The 24 Best Romance Novels to Add to Your TBR List

Fiction lovers, you can’t go wrong with Terry McMillan. In her classic novel, a successful (read: overworked and stressed) single mom named Stella decides to take a trip to Jamaica for some R&R. While sunbathing in the tropics, she, of course, meets a man and falls in love. When you’ve finished the book, make sure to watch the film starring Angela Bassett.

You know it's a good book if it makes Reese Witherspoon's Book Club. When former teenage lovers Eva and Shane reconnect at a literary event, their chemistry is still as strong as ever. The erotica writer and novelist, respectively, then spend the next seven days reconnecting and reminiscing amidst a hot Brooklyn summer.

Loosely based on Nora Ephron's own life, Heartburn tells the story of a pregnant cookbook writer named Rachel who finds out that her husband Mark is in love with someone else. In true Ephron fashion, the story is still undeniably cozy and includes several recipes throughout the book (like cheesecake, pot roast, and bread pudding).

A young, pregnant woman named Tish sets out to prove that her fiancé is innocent of a crime that he didn't commit. The 2018 film, directed by Moonlight's Barry Jenkins, is just as great.

After a woman named Feyi loses the love of her life in an accident, she’s ready to start dating again. What follows is a heartfelt and drama-filled romance about hookups, tropical vacations, and the joy of starting all over.

In South East London, two young British artists—a photographer and a dancer—meet at a local pub and slowly fall in love. If you're a fan of poetry, you'll really enjoy the lyrical and tender prose.

In this coming-of-age romance novel by André Aciman, Elio falls in love with Oliver during one hot and picturesque Italian summer. Once you've finished this book, check out its 2020 sequel, Find Me.

Another Reese's Book Club pick! If you're familiar with Bolu Babalola's hilarious and relatable tweets, then you'll love her first romance novel about two students whose ”fake” relationship turns out to be realer than they both originally thought.

You can't have a list of romance novels without mentioning Sally Rooney. In Normal People, Connell and Marianne shift from friends to lovers and then back again over the course of several years. Once you're done with the book, check out the Hulu show starring Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

If Beale Street Could Talk wasn't Baldwin's only foray into the romance drama. In this utter tearjerker, an American man travels to Paris and falls for an Italian bartender named Giovanni.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” So begins Jane Austen's magnum opus Pride and Prejudice. Set in England during the 19th century, the story follows a young woman named Elizabeth and her potential suitor Mr. Darcy.

The journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton revisits the first time she fell in love, got her heartbroken, and then mended it back together. Personal anecdotes are coupled with cultural observations as she makes sense of love, romance, and partnership.

If you weren't obsessed with this book as a teenager, now's your chance to right that wrong. The Fault in Our Stars tells the story of Hazel and Augustus who meet at a support group for kids with cancer. What follows is a heartbreaking tale of young, innocent love.

In this truly innovative novel, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is about a café in Tokyo that allows people to travel back in time to rectify past loves. The catch? They must return before their coffee gets cold.

You've seen the movie, so why not give the book a shot? After falling in love as teenagers, Noah and Allie reconcile almost a decade later and attempt to pick up where they left off.

Soon to be adapted into a Netflix film starring Gabrielle Union, The Perfect Find follows a fashion editor who falls for a much younger videographer. We love a good forbidden love story.

Hear me out. Yes, this is a book about cannibalism, but there's also a really beautiful love story at the center. A young woman named Maren (played by Taylor Russell in the film adaptation) finds love and community as she embarks on a journey of self discovery.

Erotica and romance go hand in hand. Here, Anaïs Nin explores desire and intimacy through a slew of assorted characters. Among the many stories, a Parisian woman leaves her husband and becomes reacquainted with her sexuality and in another, a woman in disguise seduces strangers at her whim.

If the YA genre is more your speed, give this novel a shot. Eleanor and Park, two high school misfits, experience the beauty of first love together, albeit a bit cautiously.

Charlotte Brontë gave us many classics, but this may be one of her most popular. The story follows an outcast named Jane who slowly becomes infatuated with her employer Mr. Rochester.