If you're planning to spend Valentine's Day with your nose in a book, you've got your priorities right. Stephen Lewis introduces a round-up of romantic reads for February 14.

HERE'S a great little Valentines Day pick-me-up for all those still suffering withdrawal symptoms after the demise of TV's Sex And The City.

Cindy Chupack was an award-winning writer for the popular US TV show.

And true to form, her new little book on the joys, deceits and mind-games of the modern dating scene - The Between Boyfriends Book (Orion paperback, £5.99) - is as cool, catty and contemporary as Carrie Bradshaw herself.

The Between Boyfriends Book is a collection of sassy short columns with titles such as Sexual Sorbet, The Rant and Going Hollywood that covers everything from coping with being dumped to the unspoken rules of dating and getting ready to go steady.

It's full of wicked, knowing asides and casual Sex And The City-isms. To Be Lone Rangered, for example, is to be dumped by a man who hasn't got the guts to tell you he's dumping you. "After about three weeks of shampooing with the water off - just in case he calls - we get the picture," Chupack writes.

Sexual Sorbet, meanwhile, is the casual sex you indulge in after being dumped. No "these things take time to get over" platitudes from Chupack. "I say sleep with someone else," she advises. "Sexual sorbet cleanses the palate and prepares you for the next course."

Laughter, tears and comfort which will appeal whether your relationship has reached the cocoa and slippers stage, you're still enjoying the first flush of new love - or have just been dumped and are crying into your vodka tonic.

Other People's Marriages by Shane Watson (Macmillan hardback, £12.99)

Who hasn't wanted to peer through the keyhole of other people's relationships? Anna is working on what she hopes will be her bestseller about marriage and what makes it work. Her friends have all volunteered to act as case studies and it should have been plain sailing. Except that somehow Anna's carefully noted observations don't seem to be telling the whole story of affairs, break-ups and brief encounters. Should appeal to anyone who loved Bridget Jones's Diary, Cold Feet or Love Actually.

Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot (Pan paperback, £6.99)

When cartoonist Jane is asked by her best friend Holly to join her on a trip to the Italian Riviera - where Holly is eloping with her long-term boyfriend Mark - Jane jumps at the chance. She's to be maid-of-honour at Holly and Mark's wedding. But it's hate at first sight when she meets Mark's best man, journalist Cal Langdon - and the prospect of sharing a house for a week in the Italian countryside fills neither of them with glee...

The Kitchen Maid by Valerie Wood (Corgi paperback, £5.99)

Jenny is determined to make her own way in life, and finds a job as kitchen maid at a grand house in Beverley. She catches the eye of the young master of the house, Christy, and they fall in love. But slowly their hopes turn to nightmares and culminate in a scandal which will force Jenny to leave Beverley and everything she knows and loves. Yorkshire-set period romance from the author of The Doorstep Girls.

The Third Child by Marge Piercy (Piatkus paperback, £6.99)

Melissa, the third child of Senator Dickinson and his adoring wife, Rosemary, has spent the whole of her life feeling an outsider in her politically ambitious family.

Blake, a boy of mixed race with seemingly mysterious parentage and a dangerous secret to hide, was raised by a lawyer and his wife who are politically opposed to Senator Dickinson.

When the two meet at college, they become romantically entangled - and embroil themselves in a dangerous game against Melissa's family which can only end in trouble for them and their families.

Marge Piercy's thought-provoking novel is immediately engrossing. She has a wonderful way of describing relationships and especially young love which, in this case, turns into obsession for the naive, self-obsessed Melissa.

As the story moves on, you have an increasing sense of foreboding that something awful is going to happen. Yet when the end comes, like a Shakespearean tragedy, it sends you reeling.

Natalya Wilson

More dating manuals...

Superdate by Tracey Cox (Dorling Kindersley £12.99).

Who better to guide you through the social minefield that is dating than TV's premier relationship and body-language expert?

Superdate is packed with simple, easy-to-follow tips on how to be and how to get a super date. Even if you aren't feeling brave enough to put the advice into action, you'll at least be interpreting everybody else's behaviour like an expert.

Weekend Love Coach: How To Get The Love You Want in 48 Hours by Lynda Field (Vermilion £7.99).

With more than 20 years experience as a psychotherapist and life-coach Field knows her stuff.

Her practical approach takes in such issues as building your self-esteem, improving the way you communicate, overcoming heartbreak and, best of all, teaches you how to become a sex-goddess. All in just 48 hours!

Men Are Dogs: In The Best Possible Sense by Molly Hewitt (Sourcebooks £9.99).

By applying the principles of dog training, you can understand your man better and teach him to respond to simple commands, argues Hewitt.

Best of all is the section on identifying the breed of man best for you.

Choose from examples including the Boxer; boisterous, self-confident and playful: the Old English Sheepdog; shaggy, dopey and sleepy, or the Irish Setter; disobedient if not handled firmly.

Updated: 16:22 Friday, February 04, 2005