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The Top 48 Romances from the First Half of the Year
Book industry professionals can tell you: Romance fans are some of the most loyal readers in the business. And we read a lot. Happily for everyone involved, the romance aisle is as busy as it has ever been these days, and we’ve got good news for romance fans looking for some new reading projects.
We’ve sorted through the stacks to find the most popular romance novels published in the first half of the year (January through June). As always, the books are selected by tracking reader reviews, ratings, and which titles are ending up on Goodreaders’ Read and Want to Read shelves. Also, each book listed below has an average rating of 3.5 stars or better from your fellow book fiends.
Looking at the list, you’ll see it’s actually a pretty interesting cross section of the genre as it exists today. Lots of contemporary romance, but we’re also seeing a continuing, ahem, surge in romantasy. Sports romance and dark romance clearly have their established fan bases, as well.
Some spotlight novels, in no particular order: Veteran author Ali Hazelwood, who made her name writing smart romances about women in academia and the sciences, took a delightful swerve in February with the paranormal romance Bride. Vampires. Werewolves. Like that. Readers are loving it. For a more real-world kind of dark romance, Brynne Weaver’s Leather & Lark features the complex love life of a seasoned contract killer. It gets weird. On the lighter side of life, genre ace Tessa Bailey returns to the sports-romance aisle with the rom-com Fangirl Down, concerning golf pros and the women who love them. Meanwhile, Emily Henry’s Funny Story explores the perils of dating your ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex. (That sentence is fun to type.)
Click on the book cover images for more details about each title. If you find a love story that warms your heart, or any other relevant organ, use the Want to Read button to add to your future reading shelf.
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How many of these romances have you read? Let's talk books in the comments below!
Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)
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Law wrote: "I don't read a lot of romance. The only book I read on this list was Bride, which was disappointing. Can you recommend me a book to read from this list? I'm sure if this list included 2023 books th..." Funny Story for a very realistic romance, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde for a very beautifully written story, Not in Love if you want to dabble in erotic romance, A Novel Love Story for a magical realism romance
You forgot Kristy Woodson Harvey - A Happier Life. It is much much better than half of these simple romance books.
Law wrote: "I don't read a lot of romance. The only book I read on this list was Bride, which was disappointing. Can you recommend me a book to read from this list? I'm sure if this list included 2023 books th..."try Funny Story. I love it. My 5 stars book of the month.
I wish there was a Romantasy one - like who doesn't love a Romantasy?
I enjoy Emily Henry's books so far, but I won't pick up another Katherine Center ever again.
Clairey wrote: "I wish there was a Romantasy one - like who doesn't love a Romantasy?"Sorry, I don't. IMHO the hype has completely ruined (urban) fantasy.
But I don't read romance novels either, so this list has nothing to offer for me.
I am not a diehard romance reader... But I am surprised that I haven't read ANYYYY of these... (btw which is the best one in your opinion? I might give it a try)
Didi wrote: "Clairey wrote: "I wish there was a Romantasy one - like who doesn't love a Romantasy?"Sorry, I don't. IMHO the hype has completely ruined (urban) fantasy.
But I don't read romance novels either, ..."
Can you expand on that? Those are completely different genres. Romantasy largely is set in worlds inspired by Medieval history or folktales or fairy tales, in my experience. Urban Fantasy is typically putting supernatural beings in a Contemporary setting. I have seen very little overlap between these two. So I'm unsure how one "ruins" the other when they're not the same?
Clairey wrote: "I wish there was a Romantasy one - like who doesn't love a Romantasy?"From the list, looks like Crescent City 3, Faebound, and A Fate Inked in Blood would all be shelved in a Romantasy section at a bookstore. I've seen the last two on my local B&N's Romantasy table.
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan was published in 2022, not this year. But I think its sequel, This Could Be Us, should be on here instead.
I'm not a big fan of this genre, but Abby Jimenez (especially on audio) is amazing and very entertaining. I've yet to find someone that doesn't enjoy her books.I also love Katherine Center, probably more than most. She's totally my people.
Emily Henry is total hit or miss for me, but I'll read everything she writes.
Love SJM!
And I just say no to Christina Lauren after too many meh books.
Soloxie wrote: "I am not a diehard romance reader... But I am surprised that I haven't read ANYYYY of these... (btw which is the best one in your opinion? I might give it a try)"
Funny story 100%, it was recommended by a friend and I loved it!
I would recommend Just For the Summer. However, you should start with The Friend Zone, and The Happy Ever After Playlist.
Liz wrote: "Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan was published in 2022, not this year. But I think its sequel, This Could Be Us, should be on here instead."You're right! Thanks for the spot; it's been fixed!
There's a queer book on here too if you're interested in it.
+1 (at least :) for Emily Henry. Also enjoyed Carley Fortune and was happily surprised by Yulin Kuang's How To End A Love Story.
Whitney wrote: "Can you expand on that? Those are completely different genres. Romantasy largely is set in worlds inspired by Medieval history or folktales or fairy tales, in my experience. Urban Fantasy is typically putting supernatural beings in a Contemporary setting. I have seen very little overlap between these two. So I'm unsure how one "ruins" the other when they're not the same?"I did put "urban" between brackets, indicating that I didn't mean only urban fantasy, but fantasy in general, including urban.
But to answer your question:
According to the Washington post: "What is romantasy anyway? Like all fun indulgences such as brunch, Botox and Bennifer, romantasy is a portmanteau combining “romance” and “fantasy.” These books feature all the fantasy hallmarks, such as magic systems, mythology, high stakes and abundant worldbuilding, but the love story is central to the narrative."
According to Writers digest: "Romantasy is just a romance book with a fantasy world as a backdrop. Romantasy is when the plot would fall apart without the romance."
The thing with hyped sub-genres or combined genres, is that the market quickly becomes oversaturated with them, with copycats of the original novel and then copycats of those copycats, etc.
Amazon/Goodreads really loves pushing these hypes (because it sells big), and that's fine. But other really good books get buried under, getting barely or no attention at all. And that becomes truly frustrating if you're like me and just want to find a good book that is not either YA, Romance or on the opposite side gleefully sadistic / extreme violent books. Frustrating because those are the kind of recommendations I get on Goodreads.
"You liked Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman? You must love A Court of Thorns and Roses". Well, no I don't. So the comment "who doesn't love a Romantasy?" Just rubbed me the wrong way.
For once, I would like to see a recommendation list on Goodreads, that pays some attention to other Goodreads members (not mainly YA, or romantically inclined young women), because I'm not the only older member here, there are many others, but they stay very quiet (like I did, until now).
Before you ask, my proudest and very satisfying "found" after an enormous amount of browsing, is the excellent Where the Line Breaks (2021) by Australian Michael Burrows (added to shelves 187 times, 33 ratings). It's a very good book, bit challenging in style with dual periods and a lot of footnotes (which are really funny), but also gives you as reader something to think about. The debut novel did win awards, but here on Goodreads it never received any attention and that is a real shame.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
Law wrote: "I don't read a lot of romance. The only book I read on this list was Bride, which was disappointing. Can you recommend me a book to read from this list? I'm sure if this list included 2023 books th..."This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan. I recommend reading Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan too, it's the first book in the series, but it can be read out of order if you want to.
For anyone who hasn’t read a Carley Fortune book yet, definitely try her out I loved This Summer Will be Different, but her other two books were just as good!
I like romanitic thrillers or romantic suspense. Any suggestions?
Law wrote: "I don't read a lot of romance. The only book I read on this list was Bride, which was disappointing. Can you recommend me a book to read from this list? I'm sure if this list included 2023 books th..."Hi there, I just read your post. I do read quite a bit of romantic fiction (great escapism), and if you haven't read much on the list, I'd highly recommend any book written by Kennedy Ryan. As a woman of color myself, there aren't a lot of authors that write about that experience, and Kennedy is an excellent writer. Happy reading!!
I'm glad to see some authors of colour on here.