Best Romance Books of All Time

Romance is my absolute favorite genre! Even when I’m reading fantasy or lit fic, I always look for love stories in them; it just makes every single book more fun and exciting to read. 

When I first got back into reading (thanks to romance, no less), I would read anything I could get my hands on. From extremely popular books to indie picks, nothing was safe from my eyes. I wish I still kept my old Goodreads so I could show you just how many books there were. I read more than a hundred a year for a few years — and before you ask how, may I introduce you to ebooks and reading while cooking, cleaning, doing laundry (mind the furniture-bumping). 

Now, I am much more intentional about my choices, but those years of ravenously eating up anything that seemed even remotely fun have taught me a lot about the genre. They also shaped my taste into what it is today, and I can confidently say that you’re almost guaranteed to love at least one book from this list (if not all of them). 

This list is a mix of contemporary, historical, fantasy and lit fic romance, some popular, some underrated picks. If you want more specific choices, may I suggest looking into one of these pages: 

• Love literary romance? Here are my favourite literary romance books.
• More of a romantasy reader? Take a look at my top fantasy romance picks.
• Want romance featuring older protagonists? These are my favourites.
• Do you love epistolary romance — books where characters fall for each other through letters or messages? These are for you.
• Into romantic suspense? Here are some fantastic reads.
• Prefer graphic novels with a love story? Check these out.

Editor’s Note: I chose these books based on my own personal tastes and what other people universally love. I wanted to give you romance books with satisfying storylines and endings, so each one on this list, no matter the genre, has a happy ending and a swoony love story. Keep in mind that this is a living, breathing list, so I’ll keep adding to it as I read more books (I’m just one reader after all). If you have any recommendations for me, make sure to leave them in the comments and your favorite book might go straight to my TBR or this list. 

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle

• Genre: Contemporary Romance
• Tropes: Second-chance romance, forced proximity, relationship in trouble
• Heat level: Low spice, there’s one scene but it’s more emotional than explicit, and there are a few heated moments.
• Content warnings: none.
• You should read this if: You like second-chance romance, slow burn, and funny books. Also, weirdly specific, but if you want to see a monster-in-law go down in flames, this is your book!
• Read my full review here ➡

This is my favorite contemporary romance book ever! I think I’ve re-read it dozens of times, whenever I have a bad day and need a pick-me-up.

You Deserve Each Other is a story about Naomi and Nicholas who were once happy together, but since getting engaged things have gone south. His mother is meddling, he isn’t stepping in, and Naomi has grown disenchanted with the whole thing. She wants out, but fears his mother (Deborah) will make her pay for everything, and she can’t afford it. One day, she realizes that Nicholas has been doing something about it — being awful so she’d leave. And then she decides to play the game as well. 

She starts acting like she always wanted to, being more herself than she ever was, and Nicholas does too. They play some pranks on each other, make some bad moves, but through it all, they slowly start to understand the other more, and to realize how they never truly opened up before. 

This is one of the funniest, most heartfelt books I’ve ever read, and I highly recommend it. It’s told from Naomi’s POV entirely, and it really shows you how much those small, seemingly insignificant things mean a lot. 

Also, as mentioned, you can watch Deborah crash and burn. Seriously, this is probably the funniest part of the book!

I would actually recommend the entire Sarah Hogle catalogue. Twice Shy is about a catfished heroine who inherits a house from a grandmother and finds that the groundskeeper of the house has the face of the man whose image was used to catfish her. In Just Like Magic, the socialite influencer falls for a spirit of Christmas, reconnects with her family, and changes for the better. Folklore of Forever opens a sort-of fantasy romance series. All amazing books!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

• Genre: Classic Lit, Romance
• Tropes: Enemies to lovers, slow burn
• Heat level: No spice.
• Content warnings: none.
• You should read this if: I feel like everyone should read this at least once but: read this if you like enemies to lovers where there’s actual reasons for the hate and the hero actually learns from his mistakes and fixes them with no expectation to get the girl.
• Find more fun classics for beginners here ➡

I feel like there’s really nothing I could say about Pride and Prejudice that hasn’t been said already. It’s a love story for the ages, and one of those books that you can keep coming back to. Not only does it have an excellent enemies to lovers arc, one of the best love confessions ever made (twice), and a man that knows how to fix his own mistakes without expecting anything, but it’s also cozy, funny, and tells you more about societal issues of the time. 

If you’ve already read Pride and Prejudice and would like something similar, but perhaps more romantic, Persuasion is an excellent pick (this is said to be Jane Austen’s most romantic book). If you’d like something lighter and funnier, then Emma is your best choice. I also love Sense and Sensibility (it’s the first Austen I read). So, if you’re interested, dive into the Jane Austen catalogue and enjoy!

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery

• Genre: Classic Lit, Romance
• Tropes: Forced proximity, fake marriage, wallflower, found family/belonging
• Heat level: No spice.
• Content warnings: Terminal illness, controlling family
• You should read this if: You like cozy settings and fantastic heroines, slow burn romance, and tender, lovely moments.

You may have heard of Anne of Green Gables, but have you heard of The Blue Castle? Because if you haven’t, you’re going to now, and I promise you’ll love it. 

This book opens with Valancy Stirling waking up on her 29th birthday miserable, unmarried, oppressed by her controlling mother and judged by her family. She hates her life, her room, her relatives, but never says anything or complains because she doesn’t know how to. Her only escape are these books where the author writes about nature, and her Blue Castle where she’s the heroine brave knights swoon over. 

She also feels unwell, so she decides to secretly visits the doctor, and finds out some bad news. So, she starts rebelling and this leads her to some unexpected happiness. 

I absolutely adore The Blue Castle. It’s a historical romance of my dreams, and Valancy is such a lovable heroine. Perfect read and re-read (and re-re-reread)! 

Black Silk by Judith Ivory (formerly Judy Cuevas)

• Genre: Historical Romance
• Tropes: Dislike to lovers, slow burn, transformed rake (sort of), he falls first
• Heat level: Not overly spicy but there are a few scenes which are explicit
• Content warnings: Death of a loved one (her husband dies off-page), cheating (not between the MCs).
• You should read this if: You love a slow burn and beautiful, lush prose. Also, you don’t mind your MCs involved with other people (hero has a lover, the heroine is grieving her dead husband).

Black Silk is a historical romance which I’ve yet to recover from. It tells you a story about Submit, a young widow of a much older man, and her dead husband’s former ward, Graham. And where Submit is proper, stern, scholarly, Graham is wild, a rake who lives life to the fullest. 

When they meet, they see they’re opposites, and neither is exactly looking for love — but it finds them anyway, despite their better judgement, as they spend more and more time together. First because of something Submit’s husband left for Graham (and ordered Submit to give it to him) and later because they end up becoming friends. 

This is a true slow burn, and you’ll have to wait and wait for these two to get together (wondering if they’ll even be able to). Graham is not perfect (far from it), and Submit isn’t either. To paint you a picture, he gets sued by a scullery maid for paternity, and his lover has a husband. Submit is judgy and does something awful to Graham too (spoilers!). So, yeah. Watch these two imperfect people fall in love. 

And the writing! Oh my, the prose is gorgeous in this book. It makes you imagine everything so perfectly and you want to linger and roll around in those lush descriptions. I loved everything about this, so I highly recommend it!

Normal People by Sally Rooney

• Genre: Lit fic
• Tropes: Childhood sweethearts, friends to lovers (to friends to lovers…)
• Heat level: I wouldn’t call this spicy because the scenes are more about the intimacy than the reader’s enjoyment, if that makes sense. Like you feel like you’re supposed to look away when reading them.
• Content warnings: Parental neglect, depression, suicide (not of MCs), suicidal thoughts, domestic abuse, cheating
• You should read this if: You want to see people fall in love and grow over time, a meditation on intimacy and how love changes people.

Normal People changed my life for the better. It showed me lit fic can be fun, and introduced me to Sally Rooney, who is one of my favorite authors now. This book is her second novel, and it really dives deep into intimacy and what it means, how love can change people for worse and better, and more. 

Connell and Marianne meet in high school, where Connell is the popular football (soccer, for my US readers) player and Marianne is shunned by the whole school. His mom is her house cleaner, and that’s how they end up spending more time together, until eventually they get together in secret. 

They fall in love, but Connell is reluctant to reveal the relationship to others, and this is what eventually breaks them up. But at university, they accidentally meet again, and what follows are years of back and forth, getting together and breaking up, being friends and being lovers. What never changes is them affecting each other’s lives, one way or another.

This isn’t romance in the strictest sense, but it’s one of the best love stories ever, and it’s so tender, so lovely that it’ll break your heart and mend it over and over. If you end up enjoying it, Sally Rooney writes more great books, the latest being Intermezzo, which has some love stories as well.

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

• Genre: Fantasy
• Tropes: Time loop, fated lovers
• Heat level: Not spicy, but very… sensual and sexy, don’t know how to explain it.
• Content warnings: Death of a loved one, technically death of a child, violence and gore
• You should read this if: You want an epic romance that spans time and space and everything in between; no weird focus on gender roles, lady knights, and nerdy heroes with glasses!
• Read my full review here ➡

This is my favorite fantasy book! I feel like I said this about every entry on this list, but what can I do, I’d only recommend books I love myself. And this one is such an epic, unforgettable love story that I cannot describe it properly. But here, I’ll try: 

The Everlasting is a story about Owen Mallory, who is a historian with a special focus (and love) for the myth of Una Everlasting. His whole life has been affected by her, from his childhood, to his military days, and when he receives a book that looks like a diary of Una’s companion, he’s more than excited. 

But then the book disappears from his home, and he finds it at a politician’s office, where he’s stabbed through the hand and somehow sent through time to the era when Una was alive. He meets her immediately and reluctantly follows on her last journey, where he knows she’ll die at the end. But while he follows, he also falls for her deeply, and gets to know the woman behind the myth. 

I won’t say any more because of spoilers, but what I can say is that your heart will be broken and you will most definitely cry.

If you like this kind of fantasy romance where there are equal parts fantasy and romance, with great themes, I would recommend Alix E. Harrow’s whole catalogue and The Starling House in particular because that one is also amazing!

Beach Read by Emily Henry

• Genre: Contemporary romance
• Tropes: Forced proximity, rivals to lovers
• Heat level: One or two scenes, explicit
• Content warnings: Death of a loved one, cheating (not between the MCs), cults, cancer mentions.
• You should read this if: You like books about writers falling in love while writing books, cults and family drama.

This is the book that started the Emily Henry craze, and it’s her best in my opinion. I feel like she wrote it mostly for herself without having a large audience chiming in, so it reads like her most honest work. 

Beach Read is about January, a romance writer who goes to her dead father’s lakeside cabin to write her next book. Her father died, and more so, he cheated on her mother her whole life, so she is devastated, doesn’t believe in love any more and can’t write. And she finds that Gus, her college rival and a lit fic writer, lives in the cabin next to hers. And he’s struggling to write too! Through a funny series of events, they end up making a pact to exchange genres and teach each other how to write them, and end up spending those few months together. 

I absolutely adored this book, and the strangely literary feel it had. Like it wasn’t just a romance, but more. It’s far from being just a beach read, though, so mind the content warnings. 

Emily Henry’s entire catalogue is pretty great too! I would recommend Funny Story (which is inspired by Nick and Jess from New Girl), and Happy Place (though this is not a crowd pleaser), as well as Book Lovers (in that order). I didn’t really enjoy People We Meet on Vacation, but it’s friends to lovers with travelling, so you may like it. I haven’t read her most recent one, but I’ll let you know what I think once I do. 

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

• Genre: Historical romance
• Tropes: Marriage of convenience, reformed rake
• Heat level: There are a few spicy scenes, explicit
• Content warnings: Drinking and drugs, perhaps unkind treatment of sex workers, child neglect, shooting
• You should read this if: You want a feisty heroine that backs that up with real intelligence and an actually funny book.
• Read my full review here ➡

Lord of Scoundrels is one of the most beloved historical romances, and I’d say it’s for a good reason. The story begins when Jessica Trent goes to Paris to save her brother from this group of men who talk him into drinking too much and gambling the family fortune away. When she meets their leader Lord Dain, however, she finds herself inexplicably attracted to him, and he to her. 

Jessica really wants him to release her brother from his company, but her brother won’t listen and Dain becomes stubborn and won’t let him go. And in their negotiations, they start a scandal (on purpose!) for which the best solution is for them to marry. 

I truly loved this one. It’s full of wit and sensual moments, with Jessica and Dain arguing intelligently, both skilled in society and manipulating people. I highly recommend it if you’ve never read a historical before because it’s surprisingly modern while retaining its historical spirit. I’ve heard that the Last Helion by Loretta Chase is even better, so I recommend trying that one too (though I’ve yet to read it). 

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

• Genre: Paranormal romance
• Tropes: Arranged marriage, fated mates, forced proximity
• Heat level: Very spicy, learn about the omegaverse before reading!
• Content warnings: Blood and violence, parental neglect, kidnapping
• You should read this if: You love arranged marriage and want to see it done well, you want a snarky heroine, and a swoony hero. 
• Read my full review here ➡

I know Bride is not Ali Hazelwood’s most beloved book, and it’s kind of a niche choice, but it’s my favorite by Ali and one that converted me into a fan. As I mentioned already, please research what omegaverse is and how it works before you get into this one. It’s very much a book for fanfiction readers, so if that’s you — great! If not, still give it a try, because you might become one!

From the first page, Bride charms you with its witty, morose heroine, Misery. She is a vampire on her way to marry a werewolf (bad) but not all is lost because she agreed to it in order to find her best friend, who may or may not be trapped in wolf territory. 

She is taught that werewolves are aggressive and bad, but her new husband and his pack prove anything but. I mean, yes they’re aggressive, but to bad people, so it doesn’t count. And she finds that her new husband is actually great and more than willing to actually help in her search. Too bad he has a mate already… or does he? 

They go on missions that require them to act like actual married people, and it’s all so delicious, yearning and longing and just ugh. I loved this book!

Mate, its sequel, is also a great read, though you can’t go wrong with any Ali Hazelwood book. I didn’t really like The Love Hypothesis, but I enjoyed most of her other books (Love Theoretically, Not in Love, Problematic Summer Romance, Deep End, etc.). Her books are pure comfort and fun for me, so I’d definitely recommend you give them a try. 

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

• Genre: Contemporary romance
• Tropes: Fake dating, dislike to lovers
• Heat level: Several spicy scenes
• Content warnings: Public embarrassment (?)
• You should read this if: You want a romance that feels like a 90s rom-com and is truly laugh out loud funny, plus you like a buttoned up hero that melts like butter. 

I discovered this book by accident, but I’m so glad I did because it introduced me to the incomparably funny Alexis Hall. Their sense of humor just works for me so well that I never regret reading their books. This one in particular is my favorite, and if you love British humor, I’m sure you’ll love it too. 

Boyfriend Material is the story of Luc, a child of a rock star, who is once again under the paparazzi’s watchful eye. He got drunk one night and fell into some mud, and his boss wants him to clean up his act immediately. In his boss’ words — he can be gay, but not that kind of gay. So he needs a respectable boyfriend, stat. And his friends offer Oliver, a man who also needs someone to bring to his father’s birthday party. Oliver and Luc went on one disaster date before, and now sort of dislike each other. Oliver is order where Luc is chaos, so they don’t appear compatible. 

But because they start fake dating, they’re forced to spend time together, and they end up learning more about each other, and figure out they may be different, but that’s not a bad thing. 

I adored Luc and his whole set of colleagues. They made me laugh so much and so often my husband wanted to read it too. And Oliver is so buttoned up at first, and I mean he stays buttoned up always because this is who he is, but then he also softens up for Luc and it’s lovely. 

Alexis Hall has a whole backlog of books that are as great as this. I loved the Spires series the most, and 10 Things That Never Happened. These books focus on personal growth and mental health almost as much as they focus on the romance, and they’re as tender and soft as they’re spicy. I’m absolutely an Alexis Hall fan, if you can’t tell. There’s just something about their writing that scratches my brain perfectly. 

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

• Genre: Contemporary romance
• Tropes: Friends to lovers, forced proximity
• Heat level: Very spicy, very fun!
• Content warnings: Chronic illness (not that it’s a CW, but it’s good to know in case)
• You should read this if: You want a fun, swoony British romcom, with a fantastic sisterhood.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown is the first book in what is one of my favorite contemporary romance series (if not the favorite). Chloe has chronic illness and she’s in pain often, which has kept her from living her life to the fullest for her entire life. But then she decides to just go for it and live the best life she can anyways. So she gets a new apartment and writes a list of things she wants to do. 

And who better to help with the list than her neighbor, Red. He’s sinfully attractive and charming, red-haired and strong, he paints and fixes things — and he rides a motorcycle which is conveniently on Chloe’s list. 

This book is incredibly sexy and unafraid of female desire, so I’d wholeheartedly recommend it if you’re tired of cookie-cutter sex scenes and want something that is all about women’s pleasure. I also recommend the rest of the series, though I didn’t like the second part so much and loved Act Your Age, Eve Brown, which is the third part. Talia Hibbert has some great books outside of this series too, so give them a try!

The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

• Genre: Historical fiction
• Tropes: Enemies to lovers, forced proximity
• Heat level: Spicy, several scenes
• Content warnings: Mentions of war, poverty, child neglect
• You should read this if: You want wonderful writing, atmospheric, summer-sticky read, romance that develops slowly, then all at once, self-discovery and something a bit darker.
• Read my full review here ➡

The Safekeep has some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. More so, its atmosphere is impeccable, and its heroine so interesting. It tells you about Isabel who lives in her mother’s house and likes everything just so. She always believes the maids are stealing from her, and she gets obsessed over the smallest details. She’s not so easily likeable, but I found her really interesting. 

One evening, she goes to dinner with her brothers, and finds that her older brother has brought yet another girlfriend with him. And Eva, the girlfriend, is ridiculous. She appears bubbly and vapid, pandering to the men, but Isabel sees something in her, and as always, obsesses over it. She becomes convinced that Eva is not as she appears. 

And then, horror of all horrors, her brother wants Eva to live with Isabel for the summer while he’s away on business. Isabel adores her home, more than anything, so she’s very angry about this, and follows Eva around like a vulture waiting for more clues of treachery. But instead she finds out more about herself and ends up falling for Eva. 

This book is entirely unexpected and so pleasing to read. I could live in this prose and in this world. Though please mind that it’s darker (it is lit fic after all).  

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

• Genre: Historical romance
• Tropes: Marriage of convenience, letters
• Heat level: It takes a while to get there, but spicy
• Content warnings: Mentions of war and PTSD, stolen property
• You should read this if: You want a funny, heartfelt historical romance where there’s no society to dictate behavior and the heroine has her own home. 
• Read my full review here ➡

When a Scot Ties the Knot is the first historical romance I’ve ever read and it’s amazing. Its heroine, Madeline, is socially anxious and really didn’t want to go out to look for a husband so she invented this captain she met on the seaside, who promised to marry her. Her family believed she fell in love and to keep up the ruse, Madeline kept writing him letters. 

Years passed and she finally felt bad enough and like she had to end it, so she said her soldier died. Believeing she was heartbroken, her uncle gave her a house in Scotland where she could live out the rest of her days in mourning, but our heroine is quite happy with this setup. She loves bugs and animals, she likes to paint them and observe their behavior, and there’s no one to bother her or force her to socialize. 

That is, until the invented soldier becomes quite a bit more real than she expected, and shows up at her door asking her to marry him. And he brought his whole company with him, a bunch of men whose homes have been taken away while they’ve been at war.

This book is so funny and entertaining, and I loved how much freedom our heroine had. If you’re new to historical romance, I’d highly recommend this one, and the whole Tessa Dare catalogue, actually because all of them are so accessible and funny. 

You Again by Kate Goldbeck

• Genre: Contemporary romance
• Tropes: Friends to lovers
• Heat level: Spicy when it gets there
• Content warnings: Drinking and drugs, domestic abuse, cheating (not between the MCs)
• You should read this if: You loved When Harry Met Sally and want something equally slow to develop but so juicy when it finally happens. Also, stories about growth and change.
• Read my full review here ➡

If you love When Sally Met Harry, but want it more modern and in book form, I’d say you should read You Again by Kate Goldbeck. 

Our two main characters, Josh and Ari, meet when Josh starts dating Ari’s roommate who she’s also sleeping with. They don’t really like each other, and they’re so different: Ari is a commitment-phobe and lives a pretty wild life while Josh is uptight, rich, successful and likes everyone to know it. But fate won’t let them be apart for long because they keep meeting over and over again until eventually, after both have bad breakups, they become friends in suffering. And they fall in love. 

This one has a very New York-vibe (this is the setting) and a romcom-y feel. The heroine is not easy to like, but both of them together are charming and their relationship is really lovely to read, especially when they’re yearning badly for each other but won’t ruin their friendship. Kate Goldbeck also wrote Daddy Issues, which I liked way less, but it might be your speed, so you can give it a go.