Looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for a friend who is a hopeless romantic, I went to a local bookstore this morning hoping to find a copy of Adelaide, by Genevieve Wheeler. The novel is about a young woman who falls wildly in love with an otherwise perfect man who cannot love her back. Its ending is rather predictable but heartwarming nonetheless. Adelaide learns through heartbreak that love is often different from what you think it’ll be and more wondrous than you could imagine.

An employee at the counter told me that no, unfortunately, the store didn’t carry the book. “We really should,” he told me, then hoisted his leg up onto a stool and raised his pant leg to show me his calf tattoo of the flower drawing on the cover of Adelaide. He loves the book, too, he said, and when I asked his favorite part, it happened to be my own — when Adelaide asks her mother where to find the strength to love, and her mother replies: “You have to love fiercely, and unselfishly, and with intention. It’s the only way.”

Given the serendipitous encounter, I thought it worth mentioning that modern romance novels might be better than you think. Your hopeless romantic friend, girlfriend, daughter, etc. might enjoy Adelaide, as well.