Contemporary Romance Starter Pack
New to romance, reading, or both? As someone who has read a whole lot of romance books over the past 5 years, this (admittedly large) backlist of romance will catch you up on the tropes and authors you need as a baseline to discuss romance with your friends.
What I love in romance: Modern, character-led romance grounded in emotional warmth and safety, balancing introspection, nostalgia, and sharp banter with clear narrative payoff.
I started reading again (as an adult) in 2020, and quickly found that I love romance. Having grown up reading tons of fantasy and young adult books, I don’t think I realized how much the relationships between characters were important to me. But when I read some of these books, I knew that this was my genre.
This starter pack isn’t necessarily my favourites – but the books you need to read to be able to describe yours.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥
Trope: Enemies to lovers, forced proximity
Why I love it: Our female MC, January, is SO relatable, and Gus is probably my top romance book boyfriend. I love him. Beach Read is compulsively readable, the banter is perfection, and the tension simmers in this book.
Emily Henry has been my favourite author for years now, and I would strongly recommend all of her books. Beach Read is the first and best, but I adore Happy Place and Great Big Beautiful Life for added complexity and depth.
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Steam meter: 🔥🔥
Trope: Friends to lovers, second chance romance
Why I love it: There is so much emotion, alternating timelines of past and present, fantastic characters, book vibes, and a beautifully executed friends to lovers with so much anticipation.
If you make your way through Christina Lauren’s backlist, you’ll find just about every romance trope to give you a good baseline. They’re all great on audio too.
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥
Trope: Friends to lovers, second chance romance, a secret
Why I love it: Canadian cottage country vibes filled with nostalgia, past and present timelines working up to a big secret reveal, lots of angst.
The queen of summer romance, Carley Fortune puts out an incredible Canadian read every year. Read them all!
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥
Trope: Opposites attract, grumpy/grumpy
Why I love it: It transports you to Alaska, there’s excellent character development and a slow burn, and I cried my eyes out. This entire series is perfection, especially in the winter.
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Steam meter: 🔥🔥
Trope: Forbidden romance, grumpy/sunshine
Why I love it: The Bachelor-like reality show setting, the cutie characters and the vibes between them, the mental health topic is well executed, LGBTQIA+ representation.
I’ve read and adored every one of Alison Cochrun’s books. I recommend you start with this one, but Here We Go Again may even be my favourite of hers.
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Steam meter: 🔥🔥
Trope: Fake dating
Why I love it: Easy reads, food vibes, interracial relationships, and characters you love to cheer for. The Wedding Date series gives a great foundation to romance tropes – Jasmine Guillory explores nearly all of them across 6 books, which are all worth reading.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Steam meter: 🔥
Trope: Love triangle
Why I love it: The emotion is palpable, all the characters are lovely, and you can’t help but cheer for everyone. This book explores grief, and it gives insight into what Taylor Jenkins Reid’s romance novels are all about. You might know her from her more recent fiction stories, but her romance backlist is absolutely worth reading.
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥
Trope: Accidental pregnancy, friends to lovers
Why I love it: The huge cinnamon roll of a love interest, the only accidental pregnancy trope I’ve read that’s been executed perfectly, own voices disability representation, cozy and comfortable tension, and the Canada vibes of course.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥
Trope: Fake dating, grumpy/sunshine
Why I love it: The college campus setting and science backdrop make for an interesting and original series of books by Ali Hazelwood. Her writing is amusing and the characters are very lovable.
The Rom Commers by Katherine Center
Steam meter: 🔥
Trope: An ‘arrangement’ to write a book together
Why I love it: Katherine Center writes arguably the best closed door romances out there – the tension, the depth of the characters and side characters, and the Hollywood setting sell this one for me.
Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥
Tropes: This series has it all – enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, workplace romance, marriage in crisis, forced proximity, fake relationships, and more
Why I love it: A lovely, accepting, family, deep emotional connections, disability, chronic illness, and mental health representation, and fun banter. I didn’t adore the first book, but do love the rest of the series, so skip it if you’re likely to stop reading.
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
Steam meter: 3-4
Trope: Workplace romance
Why I love it: Lots of depth and banter, themes of self-worth, touristy Chicago vibes, I really loved the main character, Naya, and the audio is very well done.
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
Steam meter: 🔥
Trope: Slow burn, roommates to lovers…kind of
Why I love it: Creative premise, love interests passing notes, the main character’s healing journey, British vibes.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Steam meter: 🔥🔥
Trope: Fake dating
Why I love it: Amazing as an audiobook, some hijinks and chaos, gets you in your feels, famous person/regular person vibes.
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Steam meter: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Trope: Fake dating
Why I love it: It’s spicy, bi representation, a deep connection between main characters, British vibes, mental health representation.
This series is cute, but this one was absolutely my favourite.
Need more book recommendations? Check out the other Genre Starter Packs.
No posts found
Leave a Reply