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Find Your Next Romance Read with the Genre's Hottest New Trends

Posted by Sharon on February 13, 2023

Experienced readers of romance novels can tell you that new trends in the genre tend to mimic the process of falling in love itself: starting slowly and then happening all at once.

Expanding on the theme, we’ve compiled more than 100 romance novel recommendations, broken down into the notable recent story trends we're seeing readers really gravitate toward. This wasn’t easy, but it was remarkably fun. Heist stories! Hollywood stars! Sexy supernatural beings! To make sure we're offering you only the very hottest of new trends, we limited ourselves to choosing from books published within the last few years, and we’ve also added a few titles that are coming soon this year in each section.

We hope you have as much fun with this as we did. Feel free to add other titles or trends you're spotting in the comment section. And, as always, click the button below each title to add individual books to your Want to Read shelf.

Witchy Wiles

Falling in love is always magical, but in these bewitching rom-coms it can also often be literally spellbinding.

Payback's a Witch (The Witches of Thistle Grove, #1)

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

The League of Gentlewomen Witches (Dangerous Damsels, #2)

Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles, #2)

Hex Appeal: The laugh-out-loud opposites attract magical witch romcom! (Best Hex Ever Collection) (Book 1)

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon (Glimmer Falls, #1)

As Seen on TV

Of course, dating on reality TV is a great way to find love, but did you know baking competitions, cooking championships, and home renovation shows could be as well?

The Charm Offensive (The Charm Offensive, #1)

Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble (Winner Bakes All, #2)

For Butter or Worse (The Hollywood Series #1)

Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail (Bright Falls, #2)

Adventures, Capers, and Heists

Jewel thieves have their hearts stolen, brave backpackers find love on the trail: these action-packed romances will get your heart racing in multiple ways!

Something Wild & Wonderful (Nashville Love, #2)

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes (London Highwaymen, #2)

The Blonde Identity (Blonde Identity, #1)

Romantasy

Horny gods, lusty vampires, angels, demons, tentacle monsters, and courtships in fantasy worlds…this hot trend puts the, ahem, F in SFF.

Wings Once Cursed & Bound (Mythwoven, #1)

The Wicked and the Willing: An F/F Gothic Horror Vampire Novel

King of Battle and Blood (Adrian x Isolde, #1)

A Duel with the Vampire Lord (Married to Magic, #3)

What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)

Archangel's Resurrection (Guild Hunter, #15)

The Kraken's Sacrifice (A Deal With a Demon, #2)

Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos, #1)

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry (Unnatural Magic, #2)

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1)

Hollywood Happily-Ever-Afters

Roll out the red carpet for these books where famous film stars (and other on-set talent) fall in love. Turns out, celebrities are just like the rest of us—they need romance, too!

While We Were Dating (The Wedding Date, #6)

For Her Consideration (Out in Hollywood, #1)

Royal Romances

Harry and Meghan, who? Kidding, of course! Modern-day royals who defeat the odds to live happily ever after, in real life and in fiction? We love to see it.

The Princess Trap (The Midnight Heat Collection, #1)

How to Find a Princess (Runaway Royals, #2)

Adult Industry Protagonists

Look for this spicy trend to pick up speed, as mega-hit novels with sex worker heroes and heroines have garnered only fans so far.

The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient, #1)

A Merry Little Meet Cute (A Christmas Notch, #1)

Expanded Historical Horizons

Call it the Shonda Rhimes effect, but we're seeing more and more readers falling in love with books in this subgenre, which gives people of color and queer folks their own happily ever afters—hooray!

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris (Las Leonas, #1)

The Marquess Makes His Move (Clandestine Affairs, #3)

Ana María and the Fox (The Luna Sisters, #1)

Aphrodite and the Duke (The DuBells, #1)

Compromised into a Scandalous Marriage (Harlequin Historical)

Never Cross a Highlander (The Shadow Lairds)

The Hellion's Waltz (Feminine Pursuits, #3)

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower (The Wild Wynchesters, #2)

Red Blossom in Snow (The Pingkang Li Mysteries, #4)

The Gentleman's Book of Vices (Lucky Lovers of London, #1)

An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler (Rogues and Remarkable Women, #2)

Unladylike Lessons in Love (The Marleigh Sisters, #1)

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (The Doomsday Books, #1)

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Meddling grandparents, arranged marriages, you-must-get-hitched inheritance clauses… Never before has falling in love involved quite so many people!

A Proposal They Can't Refuse (Vega Family Love Stories, #1)

Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires, #2)

Steamy STEM

Finding love can sometimes feel like rocket science, but these books have cracked the code when it comes to swoony romances with super-smart protagonists.

A Perfect Equation (The Secret Scientists of London, #2)

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits, #1)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1)

The Trouble with Hating You (The Trouble with Hating You, #1)

Elementary Romantic Calculus (Chemistry Lessons #6)

Which books would you add to these categories? What other story trends in romance do you see right now? Let's talk books in the comments below!

Find more romance reading recommendations:

Spicy Selections: The 100 Most Beloved Romances of the Past Three Years

Romance Authors Share Their Favorite Must-Read Recommendations

Heat Up Your Year with These Eagerly Awaited 2023 Romances

Check Out the Most Anticipated Romances for February

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message 1: by Nelda (new)

Feb 21, 2023 10:06AM

I don't know about the content of the books but the jacket artwork looks like it has been done by 2nd grade students. Only a couple would draw my interest to even read the back.

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message 2: by Khushi (new)

Feb 21, 2023 11:31AM