With the contemporary romance genre, it’s true that royal romance remains one of the most popular subgenres – not to mention one that is consistently read and enjoyed by countless people from all around the world.
There are many reasons behind this, but the most likely reason is an association with fairy tales, and the fascination that the public has with royalty from all around the world – admiring them for their supposedly lauded positions within the world, and for the elegance, taste, and class they seem to exude.
But what exactly is royal romance, and what are some of the tropes?
What Is Royal Romance?
Royal romance is a popular subgenre of romance fiction and tends to focus on seemingly ‘ordinary’ people becoming romantically involved with members of the royal family – be they the British royal family, royalty from other countries, or indeed those from fictional lands and settings.
Royal romance tends to follow classic ‘rags to riches’ storytelling, wherein someone becomes swept up from their humdrum existence and brought into the inner circle of the royal family, where all manner of culture shocks await them.
The drama and conflict either come from a lack of acceptance from the royal family or indeed the royal love interest wanting to leave the confines of the royal family and experience the real world.
This creates the conflict necessary to make the stories ‘will they won’t they’, wherein both parties tend to be saved from their oppressive lives – with each getting a taste of different ways of living.
The 21 Best Royal Romance Books
Now that we know a little more about the royal romance genre, and some of the variations you can find out on the marketplace, it is not time to look at some of the best books that the subgenre has to offer.
Exploring any new genre can be daunting, and it can be tricky to know where to start when there are so many different books to read.
This is why we have put together our own list of our 21 favorite royal romance books on the market, and what they have to offer.
Following the adventures of Crown princess Justine of Wesloria, Last Duke Standing sees the young princess sent to England to learn the ropes of royalty – falling under the instruction of Queen Victoria herself.
However, she is not also there to learn royal protocol, she also wants to get herself a husband – one who is suitable to rule the future throne of Wesloria alongside her.
Tasked with keeping an eye on the young princess by the Prime Minister of Wesloria, William (Lord Douglas) has his work cut out for him – separating the wheat from the chaff and ensuring that only the best royal suitors get to meet the princess during the selection process.
However, as the options start to dwindle, and match after match continually proves to be unsuitable, the pair start to become friends – a friendship that could easily turn to more as William continues to appear like the perfect partner.
In this contemporary romantic suspense novel, we are introduced to Roman Archibald Godfrey – heir to the throne, and a man whose personal life is by no means the same as the glitzy image that is portrayed in the media.
Romantically involved with a forbidden member of the royal family, and living a life of secrets, shadows, and potential scandals, Roman’s life represents the underbelly of the royal family – one that would shatter the illusions of the public if the juicy details ever came to life.
Mysterious, complex, and cruel at times, Roman is by no means a prince charming, but to survive in the cutthroat world of royal protocol, the situation calls for something a little darker.
Set during the War of the Roses – the British civil war that saw the houses of York and Lancaster get into a brutal and embittered conflict that lasted several years – The Royal Game focuses on three young women on a course to challenge the system and alter the course of history.
But this is 1444, and the women are all members of the humble Paston family, and when politics and society are rigged against people from lower backgrounds, change can sometimes seem like an alien concept.
However, as their schemes and plotting reach new levels of mastery – seeing them avoid imprisonment, execution, and all manner of other unpleasant acts – they eventually end up securing a castle for their family, and working their way into the inner circle of the house of York.
Pros
Good historical detail
Interesting characters
Good period piece
Good romantic tension
Well rounded characters
Cons
Sometimes sacrifices story for historical detail
Themes: romance, war, deceit, treachery, forbidden love
Following a whirlwind summer fling with Prince Stefano Barrali, Megan Hallberg finds herself alone and with a child when his royal duties take him back to his homeland.
However, after finding that he is also due to become engaged to a wealthy aristocrat, Megan takes her baby and returns to her normal life.
However, after ten years pass, and the pair once again encounter one another at the grand opening of a hotel in Barcelona, their romantic feelings become rekindled once more.
Stefano has thought about no one else for ten years, and Megan carried and raised the daughter of a man she knew she could never be with.
However, now that things seem to be falling together by chance, both parties know that they need to play things very carefully to protect the people they love, and avoid an international scandal for the ages.
When Alex’s mother became the President of the United States, his whole world changed, and he essentially rose to the ranks of a prince amongst his countrymen – one who became idolized and worshiped by his peers and the cream of celebrity culture alike.
However, when a rivalry with an actual English prince (Henry) sees them as the subject of international scandal and tabloid gossip, the pair go to great lengths to reconcile the reputation of their respective households and the institutions they both are tasked with representing.
But when apologies turn to friendship, and friendship turns to unforeseen romance, the two young men must keep their forbidden love a secret, or else create a whole new wave of political scandal from which their families might never recover.
Focusing on the life of Daffodil Caron – the daughter of a royal staff member, and the playmate of the princes for the royal family of Lauchtenland – To Love A Prince sees the young woman grow to wish she was a princess, only to watch the real royals from the sidelines.
Cursed with growing up in a world in which she can never be accepted, Daffodil finds herself lost and unsure of her place in the world.
Leaving her royal life behind her, and starting a successful career as an art curator for the Royal Trust, her dreams of being a princess had all but left her.
However, when she encounters the young prince she used to play with – now a handsome eligible bachelor who is seldom out of the tabloid pages for his failed love life – her world gets turned upside down.
When the prince surprisingly absconds from his royal life and spends a year as a regular man to find his own place in the world, a chance encounter between the two reunites old friends and sews the seeds of a love neither of them knew existed.
Lacey lives her dream, playing the role of a fairy tale princess at a popular theme park. It pays the rent, and she gets to make children happy on a daily basis.
However, a chance encounter with a single father proves to be a pivotal turning point in her life – bringing love into her life in the most unexpected way.
However, when the single father turns out to be an actual prince – the crown prince of Bella-Moritz to be exact – their relationship suddenly becomes a lot more complicated, and Lacey finds herself questioning whether the fairy tale she has found herself in is actually what she wants, or whether the make-believe is better.
What proceeds is a forbidden love story, with both pretending to be American tourists to avoid the tabloids.
But can two people from drastically different worlds really make it work, and what happens when the fairy tale has to end?
Pros
Interesting concept
Unique story idea
Whirlwind romance
Good tension
Cons
Far fetched storyline
Themes: royalty, forbidden romance, fish out of water, deception, duty
Set during the Blitz in 1943, when London was besieged by German bombing raids, Royal sees the royal family send their daughter ‘Princess Charlotte’ to live in the countryside to protect her from potential danger.
However, upon arriving in rural Yorkshire, 17 year old Charlotte immediately conceals her true identity, instead assuming a simple alias and inserting himself into the small country village where she finds herself – befriending a local evacuee, and training to ride her horse in her spare time.
However, when she begins to fall in love with the son of her protectors and secretly falls pregnant, her world is plagued by tragedy when the boy dies in the war, and Charlotte herself dies in childbirth.
The daughter, raised Annie Louise, disappears into the normal life her mother sought, not knowing of her true lineage, and her royal identity – that is until a stack of letters discovered decades later reveal the truth about her mysterious upbringing, and the young princess who was her mother.
Pros
Well written
Fascinating subject material
Tragic at times
Good characterization
Tension and plenty of twists
Emotive throughout
Good period piece
Cons
Somewhat slow burning
Themes: forbidden love, war, destiny, period drama, family, tragedy
Harriet Woodchurch finds herself lost in her day-to-day life – a plain Jane amongst the elite she encounters through her work and a black sheep amongst her own embarrassing family.
However, when Mateo Vincente – Duke of Santiava, and a newly appointed viscount – becomes an eligible bachelor, he requires someone to handle all of his incoming correspondences, a position that Harriet is all too happy to fill.
However, as more and more hopeful bachelorettes meet with the shy viscount, it soon becomes apparent that Hattie and Mateo have much more chemistry, bonding over their love of books and their shared sense of humor.
But when her friend Flora puts her own name forward to date the shy royal, things get a little more complicated.
Set in an alternate world where a class of vampires rules over mainstream society, Royal Bite follows the exploits of optimistic young woman Stormey Jaymes, who is one of the few members of her friendship group who isn’t too concerned about the vampire ‘problem’.
However, when she is drafted, and a sample of her blood is matched with Hegna Riskel – the female heir to the vampire throne, and a woman who certainly has no intention of finding a mate anytime soon.
The vampires are at war with the Lycans, and the world seems far too complicated and exciting for her to be confined to her home and royal duties.
However, as the pair of unlikely companions bond, eventually becoming friends, they both begin to wonder whether their strange pairing could be fate after all, and where exactly it will end up.
Pros
Interesting concept
A different take on royal romance
Some good characterization
Cons
Predictable at times
Somewhat derivative
Themes: vampires, forbidden romance, arranged romance, war, responsibility, freedom
Molly Graham doesn’t believe in fairy tales or happy endings – a life of mistakes and wrong steps in love has taught her that much.
However, when her friend Brianna Cho suggests that she should use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to shoot for the stars in her love life, Molly begrudgingly accepts.
What she doesn’t expect is to encounter handsome British academic Albert George – an equally introverted loner with whom she forms an instant connection.
Ghosting the party and the other guests, the pair embark on what becomes a month-long love affair.
However, just as she is beginning to catch feelings for her newfound love interest, he up and vanishes – something that devastates Molly, and leads her to believe her skepticism was right all along.
So she gets on with her life – that is until a work trip to England sees her staying at a luxury manor house arranged by the Museum.
And after encountering Earl Whitmore, and his grandson Jamie – or as she knew him, ‘Albert’ – the pair have a strange and awkward reconciliation, one that exposes Jamie as an equally trapped and unhappy individual with his own appetite for change.
After Clementine receives a social media message complimenting her latest project, an online friendship forms between herself and the mystery man, ‘CP Chadwick’ – a historian studying at Cambridge University.
The two begin to confide in one another, and their relationship blossoms into something more.
Clementine finds herself in love with someone she has never met, and when CP quickly turns out to be Prince Christian of Wales, her dream of a happy ending quickly seems impossible.
However, Christian has never experienced a ‘normal’ life and is very much at a crossroads in his life – questioning the very royal life he was raised into, and wondering whether the simple life would serve him better.
With both blinded by their own fears and insecurities, not to mention the overwhelming tide of royal protocol hanging over their heads, can the pair of unlikely lovers get together and find their own slice of happiness in the world?
Pros
Well written
Interesting concept
Unique situation
Good will they/won’t they
Tense at times
Cons
Could use more accuracy
Themes: royal romance, forbidden love, freedom, normality
Set against the royal family being ousted from power, The Royal Treatment follows the exploits of the handsome and arrogant Prince Arthur, who has always gotten by on his looks and his charm.
However, when his prince hood looks to be stripped away from him, he gets a crash course in being humble, especially when he is tasked with being protected by a royal watchdog Tessa Sharpe – a pretty young woman, but one who hates his guts.
Tessa sees him as an arrogant, lazy leech, and one who does nothing but take from the people of Avonia.
However, when he invites her to stay with him in his castle for two months, things soon change, and the unlikely pair form a tentative friendship, which eventually blossoms into something more entirely.
Trying not to give in to her growing feelings, Tessa shoves them deep down inside, but after moving in, she realizes that it could be a long two months – especially if she wants to keep her career and reputation intact.
Under the influence of her business mogul father, heiress Alexandra Moss was forced to break the heart of the man she loved (Grant Santos) – a move that saved Grant’s career but broke his heart in the process.
However, things don’t last forever, and now the tables have turned.
Alexandra is no longer the heiress she was, instead having to work every hour God sends to make ends meet.
Grant is now the CEO of his own company, and living a life of privilege – and when he hires her out of pity and revenge, the pair seem like they are going to be at loggerheads.
But when two people work so closely together, chemistry is always bound to form at one point or another – and despite their conflicts and harsh words, an attraction begins to bloom once more, one that cannot be contained despite their best intentions.
Set within a world where a woman’s purity is the difference between her becoming the queen of the realm or finding herself killed for her transgressions, a young woman finds herself falling for someone she is forbidden from having.
Despite her best intentions, and efforts to preserve her reputation and image in the eyes of the public, the queen wrestles with her true feelings for her love, and wonders whether romance really is worth dying for, or whether her duties should always come first.
Following the exploits of the nordic royals, The Royal Rogue sees Princess Stella – the black sheep of the royal family, and a divorcee who has brought shame on the royal household – as she navigates life in the public eye and her tenuous place within the Danish royal family.
However, when Prince Orlando of Monaco – a tabloid dubbed ‘royal rogue’ – comes to stay, her world looks to be turned upside down for good.
Orlando is inappropriate in any setting and seems to pride himself on breaking royal codes and traditions, and this is enough to prove attractive for Stella – who herself has been the victim of such traditions and rules.
As their attraction turns to passion, and then eventually to romance and love, the pair of royal outcasts find themselves questioning whether their positions in the public eye are what’s important, or whether it is their newfound love that is worth pursuing.
Pros
Fun romp
Light and enjoyable
Good interactions between characters
Cons
Weaker storyline than some others
Themes: passion, forbidden romance, royal protocol
When the princess (and second in line to the throne) becomes involved in a romantic tryst with Creed Lawson – a handsome, roguish royal guard – her world gets turned upside down in more ways than one.
However, his intervention couldn’t have come soon enough, offering the smothered, controlled princess another shot at her own identity, and granting her some much-needed autonomy in her otherwise perfectly controlled and orchestrated life.
But as the relationship progresses, and the extent of their secret relationship looks likely to come out in the press at any moment, the pair need to decide once and for all whether their love is more important than the careers and lives they have worked hard to maintain.
Pros
Tense
Engaging
Solid romance drama
Good chemistry
Cons
Somewhat formulaic
Themes: forbidden love, romance, royal protocol, discipline, duty
After princess Luciana is photographed kissing her married horse trainer, it causes a scandal that rocks the royal family to the core.
Quickly after Luciana is shipped off to America by her parents, sent to somewhere rural and quiet until the drama dies down back home.
Depressed and forlorn in her strange new surroundings, she didn’t expect to meet Eli, a handsome and down-to-earth rodeo cowboy who trains her in horses.
Eli is training for the next rodeo circuit, and he certainly doesn’t need any distractions from love and romance either.
However, as the pair spend more time together, they learn that sometimes love can be more powerful than protocol, and more important than any competition could ever be.
Finley regularly spends his summers in Ixica – usually with his best friend Adrian, himself a member of the royal family.
However, Finley has a crush on Malcolm, Adrian’s older brother, and the heir to the throne of the royal family.
After the death of the king – a man who Finley himself sees as a father figure – all the men are rocked and devastated.
Taking this as a chance to talk to Malcolm as a human being, Finley consoles the young prince – a man destined to assume the throne, despite his own reservations about taking on such a coveted role.
And as things look set to go ahead, and the two men spend more time in each other’s company, they both learn the benefits that love and friendship can have in their world and that some things are certainly more important than royal protocol.
Pros
Good LGBTQ+ representation
Unique storyline
Good subversion of classic tropes
Good interactions
Cons
Could take itself more seriously
Themes: forbidden love, romance, duty, unrequited love
Gracie Clark runs a kid’s party business – one that sees her regularly dress up as ‘Princess Snowflake’ a favorite amongst the kids, and one of her most successful characters.
Content in her life as a children’s entertainer, Gracie isn’t really looking for a change, but when she enters a competition posed by Prince Nikolas of San Glacera – a winter region that relies on tourism – she decides that some changes can be for the better.
But as she embarks upon the competition, and meets the handsome prince, they both realize that maybe there is more to their established roles in the world.
But can they put aside their duties and differences and embrace the love they feel for one another or are the differences just too much?
When her arranged marriage to the prince falls flat and looks to foil her intended position as queen of her kingdom, a desperate princess makes a deal with a devilish duke – one who agrees to pose as her suitor in order to make the prince jealous.
However, as the pair spend more and more time together, the princess soon wonders whether there is something there after all and whether the right man for her was standing in front of her the whole time.
But when the plan works, and the prince begins to see her value, the princess is forced to make a choice she never wanted: the prince, or the duke?
Pros
Light, fun romp
Romantic
Good character interactions
Cons
Weaker story
Themes: choices, romance, unrequited love
Buyer’s Guide
When it comes to finding the right royal romance books for you, there are certain things you should bear in mind to make the whole process easier.
Base It On Your Interests
Firstly, you should choose your royal romance books based on your interests.
For example, while some people are more interested in real-life stories set in our world, other people might seek royal romance from more fantastical settings or time periods.
Making this choice can ensure that you have the best reading experience possible and that you only engage with the books that are going to interest you.
Ask For Advice & Suggestions
Alternatively, if you really aren’t sure of which books to look for, you could always go to your local bookstore and ask the advice of the employees within.
While not all of them will be fans of the genre, they will usually have some knowledge of the most popular royal romance books, and which ones are the most commonly purchased.
This can be a good starting point and can make it easier for you to make future decisions once you have narrowed down what you do and do not like.
Read The ‘Blurb’
This might seem obvious, but one of the best ways to see if a book sounds interesting or not to you is to read the back description of the plot – otherwise known as the ‘blurb’.
This will give you a breakdown of the story itself, and inform you as to whether the book is the one for you or not.
If you already have preexisting knowledge of the sort of book you want to read, then you can also use those as guiding criteria to ascertain whether other books are what you are looking for.
Review Best Seller Lists
You could also review the bestseller lists to see what romance books are the most popular amongst critics and readers alike.
This can be a good way of getting your hands on the next best thing and securing some great reading material in the process.
Final Thoughts
And there we have it, everything you need to know about the royal romance genre, and the 21 best books on the market.
It’s true that royal romance remains a popular subgenre of romance literature, with countless fans all around the world, and very much ties in with the continual, fairytale-like fascination with royal families in general.
However, while there are many books within the subgenre, there are some that just do it better than the rest.
So if you are looking for the best in royal romance books, then look no further than this list!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are They Suitable For Younger Readers?
The romance genre as a whole features adult themes, and as such is unsuitable for younger readers.
Are They Suited For Male Readers?
While the audience is generally female, there are legions of male readers who consider themselves fans of the royal romance subgenre.
Noah Burton works as a Librarian full time, and is a blogger in his spare time. His goal is to write compelling recommendations for all of the most popular books he can find, from science fiction to romance.
With a passion for books, a drive to find new reads to get stuck into, and a love for sharing book recommendations with others, Noah can help you find the next novel for your bucket list.
