Light some candles, grab your favorite sweet treat, slip into something comfy and get ready to turn up the heat with some of our favorite romance novels of all time. With both can't miss classics (If you haven't read Pride and Prejudice , what are you waiting for?) and brand-new reads (here's looking at you, Isaac Fellam), there's a little something for everyone on our list.

Whether you salivate over historical romance that takes you back to fluttering hearts of yesteryear, paranormal romance that proves you don't need flesh and blood to get frisky, rom-coms that pair hilarious misadventure with the steamy stuff or sexy stories that are too spicy for public transit, we've got a romance book to fit the bill.

Many of these great reads are romance-plus-other, so they're perfect for people who think they aren't into the genre. The romance realm has a lot to offer beyond the bodice-rippers you may have seen hiding in your mom's bedside table or waiting for impulse buyers at the grocery store checkout counter. Alongside the love stories that categorise the form, many of our favorite romances also feature exciting plot lines, Bipod and LGBTQ+ love stories and lyrical language that keep us breathless right through the final page. Add these to your The pile, and don't forget to check out the Good Housekeeping book club once you're done, for even more fantastic stories.

You really can't go wrong with any of Jasmine Guillory's fun, romantic romps, but this sporty love story is especially great. Freelance writer Nick's boyfriend proposes at a game, and the dude can't even spell her name right. She says no (obviously), and the video goes viral. Handsome doctor Carlos sweeps her away from the frenzy, but he can't possibly be the real deal. Or can he?

You've ever carried a torch for a colleague (the scandal!) this novel will feel familiar. Coworkers Lucy Hutton and her sworn nemesis Joshua Templeman have a rivalry as bitter as they come, especially as they compete for the same promotion. At least, it starts out that way.

There are many subgenres of the romance novel, including fantasy, gothic, contemporary, historical romance, paranormal fiction, and science fiction. Although women are the main readers of romance novels a growing number of men enjoy them as well. The Romance Writers of America cite 16% of men read romance novels.[1] "Many people today don’t realized that romance is more than a love story. Romance can be a complex plotline with a setting from the past in a remote, faraway place. Instead of focusing on a love story, it idealizes values and principles that seem lost in today’s world of technology and instant gratification. However, romance may also be a typical, romantic, love story that makes people sigh with wishful thinking."[2] "Romance is a natural human emotion. Sad love songs and poems when one is recovering from a broken heart can help express unspoken feelings. Happy romantic movies and plays help people feel optimistic that someday they will also find true love. However, there is some criticism that many modern romantic stories make people develop unrealistic views about real relationships, as they expect love to be like it is in the movies."[2]

The term "romance" is also applied to novels defined by Walter Scott as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvelous and uncommon incidents."[3][4] Related to this type of romance novel are works that "involves a mysterious, adventurous, or spiritual story line where the focus is on a quest that involves bravery and strong values, not always a love interest".[2] These romances frequently, but not exclusively, takes the form of the historical novel. Scott's novels are also frequently described as historical romances,[5] and Northrop Frye suggested "the general principle that most 'historical novels' are romances".[6]

A thriving genre of works conventionally referred to as "romance novels" existed in ancient Greece.[7] Other precursors can be found in the literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived,[8] as well as detective fiction. Heyer's first romance novel, The Black Moth (1921), was set in 1751.

The British company Mills & Boon began releasing romance novels for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd,[9] which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books.

An early American example of a mass-market romance was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower (1972), published by Avon Books. This was the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the US, though in the UK the romance genre was long established through the works of Georgette Heyer, and from the 1950s Catherine Cookson, as well as others.[citation needed] Nancy Coffey was the senior editor who negotiated a multi-book deal with Woodiwiss. The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many different categories of romance and an increased number of single-title romances, but popular authors started pushing the boundaries of both the genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters.

Women will pick up a romance novel knowing what to expect, and this foreknowledge of the reader is very important. When the hero and heroine meet and fall in love, maybe they don't know they're in love but the reader does. Then a conflict will draw them apart, but you know in the end they'll be back together, and preferably married or planning to be by page 192.

— Joan Schulhafer of Pocket Books, 1982[10]

One definition of the word "romance" is: "the feelings and behavior of two people who are in a loving and sexual relationship with each other."[11]

According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a mass-market romance novel must revolve about the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."

Others, including Leslie Gelbman, a president of Berkley Books, define the genre more simply, stating only that a romance must make the "romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine ... the core of the book."[12] In general, romance novels reward characters who are good people and penalize those who are evil, and a couple who fights for and believes in their relationship will likely be rewarded with unconditional love.[1] Bestselling author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying: "The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, and all of those things we really want."[13] Women's fiction (including "chick lit") is not directly a subcategory of the romance novel genre, because in women's fiction the heroine's relationship with her family or friends may be as important as her relationship with the hero.[12]

There is a lot of controversy among romance authors about what should and should not be included in plots of romance novels. Some romance novel authors and readers believe the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations (such as the protagonists' meeting early on in the story), to avoiding themes (such as adultery). Other disagreements have centered on the firm requirement for a happy ending; some readers admit stories without a happy ending, if the focus of the story is on the romantic love between the two main characters (e.g., Romeo and Juliet). While the majority of romance novels meet the stricter criteria, there are also many books widely considered to be romance novels that deviate from these rules. The Romance Writers of America's definition of romance novels includes only the focus on a developing romantic relationship and an optimistic ending.[14][15] Escapism is important; an Avon executive observed that "The phone never rings, the baby never cries and the rent's never overdue in romances."[10] There are many publishers, libraries, bookstores, and literary critics who continue to go by the traditional definition of romance to categorize books.[16][17]

A romance novel can be set in any time period and in any location. In recent years, romance novels have even expanded into the galaxy. There are no specific restrictions on what can or cannot be included in a romance novel.[1] Even controversial subjects are addressed in romance novels, including topics such as date rape, domestic violence, addiction, and disability.[18] The combination of time frame, location, and plot elements does, however, help a novel to fit into one of several romance subgenres.[1] Despite the numerous possibilities this framework allows, many people in the mainstream press claim that "all [romance novels] seem to read alike."[19] Stereotypes of the romance genre abound. For instance, some believe that all romance novels are similar to those of Danielle Steel, featuring rich, glamorous people traveling to exotic locations.[20] Many romance readers disagree that Steel writes romance at all, considering her novels more mainstream fiction.[21]

Mass-market or formulaic romance novels are sometimes referred to as "smut" or female pornography,[22][23] and are the most popular form of modern erotica for women.[24] While some romance novels do contain more erotic acts, in other romance novels the characters do no more than kiss chastely. The romance genre runs the spectrum between these two extremes.[25] Because women buy 90% of all romance novels,[24] most romance novels are told from a woman's viewpoint, in either first or third person.

Although most romance novels are about heterosexual pairings, there are romance novels that deal with same-sex relationships, and some participants in the book industry characterize books dealing with same-sex relationships as F/F,[26] and M/M.[27]

Many famous literary fiction romance novels end tragically.[17][1] Examples include: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Atonement by Ian McEwan, and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.[16][17]