Romantic books to curl up with this month of love

FEBRUARY has a way of slowing the world down.

- LUTHO PASIYA

The evenings feel softer, the air carries a quiet promise and there is an invitation to lean into stories that remind us why love continues to matter.Romance on the page does not always arrive wrapped in perfection. Sometimes it is messy, dangerous, funny or deeply haunted by the past. That is what makes it real.

This month, these romantic reads offer different visions of love across Southern and West African settings, each one shaped by its own rhythms, risks and tenderness.

Hlomu the Wife by Dudu Busani-Dube

Hlomu the Wife opens the door to a love story that is as intense as it is unsettling. At the centre is a young woman who falls in love with a powerful taxi boss, unaware that her heart is leading her into a world ruled by violence, loyalty and unspoken codes.

Told from the perspectives of the women married to eight Zulu brothers from a feared crime family, the series blends romance with crime and family drama in a contemporary South African township setting.

What makes this book compelling is how love is tested under pressure. Hlomu must navigate devotion and fear, desire and survival, as she becomes entwined in a life that offers protection and danger in equal measure.

The story explores how love reshapes identity, especially for women expected to be strong while standing beside powerful men.