Romance novels continue to top the Amazon charts in terms of eBooks sold with the genre being the most popular across the US and the UK. Here are ten suggestions with a mix of contemporary and classic titles to wet the appetite.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published in 1813 and people still refer to it as one of the best romantic novels ever written.
Pride and Prejudice opens with one of the most famous sentences in English Literature, is an ironic novel of manners. In it the garrulous and empty-headed Mrs Bennet has only one aim – that of finding a good match for each of her five daughters. In this she is mocked by her cynical and indolent husband.
A Little Love by Amanda Prowse. This author is fast becoming known as the queen of emotional drama.
Everybody needs a little love in their lives…Pru Plum is the celebrated owner of a famous Mayfair bakery. She wears Chanel and her hair is expensively cut. Few would believe that this elegant woman turned sixty-six last year. But Pru is not the confident, successful businesswoman she appears. She has done shameful things to get to where she is today. And she will do anything to protect the secrets of her past – especially when, for the first time in her life, she has finally fallen in love…
Time to get modern! It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover has everything a modern-day romance should include.
SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST.
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
The Bronte sisters also wrote romance in the nineteenth century with Charlotte’s Jane Eyre combining literary fiction with romance.
This classic novel challenges conventions of desire, family and class.
Plain orphan Jane Eyre is not expected to amount to much. A pleasant existence as a governess is all she is supposed to hope for – but Jane desperately wants more.
And an appointment at the gothic mansion of Thornfield offers her more than she could ever dream of -including a chance at real love.
Genre fiction became popular in the early 20th century post WWI and romance cropped up as a standalone genre which later split into several subgenres of its own after that time.
After You Jo Jo Moyes
Lou Clark has lots of questions . . .
Like how it is she’s ended up working in an airport bar, spending every shift watching other people jet off to new places. Or why the flat she’s owned for a year still doesn’t feel like home. Whether her close-knit family can forgive her for what she did eighteen months ago. And will she ever get over the love of her life.
What Lou does know for certain is that something has to change. Then, one night, it does. But does the stranger on her doorstep hold the answers Lou is searching for – or just more questions?
Georgette Heyer became one of the early 20th century historical romance writers with many of her books set in the time of Jane Austen. Heyer wrote up to two novels per year until the early 1970s hence a huge following. Frederica is a good place to start as it often ranks high among Heyer fans.
Vernon Alverstoke sees no reason to put himself out for anyone. But when a distant connection asks for help, he is quickly plunged into one drama after another by the disorderly Merriville family. Surprisingly, he finds himself far from bored – especially when he encounters their strong-minded daughter, Frederica. However, she seems far more concerned with her family’s welfare than his romantic advances…
The Tuscan Child Rhys Bowen
In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation. Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well.
My Not so Perfect Life Sophie Kinsella
Katie Brenner has the perfect life: a flat in London, a glamorous job, and a super-cool Instagram feed. OK, so the truth is that she rents a tiny room with no space for a wardrobe, has a hideous commute to a lowly admin job, and the life she shares on Instagram isn’t really hers. But one day her dreams are bound to come true, aren’t they? Until her not-so-perfect life comes crashing down when her mega-successful boss Demeter gives her the sack. All Katie’s hopes are shattered. She has to move home to Somerset, where she helps her dad with his new glamping business. Then Demeter and her family book in for a holiday, and Katie sees her chance. But should she get revenge on the woman who ruined her dreams – or try to get her job back? Does Demeter – the woman who has everything – actually have such an idyllic life herself? Maybe they have more in common than it seems.
If I Never Met You Mhairi McFarlane
If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real? Laurie and Jamie have the perfect office romance
(They set the rules via email) Everyone can see they’re head over heels
(They staged the photos) This must be true love (They’re faking it)
When Laurie is dumped by her partner of eighteen years, she’s blindsided. Not only does she feel humiliated, they still have to work together. So when she gets stuck in the lift with handsome colleague Jamie, they hatch a plan to stage the perfect romance. Revenge will be sweet… But this fauxmance is about to get complicated. You can’t break your heart in a fake relationship – can you?
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell continues to attract readers so you can’t go wrong by picking up a copy of this book.
Tomorrow is another day . . .
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell’s magnificent historical epic is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler. Since its first publication in 1936, Gone With The Wind has endured as a story for all our times.
