Favorite Romance Reads of 2021
It was a great reading year for me! I had a goal to read 150 books and I surpassed that goal in October.
Here’s quick reviews for all of my five-star reads for the year.
Heat scale:
0 = nothing more than a kiss 🔥 = closed door 🔥🔥 = on-page but light 🔥🔥🔥 = steamy, on-page 🔥🔥🔥🔥 = kinky
January Favorite Romance Reads
Wanderlust by lauren blakely
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
British hunky hero and a French-American heroine. Excellent steamy scenes and the hero is so flirty!
Parental Guidance by avery flynn
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: hero with learning disability
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hockey hero with dyslexia and a artist heroine. Excellent consent scenes!
February Favorite Romance Reads
waiting for tom hanks by kerry winfrey
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
British hunky hero and a French-American heroine. Excellent steamy scenes and the hero is so flirty!
master of crows by grace draven
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: hero with learning disability
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hockey hero with dyslexia and a artist heroine. Excellent consent scenes!
master of crows by grace draven
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: hero with learning disability
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hockey hero with dyslexia and a artist heroine. Excellent consent scenes!
February Favorite Romance Reads
waiting for tom hanks by kerry winfrey
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥
Movie star hero and meet-cute obsessed heroine. Excellent bookstore setting and first kiss scene.
sub-genre: fantasy romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Magical world with master/student relationship. Heroine is indentured and hero is outcast.
sub-genre: historical romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Spunky social outcast gets love lessons from the king of London’s underworld.
march Favorite Romance Reads
touching wood by claire wilder
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Prequel short story! Hero works construction and heroine is his VA. They flirt over the phone until her feisty grandmother meddles.
shipped by angie hockman
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥
Two rival marketing coordinators working for a cruise ship company take a trip to the Galapagos for work. Closed-door with workaholic heroine and excellent non-romantic plot.
trade me by courtney milan
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Asian-American heroine, BIPOC author
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Two college students – a broke daughter of immigrants and a billionaire tech heir – trade lives.
hold me by courtney milan
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Asian-American hero, Latina heroine, transgender heroine BIPOC author
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Two wicked smart people butt heads. Excellent redemption arc for the hero!
maybe yours by claire raye
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Age gap romance where hero and heroine work for a winery and flirt online.
April Favorite Romance Reads
flow by kennedy ryan
sub-genre: contemporary romance
prequel
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Black hero, BIPOC author
steam: 0
Prequel story of a rapper and college student meeting. Cliffhanger ending!
the house by the cerulean sea by tj klune
sub-genre: low fantasy romance
standalone
pairing: mm
diversity notes: queer author
steam: 0
A warm hug of a book. Linus gets sent to the far reaches of the coast to investigate an orphanage for magical children.
too good to be true by lauren blakely
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Falling in love in one day after being connected via a matchmaker.
May Favorite Romance Reads
love scammed by rilzy adams
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Black characters, BIPOC author
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hero and heroine are set up on a blind date weekend vacation to the Turks & Caicos by their best friends.
the dream guy next door by lauren blakely
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Single-mom heroine with a construction business tries to avoid falling on love with the hot, British, single dad next door.
man cuffed by sarina bowen
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Black heroine
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Actress heroine gets a little too involved in the life of the police officer next door. Fake dating!
heated rivalry by rachel reid
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mm
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hockey rivals hide their long-term relationship. Enemies to lovers and why did I wait so long to read this???
tempting heat by sara whitney
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Enemies get snowed in in Chicago.
love at first by kate clayborn
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
She moves into her late grandmother’s apartment and tries to save it from development while he’s trying to sell his inherited apartment.
June Favorite Romance Reads
enemies with benefits
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
They’ve been rivals all their lives. Now, they have to work together.
beginner’s luck by kate clayborn
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A scientist and a recruiter get a rocky start to their relationship.
July Favorite Romance Reads
break the rules by roxie noir
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hero starts to get feelings for his best friend’s sister. One of the funniest scenes I read this year.
one last time by roxie noir
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A true hate bang, these two have been on and off again their whole lives.
luck of the draw by kate clayborn
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A lawyer who fought for big corporations tries to make amends with a fake fiancé set-up.
kings rising by cs pacat
sub-genre: low fantasy romance
standalone
pairing: mm
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Hero and heroine are set up on a blind date weekend vacation to the Turks & Caicos by their best friends.
polaris rising by jessie mihalik
sub-genre: sci fi romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Society heroine gets trapped in a cell with the most dangerous man in the galaxy.
August Favorite Romance Reads
love and gelato by jenna evans welch
sub-genre: young adult romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 0
Teenager goes to live with her dad in Italy after her mom passes away and meets the boy next door as they go on quests to reveal her mother’s secrets..
a brit on the side by brenda st john brown
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A one night stand with her best friend’s brother turns complicated when they spend the summer together at Calder Castle.
reign by roxie noir
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Ambassador’s daughter and uptight prince of fictional country flirt while grappling with diplomatic relations.
playing offside by jax calder
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mm
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Young upstart rugby player antagonizes the veteran on the NZ national team.
September Favorite Romance Reads
him by sarina bowen and elle kennedy
sub-genre: contemporary romance
first in duet (with HEA)
pairing: mm
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A favorite re-read! Two hockey players reconnect at summer camp.
us by sarina bowen and elle kennedy
sub-genre: contemporary romance
second in duet (with HEA)
pairing: mm
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A favorite re-read! The continuation of Him, two hockey player who live together while still closeted.
tough guy by rachel reid
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mm
diversity notes: hero with anxiety
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
A pacifist hockey enforcer runs into his high school crush – an out and proud artist.
the iron duke by meljean brook
sub-genre: fantasy romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Asian-descent heroine
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
The heroine in steampunk London investigates a murder, and the suspect is the national hero.
the price of scandal by lucy score
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Billionaire chemist CEO needs a media band-aid in the form of a corporate image fixer. Nude-cute alert!
October Favorite Romance Reads
the mogul and the muscle by claire kingsley
sub-genre: contemporary romance
standalone
pairing: mf
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Billionaire CEO of aerospace company is in mortal danger. Obviously she needs a hot bodyguard!
mating the huntress by talia hibbert
sub-genre: paranormal romance
standalone
pairing: mf
diversity notes: Black heroine, BIPOC author
steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Our hero tries to woo the woman trying to kill him. Super sweet and funny.