The 17 Best Romance Books of 2024

Yes, you need to read the first book in this series, Consort of Fire, to enjoy this. But it’s amazing, too! I want more romantasy readers to be into this series. Forget love triangles; embrace throuples! Sachi is sacrificed to be the consort to the ancient dragon god in her lands. She takes her handmaid Zanya, who is her lover and also an assassin, with her. Ash, the dragon god, is nothing like what they expect, which complicates plans to murder him. In this second book, Sachi and Zanya fully come into their powers, taking on an ancient evil Ash has been trying to defeat for eons. These books go all in on the fantasy and all in on the romance, a rare feat in the romantasy subgenre.

How does Cat Sebastian do it? For a book about finding love after loss, it’s so warm and funny and you will want to curl up with it. The story, set in mid-century New York, pairs baseball player Eddie, who has lost his swing, with Mark, the journalist tasked with writing about him. You do not need to like baseball to enjoy this book. The way baseball is used as a metaphor is brilliant, and it’s especially poignant for those of us who love America’s pastime. As with all of Sebastian’s books, you have so much pining, characters doing their best, and a love that carves a beautiful space out of a harsh world.

Something about me is that I am always picking up those Hollywood romances! This one follows the second chance romance of Kaliya and Danny, who dated back in film school and are now working together years later. That proximity, and the emotional nature of their work, pushes them back together. It’s a second chance romance that makes a good case for why the first time didn’t work and also instills hope for this time, which is what I need for the trope to work. Also: CHEMISTRY. This book also does deal with grief in a big way, so take care if that’s an issue for you.

Trans joy: get into it! If you like sports romances infused with a deep love for their game, here you go. Gene is the first openly trans professional baseball player, living his best life in the minor leagues, and then his rival gets traded to his team. The closeness of being on a sports team can translate to intimacy and vulnerability in a romantic relationship, and in this case, it really does. I love romances where I root for the characters so hard. It makes that happy ending even more satisfying.

The previous Welsh Blades book came out in 2019, so what a surprise and delight it was to get a fourth book in this medieval romance series. You know how Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple intentionally makes people underestimate her so that she can make her moves discreetly? That’s our girl Margaret. She’s been married for six years to Lord William, and he thinks very little of her, exactly as she planned it. But now they’re supposed to try for an heir. And her ruse becomes so much more complicated because, unfortunately, she wants the dude. And he wants her. I die. This one does have some pretty important scenes with prior characters, so probably best to start at the beginning of the series.

Yes, a hockey romance made my list. And, maybe I’m in my grief romance era—or maybe the whole industry is?—but this is another great book dealing with loss in a big way. (It’s all of us working through our Covid feelings, right?) In Played, Adina is a Black firefighter, in a dark place because of losing someone in the line of duty. A fateful charred journal she finds connects her to Solomon, a hockey player dealing with his own grief. While both characters are dealing with heavy stuff, there is so much joy in the way they come together. And as I prefer in my romance, they are also really hot for each other, even if that gives them conflicted feelings.

Sweet Surrender is the second Sweet Demons book, though it can be read as a standalone. Saint thinks making a deal with a demon will help him deal with his stalker. Knight, the demon, has already been in Saint’s dreams, so he’s all in. At the heart of Saint’s problems is religious trauma (relatable). The way Knight validates Saint will heal something in you. I love a book that can be both very soft and very violent, and this is one. Be sure to check the content warnings!

I should have kept track of how many times I cried reading this book. It’s just so tender-hearted. It follows the titular character, a “cancelled” country artist grieving a friend lost in a mass shooting, back to his hometown. His high school sweetheart Luann is still there, and the two reacquaint themselves. Jeff Zentner writes characters that make me feel seen as someone who grew up in a low-income rural area. If books that smash your heart and put them back together again are fun for you—they are for me—pick up this one immediately.

While Marriage & Masti is the third installment of the If Shakespeare Was an Auntie series, you can start here. This one is a Twelfth Night retelling, which is relatively rare in a world where The Taming of the Shrew is the usual Shakespearean comedy retelling choice! A string of unlikely events ties Veera and Deepak together. She’s feeling lost; he’s in need of some good PR. And their accidental wedding may actually solve their problems. As these characters are trying to figure out how real their marriage is, you, too, will think about what marriage really means within a relationship, family, and broader society. It’s a tender, funny book, and so rich with fascinating relationships to explore. It’s simply a treasure.

See how there are three people’s hands on that cover?!?! One of those hands belongs to Mel, a bartender at an upscale establishment. When Bebe comes to the bar, Mel is smitten. But Bebe is happily married to Kade. Ah, well…unless? And indeed, Bebe’s marriage is open, and Mel is invited in. In the course of getting to know Bebe, Mel starts developing feelings for Kade, too. This is one of those books that makes you believe love is abundant and expansive.

This book seriously has me planning my own vacation to Cornwall. That’s where Kit goes in search of a new life in Victorian times. Starting over as a man, he misses his old art community, but he’s having a good time selling bicycles. Enter Muriel, a botanist who wants to prove women can ride bicycles as men can. The two get to know each other and begin to see big possibilities for themselves. While so many books on this list deal with heavy subjects, this book is relatively low-angst. Even if this emotional rollercoaster doesn’t sink you to the lowest lows, it can still lift you up to deliriously happy heights.

I’m always seeking out romances with characters who are 40-plus, and this year gave us a gem. Professional colleagues Kate and Ben are back together after decades apart from each other at an archaeological field school in Newfoundland. They’ve been harboring feelings for all this time, but lots of internal obstacles are standing in their way. They are working on a Viking-age site, and the process of excavating their findings mirrors the process of the characters excavating their best selves out of the messiness of life. I love romances that underscore that people don’t have to have their lives fully sorted out to be worthy of love. This is one of those.