Since the dawn of publishing—of storytelling itself, really—people have been drawn to romance. As a culture, we seem to appreciate the idea of people falling in love with other people (or, occasionally, vampires). Sometimes the love is elevated and noble. Sometimes it’s dangerous and exciting. Often it’s delightfully explicit. Everybody wins!
 
We wanted to see what romance has been looking like lately during our particular slice of history, so we’ve collected below the 100 most popular romances of the past three years, as determined by Goodreads regulars. Specifically, we looked for individual romance novels that Goodreaders have rabidly shelved and recommended—each title listed here has an overall rating of 3.5 stars or higher.
 
The results below are split into contemporary and historical romances, but you’ll find plenty of variety within those broad designations, including lots of queer love stories and a good dose of fantasy elements. Also: Scotsmen.
 
Trendwise, it’s clear that the top of the list has been informed by the constantly churning online conversation known as #BookTok. The viral nature of such discourse tends to favor contemporary rom-coms from a handful of authors you'll spot again and again in the rankings—Colleen Hoover, Ali Hazelwood, and Tessa Bailey, to name three. It also seems that Goodreaders tend to find an author they like, then drill down into their backlist of available books. Can’t argue with that. It’s a reliable strategy.
 
Check out the list below, add anything interesting you spot to your Want to Read shelf, and feel free to register your delight and/or disagreement in the comments section below. But play nice! Be the comments section you wish to see in the world.

What's your favorite romance published in the past three years? Let us know in the comments below!
 

Find more romance recommendations in our recent coverage: