Romance Books: 15 Love Stories, From Modern Bestsellers to Classics
This is a list of 15 romance books, ranging from Victorian novels by Anthony Trollope to Ali Hazelwood's 2021 bestseller. Some are among the bestselling novels ever published. Others are older or less familiar titles that suit readers who want to look past the obvious choices.
The books are ordered by how much interest our readers show in each one, so the most popular come first. For every pick we explain why it earns a place, using the facts: New York Times bestseller status, sales figures, critical reputation, film adaptations and where each book sits in the genre.
The list covers a wide range. There are fake relationships, marriages of convenience and wartime affairs. A few of these stories end in heartbreak, and we flag where that is the case.
The Bridges Of Madison County
Robert James Waller's 1992 novel follows an Italian-American war bride on an Iowa farm in the 1960s. While her husband and children are away at the State Fair, she has an affair with a National Geographic photographer who has come to photograph the area's covered bridges. It is one of the bestselling books of the 20th century, with 50 million copies sold worldwide. It was adapted into a film in 1995 and a musical in 2013.
The Love Hypothesis
A New York Times bestseller, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive, a Stanford graduate student who pretends to date biology professor Adam Carlsen so that her friend Anh believes her love life is going well. The fake relationship stops feeling fake. Ali Hazelwood first published it online in 2018 as Star Wars fan fiction before Berkley Books released it as a novel in 2021. A film adaptation starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman followed in 2026.
A Walk To Remember
Nicholas Sparks's 1999 novel is set in Beaufort, North Carolina, in 1958 and 1959. Landon Carter, a popular high school senior, reluctantly takes Jamie Sullivan, the deeply religious daughter of the town's minister, to the school dance. Their time together grows into love despite how different they are. The book was adapted into a film of the same name.
The Blue Castle
The Blue Castle is one of L.M. Montgomery's few novels for adults and the only one set entirely outside Prince Edward Island. Valancy Stirling is 29 and treated like a child by her family. After a diagnosis of a fatal heart condition, she decides to stop living by their rules. The book has grown steadily in popularity since it was republished in 1990.
Irish Thoroughbred
This was Nora Roberts's debut novel, published by Silhouette in 1981 as a short category romance meant to be on sale for a single month. It sold so well that it was reprinted many times as a stand-alone book. Irishwoman Dee Cunnane moves to America and ends up in a marriage of convenience with wealthy horse breeder Travis Grant. Critics have noted that Dee is more independent and feisty than most romance heroines of the period.
The Gift
Danielle Steel's 1994 novel spent four weeks at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Set in a small town in the 1950s, it follows a pregnant teenager, Maribeth Robertson, who runs away from a convent and finds a family dealing with the loss of a child. It is a departure from Steel's usual romance themes, with grief and family at its centre.
Summer
Summer appears on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best novels. It is one of only two Edith Wharton novels with a rural setting, following 17-year-old Charity Royall in a small New England town and her affair with a visiting architect. The book was controversial when it came out in 1917. Its subject matter is part of the reason it remains one of her less famous novels.
The Duke and I
The Duke and I is the first of Julia Quinn's Regency romances about the Bridgerton family. In 1813, Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, agree to a fake courtship that suits them both. He wants marriage-minded mothers to leave him alone, and she wants to look more appealing to other suitors. The pretence turns into real feelings.
Hollywood Husbands
Jackie Collins's 1986 novel is the second in her Hollywood series, following Hollywood Wives. It has a new cast and continues her focus on power and celebrity. A mystery plot runs through it about a small-town girl who was abused and left for dead, and whose revenge years later may fall on the Hollywood husbands.
The Price of Salt
Patricia Highsmith published this 1952 novel under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. It follows Therese, a young woman in Manhattan, and her love affair with Carol, an older woman going through a divorce. Its relatively happy ending was unprecedented in lesbian literature at the time. The 2015 film adaptation, Carol, was nominated for six Academy Awards.
Drop Dead Beautiful
Drop Dead Beautiful is the sixth novel in Jackie Collins's Santangelo series and is set in 2000. Anthony Bonar seeks revenge on the Santangelo family. At the same time, Lucky Santangelo's rebellious teenage daughter Max arranges to meet a boy she met online, and he turns out to be someone quite different.
Love Story
Erich Segal's novel was released on Valentine's Day in 1970 and became the top-selling work of fiction in the United States that year. It spent 41 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and reached number one. Oliver, a wealthy Harvard student, marries Jenny, a baker's daughter, against his father's wishes. Be warned that the story ends in tragedy.
The Belton Estate
Clara Amedroz accepts a proposal from the polished Captain Aylmer, then finds he is cold and shallow. Her kind but awkward cousin Will Belton keeps showing his love for her. It was the first novel ever published in the Fortnightly Review, and it ends happily.
Rachel Ray
Anthony Trollope's 1863 novel follows a young woman in Devon who is pressured to give up her fiancé because of baseless rumours in her community. It was commissioned for Good Words, a magazine for pious Protestant readers. The editor decided its portrayal of Evangelical characters would offend his readership, so it was never published as a serial.
A Duet, With An Occasional Chorus
Arthur Conan Doyle's 1899 novel follows a happily married couple whose relationship is threatened by the husband's former lover. Conan Doyle hoped it would be his most successful novel. Instead it was widely panned as banal, so it is best treated as a curiosity for readers who want to see a different side of the Sherlock Holmes author.
For a modern romance, The Love Hypothesis and The Duke and I are the most obvious places to begin. The Bridges of Madison County and Love Story show how big the genre's past bestsellers became. If one of these books means something to you, our prints of the covers are there to browse whenever you like.