Entertainment <\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t always a romance girl. While I didn\u2019t have anything against<\/em> the genre, cracking open an honest-to-god romance novel\u2014with all its swoons and sighs and NSFW expressions of ardor\u2014made me feel vaguely shy. That is, until I discovered the romantic-fiction publishing company 831 Stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n Founded in 2023 by Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur, 831 Stories is dedicated to putting out 200-ish-page novellas that are spine-tinglingly sexy without sacrificing creativity, character development, or genuinely propulsive storylines. \u201cRomance novels are the only form of mainstream entertainment that centers women\u2019s joy, pleasure, and desire,\u201d Mazur tells me. \u201cThe fact that they\u2019re experiencing a massive spike in popularity feels meaningful in any context, but it\u2019s especially poignant in light of ongoing efforts to restrict women\u2019s rights and reduce our sexuality to a reproductive function.\u201d<\/p>\n But what is it, exactly, that make a romance book truly great? For guidance, I turned to Catie Disabato, a writer currently at work on Rooting Interest<\/em>, a \u201csapphic sports romance between a WNBA player and a female NFL reporter\u201d (yes, please) for 831 Stories. \u201cFor me, the most important element in a romance is character and voice. The characters don\u2019t have to be likeable\u2014in fact, I love prickly characters in romance\u2014but they need to be fully fleshed out, and ultimately you need to root for them to fall in love with each other,\u201d Disabato advises.<\/p>\n In that spirit, browse our roundup of the 13 best romance books to pick up now:<\/p>\n In my opinion, there aren\u2019t enough campus rom-coms out there (college is the perfect place for romance! I mean, I didn\u2019t experience any when I was there, but in theory!), which makes Bolu Babalola\u2019s novel about a relationship advice expert and a fuckboy\u2014excuse me, wasteman<\/em>, in British parlance\u2014who engage in a fake relationship that starts to become more real than either of them bargained for a particular delight.<\/p>\n A professional hockey player and a manic pixie dream girl (don\u2019t worry, the novel is self-referential enough to know the trope it\u2019s playing off of) fall for each other in this wildly romantic, Hallmark-adjacent novel, only to find that\u2026their parents are engaged and they\u2019re about to be stepsiblings? It\u2019s sort of giving Cher Horowitz dating her stepbrother in Clueless<\/em><\/a>, but more than that, it\u2019s giving \u201cI want and need a sequel.\u201d<\/p>\n If big bisexual energy had an official book mascot, it most definitely would be this one. In Barath\u2019s novella, protagonist Naina breaks up with her longtime girlfriend and moves to New York, only to find herself falling for\u2026a guy. The scenes between Naina and her new crush David crackle with heat, but Naina\u2019s meditations on the meaning of queerness, grief, and the ever-evolving definition of identity make this a romance with genuine heart and intellect behind it.<\/p>\n Delilah Green Doesn’t Care<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I don\u2019t care how many queer romances come out, I will always<\/em> want more, and Ashley Herring Blake can be counted on to write a lesbian courtship that makes my heart rate rise. In this one, New York-based photographer Delilah goes home for her stepsister\u2019s wedding and reconnects with Claire, an ex who\u2019s clearly still got an emotional hold on her. Despite the chaos of a family wedding in the background, Delilah and Claire\u2019s story is the stuff romance novels are (ideally) made of.<\/p>\n Jasmine Guillory<\/a> is the queen of the romance novel for a reason, and her first story to feature queer protagonists only proves why she\u2019s earned that title. in Flirting Lessons<\/em>, buttoned-up Avery learns to let go (somewhat, anyway) as she embarks on a kind of dating program with sexy, devil-may-care Taylor\u2014only to find that her feelings are anything but casual.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to see more stories about women of color, stories about Black women in particular, stories about fat people,\u201d Guillory told Vogue<\/em> in April. \u201cAll of those people and all of those stories have always been out there, but publishers haven\u2019t given them a push or haven\u2019t really wanted to publish them. I\u2019ve seen a lot more of them over the past few years, which has been really wonderful, and I just want even more.\u201d<\/p>\n I absolutely love a fake-dating narrative (there\u2019s a reason that Easy A<\/em> is one of my all-time favorite rom-coms), which makes Just for the Summer<\/em> another go-to of mine. In the book, two friends decide to date for the summer in order to break the \u201ccurse\u201d of their not-so-successful romantic lives, only to have their respective familial situations become increasingly complicated by the arrival of a toxic mother and a set of younger siblings. If you like a side of family drama with your romance, this one\u2019s for you.<\/p>\n In Friends With Benefits<\/em>, an aspiring Hollywood Foley artist and an elementary school teacher who have known each other since childhood decide to get married for health-insurance and rent reasons. Before long, however, they find that their overwhelming feelings for one another are making their \u201cbusiness arrangement\u201d a little more complex that they bargained for. Romance novel, but make it a veiled commentary on late-capitalist hell? Sign me up!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, you\u2019ll most definitely be drawn in by Yulin Kuang<\/a>\u2019s 2024 novel about an author and screenwriter connected by an early tragedy who meet again while working together on a TV series. This isn\u2019t the most lighthearted fare (there\u2019s plenty of discussion about grief and trauma), but the book\u2019s emotional stakes only heighten the intensity of the romance that Kuang carefully weaves together.<\/p>\n Foodies (or whatever we\u2019re calling ourselves now that \u201cfoodie\u201d is played out), rejoice; Red, White & Royal Blue<\/em> bestselling author Casey McQuiston\u2019s most recent novel is a tribute to all that\u2019s delectable about life: In it, exes Theo and Kit eat, drink, and flirt their way around Europe\u2014and, eventually, back into each other\u2019s hearts. \u201cSo much of the process of writing this book was about healing my relationship with pleasure and indulgence; so much of life, and American life in particular, teaches you to focus on work, and make the best use of your time, and be economical, and make yourself smaller, and take up less space, and deny yourself pleasure in favor of focusing on something else, and I think this book is 1,000% the antithesis of that,\u201d McQuiston told<\/a> Vogue<\/em> last year.<\/p>\n This gem from 831 Stories, about a political strategist who falls for her teenage boy band crush, manages to be as sexy as it is smart. \u201cI understand the instinct that we all have about politics and romance feeling opposite from one another, but I really don\u2019t think that they are\u2026 People have all kinds of experiences, and it\u2019s not antithetical to have an intellect and also a heart, and whatever body parts are involved in a romance novel,\u201d Romanoff told<\/a> Vogue<\/em>.<\/p>\n Real Saturday Night Live<\/em> heads will appreciate the marriage of late-night comedy and romance in this typically charming novel from Curtis Sittenfeld, which revolves around TV writer Sally falling (somewhat unwillingly) for pop star Noah when he guest-hosts the show she works on. Sittenfeld\u2019s understated, naturalistic voice only makes the tension between Sally and Noah\u2014and its ultimate payoff\u2014feel richer and more true.<\/p>\n If you, like me, are sick and tired of seeing only thin or straight-size characters find their happy endings, you\u2019ll thrill at the story of Bea, a plus-size fashion blogger whose critique of a popular reality dating show leads to her\u2026becoming its star? Every fat woman should have her pick of options, and that\u2019s exactly what Bea is given on the set of Main Squeeze<\/em>, even if some of them are just movie magic. (Plus, there\u2019s a very hot and problematic ex lurking in the background. Isn\u2019t there always?)<\/p>\n Two writers and childhood flames meet again and instantly pick up where they left off, chemistry-wise, in this bestselling novel from The Perfect Find<\/em> author Tia Williams. \u201cAs a kid, I always gravitated to big, juicy, dramatic love stories by writers like Judith Krantz, Jackie Collins, and Harold Robbins. I never saw myself in any of the characters, so I\u2019d recast them in my head as Black people, which is lame. We exist in all spaces, and we deserve to find love and excellent sex in a fun, delicious story, just like everyone else!\u201d Williams told<\/a> Vogue<\/em> in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nEntertainment Honey & Spice<\/em> by Bolu Babalola<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Dream Girl Drama<\/em> by Tessa Bailey<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Comedic Timing<\/em> by Upasna Barath<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Delilah Green Doesn\u2019t Care<\/em> by Ashley Herring Blake<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Flirting Lessons<\/em> by Jasmine Guillory<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Just for the Summer<\/em> by Abby Jimenez<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Friends With Benefits<\/em> by Marisa Kanter<\/h2>\n
Entertainment How to End a Love Story<\/em> by Yulin Kuang<\/h2>\n
Entertainment The Pairing<\/em> by Casey McQuiston<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Big Fan<\/em> by Alexandra Romanoff<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Romantic Comedy<\/em> by Curtis Sittenfeld<\/h2>\n
Entertainment One to Watch<\/em> by Kate Stayman-London<\/h2>\n
Entertainment Seven Days in June<\/em> by Tia Williams<\/h2>\n