo's book is a must-read!
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 THE PROPER CARE AND FEEDING OF HUSBANDS
Dr. Laura Schlessinger
HarperCollins
Self Help
ISBN: 0060520612
In her most provocative book yet, Dr. Laura Schlessinger urgently reminds women that to take proper care of their husbands is to ensure themselves the happiness and satisfaction they yearn for in marriage. Countless women contact Dr. Laura, unhappy in their marriages and seemingly at a loss to understand the incredible power they have over their men to create the kind of home life they desire.
Now, in THE PROPER CARE AND FEEDING OF HUSBANDS, Dr. Laura shows you --- with real-life examples and real-life solutions --- how to wield that power to attain all the sexual pleasure, intimacy, love, joy and peace you want in your life.
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
 WE NEED TO TALK. BUT FIRST, DO YOU LIKE MY SHOES? Dress Codes for Dumping Your Man
Kristina Grish and Maria Raymondstotter
Thomas Dunne Books
Humor/Self Help
ISBN: 031231857X
Dumping your man is something that cannot and should not be taken lightly --- and the last thing you want to do is dress inappropriately for the occasion. Not to worry, because Kristina Grish and Maria Raymondstotter has written this indispensable guide that will help you choose the perfect look to further communicate exactly how you feel. This is without question the perfect anti-Valentine's Day book!
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
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