It’s Valentine’s Day and I wanted to share some of my favourite romance books across a range of subgenres & tropes with you! Some of these books I’ve read and some are on my TBR (and I fully expect to LOVE them based on my friends’ rave reviews). Since the list will be quite long, I’m going to describe each book using tropes and fun keywords.
I’ll list the subgenres here so you can scroll to whichever category you want to find and get those recommendations faster!
Contemporary Romance
Romantic Suspense
Romantic Comedy
Paranormal Romance
Fantasy Romance
Sci-Fi/Alien Romance
Monster Romance
Dark Romance
Historical Romance
Sports Romance
Please remember to check any TWs listed on the book’s description page or author’s website. This is important for all books, but especially dark romances.
This post contains some affiliate links which means if you choose to make a purchase through the link, I may receive a small payment from the seller (at no cost to you).
Contemporary Romance
Flawless – Elsie Silver
Chestnut Springs #1
(cowboy, small town, rodeo, celebrity hero, workplace romance)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Heartless – Elsie Silver
Chestnut Springs #2
(cowboy, single dad, heroine nanny, workplace romance, small town)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Georgie, All Along – Kate Clayborn
(starting over, found family, small town, grumpy x sunshine, roommates to lovers)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Love Lettering – Kate Clayborn
(typography, whimsical, hidden words, friends to lovers)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Indigo Ridge – Devney Perry
The Edens #1
(one night stand, heroine law enforcement, small town, enemies to lovers)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Book Lovers – Emily Henry
(small town, work nemesis, workplace romance)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Things We Never Got Over – Lucy Score
(small town, grumpy x sunshine, evil twin, runaway bride, starting over)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Simple Wild – KA Tucker
Wild #1
(small town, enemies to lovers, pranks, parent illness, yeti hero)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Running Wild – KA Tucker
Wild #4
(small town, unrequited love, vet heroine, grumpy hero, sled dog racing)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Second First Impressions – Sally Thorne
(cinnamon roll hero, retirement home workplace, two elderly sidekicks, turtles)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
You Deserve Each Other – Sarah Hogle
(engaged couple, second chance, pranks)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The One Real Thing – Samantha Young
Hart’s Boardwalk #1
(small town, divorced hero, doctor heroine, old love letters, found family)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
If I Never Met You – Mhairi McFarlane
(interracial romance, fake dating, rom-com but also sad, self-worth)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Fight or Flight – Samantha Young
(enemies to lovers, Scottish hero, one night stand becomes friends with benefits)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Bared to You – Sylvia Day
Crossfire #1
(billionaire CEO hero, erotic, past trauma for both MCs, possessive)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care – Ashley Herring Blake
(small town, photographer heroine, bookstore-owning heroine, single mom)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Romantic Suspense
Gone Too Deep – Katie Ruggle
Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue #3
(grumpy x sunshine, only one tent, virgin hero, tall dark and silent, unaliver on the loose)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Fan the Flames – Katie Ruggle
Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue #2
(firefighter & MC member hero, armed heroine, underground bunker, unaliver on the loose)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
You Can Hide – Rebecca Zanetti
Laurel Snow #2
(neurodiverse heroine, loner hero, photographic memory, catching unalivers, knitting club, small town)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Naked in Death – JD Robb
In Death #1
(Law & Order SVU but futuristic, law enforcement heroine, billionaire hero, starchy butler)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Risk It All – Katie Ruggle
Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters #2
(bounty hunters, small town, slow burn, opposites attract)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Romantic Comedy
It Happened One Summer – Tessa Bailey
Ballinger Sisters #1
(Alexis Rose-type heroine, fishermen, widower hero, bubble butt, small town, family history)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Knot My Type – Evie Mitchell
All Access #1
(disability rep, wheelchair-using heroine, shibari, pink hair, accessibility sex-ed)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Wrong – Jana Aston
Cafe #1
(coffee shop crush, gyno hero, college student heroine, age gap)
Amazon
The Hating Game – Sally Thorne
(enemies to lovers, workplace romance, smurfs, strawberries, pranks)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren
(unlucky twin, fake honeymoon, enemies to lovers, forced proximity)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Happy-Go-Lucky – LH Cosway
(enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, one night stand, drunken xmas party, workplace romance)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Paranormal Romance
The Lone Wolf’s Rejected Mate – Cate C Wells
Five Packs #3
(age gap, mountain man hero, “princess” heroine, aggressive wolf, fated mates)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Always Practice Safe Hex – Juliette Cross
Stay a Spell #4
(grim reaper hero, witch heroine, magical sisters, enemies to lovers, forced proximity)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Don’t Hex and Drive – Juliette Cross
Stay a Spell #2
(flirty vampire hero, introverted witch heroine, magical sisters, opposites attract, adopt dont shop)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Heartless – Gena Showalter
Immortal Enemies #1
(gamer girl, fae king, enemies to lovers, anti-hero, not your average fairytale)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Kiss the Fae – Natalia Jaster
Dark Fables #1
(new adult, fae bargains, enemies to lovers, dangerous games)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Slave to Sensation – Nalini Singh
Psy-Changeling #1
(psy heroine, leopard shifter hero, all the feels, forbidden romance, forced proximity)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Silver Silence – Nalini Singh
Psy-Changeling Trinity #1
(psy heroine, bear shifter hero, Mr I Am Teddybear, forced proximity, himbo)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Pleasure of a Dark Prince – Kresley Cole
Immortals After Dark #9
(werewolf hero, valkyrie heroine, celibate heroine, Amazonian river cruise, treasure hunt)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Fantasy Romance
The Winter King – CL Wilson
Weathermages of Mystral #1
(winter king, storm-wielding heroine, arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, ancestry legends)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
A Fate of Wrath and Flame – KA Tucker
Fate and Flame #1
(slow burn, thief heroine, alternate worlds, age gap, dangerous secrets)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Poison Princess – Kresley Cole
The Arcana Chronicles #1
(new adult/young adult, post-apocalyptic, tarot cards, love triangle, survivalist)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Sci-Fi/Alien Romance
Dark’s Savior – Olivia Riley
Dark World Mates #2
(human heroine, alien hero, mining city, outcasts, the Dark One)
Amazon
Captive of the Horde King – Zoey Draven
Horde Kings of Dakkar #1
(warrior alien race, human heroine, marriage for payment, opposites attract)
Amazon
Ice Planet Barbarians – Ruby Dixon
Ice Planet Barbarians #1
(blue horned aliens, human heroine, cold planet, survivalist, starting over, spurs)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Mercury Striking – Rebecca Zanetti
Scorpius Syndrome #1
(post-apocalyptic, pandemic, blue heart, zombies, military hero)
Amazon
Monster Romance
Luxuria – Colette Rhodes
Shades of Sin #1
(shade monster king, shunned hunter heroine, arranged marriage, x-rated drawings, pheromones)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Morning Glory Milking Farm – CM Nascosta
Cambric Creek #1
(minotaur hero, human heroine, milking farm job, small town, slow burn, top employee)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Sweet Berries – CM Nascosta
Cambric Creek #2
(mothman, human heroine, berry farm, voyeurism, prehensile tongue, small town, environmentalist)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Dragon’s Bride – Katee Robert
A Deal with a Demon #1
(novella, dragon hero, human heroine, slow burn, fairytale retelling, forced proximity)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Dark Romance
Tell Me a Dirty Lie – Whitney G
Empire of Lies #1
(husband kidnaps wife, antihero, possessive, dangerous games, trilogy)
Amazon
Credence – Penelope Douglas
(step family, antihero, small town, snowed in, MFM-scene, silent hero, age gap, mountain men)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Darkest Temptation – Danielle Lori
Made #3
(russian antihero, mafia romance, possessive, forced proximity)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Risk – ST Abby
Mindf*ck #1
(serial unaliver heroine, FBI hero, revenge plot, twisted games, disguises)
Amazon
Untouchable – Sam Mariano
(bully romance, small town, twisted games, predator and prey, antihero, trauma)
Amazon
Kink Camp: Hunted – Adriana Anders
Kink Camp #1
(primal play, one night stand, kink camp, safe exploration, widower, mountain man)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Run Posy Run – Cate C Wells
Underboss Insurrection #1
(sociopath hero, possessive, chess games, she’s the exception, mafia romance)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Nicky The Driver – Cate C Wells
Underboss Insurrection #2
(mafia romance, arranged marriage, your fave stalker, forced proximity, eating disorder)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Mafia Mistress – Mila Finelli
The Kings of Italy #1
(mafia romance, age gap, son’s fiance, forced proximity)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Reaper – A Zavarelli
Boston Underworld #2
(club dancer heroine, mafia romance, Irish mafia, virgin hero)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
His to Defend – Rhenna Morgan
NOLA Knights #1
(light mafia romance, Cinderella-inspired, single mom, needs a job, Russian hero)
Amazon
Sweet Temptation – Cora Reilly
(mafia romance, arranged mafia, age gap, step parent, widower hero, family secrets)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Plum – Cate C Wells
Steel Bones Motorcycle Club #4
(MC romance, club dancer heroine, pretty woman-inspired, rich hero, arrangement, opposites attract)
Amazon
Heavy – Cate C Wells
Steel Bones Motorcycle Club #7
(neurodiverse heroine, MC romance, club president hero, STEM heroine, super smart hero)
Amazon
Historical Romance
Lord of Scoundrels – Loretta Chase
Scoundrels #3
(opposites attract, beauty and the beast-inspired, rogue hero, independent heroine)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie – Jennifer Ashley
Mackenzies #1
(Scottish hero, neurodiverse rep, opposites attract, past trauma, widow)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
A Bride for the Prizefighter – Alice Coldbreath
Victorian Prizefighters #1
(prizefighter and inn-owner, arranged marriage, slow burn, steamy)
Amazon
The Duchess Deal – Tessa Dare
Girl Meets Duke #1
(regency, scarred hero, marriage of convenience,beauty and the beast-inspired)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Beyond the Highland Mist – Karen Marie Moning
Highlander #1
(time travel, fae, legendary hero, cynical heroine, found family, arranged marriage)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Bride – Julie Garwood
Lairds’ Fiancees #1
(Scottish laird, English heroine, arranged marriage, age gap)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Secrets of a Summer Night – Lisa Kleypas
Wallflowers #1
(self-made hero, wallflower heroine, marriage of convenience, friendships)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Mine Till Midnight – Lisa Kleypas
Hathaways #1
(romany hero, oldest child looking after family, competence kink, caring family)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Sports Romance
Hard Pass – Sara Ney
Trophy Boyfriends #1
(beauty and the beast-inspired, baseball player, awkward hero, fall in love via text)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Jock Row – Sara Ney
Jock Hard/Jocks on Campus #1
(baseball player, house parties, opposites attract, food sharing, romantic comedy, new adult)
Amazon
A Lie for a Lie – Helena Hunting
All In #1
(hockey player, chance encounter, incognito, second chance)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Assist – Rebecca Jenshak
Smart Jocks #1
(new adult, college romance, basketball player, smart jock, tutoring session)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
The Deal – Elle Kennedy
Off Campus #1
(new adult, hockey player, friends to lovers, past trauma, tutoring session)
Amazon | The Ripped Bodice
Happy reading!
🖤
Bookishly Nomes 