Favorite Romances

Happy Valentines Day! In celebration of today I wanted to write a post highlighting my favorite love stories. I tried to do a mix of ages/genres so hopefully there’s something here for everyone. I also omitted classics from this list because while Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time, but it’s not exactly a hidden gem of a book.

I like to read a lot of romances in February and then going into Spring/Summer so I have some well-loved romances on my TBR for the next few months. It’s possible that I may love them, but aren’t on this list because I haven’t read them yet. Those include Beach Read by Emily Henry, Well Met by Jen DeLuca, and The Kiss Quotient by by Helen Hoang. Keep an eye out for my upcoming monthly wrap-ups to see my thoughts on those and the others I’ve picked up so far this month.

So now getting into the ones I have read and definitely recommend:

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson - Andie is the daughter of a congressman currently facing a scandal. This throws her summer plans through a loop and she ends up spending her school break as a dog walker instead of attending her pre-med internship. Through this job she meets Clark, the teenage author of a popular fantasy series, facing struggles of his own. This book is the perfect balance of light-hearted and serious where the characters have real struggles, but nothing so heavy that you’re not able to just sit and enjoy reading their stories. I’ve read a few Morgan Matson books and I think this one is probably my favorite. Something I particularly enjoy is how long her books are. This book is more than 500 pages which is very common with a lot of fantasy books I read but not so much with contemporary/romance. I really love a book you can dive into so I like that hers are longer (and its not just page filler content either). This one is just a cute, fun Summery read. It’s nice for reading in actual Summer or in February when you’re wishing for some warmer days!

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore - This is the first book in the League of Extraordinary Women series. It’s a historical romance novel set in England in 1879. It follows Annabelle Archer who desperately desires to learn at Oxford. She earns a place there and in order to fulfill the terms of her scholarship she must help the women’s suffragist movement. She does this by recruiting men of status and influence to their cause in order to get laws seen and passed allowing for equal rights for women. In her efforts Annabelle goes after one of the most influential men in the country, a man in the queen’s pocket, Sebastian Devereaux, Duke of Montgomery. Sebastian happens to be in the market for a wife, but he is looking for someone of equal stature not the common suffragist scholar who has come barreling into his life.

I obviously really enjoyed this book. I read a lot on the suffragist movement in England last year via both fiction and non-fiction books so it was a familiar setting and I love Annabelle’s group of friends so much. I devoured this book in just 2 sittings and I also equally love it's sequel A Rogue of One’s Own.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall - I wrote about this book recently for my January wrap up so I won’t go too in-depth here about it, but I felt there was no way I couldn’t include it on this list. It’s a delightful fake-dating story about Luc, the son of famous rock star parents trying to improve his image and Oliver, a barrister who needs to learn to loosen up a bit.

This book took me by surprise with how much I really loved it. It was hilarious and heart-wrenching at the same time. I laughed, I cried, I loved every minute. I also highly recommend the audiobook because the narrator really aces the comedic bits. It’s so so good.

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams - I discovered this series last year and I’ve also written quite a bit about it on the blog, but they are still some of my favorites. This particular book focuses on a professional baseball player Gavin and his marriage to his wife Thea. Thea asks for a divorce and in an effort to win her back Gavin joins a group full of Nashville’s elite business/sportsmen who get together to read and discuss romance novels. They then apply what they learn from them to their relationships in oder to strengthen their bonds with their spouses/significant others.

This book is particularly fun because of the characters that make up the book club. It’s refreshing to read about a group of guys trying to build each other up and so earnestly trying to help Gavin as he works to win back his wife. I also don’t see/read a lot of second-chance romance books featuring couples who are already married so I enjoyed the dynamic there. This whole series is great and I’m eagerly anticipating the next one being released this summer.

Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson - This the first book in a spin-off duology. It follows the events of Pearson’s Remnant Chronicles books, but it’s not necessary to have read them before reading this one (I honestly haven’t read that series yet, but I do plan to read them eventually!). The story follows Kazi and Jase. Kazi is a former street thief recruited into the queen’s service and Jase is the newly named patriarch of the Ballenger Empire. The Ballengers place themselves and their people above the queens governance which causes the queen to want to put them back in their place. However; when she sends Kazi with a group to investigate occurrences on settlements near the Ballenger land they learn there is more happening there than they thought.

This is one of those fantasy books, like Jennifer L. Armentrout’s or Sarah J. Maas’s, where the characters and their relationships often take center stage over the plot. I feel like this duology in particular still has a strong enough plot that, as a reader, you can be left satisfied by both the romance and the story itself. It’s also an easier entry point into fantasy for anyone who wants to get into the genre but may be overwhelmed by all the maps and world-building of other stories.

Fangirl and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - I combined these two books because I recently discussed Fangirl in my post about family centered books which you can read here. As a refresher Fangirl is about a girl named Cath who goes off to college and finds herself a little overwhelmed by all of the changes in her life. She has a twin sister, Wren, who announces during the summer before their first semester that she wants to have someone other than Cath as her roommate. This ends with Cath being placed with a total stranger who has an ever present boyfriend(?), Levi. As the distance between Cath and Wren grows, her relationship with Levi fills some of that space. This is one of my favorite books of all time and I love the story of Cath and Levi as well as the in-between YA and adult setting of college.

Present within the story of Fangirl is a best-selling fantasy series about a wizard named Simon Snow. Cath writes a very popular fan fiction story based int her world and its characters and spends a lot of time focused on it in the book. Following the release and popularity of Fangirl Rainbow Rowell decided to write and publish her Simon Snow story which is where we get Carry On. This book focuses on Simon’s relationship with his roommate and arch-nemesis Baz (who might be a vampire). It’s Rainbow Rowell’s take on the Chosen One archetype and her first book that’s set outside our world and I really enjoyed it. It’s a lot of fun and it’s sequel Wayward Son was pretty great as well.

What are your favorite romances? Any from this list or any recommendations for me? Let me know!