From Colleen Hoover and Nora Roberts to Melanie Harlow and Jill Santopolo—these hidden gems will ignite the fire you didn’t know had burned out. Discover romance novels that will take your breath away and that you will devour in one sitting.
Melanie Harlow creates characters who are sexy, beautiful, and sometimes a hot mess. Her protagonists are everyday people who want love, but often get lost along the way. In her debut duet Speak Easy, there is sex, kidnapping, criminals, and passion.
Harlow doesn’t stop there though—her other series are just as captivating: The Frenched, The Happy Crazy Love Series, The After We Fall Series, The One and Only Series, The Cloverleigh Farm Series, and Bellamy Series are the romantic reads that will make you fall in love with Melanie Harlow.
That being said, there are a ton of other “fainting from extreme emotion” novels that are bound to romantically sweep you away.
Romance Book Authors to Discover
Laura Asher:
In The Fine Print Zahra drunkenly critiques Dreamland’s most expensive ride. She should be fired, but instead gets her dream job. Then, Rowan kisses her. Zahra finds herself working with a controlling millionaire who has a deep dark secret. Is Zahra in over her head? If she is, she just can’t help it.
Carley Fortune:
In her shining debut novel Every Summer After, Fortune has created the beautiful love story of Percy and Sam. Percy left her hometown over a decade ago, and since then has built a wall around her heart. This is the way she likes things—going out with her friends, loving life in NYC, but keeping her emotions in check.
That is until she gets a call about her mother that sends her back to the place she swore she would never return to. What happens when she sees Sam again? Will all those feelings that she pushed away come rushing back? This is the love story of loss, longing, and first love that never fades.
Jenny Hale:
The romantic beach read that you can’t put down. An Island Summer is about new beginnings and secrets that you can’t walk away from. Meghan Gray returns to the Outer Banks to feel connected to her deceased Pappy. But Meghan finds so much more than she bargained for when she meets Toby Meyers. Being with him is everything, but just to complicate things they find a photograph that she has to understand. In a whirlwind romance, Meghan and Toby realize everything they thought they knew about their life is about to change.
Ali Hazelwood:
Olive Smith in The Love Hypothesis is a huge Ph.D. science nerd, and this is the way she likes it. She doesn’t have time for love, nor does she believe in relationships lasting. Her BFF wants to convince her otherwise. In an attempt to show Anh that she is wrong, Olive kisses the first guy she sees. Even though the guy is known to be a total pretentious, know-it-all Olive, for the first time doesn’t trust her own heart.
The catch—she will be denied her inheritance unless she marries. Flash forward, Luz meets James Evanston Sinclair, Earl of Darnick who seems to want to help her. Luz wants to expand her business but is determined to not fall in love—no matter how charming and sexy James just might be.
Colleen Hoover
Pretty much anything Hoover writes seems to turn to fiction, best-selling romantic gold, but Verity is especially swoon-worthy. Lowen Ashleigh is completely financially broke and in a dark place after the death of her mother. She has an encounter with a complete stranger after witnessing someone being run over by a car in the streets of NYC.
Little does Lowen know that this chance meeting is going to change her life. She becomes the ghostwriter for bestselling author, Verity Crawford. In a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, sexy roller-coaster of emotions—Verity is the sexy novel you must read.
Ana Huang
TikTok sensation and bestselling author, Ana Huang is the creator of the Twisted Series. Book one, Twisted Love is the story of Alex Volkov. Sure, he may be the sexiest man on earth, but he’s got a deep dark past and a heart of solid ice. That is until he is asked to keep an eye on his sister’s best friend, Ava Chen.
She’s nothing like him, and she’s the good in the world—despite her childhood. He quickly finds himself completely captivated and falling for a girl who could ultimately destroy him.
Emily Giffin
Emily Giffin is no novice at creating popular romantic fiction masterpieces, but this new novel, Meant to Be, takes the cake. Joe Kingsley is American royalty. The son of a successful military hero, he has a lot of people counting on him. Cate Cooper is damaged.
Growing up fatherless, her mother eventually marries an abusive man who makes her life a living hell. Cate and Joe meet by chance when she is discovered as a model and they are immediately drawn to each other. In an against-the-odds love story, Giffin will have you hoping that dreams do come true and believing in the power of love.
Christina Lauren
Something Wilder is the adventurous, sexy, resourceful story of heroine Lily Wilder. Having grown up without her father or much financial support, Lily survives and thrives by luring tourists on fake treasure hunts in Utah with the help of her absentee father’s hand-drawn maps. She thinks she has her life together until former flame Leo Grady enters the picture. Lily isn’t sure how to handle her past or this man who once made her heart flutter.
Casey McQuiston
A hilarious, sexy book about America’s first son falling in hate, and then head-over-heels in love with the Prince of Wales, this is Red, White, and Royal Blue. A story about rivals, fake friendships, attraction, and about finding the courage to be the people we want to be.
Laura Nowlen
Okay, this absolute gem is YA, but it is still an unforgettable romance read. If He Had Been with Me will leave you revisiting your first love story again, realizing it just doesn’t measure up to this story.
Autumn and Finn were each other’s everything—best friends, siblings, confidantes—but things suddenly change when they reach high school. A raw look at what love really means and how there are some loves we can never let go of. Get out the tissues.
Ashley Poston
Despite the title, romance is anything but dead in Poston’s Dead Romantics. Florence is a ghostwriter for a huge name in the romance industry. She may love her job, but after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in romance. How can she convince the world to believe in romance stories if she can no longer write them?
Her editor may be ridiculously handsome, but he refuses to give her an extension. Meanwhile, Florence heads back home to deal with a family situation but she cannot escape her past or her sexy editor.
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones and the Six—Reid is becoming more and more of a household literary name in women’s fiction, but one of her less well-known books is a fantastically delicious romantic read.
After I Do, is the story of Lauren and Ryan. Their marriage is falling apart and they decide to do something rash. Separate for a year and they cannot contact each other at all. Lauren embarks on a path of self-discovery. She discovers what she wants her marriage to actually be. An honest reflection of love, marriage, and how each person’s love story is a little different.
Nora Roberts
Mackensie “Mac” Elliot is a wedding photographer who spends most of her time looking through a lens, but on the night of the rehearsal dinner, she meets Carter Maguire. He’s not her usual type—but still, there is something about him. In this fun, sexy story Carter just may be the happy ending Mac never knew she wanted or needed. Check out Vision in White, book 1 in the “Bride Quartet” series.
Jill Santopolo
The Light We Lost is a love story that will stay with you long after you finish it. I may have dog-eared and highlighted passages again and again because Santopolo had me so emotionally invested in the story of Lucy and Gabriel.
They met by chance in NYC during 9/11. But fate has other plans for them, despite their immediate attraction and connection. Years later they come back together in true star-crossed lover fashion. Will their paths keep crossing? Will they finally decide to stay together? This is a love story that you must read.
Lucy Score
Knox is a bad boy who doesn’t do complicated, dramatic, or high-maintenance women—no matter how sexy they are, until he meets Naomi. Things We Never Got Overis the story of a runaway bride, Naomi. A woman with a whole lot of drama going on. After her twin sister steals her car and cash, leaving behind a niece Naomi never knew existed—Naomi is going to need a little help. Knox offers to pick up the pieces, but he gives her a lot more than a little help.
Rebecca Serle
Dannie Kohan is a planner—a woman who has had her life figured out for a very long time. She is the polar opposite of her wild best friend, Bella. Dannie thinks her life is perfect, that is until she wakes up the morning after her engagement in a different bed, with a different ring on her finger, and with a different man.In Five Years is the love story that you won’t be able to stop thinking about, and one that may leave you questioning what a love story should look like. Are the plans and the future we create for ourselves always the best and the most passionate story?
Mia Sheridan
A Goodread’s “top romance novel of all time” Archer’s Voice is secrecy, and unforgettable passion. The protagonist moves to Maine to forget. To forget her past, her trauma, and her father. She meets Archer and is captivated by his eyes and his silence. Despite his silence, there is something so strong between them. Archer quickly becomes everything she wants and needs.
Sally Thorne
In The Hating Game, Lucy and Josh are not just coworkers who don’t get along. No. They red-hot despise each other. As assistants for publishing CEOs, they are both up for the same promotion. The games are on as they aggressively compete for the same position. But there is a thin line between love and hate. Maybe all this tension and aggression isn’t that at all…maybe it’s much, much closer to love.
Tia Williams
Eva Mercy may be an erotica writer, but she is also a single mother. She meets award-winning author Shane Hall and she feels an instant attraction. Sparks fly between the two, but Eva tries and tries to bury her feelings because she has a secret. She and Shane, as teenagers, were once completely in love. Over the course of seven days, in Brooklyn, Eva tries to figure out the man who once broke her. Check out Seven Days in June.
Final Thoughts
Are you as ready for love as we are? The sexy, the romantic, the emotionally heartfelt—they are all there. Hopefully, these lovely snippets send you straight to your bookstore.
FAQs
Is there a required order to read Melanie Harlow’s books?
Each series has a specific order that you will need to follow in order for the series to make sense. Harlow lists the order of each series on her website at Melanie Harlow.
Who is the best romance author?
Danielle Steel has the reputation of being the most popular, but others that make the list are Nora Roberts and Nicholas Sparks. What is the difference between a romance novel and a steamy romance novel?
What is the difference between a romance novel and a steamy romance novel?
Essentially, all romance novels follow the same setup. The difference between the two is that steamy romance novels have more descriptive sex scenes.
What is an open-door romance?
This means that the author leaves an “open door” for the reader. The reader gets to see what is happening descriptively in the bedroom.
What is a slow-burn romance?
In this type of romance, the author is purposely creating tension between the characters that builds more and more throughout the novel. The result is characters that cannot be separated because of the intense desire they have for each other.
Lisa is a fiction writer and freelance content writer. She recently finished writing her first novel, a YA work called Amelia’s Voice, and is seeking representation. She has just begun writing her second work, which will be an adult romance novel. Lisa has her MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
She is an avid reader and is never without a book in hand. Some of her favorites are psychological thrillers, compelling women’s fiction, and book club reads as well as young adult. You can find Lisa on Instagram @lisaschwarz.writer
