That is exactly the experience that I wanted to give this particular jam! When the theme was dropped, I definitely felt at a disadvantage since I'm not used to anything romantic/lovey-dovey(??). So I decided to slap the theme on last minute while creating another type of game separately!
And yes! I sadly did not have enough time to fully make use of the items you get in the puzzles to manipulate the puzzles themselves, BUT, it seems that you did find what they were used for outside of em. So, as a hint, those scattered plots of books in the main room may or may not help in giving you another item? After the feedback session I'll tell what those stories are about teehee