My Favorite Romance Novels of 2023

is the romantic comedy dead (again)?

Dec 13, 2023

I read over 78 romance novels this year but only a dozen favorites stand out from the crowd. I know many readers dread narrowing down titles for their “best of” lists, and it can be tricky, but I love learning about my reading life in the process. It seems that 2023 was my year of ditching romantic comedies in favor of more traditional romance novels. Though some of the books on this list contain humor and wit, they’re mostly straightforward love stories in which imperfect main characters navigate difficult situations, past traumas, or communication issues in order to find their happy ever after with an equally imperfect partner. In the Emily Henry/Colleen Hoover-ification of the romance genre, I expect to see fewer and fewer true romantic comedies in the next few years, although the cartoon/illustrated covers aren’t going anywhere. But I’m getting ahead of myself—here are the 2023 romance novels I most adored, plus two sneak previews of 2024 titles I’m adding to a special February collection.

Spice Ratings

🌶️ MILD: Closed or “cracked” door with smooching or one fade to black scene.

🌶️🌶️ MODERATE: Open door with one or two sex scenes.

🌶️🌶️🌶️ MEDIUM: Open door with two or three detailed sex scenes.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ HOT: Open door with three or more detailed sex scenes (and probably some dirty talk).

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ EXTRA HOT: Open door with many hot, hot, hot sex scenes (see: erotic romance).

Contemporary

Pas de Don’t by Chloe Angyal. From center stage in New York City to the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, Angyal’s debut ballet romance offers premiere armchair travel and a steamy forbidden love story. When ballet star Heather Hays arrives in Sydney, she’s overcome with its beauty; she’s also exhausted after a catastrophic break-up. Nursing emotional and physical injuries of his own, dancer Marcus Campbell takes Heather on a grand sightseeing tour in between rehearsals and physical therapy. Friendship soon turns to romance, but there’s one catch: their ballet company maintains a strict no dating policy between dancers. Their chemistry sparkles off stage, but is a relationship worth risking their hard-won careers? 🌶️🌶️🌶️

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. Floundering love interests Ari and Josh spar and sparkle in Goldbeck’s When Harry Met Sally reimagining. Ari and Josh hate each other upon first meeting, letting the tension stew over years of brief encounters until they find themselves texting, and texting again, and hanging out…and falling in love. Taking place over the course of several years and seasons, this rom com also reads as an adult coming of age story. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez. When done well, epistolary elements elevate a romance novel from sweet to swoonworthy, and Jimenez sets the standard for swooning in her latest release. Dr. Briana Ortiz and Dr. Jacob Maddox begin their acquaintance with misunderstandings and awkward tension that makes Jacob want to hide in the ER supply closet—if only Briana didn’t get there first. To smooth things over, Jacob sends Briana a letter, and then another, and then a cupcake, eventually thawing the ice enough to form a reluctant friendship. When that friendship turns into a fake relationship, these intelligent doctors find themselves questioning everything. Jimenez writes romance I like to call “real people, real problems” with such tenderness, care, and humor. If you love Emily Henry or Kate Claybourn, pick this one up. 🌶️🌶️

You, with a View by Jessica Joyce. I listened to this high school rivals turned lovers romance, narrated by Karla Garcia. It’s perfect for fans of Emily Henry, but especially Beach Read. Noelle Shepard is an unemployed photographer in the throes of grief. With nothing to lose, Noelle decides to travel a route her grandma was going to take on her honeymoon before that engagement fell apart. In a series of serendipitous events, her academic arch-nemesis Theo and his grandfather Paul join her on a journey through stunning National Parks. Along the way, Noelle and Theo fall for each other, but they also walk through grief and sort out complicated feelings about their futures. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly. Alexei Lebedev hits the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) on a mission to reinvent himself. His mission does not include crushing hard on heartthrob hiker Ben Caravalho, but after a run-in with a rattlesnake the two men make a friendly commitment to hike together. As they admire nature's beauty and conquer their fears on the trail, Alexei and Ben find their growing attraction impossible to ignore. However, each hiker carries metaphorical baggage in their day pack: Alexei struggles to make sense of his queer identity, faith, and loss, while Ben battles past relationship trauma. With lush nature descriptions and a lovely found family, this quiet and character-centered romance novel gently carries the reader along the PCT and boasts a supremely satisfying ending. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim. After being absolutely wrecked by this sweet story of music, grief, and romance, I texted my music teacher bestie to tell her she must read it so I’m not the only one set emotionally adrift. The publisher calls this a “hilarious and joyous rom com” and OH CONTRAIRE, while there are funny, joyful moments, this is not a rom com! It’s a slow-burn, emotional story about Quito the talented piano accompanist and Emmett the famous movie star, once best friends in high school (or maybe more than friends) who reunite to perform for Quito’s father’s retirement concert. Alternating between Quito’s high school days and the present, Lim’s debut novel is a love letter to music, Broadway, and Filipino food. I loved it. 🌶️

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Life is finally turning around for Chandler Cohen. First, she meets a cute guy and has her first one night stand; next, she gets a job offer that could launch her ghostwriting career. But that one night stand: one of the blandest sexual experiences of her life. The job: writing for the cute guy she just had mediocre sex with in a Seattle hotel room. Former star of the early aughts werewolf show The Nocturnals, Finn Walsh needs Chandler's help to pull him from the comic con circuit into something new, but their past entanglement complicates things—especially when Chandler reveals Finn’s less-than-adept skills in bed. Now there’s a new contract on the table: can they mix business and pleasure as Chandler instructs Finn on how to please a partner? And more importantly, can this ghostwriter find her own voice in the process? 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Historical

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller. The recipe for a one-sitting romance: a lush historical setting, a pinch of light espionage, and a heaping scoop of sexual tension. Biller’s latest historical romance delivers all of the above and sends you spinning through a crumbling 19th century Viennese ballroom. With Vienna’s ball season well underway, Maria Wallner takes on a major renovation project to restore her family’s hotel to the height of decadence. If only she wasn’t interrupted every other day by mysterious strangers, assassination attempts, and her mother’s dramatic affair. To make matters worse, an American agent (a handsome one, at that) shows up on her doorstep to launch a top secret investigation. Starchy, studious, and stiff Eli Whittaker cannot abide the dancing, the chaos, and the gorgeous hotel keeper who keeps launching herself into danger. Eventually, he just might pull her into a linen closet for a rendezvous. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera. This scandalous sapphic romance gathers artists, entrepreneurs, and aristocrats for sensual thrills and smashing the patriarchy in Belle Époque Paris. Manuela wants one debauched, delicious, and decadent evening of pleasure to tide her over for long nights in a loveless marriage. What she needs is an experienced guide to Paris’ queer community. What she needs is Cora, the duchess who dominates the Parisian business sector and always, always wins. Herrera turns up the heat and the drama in this latest installment of the Las Leonas series, in which friendship and Latin American history shine just as brightly as the core romance. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Knockout by Sarah Maclean. Curly-haired, curvy, and chaotic Imogen Loveless excels in chemistry, but when did the London Ton ever care about that? She’s expected to marry, settle down, and procreate—not study and create explosives…or swoon over a handsome, protective police detective. Thrown together by fate and by felony, Tommy and Imogen must come to terms with their combustible chemistry while chasing justice for society’s most vulnerable. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Backlist & Romantasy

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn. I cannot believe it took me so long to read this sweet-but-not-syrupy love story about a stationery/planner designer and a Wall Street analyst, set in NYC. Claybourn is an amazing writer, and I’m eager to witness the reception for her next book because I think it will really put her on the map. In the meantime, pick up Love Lettering if you enjoy books by Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez—or if you want to read a Nora Ephron-like romance novel set in the big apple. 🌶️🌶️

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. I devoured this audiobook in one day, thanks to narration by Alex Wingfield and Rebecca Norfolk, but I believe I would adore this novel just as much on the page. Bereft after her brother leaves to fight in the war between the gods, Iris Winnow throws herself into work, seeking a promotion at the Oath Gazette. During the day, she clashes with her insufferable competitor Roman Kitt; at night, she writes letters to her brother and slips them under the closet door. One day, someone writes a letter back. With the help of a magical typewriter, the letters follow Iris from the buzzing newsroom to the front lines of a bloody war, where she discovers love, friendship, and found family. 🌶️

2024 Preview

The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett (3/19/24). First of all, THIS COVER, are you kidding me? Gorgeous. This was my first Everett novel, and it will not be my last. Excellent historical world-building, fully realized characters, and beautifully woven social issues = chef’s kiss, perfection.

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz (1/2/24). This is my favorite of Ruiz’s books so far. A nomadic musician, a hot Irish pub owner—both struggling with neurodivergencies that disrupt their lives—a found family/community, perfect third act separation, and supremely satisfying ending = again, chef’s kiss, no notes.

Currently reading: Wild Life by Opal Wei (1/23/24).

The Eclectic Reader

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