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112 Steamy Romance Recommendations for Valentine's Reading
Valentine’s Day is upon us! For those with a serious reading habit, there’s no better way to celebrate than with a quality love story.
Today’s specially curated collection is aimed at romance novel fans of all stripes and intensities—curious newcomers, even. One of the abiding pleasures of the romance novel, as a form, is variety. There truly is something for everyone.
The books gathered below are categorized around familiar romance novel tropes, subgenres, and story types, with the occasional inspired detour. All titles are relatively new—published in the last decade—with a few brand-new books on shelves now (or available by the end of February). One notable exception, slated for May publication, is included in the Unhinged Premise category, for reasons that will be clear when you read the glorious title.
Scroll through the categories below, and click on the book cover image for more details about each title. If you have any additional suggestions or recommendations for your fellow Goodreaders, drop them in the comments section at the bottom of the page. And, as always, you can use the Want to Read button to save any good leads to your own digital bookshelf.
I'm a sucker for fake-dating/marriage of convenience
You can never make me abandon historical romance
The more unhinged the premise, the faster I add it to my WTR shelf
Give me a good ol' enemies-to-lovers plot
I'm not above picking up a romance solely for its pun-tastic title
So I've read Fourth Wing [mumble mumble] times. What romantasy should I try next?
I like when romance and mystery go hand in hand
Sexy vamps? Inject it straight into my veins.
I like contemporary romances with a wee hint of magic
Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I love forbidden love
You fool! I've been in love with you this whole time!
School me on college romances
I like it darker
I'll take your coziest romance recs, please and thank you
Discover more great romance reading:
Comments Showing 1-50 of 75 (75 new)
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Tobi
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Feb 01, 2025 07:44AM
Only five 5? mxm books? And either they dont interest me or I do wanna get the one thats on here (I think they love you) but its really expensive…
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Apparently I am a Romantasy obsessed, vampire addicted, forbidden lover who likes it dark and cozy XD
Kaylee wrote: "The Fourth wing comment was so real lol" agreed
I’ll Be Gone for Christmas, Mistakes Were Made, The Wicked and the Willing, The Jasmine Throne, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Outdrawn, and Lavash at First Sight are all sapphic romances. Hope this helps!
Yes more lgbtq books 🙏🏻Or having a list just for lgbtq romance would be wonderful. Trying to find them in a bookstore is a nightmare too. Wish we had our own section.
Adding T. Kingfisher’s Paladin's Grace and subsequent books to the list. Great romances, laugh-out-loud writing, and plenty of lgbtqiaa representation (especially in later books).
Where are the lists for books with older main characters? I've read some very enjoyable ones, mostly by British authors, both cozy rom-com and cozy mysteries. A fun, quick read is a great way to spend an afternoon and baby boomers are a huge demographic but these books can be hard to find.
It's coming later this year butA Ballad for Slayers & Monsters has a lesbian romance with a vampiress as well as monster slaying! I agree with other commenters we need a LGBT romance section on here.
Debi wrote: "Where are the lists for books with older main characters? I've read some very enjoyable ones, mostly by British authors, both cozy rom-com and cozy mysteries. A fun, quick read is a great way to sp..."I really enjoyed "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at The Time" by Kylie Scott. Age gap romance with older MMC / younger FMC. Have read it twice now. Would recommend.
Please try the mages of the wheel series by J.D Evans if you love romantasy! Still thinking about this series months later
A lot of queer stories in this list which goodreads could’ve included in this year’s romance reading challenge. These challenges are to encourage people to exude themselves into other genres. I myself don’t ever read romance books, I’d hoped that maybe there’d be some queer mlm stories to actually make me want to take part in that challenge. There wasn’t a single one.
Vanessa wrote: "The lack of lesbian recs is sad"Oh I thought there were plenty tbh!
Nice to see some historical romance rep! I read the Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews recently and loved it. It's the fourth and final book in her Belles of London series and they are really beautiful closed-door romances. And I finished Unladylike Rules of Attraction by Amita Murray last month. It's set in a quasi-Bridgerton world (TV series, not books) and tells the story of a sitar player and a lord amidst mystery and an inheritance dispute.
I am also halfway through Alexandra Vasti's latest release, Earl Crush, and am enjoying it so far.
Vanessa wrote: "The lack of lesbian recs is sad"Check out Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones.
Starts off fake dating a guy so she's not alone for Christmas but falls for a woman she meets at a bookstore on the way to meeting him & discovers that she's the sister of the guy she's fake dating.
Not the Morning Glory Milking Farm! 😂
liz wrote: "I’ll Be Gone for Christmas, Mistakes Were Made, The Wicked and the Willing, The Jasmine Throne, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Outdrawn, and Lavash at First Sight are all sapphic romances. Hope this h..."So is North is the night, and The spellshop has sapphic rep.
I have read…two of these. (“Red, White, and Royal Blue” and “Morning Glory Milking Farm”)
Way to include LGBTQA+ voices.... this is not inclusive.
Any clean or even just closed door romance someone could recommend? (I’ve read The Spellshop and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches so far, but am open to basically anything)
boringgggg except for a few books in this list..plus why most of the book covers are so cringe it's giving me major ick lmao
The next time romance book blast has an event, check that. The lady who put this up asks the authors to use tags for genres, etc. and highlights the different ones in different colors. The genres are your typical genres, so if you like steamy romance, you click that, and then you can look for the highlighted color for LGBTQ author or LGBTQ characters, etc.
romancebooklovers dot com (Right now, nothing is listed, as the last event was at the end of January - but bookmark the page to check back and sign up for the newsletter. There's also a FB group - Romance Book Blast.
These are the upcoming events.
Apr 22 - Free Romance Book Blast
Jul 22 - Free Romance Book Blast
Oct 28 - Free Romance Book Blast
Nov 28-Dec 1 - Black Friday $0.99 Event
Anna (Bananas) wrote: "Yes more lgbtq books 🙏🏻
Or having a list just for lgbtq romance would be wonderful. Trying to find them in a bookstore is a nightmare too. Wish we had our own section."
Why can't this list (also) be used as "qualifying books" for the "Sweet & Spicey" challenge? This list will satisfy a more diverse group of readers than the list for current qualifying books for said challenge.
Kaylee wrote: "The Fourth wing comment was so real lol"true
Só um livro LGBTQIA+ na seção de vampiros, meu deus kkkkk
sure would be neat if goodreads put more effort in curating books that are lesser known/not from booktok
liz wrote: "I’ll Be Gone for Christmas, Mistakes Were Made, The Wicked and the Willing, The Jasmine Throne, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Outdrawn, and Lavash at First Sight are all sapphic romances. Hope this h..."You are a saint!!!
a rose 🥀 ♥︎ wrote: "Any clean or even just closed door romance someone could recommend? (I’ve read The Spellshop and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches so far, but am open to basically anything)"Every book I've read by Mimi Matthews has been closed door and most have been excellent. She writes historical romances. I love her recent Belles of London series.
Lyz wrote: "Adding T. Kingfisher’s Paladin's Grace and subsequent books to the list. Great romances, laugh-out-loud writing, and plenty of lgbtqiaa representation (especially in later books)." THIS
More queer books pls!! Cishet books are booooring
Vanessa wrote: "The lack of lesbian recs is sad"My thought exactly
kind of a weird move to put books on here that haven't been released yet but glad this list is gayer than the last one
GelatoChan wrote: "sure would be neat if goodreads put more effort in curating books that are lesser known/not from booktok"EXACTLY..
I need you all to understand that slightly disliking someone cause of circumstance or misunderstanding is not "enemies to lovers." I'm begging.
I just added so many of these to my TBR.... I am so f***ked ^^ I NEED MORE READING TIME, OKAY?
Can someone recommend any well written LGBTQ+ women romance?
It is a crime to have a historical romance section and not include a single K.J. Charles book. Does anyone have MM romance mystery recs? I'm finishing up Charlie Adhara's series and I need more!
Sabrina wrote: "Can someone recommend any well written LGBTQ+ women romance?" there's not really any on here which makes me really sad, but my favorites of women romance are She's too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard, which I really liked because of the different plot lines that were happening, Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli, I love Becky's writing and this one is adorable, I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuinston is so so good, though my favorite parts of the book aren't the main couple, Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher is a historical fiction romance that I think is adorable. Hope you find this helpful. :)
3 out of 112? Ya, I'm not really a romance reader, clearly *fake surprised gasp in asexual* :D
Vanessa wrote: "The lack of lesbian recs is sad"Can you recommend some? 👀
Leo wrote: "More queer books pls!! Cishet books are booooring"no thats so true tho...
Vanessa wrote: "The lack of lesbian recs is sad"Thank you!!!! I went through all of these for only a handful of good recs
liz wrote: "I’ll Be Gone for Christmas, Mistakes Were Made, The Wicked and the Willing, The Jasmine Throne, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Outdrawn, and Lavash at First Sight are all sapphic romances. Hope this h..." wow you're a superstar. thank you
I'm not a genre romance reader, but the lesbians in the audience might appreciate some Maria Ying (that, and works by Benjanun Sriduangkaew and Devi Lacroix, the joint authors behind that name).https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
