Let’s face it, romance is not a genre that everyone will love. It is actually quite popular, which is why the publishing firm Harlequin Books is able to churn out hundreds, if not thousands of romance novels every single year. Despite its popularity, some often dismiss it as being shallow, inane, or overdramatic. There’s also the social stigma that romantic fiction is “only for women,” which is, quite frankly, not true at all. Still, some people have taken a vehement stance against the genre and refuse to touch it for one reason or another. And that’s okay — everybody likes different things.
As mentioned though, the genre is popular for a reason. If you’re someone who is maybe interested in romantic fiction, and aren’t sure where to start, there are a few books you should probably visit first. Some of these books are contemporary classics, others are older but highly influential, while others are still underrated gems. These are the best romance novels for newcomers to the genre.
‘Hope Makes Love’ (2015)
Trevor Cole‘s Hope Makes Love is a really interesting book that is extremely easy to get lost in. The story follows two individuals. The first is Zep Baker, a former MLB player who is willing to do anything to win back the heart of his ex-wife and mother of his daughter. The other is Hope, a neuroscientist whom Zep hires to guide him in the process. Knowing how the brain works, Hope helps Zep execute “mind control,” which is really just a series of psychological maneuvers that will hopefully help his ex-wife see him in a new light and begin to love him again.
The book is divided into two alternating segments: half of the book is Hope’s journal, where she details what maneuvers she is advising Zep on, her personal feelings on the matter, and her past. The other half of the book is Zep’s voice memos that he leaves for his secretary, which are possibly the best part of the book. Zep is kind of a goofball, so a lot of his voice memos include his hilarious inner thoughts and descriptions of how he fails some of his efforts in spectacular fashion, occasionally interrupted by what’s going on in the room around him as he leaves the messages. The book alternates between these two points of view with every “chapter.” Ultimately, the book poses an important question: What exactly is love? Is it just a transmission of chemicals in our brains? Or is it something beyond human explanation? Not only is the book philosophical, analytical, and hilarious, but it’s brilliant because it doesn’t even feel like a romance novel. Even non-romance fans can love it, which is why it’s great for beginners.
‘Jane Eyre’ (1847)
Jane Eyre is an autobiography about a woman who does not actually exist. The eponymous Jane Eyre is an orphan who has grown up with her abusive aunt, forcing Jane to grow up quickly and learn to fend for herself. She eventually finds work as a governess to a ward named Mr. Rochester. Jane and Mr. Rochester do end up developing feelings for each other, but this is impeded when Jane uncovers terrible secrets about Rochester’s family history, compelling her to choose between her own pleasure and her own morality.
This is a very early feminist novel that happens to be a romance. Though it is largely about love between a man and a woman, it is also about a woman’s search for individuality, equality, and personal freedom. This is one of those books that went on to establish itself as a literary classic, so much so that there are still high school and university kids writing book reports about it to this day. It’s such a masterpiece of fiction, and a super important romance novel for beginners to read.
‘Outlander’ (1991)
Outlander is a series of romance books that became super popular. This is in no small part thanks to the wildly successful TV adaptation from 2014, but the books are pretty good on their own, too. The story opens up the year after World War II, where a former nurse named Claire is on a vacation in Scotland with her husband, Frank. Frank is working as a history professor, looking into his family lineage, while Claire goes for a picturesque stroll in the highlands. She encounters some sort of temporal anomaly, being magically transported 200 years back in time. Here, she comes face-to-face with Frank’s ancestor, a Scottish Highland warrior.
However, she also meets Jamie, a wounded Highland warrior in desperate need of medical attention. Using her nursing skills, Claire is able to heal Jamie, after which the two begin to fall in love. Each book in the series takes the couple to a different time period throughout history, where their relationship only grows. The main reason this novel is so accessible to newcomers is that romance isn’t the only thing it has to offer. It’s also a stellar bit of historical fiction, with a little bit of danger mixed in. While it still definitely feels like a romance, its ease of reading and additional plotlines help readers from other genres transition into romance without feeling too much of a jarring shift.
‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ (2015)
A Court of Thorns and Roses is a romantic fantasy that has been absolutely dominating the charts in recent years, to the point where it’s due to receive a TV adaptation. Sarah J. Maas‘ smash-hit became a beloved and ongoing series, one loaded with spice. This caused some fantasy fans to dismiss it as smut, while others came to love it for reasons outside its sexual content. This is basically a modern version of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, albeit one that is less kid-friendly and much more fleshed-out.
In this story, a huntress kills a wolf, only to be approached by a lupine beast demanding retribution. Dragging her to a land where the immortal faeries have gone into hiding, the huntress discovers that the beast can turn into a faerie, gaining a more human-like form at will. While there is initially tension between the two, they eventually come to love each other as they are forced to adapt to each other’s worlds. If you’re hoping to get into romance or romantasy, this is the perfect place to start because it has all the hallmarks of the genre, and it’s been such a massive critical and financial success.
‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813)
Pride and Prejudice is basically the romance novel. It’s a quintessential entry into the genre that has seen countless screen adaptations, both in film and on television. Some put more creative spins on it, like 2004’s Bride and Prejudice, which turns the story into a Bollywood/Hollywood fusion musical. Or there’s the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, based on a book of the same name by Seth-Grahame Smith, which serves as a parody of Jane Austen’s original novel. Clearly, any book that has this much of a legacy behind it over 200 years later is doing something right.
The story is about a family of five sisters living in England during the 1800s, all of whom are in search of husbands, although this is mainly due to familial societal pressures rather than their own desires. The book is one of the most shining examples of feminist literature, examining rigid social norms, the stigma of unmarried women, and the immorality of arranged marriages. Even though it was written two centuries ago, the language doesn’t feel super archaic, nor does the writing style. It’s actually pretty easy to read, though non-romance fans might find it a bit dull. In any event, if you’re planning on getting into romance novels, there’s just no way you can skimp out on this one, especially with how it establishes many feminist themes of the genre that still resonate today, and with how it completely rewrote the rules of romantic fiction.