5 Book gifts for the romance reader

If you have a romance reader on your holiday list, you know that buying a book for them can be tricky. Check out my top five picks, though, for romances they will love and probably haven't picked up yet. From sweet romance to a little spicy, this list of books is sure to make your gift buying easier...or help you build your own winter TBR pile.

1.  For those who like a little spice

If the romance reader on your list likes their books with a touch of spice, any book by Jeannine Colette will satisfy their book boyfriend craving. I love how her books all center around really fun cities and the idea of roses. This one happens to be one of my favorites because it has the right amount of alpha book boyfriend and flirty fun. 

2. For the Sweet Romance Fan

If sweet romance is your thing, then, of course, Nicholas Sparks is an amazing choice. One of my favorite book gifts to give is the book At First Sight because it's one of his less-popular options. At First Sight is actually a part of a book duet, which includes True Believer. I love this story because it has a deep love story mixed with a story about parenting. True Believer comes first in the series, so consider buying both books for that romance lover on your list.

3. For the Romantic Comedy Lover

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty is one of my all-time favorite book recommendations and book gifts. It leans more women's fiction than straight romance, but a love story is definitely the center of the tale. It is a laugh-out-loud story about aging and what it means to be in love. Basically, Alice falls on a treadmill on page one and forgets the last decade of her life--so she thinks she is in her late twenties again. She's forgotten everything: the feud she has with her once friends, her distance from her family, and her divorce. This book is about how she tries to sort through what happened to her and how her life ended up so different than what she wanted. My favorite part is the interactions with the snooty prep-school moms. 

This book made me laugh so hard, but it is also a poignant tale of dreams and living the life we want. I love, love, love this one.

4. For the Hallmark Movie Lover

The Trail to You is a sweet small-town romance about two people brought together by a dog...a mastiff named Henry, specifically. This book came to be because I wanted to write a book in which my mastiff, Henry, was a main character. This story follows two broken people as they try to find love again. When Ronan's mastiff, Henry, goes missing while he is on a tour of duty, he will be sent on a trail to get his beloved best friend back. That trail, though, will lead him to a small town and a girl who is suffering from tragedy of her own. Can the two find their way to love...or are some paths just paved in heartache?

If the reader on your list loves dogs and Hallmark-type romances, this book is sure to make them swoon. It's filled with laugh-out-loud antics and also celebrations of one of the greatest loves I've ever known: the love of a dog.

5. For the Dark Romance Lover

This book is a roller coaster of emotion. Although it centers around a love story, it's about so much more than that--it has suspense, abuse, survival, and so many other dark themes. I love the winding tale of survival and how these two people are brought together. It's a story that feels uncomfortable sometimes because of the darkness--but that's how I like a story. 

There is a sequel called the Girl and Her Ren which I found equally intriguing. These books by Pepper Winters are unputdownable, truly. I flew through them and still haven't forgotten the incredible plot. Definitely check these ones out.