I’d like a steamy scorcher set in Belle Époque Paris
A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke
by Adriana Herrera
Doctora Aurora Montalban, lonely and disdained by her male peers, is running an illegal women’s clinic when she finds it impossible to resist the brash, beautiful Duke of Annan. Read our review.
I want a big, splashy emotions bomb
Along Came Amor
by Alexis Daria
Ava Rodriguez is fresh off a painful divorce that a lot of her family members blame her for. So when a chance encounter leads to one night with Roman, a sexy hotel C.E.O. — and then another night, and another — she doesn’t see the need to tell any of her friends or relatives about it. It’s all a delicious secret — until the pair is formally introduced as best man and maid of honor in Ava’s cousin’s wedding to Roman’s childhood best friend. Read our review.
I love spicy, opposites-attract queer romances
All Fired Up
by M.K. England
Flames are more than metaphorical in this joyful, messy, delightful Sapphic romance starring a fire science researcher and an ambitious, type-A professional firefighter who’s hot both in and out of her gear. Read our review.
Got a slow-burn historical romance?
Marriage Bargain With the Comte
by Parker J. Cole
The drama of this lush, elegant historical about two childhood best friends turned high-society nobles is heightened by the looming specter of the French Revolution. It’s a classic case of two people knowing each other well enough to read each other’s emotions, but misinterpreting the causes to disastrous effect. Read our review.
Give me forced proximity, fandom and werewolves
Fan Service
by Rosie Danan
When the washed-up former star of a teen werewolf soap finds himself suddenly transformed into an actual werewolf, he must turn to a former superfan for help. She’s snarky and dismissive; he’s an ego monster with a terminal lack of self-awareness; together they’re a nonstop disaster of sore spots, misunderstandings and inconvenient but irresistible lust — and it is all such a good time. Read our review.
Jane Austen meets “Midsomer Murders”? Sign me up!
A Bloomy Head
by J. Winifred Butterworth
Please believe me when I tell you to breeze right past the cover of “A Bloomy Head,” because that’s not what’s important here! What’s inside is a bold, quick-witted, earthy, deeply researched Gothic gem about the romance between a cheesemaker and a military doctor. I came for the cheese, but I stayed for the glorious prose and wonderful characters. Read our review.
The post The Best Romance Novels of the Year So Far appeared first on New York Times.
