DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
Ah, New Year's Eve - it always makes me think of that scene from "When Harry Met Sally." You know the one.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY")
BILLY CRYSTAL: (As Harry Burns) I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend a day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes, and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night.
ESTRIN: If you're in the mood for some good old-fashioned romance this season, NPR's Books We Love has got you covered with tons of recommendations. But no one, and I mean no one, read more romance novels this year than one of my dear colleagues. She'll take it from here.
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LAUREN MAGAKI, BYLINE: Hello. This is Lauren Magaki. I'm a senior producer at NPR's education desk, and I loved "Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour" by Nora Nguyen.
(SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL GIACCHINO'S "MARRIED LIFE")
MAGAKI: Pop this one for an instant vacation. Evie Lang is stuck in neutral. She's a poet with writer's block teaching at a small-town college. Until she's fired by the chair of the English department, who also happens to be her boyfriend - ick (ph). Thankfully, Evie's dead aunt is determined to meddle from beyond the grave. Auntie Hao has left her San Francisco house to Evie - if Evie agrees to go on a whirlwind matchmaking tour through Vietnam.
From speedy rides through jungles on carts to snail-based food nights, and getting to know the hot, grumpy guy who works at the matchmaking company, it's all depicted so vividly, you almost forget you're not there.
(SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL GIACCHINO'S "MARRIED LIFE")
MAGAKI: Lauren here to recommend another romance. I'm recommending "Just Say Yes" by Goldy Moldavsky. There aren't many romance stories in fiction or real life where marriage is the answer to one's problems, especially not if you're a 17-year-old girl in New York City. It's 2007, and Jimena Ramos just found out that she's undocumented. Desperately seeking a green card, Jimena hatches a plan to get herself hitched to an American. Her kind of dorky, kind of cute friend and neighbor, Vitaly, is moving abroad for college, so he's out. But since dating in New York City is reckless at any age, Vitaly tags along on her sketchy Craigslist dates. In between dating shenanigans, the two explore what they want for their lives if they get the chance to choose for themselves.
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MAGAKI: Hey. It's me again. Hope you're not sick of me yet, but I have another romance recommendation for you - "Ready Or Not" by Cara Bastone. We meet Eve six weeks after her one-night stand as she's waiting for a nurse to tell her there's an egg in her biscuit, a bun in the oven. You get it. Even more surprising than her surprise pregnancy? The reactions to it - her best friend, who's struggling with infertility, emotionally ghosts her. Eve's baby daddy, he's in the picture, but it's complicated. Thankfully, Eve has Shep, who's been hanging out in the friend zone for years. When she tells him she's pregnant, he literally shows up with a bike that has a baby seat attached. If that's not New York City for - I love you - I don't know what is. And sure, this is a love story, but it's also about all the ways love shows up. Eve's disappointing friend, the baby daddy - they're trying to support her the best ways they can. And at the end of the day, that's the ideal family - right? - never perfect but always trying.
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MAGAKI: Yep, you guessed it. It's me again. I'm Lauren Magaki, and I'm recommending "Bride" by Ali Hazelwood.
(SOUNDBITE OF DARIO MARIANELLI'S "A POSTCARD TO HENRY PURCE")
MAGAKI: In some ways, Misery Lark is pretty typical. She's bored at her job as a software engineer. She hates wrestling with her duvet cover, and she's struggling to figure out where she belongs in the world. That may be partly because she is a vampire raised among humans, whose politician father is trying to marry her off to a werewolf in order to secure a political alliance. Misery agrees to the marriage because she thinks it may help her find her best friend who's recently gone missing. She meets her husband Lowe for the very first time at their wedding, and he seems really bewildered by her. So Misery is searching for her friend while also trying to figure out cohabitation with another species. Sure, it's an outlandish premise. But the story is filled with romance, political intrigue and a celebration of outcasts so captivating that it'll be a page-turner as soon as you sink your teeth in.
(SOUNDBITE OF DARIO MARIANELLI'S "A POSTCARD TO HENRY PURCE")
MAGAKI: Hope you're not sick of love. Maybe you're lovesick, and you'd like another romance title to read. I got you covered.
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MAGAKI: Lauren Magaki here, and I am recommending "The Art Of Catching Feelings" by Alicia Thompson. This book is wonderfully tender. You just have to stay strong through the cringefest (ph) that kicks it off. In a move straight out of the playbook for worst person at a baseball game, Daphne Brink, who is going through some stuff, gets drunk and heckles the guy at bat. And the guy at bat, he starts crying. Suddenly, the interaction is on gifs and memes and being replayed on every sports ball show on television. Are you hiding under the covers from embarrassment yet? So am I. But hang on. Daphne and Chris get a few opportunities to get to know each other better, and the story that unfurls is sweet and big-hearted. Please appreciate that I didn't make a no crying in baseball joke.
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ESTRIN: Those romance recommendations again were "The Art Of Catching Feelings," "Bride," "Ready Or Not," "Just Say Yes" and "Adam And Evie's Matchmaking Tour." And thank you to NPR's Lauren Magaki for her unwavering commitment to reading as many romance novels as humanly possible.
MAGAKI: I love love.
ESTRIN: We do love you for it. And for the full list of books we love, head to npr.org/bestbooks.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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