The Best Romance of 2023

The genre may still be firmly in its feel-good, low-angst era, but the most successful love stories of 2023 balanced out all that sweetness with a few sour notes, knowing that the course of true love can never run completely smooth. That, or they gave their lead characters amnesia or tossed them on a magical pirate ship.

Alexis Hall’s new rom-com might have a zany setup—a guy fakes amnesia!—but its authentic emotion will win readers’ hearts.

KJ Charles concludes her Doomsday Books duology with the masterfully crafted, deliciously adventurous and so, so horny Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel.

Rachel Lynn Solomon’s sharp, funny and penetrating Business or Pleasure dives into the messiness of life and emerges with a truly romantic love story.

A dutiful scientist and a social butterfly team up to save a stolen poodle in Suzanne Enoch’s hilarious Regency romance.

Exes and O’s is equal parts tender and laugh-out-loud funny, with an earnest appreciation for the romance genre singing loudly from every page.

Katee Robert’s Hunt on Dark Waters is a fast-paced and delightful fever dream of fantasy creatures, mysterious magic and sizzling sexual innuendo.

Anita Kelly’s Something Wild & Wonderful follows two men who fall in love as they hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and it’s so sweet and satisfying that you’ll never want it to end.

A woman with amnesia learns she’s the identical twin of a spy in Ally Carter’s highly enjoyable romantic suspense novel.

Romance blooms between a reality TV star and her producer in Christina Lauren’s sexy and heartwarming The True Love Experiment.

Cat Sebastian’s midcentury romance is a tender, heartening stunner of a love story.