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Best Romance Books
Romance fiction is the most commercially successful literary genre, accounting for more annual book sales than any other category. Its roots are ancient — the courtly love tradition, the pastoral novel, the Gothic romance — but the modern genre was largely shaped by the 20th century's mass market paperback. At its heart is a simple promise: two people will find each other and, against whatever obstacles the plot erects, will commit to that finding. The best romance fiction — from Jane Austen's ironic precision to contemporary writers like Nora Roberts, Julia Quinn, and Talia Hibbert — takes that promise seriously and uses it to explore desire, selfhood, and what it means to be genuinely seen.
50 titles ranked · Scored across 40+ editorial sources
#1
literary-fiction
The Weight of Light
Peter Burchardt· 2026
Editorial Score92/100
#2
literary-fiction
The Idea of Perfection
Kate Grenville· 2001
★Women's Prize for Fiction
Editorial Score77/100
#3
literary-fiction
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy· 1877
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score76/100
#4
fantasy
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros· 2023
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score75/100
#5
literary-fiction
Less
Andrew Sean Greer· 2018
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score74/100
#6
literary-fiction
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin· 2022
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score74/100
#7
mystery-thriller
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier· 1938
★Edgar Award
Editorial Score72/100
#8
literary-fiction
Snow Country
Yasunari Kawabata· 1968
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score71/100
#9
literary-fiction
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid· 2017
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score71/100
#10
romance
It Ends with Us
Colleen Hoover· 2016
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score71/100
#11
literary-fiction
Love in the Time of Cholera
Gabriel García Márquez· 1985
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score70/100
#12
historical-fiction
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller· 2012
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score70/100
#13
fantasy
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern· 2011
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score69/100
#14
literary-fiction
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje· 1992
★Booker Prize
Editorial Score68/100
#15
fantasy
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas· 2015
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score68/100
#16
literary-fiction
Narcissus and Goldmund
Hermann Hesse· 1930
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score68/100
#17
literary-fiction
Oscar and Lucinda
Peter Carey· 1988
★Booker Prize
Editorial Score66/100
#18
literary-fiction
The Maytrees
Annie Dillard· 2007
★PEN/Faulkner Award
Editorial Score65/100
#19
literary-fiction
Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak· 1958
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score64/100
#20
historical-fiction
Cold Mountain
Charles Frazier· 1997
★National Book Award
Editorial Score62/100
#21
science-fiction
To Say Nothing of the Dog
Connie Willis· 1999
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score60/100
#22
literary-fiction
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen· 1813
Guardian 100 Best NovelsBBC Big Read
Editorial Score55/100
#23
literary-fiction
Анна Каренина
Лев Толстой· 1876
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#24
literary-fiction
The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#25
literary-fiction
My Ántonia
Willa Cather· 1818
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#26
literary-fiction
A Room with a View
E. M. Forster· 1905
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#27
literary-fiction
This Side of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald· 1920
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#28
literary-fiction
Women in Love
D. H. Lawrence· 1877
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#29
literary-fiction
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad· 1899
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#30
literary-fiction
She
H. Rider Haggard· 1886
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#31
literary-fiction
Howards End
E. M. Forster· 1910
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#32
literary-fiction
Ivanhoe
Sir Walter Scott· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#33
literary-fiction
The Woodlanders
Thomas Hardy· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#34
literary-fiction
The pioneers
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#35
literary-fiction
Tender is the Night
F. Scott Fitzgerald· 1933
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#36
literary-fiction
The Age of Innocence
Edith Wharton· 1920
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#37
literary-fiction
Daisy Miller
Henry James· 1877
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#38
literary-fiction
Washington Square
Henry James· 1880
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#39
literary-fiction
An American Tragedy
Theodore Dreiser· 1900
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#40
literary-fiction
Can you forgive her?
Anthony Trollope· 1800
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#41
literary-fiction
Rose Madder
Stephen King· 1995
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#42
literary-fiction
The Minister's Wooing
Harriet Beecher Stowe· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#43
literary-fiction
Foreign Affairs
Alison Lurie· 1985
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score53/100
#44
literary-fiction
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë· 1847
Guardian 100 Best NovelsBBC Big Read
Editorial Score53/100
#45
literary-fiction
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott· 1848
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#46
literary-fiction
Ethan Frome
Edith Wharton· 1910
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#47
literary-fiction
Hrabě Monte Cristo. Díl 1 a 2 (třísvazkové vydání)
Alexandre Dumas· 1830
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#48
literary-fiction
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe· 1850
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#49
literary-fiction
Lady Chatterley's Lover
D. H. Lawrence· 1900
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#50
literary-fiction
Voyage Out
Virginia Woolf· 1915
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100