Romance book surge at libraries before Valentine's

The number of romance books borrowed from libraries in Essex increased by 25% in the build up to Valentine's Day, new data has revealed.

In 2025, an average of 63 romance novels were taken out of Essex County Council libraries each day.

This rose to 79 per day in the week before 14 February.

Book influencer Lottie Moore, 27, who lives in Chelmsford, said she had noticed a rise in the number of "steamy romances" being published since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I do like a bit of spice in my books," joked Moore.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC revealed there had been an upturn in the number of romance books being taken out - ahead of 14 February - increasingly in each of the last four years.

Moore has an Instagram following of almost 30,000 book enthusiasts and was happy to see the trend, but she challenged the assumption that women were behind it.

Speaking to Sonia Watson on BBC Essex, she said many of the men in her life enjoyed fantasy romance books such as Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

"My husband absolutely loves that series and he's got all his little friends reading it as well," she said.

"I think for a lot of people, especially reading romance, that guaranteed 'happily ever after' - which you might not always get in real life - you get in those books."

Author Lucy Morris has written historical romance novels centred around vikings.

"We've had quite a grim few years," she explained.

"Picking up a romance novel is a very cheap and entertaining way to escape all that and just have a fabulous fall into a fabulous romance."

The 44-year-old from Hornchurch in east London is one of the directors at the Romantic Novelists' Association, which was set up to "demand respect" for the genre.

"A lot of people felt that they had to apologise for reading and liking it," she said.

"Our remit has changed slightly because it is more accepted and it is more valued and - definitely in publishing - it's seen as basically the bread and butter."

Mark Durham, the Conservative cabinet member responsible for libraries at the council, said: "Love is in the air around Valentine's Day and this clearly translates into a love of reading.

"Our libraries stock a range of books for all occasions and we are pleased Essex residents are making the most of them, whatever the time of year."

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