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Genres
11genres
333books sorted
Have a favorite genre you like to read? Every book I've reviewed in it is consolidated here, grouped by the rating I gave it — so you can start with the five-star shelf and work down, rather than scrolling a whole year to find the thrillers.
Romance
34 reviewed · 4.0 avg rating★★★★★Five stars
4 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Broken Country
Clare Leslie HallBEST OF2025#3 of 2025Audiobook
★★★★★BEST OF2025#3 of 2025Audiobook
A small town, a love triangle, a murder, and a trial form the foundation of this twisty, emotional novel set in mid-1900s England.
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction Mystery and Thriller Romance
Fourth Wing
Rebecca YarrosBEST OF2023#6 of 2023Book 1 · The Empyrean
★★★★★BEST OF2023#6 of 2023Book 1 · The Empyrean
Perhaps the most-hyped book of 2023 lives up to it, as we follow the journey of a young girl as she attempts to become a dragon rider.
★★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It
Brooke Averick#6 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★★#6 of 2026Audiobook
One month shy of her thirtieth birthday, Phoebe Berman is determined to conquer her neuroses and finally lose her virginity in this laugh-out-loud rom-com.
★★★★★
Romance
Iron Flame
Rebecca YarrosBEST OF2024#7 of 2024Book 2 · The Empyrean
★★★★★BEST OF2024#7 of 2024Book 2 · The Empyrean
Yarros gives us a rarity -- a sequel to a force-of-nature debut that's just as good as the original, and in some ways possibly better.
★★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
★★★★Four and three-quarter stars
4 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Book Lovers
Emily HenryBEST OF2022#5 of 2022Audiobook
★★★★BEST OF2022#5 of 2022Audiobook
A better version of the "city dweller finds love in a small town" trope, while also ranking as the funniest book I read in 2022.
★★★★
Romance
Dolly All the Time
Annabel Monaghan#9 of 2026
★★★★#9 of 2026
When a $50k debt meets a fake-dating scheme with a wealthy heir, love blooms in Annabel Monaghan's modern retelling of Pretty Woman.
★★★★
Romance
One and Only
Maurene Goo#11 of 2026
★★★★#11 of 2026
When a professional matchmaker meets her "fated" match, she must choose between her prophesied destiny and an undeniable connection she has with someone else.
★★★★
Romance
Happy Place
Emily Henry#13 of 2023Audiobook
★★★★#13 of 2023Audiobook
An exploration of relationships and friendships in Henry's most mature offering yet, centered on a week-long vacation in Maine.
★★★★
Romance
★★★★Four and a half stars
5 books
Book
Rating
Genre
This Story Might Save Your Life
Tiffany Crum#13 of 2026
★★★★#13 of 2026
One half of a famous podcasting duo goes missing in this unique debut that artfully blends mystery with a will-they-or-won't-they romance.
★★★★
Mystery and Thriller Romance
Onyx Storm
Rebecca YarrosBEST OF2025#15 of 2025Book 3 · The Empyrean
★★★★BEST OF2025#15 of 2025Book 3 · The Empyrean
The most anticipated book of 2025 mostly delivers, as author Yarros continues the Empyrean series and Violet Sorrengail's evolution.
★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
Silver Elite
Dani Francis#22 of 2025Book 1 · Silver Elite
★★★★#22 of 2025Book 1 · Silver Elite
A young woman with special powers infiltrates a training program for the military while working undercover for a resistance organization.
★★★★
Science Fiction Fantasy Romance
One Golden Summer
Carley Fortune#23 of 2025
★★★★#23 of 2025
A photographer spends a summer at a lake house where she meets a cocksure man whose charms threaten their mutual vow of friendship.
★★★★
Romance
Great Big Beautiful Life
Emily Henry#24 of 2025Audiobook
★★★★#24 of 2025Audiobook
Two writers compete for the opportunity to author the memoir of a reclusive heiress while coming to realize they might just be soulmates.
★★★★
Romance Literature & Fiction
★★★★Four and a quarter stars
3 books
Book
Rating
Genre
The True Love Experiment
Christina Lauren#23 of 2024Audiobook
★★★★#23 of 2024Audiobook
A funny and heartwarming romance novel in the style of Emily Henry about a woman who is cast as the lead on a reality dating show.
★★★★
Romance
Into the Blue
Emma Brodie#29 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★#29 of 2026Audiobook
Two actors with an undeniable connection explore a relentless on-again, off-again romance in this spicy, love-it-or-hate-it read built for the theater crowd.
★★★★
Romance Literature & Fiction
A Court of Mist and Fury
Sarah J. Maas#30 of 2026Book 2 · A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR)
★★★★#30 of 2026Book 2 · A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR)
Following the events of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the story continues in a longer and more polished follow-up that's a step up from Book 1.
★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
★★★★★Four stars
6 books
Book
Rating
Genre
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas#24 of 2024Book 1 · A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR)
★★★★★#24 of 2024Book 1 · A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR)
After a bit of a slow and clunky start, the story of a young human woman imprisoned in faerie lands barrels to an excellent climax.
★★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
Funny Story
Emily Henry#28 of 2024Audiobook
★★★★★#28 of 2024Audiobook
Desperate for a place to stay after her fiancé cheats on her, Daphne moves in with the ex of the woman who broke up her engagement.
★★★★★
Romance
Our Perfect Storm
Carley Fortune#32 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★★#32 of 2026Audiobook
When a woman's fiancé leaves her on their wedding day, she ends up taking her lifelong (gorgeous, heterosexual) male best friend on her honeymoon. What could happen?
★★★★★
Romance
The Enigma Challenge
S.C. Godfrey#35 of 2026
★★★★★#35 of 2026
In this thriller that reads like a spicy version of The Da Vinci Code, an academic races across three countries to solve five deadly puzzles before her identity is wiped forever.
★★★★★
Mystery and Thriller Romance
Happy Ending
Chloe Liese#36 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★★#36 of 2026Audiobook
When a pair's exes start dating each other, the two jilted spouses fake a past friendship—only to watch that invented history turn into something very real.
★★★★★
Romance
The One Day You Were My Husband
Rosie Walsh#38 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★★#38 of 2026Audiobook
Years after her husband was captured by armed men on their wedding day, a woman discovers that he's alive. She's happily remarried, but compelled to seek him out.
★★★★★
Mystery and Thriller Romance
★★★★Three and three-quarter stars
2 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Beach Read
Emily Henry#34 of 2023Audiobook
★★★★#34 of 2023Audiobook
The book that launched Emily Henry's romance writing career! Despite a few clunky moments, Beach Read checks all of the romance boxes.
★★★★
Romance
Summer Romance
Annabel Monaghan#45 of 2025Audiobook
★★★★#45 of 2025Audiobook
A 38-year-old nearly-divorced mother of three starts a summer fling with a dashing, slightly younger man. Can it last?
★★★★
Romance
★★★★Three and a half stars
2 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Starside
Alex Aster#45 of 2026Book 1 · Starside
★★★★#45 of 2026Book 1 · Starside
A young woman enters a deadly competition to retrieve a goblet of magic in this romantasy that feels like the love child of The Hunger Games and Silver Elite.
★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry#46 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★#46 of 2026Audiobook
An homage to When Harry Met Sally in which two opposites form a deep platonic friendship before eventually wondering if it could be more.
★★★★
Romance
★★★★Three and a quarter stars
3 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Just for the Summer
Abby Jimenez#48 of 2024Book 3 · Part of Your World
★★★★#48 of 2024Book 3 · Part of Your World
When online banter turns to real-life dating, Emma and Justin must overcome significant obstacles to make their relationship last.
★★★★
Romance
Broken Dove
Dani Francis#54 of 2026Book 2 · Silver Elite
★★★★#54 of 2026Book 2 · Silver Elite
Wren Darlington's journey picks up immediately where Silver Elite ended, continuing to explore the conflict between the Uprising and Command.
★★★★
Romantasy Fantasy Romance
This Book Made Me Think of You
Libby Page#64 of 2026Audiobook
★★★★#64 of 2026Audiobook
Six months after her husband dies, a woman finds out he left her a year of books, one per month, to help her heal and move forward.
★★★★
Literature & Fiction Romance
★★★★★Three stars
1 book
★★★★Two and three-quarter stars
2 books
Book
Rating
Genre
The Familiar
Leigh Bardugo#58 of 2024
★★★★#58 of 2024
A rare ho-hum effort from an author I enjoy, Bardugo's novel of 16th century Spain struggles to blend history, fantasy, and romance.
★★★★
Historical Fiction Fantasy Romance
Faebound
Saara El-Arifi#59 of 2024Book 1 · The Faebound Trilogy
★★★★#59 of 2024Book 1 · The Faebound Trilogy
A new set of characters and worlds from El-Arifi, but a book that is far more in the "romantasy" category than her previous novels.
★★★★
Fantasy Romance
★★★★Two and a half stars
2 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Romantic Comedy
Curtis Sittenfeld#51 of 2023
★★★★#51 of 2023
It's not especially romantic or comedic, and it lacks any type of misdirection. Weirdly, I still sort of enjoyed it, but I wanted more
★★★★
Romance
American Fantasy
Emma Straub#74 of 2026
★★★★#74 of 2026
A boy band cruise tries to offer nostalgia but fails to set sail in this disappointing look at fame and aging that lacks the heart and romance expected.
★★★★
Literature & Fiction Romance
Why this page isn't a single ranking
Each book's rank is its position within the year I read it. That makes it directional, not absolute: the best book of a thin year and the fifth-best of a strong one can't be stacked against each other honestly. So these are grouped by the rating I gave them, which is comparable across years, and ordered within each group by how they placed in their own year. Where I have ranked an author's books against each other, that list says so and shows the numbers.
Want more like these?
One email on the first of every month with a summary and rating of each book reviewed over the past 30 days, and a look at where the year's ranking stands.