Forget flowers and chocolate, this February is all about cozying up with hot romance novels and cool wines! But these aren’t your ordinary true love romance novels. These are the love stories people dare not talk about. From serial killing siblings to royal relations, these books will have you questioning the true definition of love. For these reads we chose wines that reflect the makers’ passion for the craft. Sip, read, love!

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Trentadue Winery Chocolate Amore Port-Styled Red

Set in Edwardian England, Robin Blyth is named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, where he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known. Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, as well as Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles. Continue the Edwardian era experience with this elegant and luxurious dessert wine made from Merlot grapes. Once the wine is finished aging, a tiny amount of natural chocolate extract is added to the final blend, creating the perfect marriage of food and wine. 

Nitro Mountain by Lee Clay Johnson
Wandering Barman Swipe Right

In the mine-riddled town of Bordon, Virginia, a group of lost souls are bound together by alcohol, small-time crime, and music. Leon is a lovesick bass player with a broken hand and a belief that next time—next time—he’ll definitely get it right; Jennifer is the bright-but-battered waitress who can’t quite escape the orbit of Arnett, the local drug dealer. When Jennifer convinces Leon to murder Arnett so she can finally be free, a dark chain of events is set in motion, its violence echoing the pain and misery that shape their fractured lives. Rich, boozy, and aromatic. In this cocktail, all-natural dates, infused with bourbon, replace sugar in this take on a classic. 

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Stolpman Vineyards Love You Bunches Orange 2021

Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the best way to move a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where she works. But when he asks Korede for Ayoola’s number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her. This biodynamic skin contact white blend is the perfect wine to pair with love and murder. Its notes of tangerine peel jump out of the glass complimented by inviting tropical guava and passion fruit. 

Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Zuschmann Schofmann Gruner Veltliner Extra Brut 2018

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. 21-year-old Ty, her captor, is no stereotype – he’s young and attractive. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the outside world, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? In a moving letter to her captor, Gemma relives her kidnapping. Multilayered and playful, this organic sparkling wine has notes of apple, zest, and minerality. 

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
B. Stuyvesant Champagne Brut Rose NV

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius―his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has beef with Prince Henry, which leads to U.S./British relations taking a turn for the worse. Heads of family and state devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Dry and elegant, this Champagne has aromas of cherry blossom and raspberry that give way to fleshy red currant and cherries on the palate. The perfect sparkling wine to celebrate true love!