If you enjoy nothing more than curling up with a rom-com or a tear-jerking romance novel, this is the year for you. The best romance books are filled with the genre’s most beloved tropes: enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, fake dating turned into something more, and even a dash of good old-fashioned forced proximity. There’s no shortage of swoon-worthy books on the way, from contemporary love stories to historical romance novels to romantic tales with just the right amount of magic.
Best Romance Novels
We have a romance book for everyone, whether you like historical romance that transports you back in time, paranormal romance that proves you don’t need flesh and blood to get frisky, rom-com that combines hilarious misadventure with the steamy stuff, or sexy stories that are too spicy for public transportation.
Beyond the bodice-rippers you may have seen hiding in your mother’s bedside table or waiting for impulse buyers at the grocery store checkout counter, the romance genre has a lot to offer. Many of these excellent reads are romance-plus-other, making them ideal for those who believe they aren’t interested in the genre. Along with the love stories that define the genre, many of our favorite romances have exciting plot lines, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ love stories, and lyrical language that keep us breathless until the very last page. Add these to your TBR list, and once you’re done, don’t forget to check out My Book Tip for even more fantastic stories.
Today, we are going to review the best romantic novels :
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Key Features
- Berkley; First Edition (October 30, 2018)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 352 Pages
- Weight: 10.9 Ounces
Overview
You can’t go wrong with any of Jasmine Guillory’s fun, romantic thrillers, but this sporty love story is particularly enjoyable. Nik’s boyfriend proposes to her at a Dodgers game, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. She obviously says no, and the video goes viral. Carlos, the handsome doctor, sweeps her away from the frenzy, but he can’t be the real thing. Can he, or can’t he?
When someone asks you to spend the rest of your life with him, it shouldn’t come as a surprise—especially when it happens in front of 45,000 people.
Carlos Ibarra saves Nik at the game with his sister by rushing her away from a TV crew. Even after the video goes viral and Nik’s social media takes a terrible turn, he is there for her. Nik sets off on an epic rebound with Carlos that is packed with food, fun, and wonderful sex since she knows that an attractive doctor in the wilds of LA can’t be looking for anything serious. One of them must be wise enough to apply the brakes when their glorified couplings begin to violate the law.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Key Features
- Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 9, 2016)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 384 Pages
- Weight: 10.4 Ounces
Overview
This book will feel familiar if you’ve ever stood up for a coworker (the scandal!). Joshua Templeman, a coworker of Lucy Hutton, and she have a fierce rivalry that is especially ferocious because they are both competing for the same promotion. At least, that is how it begins.
Joshua Templeman and Lucy Hutton are hostile to one another. Not dislike. Not reluctantly tolerate. Hate. And since they are executive assistants to the co-CEOs of a publishing company, they have no issue acting out their emotions through a sequence of ritualistic passive hostile gestures. At the same time, they sit next to one another. Lucy finds it difficult to understand Joshua’s dull, unbending, and meticulous approach to his work. Joshua is obviously confused by Lucy’s eccentric behavior, excessively bright attire, and positive attitude.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Key Features
- Publisher: Berkley (June 5, 2018)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 352 Pages
- Weight: 11.2 Ounces
Overview
Please tell us more nerdy tales! Stella Lane, a brilliant mathematician in Helen Hoang’s book, engages in curative romance by hiring escort Michael Phan to teach her the ins and outs of sex. It’s what we think of as the ideal formula for a good book.
According to Stella Lane, math is the only thing that connects the universe. She develops algorithms to forecast client purchases, a career that has made her richer than she knows what to do while giving her significantly less dating experience than the typical 30-year-old.
The stunning Swedish-Vietnamese woman can’t afford to decline Stella’s offer, so she accepts to assist her in covering every subject on her lesson plan, from foreplay to more than just a missionary posture. The fact that Stella has Asperger’s and compares French kissing to a shark having its teeth cleaned by pilot fish doesn’t help. She came to the conclusion that she needed a lot more practice—with an expert, which is why she employs Michael Phan as an escort.
Soon, Stella develops a desire for all the other emotions he is making her experience, in addition to his kisses. Their no-nonsense alliance begins to make an odd sort of logic. Stella will be persuaded by the emerging pattern that love is the best type of logic.
Vision in White by Nora Roberts
Key Features
- Publisher: Berkley; Reprint Edition (May 1, 2012)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 336 Pages
- Weight: 5.6 Ounces
Overview
The prolific Nora Roberts has written more than 200 romance books, but as the first book in The Bride Quartet, this one received high praise from her readers. With the help of three friends, wedding photographer Mackensie “Mac” Elliot runs a business that plans weddings. She meets sweet and reliable English instructor Carter Maguire on her first day of work, and their brief fling could lead to her own happy ending.
Carter Maguire, a reliable and safe English teacher, is absolutely not Mac’s type. However, she might benefit from a causal relationship to help her forget about Bridezillas. Of course, casual relationships have a way of evolving into something more unexpectedly. And Mac will need the help of her three closest friends—who are also her business partners—to find her own happy ending.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Key Features
- Publisher: Wednesday Books (May 3, 2022)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 368 Pages
- Weight: 15.2 Ounces
Overview
Chloe Green is so near to winning. Her parents moved her from Southern California to Alabama for high school, where she has spent the last four years avoiding gossipy peers and Willowgrove Christian Academy’s strict administration. The prom queen and daughter of the principal, Shara Wheeler, is her only competition. She persevered because she was named valedictorian.
However, Shara kisses Chloe and disappears a month before graduation.
Chloe learns she wasn’t the only person Shara kissed during her desperate search for information. Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush, and Smith, her old quarterback sweetheart, are both there. The three of them have only in common with Shara and the annoyingly cryptic letters she left behind, yet they must work together to follow Shara’s trail of hints and locate her. If Chloe can bring Shara back before graduation so that she may defeat her fairly, it will be worthwhile.
Chloe begins to wonder if there might be more to this small town than she first assumed as she chases a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets disclosed on monogrammed stationery.
Delta of Venus by Anais Nin
Key Features
- Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint Edition (February 2, 2004)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 304 Pages
- Weight: 8.8 Ounces
Overview
If you consider yourself a fan of romance but have never read Anas Nin, change that immediately. The sensual overtones in this collection of classic short stories are still present. But don’t take our word for it; try it for yourself in the dark with some slinky clothing.
In this collection of short stories, Anais Nin creates a beautiful, mystical universe with characters with the most basic human desires and extraordinary abilities. A Hungarian adventurer who seduces wealthy women and then disappears with their money, a veiled woman who chooses strangers from a chic restaurant for private dates, and a Parisian hatmaker named Mathilde who leaves her husband and travels to the opium dens of Peru are just a few of the stories in this collection that are provocative. This compilation, which comes from a master of erotic writing, is incredibly exotic and rich. Innovative, sophisticated, very exquisite naughtiness —Cosmopolitan
Bared to You by Sylvia Day
Key Features
- Publisher: Berkley; 2nd Edition (February 4, 2014)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 352 Pages
- Weight: 4.8 Ounces
Overview
Try the Crossfire series if you prefer your love stories to be spread out over several books. Newcomer to the big city Eva Tramell literally falls at the feet of business magnate Gideon Cross, sparking a passionate relationship that unveils secrets from both of their troubled pasts. Sounds recognizable? The phrase “soap opera version of Fifty Shades of Grey” was used by one Amazon reviewer for a reason.
He was stunning and dazzling, jagged and blazing. I was drawn to him because I had never been to anything or anyone in my life. Even though I knew it would make me weaker, I desired his touch like a drug. He was able to expose the flaws and damages I had easily.
Gideon knew. He has his own personal demons. And we would transform into the mirrors that reflected one another’s most secret wants and damages.
Even while I prayed that the pain of our pasts wouldn’t drive us away, the ties of his love transformed me.
Love at First Like by Hannah Orenstein
Key Features
- Publisher: Atria Books (August 6, 2019)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 336 Pages
- Weight: 9.6 Ounces
Overview
In Brooklyn, Eliza Roth and her sister Sophie jointly own a jewelry store. Eliza shares an unintentional snapshot of herself sporting a diamond ring on that finger on her popular Instagram account with 100,000 followers one night after finding out about an ex’s engagement. Sales soar, publicity floods in, and Eliza discovers the benefits of having a personal life for her business. She must decide whether to carry on the charade or make things apparent. Eliza sets out to find a fictitious fiancé as she faces increasing financial difficulties.
Blake, a fellow entrepreneur, appears to be the ideal match on paper. Additionally, he exhibits promise in real life. If only Eliza didn’t feel attracted to someone else as well, he would be ideal. However, Sophie asks Eliza for an impossibly large amount of money; Blake is unaware that Eliza is “engaged,” and Eliza’s fabrications begin to go out of hand. She can either continue to date online or find love offline.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Key Features
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 15, 2021)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 259 Pages
- Weight: 12.8 Ounces
Overview
This classic is so old that it’s free if you have a Kindle! And you should take advantage of that since it’s essentially the first romance story. If you enjoy Jane Austen, you might enjoy Curtis Sittenfeld’s adaptation of her novel Eligible, which places Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in contemporary Cincinnati.
Pride and Prejudice, which is set in early 19th-century England, follows the five unmarried daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet after the wealthy and eligible Mr. Bingley and his status-conscious companion, Mr. Darcy, have moved into their neighborhood. The eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, immediately wins Bingley over, while Darcy struggles to fit in and frequently quarrels with Elizabeth, the second-eldest Bennet daughter.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Key Features
- Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (February 26, 2013)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 336 Pages
- Weight: 0.035 Ounces
Overview
This is the story of two star-crossed misfits who are wise enough to realize that first love almost never lasts but bold and desperate enough to try. You’ll go back to your own first love and how deeply it took you under when Eleanor and Park first met. It took place over the course of one school year in 1986.
Final Words
So, here is the best romantic novel ; you can check our reviews and buy the one that attracts you. However, many people must have read many of these before but still want to read them again. Keep reading our blogs to find more good reads. If you love romance novels, this article will help you choose the best one.
FAQ
What Makes a Great Romance Novel?
Two basic elements present in every romance novel are a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and positive ending. A central love story is the main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make their relationship work.
Why Do People Read Romance Novels?
Romance novels are great for understanding other people. It encourages empathy. It is because it’s the most popular genre globally. They are written for women by women, and it is because 90% of the time, everything is centered on a woman.
Why are Romance Novels so Addictive?
The desires stem from the early exposure to media depictions of romance and become personalized to the addict. Romance addiction can start to link with sexual addiction, as romance novels or films often have an erotic element.