Who doesn’t love a good romance? Imagine sitting in some warm nook, something warm to drink at your side, and a good romance novel in your hands. We all need a good love story every now and then. So if you are in the mood to read a romantic tale but don’t know which book to choose, take a gander at our list of some of the most famous love stories ever written.
Top 20 Most Famous Romance Books
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This is Jane Austen’s most famous book. The book relates to a tale of romance as old as time. And no, we don’t mean a man getting cursed and turned into a hideous beast. Instead, we’re talking about a boy who meets a girl; they hate each other upon meeting but ultimately fall in love. The title is quite apropos to both characters. The story of Pride and Prejudice explores the relationship between the intelligent Elizabeth Bennet, who finds the way society puts importance on wealth and social status distasteful, and the wealthy and arrogant Fitzgerald Darcy. The character of Elizabeth is so well written that people can’t help but root for her to have her happy ending.
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
With his tear-jerker romance stories, Nicholas Sparks can turn any hard heart to mush. In his novel The Notebook, Sparks tells the story of Noah and Allie through a notebook an older man reads from as he religiously visits a woman in hospice who has Alzheimer’s. Allie meets Noah, falls in love, and now has to decide whether to go on and marry her fiance or leave him and choose Noah instead. If you’ve seen and loved the film, be prepared to love the novel even more. And don’t forget the tissues.
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Eva is a well-known erotica author. Shane is a recluse and an author. Yet, these two brilliant writers meet unexpectedly at an event and fall in love under the raised eyebrows of New York’s black literati. The literary society does not know that both authors had met years before and had a brief but passionate whirlwind of a romance. And that they have written messages to each other through their books. If that isn’t romantic, what is?
Maurice by E.M. Forster
Posthumously published, Maurice is a story close to the author’s heart. It is a story of a young man’s sexual awakening and self-discovery at a time when homosexuality was a crime. It is a powerful story of unrequited love, heartbreak, and societal prejudice against the LGBTQ community at that time.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Florentino fell in love with Fermina as a young lad while delivering letters to Fermina’s father. Fermina was reluctant at first, but Florentino managed to win her over with love letters. They continue to surreptitiously write to each other until they get caught. Fermina is expelled from school and soon forced to marry a doctor. What follows is a story that spans decades of a man vowing to have the woman he loves back in his arms again. But while he waits, he has secret dalliances with hundreds of women. Love in the Time of Cholera explores a love that nears obsession. It makes one think, will the hero get the girl in the end? Should he?
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Another classic tear-jerker from Nicholas Sparks. This novel is about the famous Landon and a preacher’s daughter named Jamie. To the students at their school, these two would have nothing in common. But as circumstances force them to be around each other constantly, they slowly find that they have more in common than they think. Oh, and they also find love. Bring some tissues with you when you read this one.
Outlander by Dianna Gabaldon
If you’re into time travel, give this book a whack. While on a trip to the highlands with her husband, Claire Randall finds herself traveling back in time to 1743 and into the arms of the young and mischievous Jamie Fraser. Now Claire is torn, not just between two very different lovers, but two very different lives separated by centuries.
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Nan was a happy girl living an ordinary life with her family as they ran an oyster parlor in Whitstable. She had a boy courting her, a sister who was her best friend who also shared her love for what passes as theater in their small town, and a job at her family’s restaurant. When Kitty Butler strolls across the stage and into Nan’s heart, it turns her world and her view of romance upside down. Follow the tale of Nan as she falls in love with the feminine form, meets interesting characters, and exposes the seedy underbelly of England in the late 1800s.
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Henry is a jumper. No, not the jump-off bridges kind. He jumps through time. He bumps into Clare at a library. Not two strangers are meeting for the first time, but Clare is meeting the man she’s known since she was a child. They start a relationship, but how steady could a relationship be when one person is stuck in a regular timeline and the other uncontrollably time jumps and disappears without warning?
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Stella is smart. She’s also very pragmatic. She was caught up in her maths and her very logical life until she decided to settle down. Since she knew nothing about love and romance, she hired an escort named Michael to teach her about love. Soon enough, Stella is not the only one learning about love. We promise this book is a fun and very charming ride through the love life of our quirky heroine.
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
What happens when you drunkenly sleep with your best friend’s fiance? Well, Rachel is about to find out. Her best friend Darcy is about to marry Dex. So one night, during her 30th birthday party, Rachel and Dex drunkenly hook up. This incident takes Rachel on a rollercoaster ride of realizations, pain, betrayal, and friendships, both new and lost.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
No list of famous romantic stories is complete without mentioning this Shakespeare classic. “Romeo and Juliet” tells the tale of two young lovers belonging to opposing houses. There is murder, romance, and tears to be had in this tragic story that helped cement Shakespeare’s legendary position in the literary world.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Brontë’s only published novel is a gothic masterpiece. This dark and stormy romance follows the love between Catherine and Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff grew close and fell in love. However, because of jealousy, Heathcliff left one night. In his absence, Catherine marries another man. When Heathcliff returns, wealthy but savage, he finds that Catherine still loves him. The series of events that followed showed the consequences of a doomed love affair and the result of an obsessive love that aimed to destroy when it was not fulfilled. This is a dark story with a hopeful ending. Truly a classic worthy of the name.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Don’t they say there is a thin line between love and hate? Well, Lucy and Joshua are here to prove that old adage … right. Lucy absolutely hates Joshua, and the feeling is mutual as far as Joshua is concerned. The heat escalates when both are up for the same promotion. As their rivalry heats up, some of that tension transfers from the workplace into the realm of romance.
Vision in White by Nora Roberts
Roberts has become a titan in the romance genre, and her novel Vision in White does not disappoint. It tells the story of wedding planner Mackensie and her belief that she is better at planning weddings for couples in love than actually being in love. But when she meets Carter and starts a fling with him, she catches feelings and is forced to decide whether she wants to stick to keeping things casual or to take the plunge into love.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Lara Jean likes writing letters to boys she has fallen in love with, but she never sends them. So imagine her surprise when one of those boys she fell in love with approaches her to tell her with a very familiar-looking letter. Cue chaos and panic that only a sixteen-year-old girl can pull off. This fun and sweet story was such a good read that it turned into a movie.
Nine Lives by Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel is romance. Her books have been on the New York Times best-seller list more often. And her book Nine Lives is another one of those. After her daredevil father died when she was nine, Maggie and her mother moved from city to city, trying to survive. Her mother warned her to stay away from daredevils. Heeding her advice, Maggie drops her adventurous high school love and settles for a tame and dependable man to marry. But when tragedy strikes again, Maggie decides to go on an adventure all her own, where she meets the adventurous boy she met and left in high school. The man who has always been at the back of her mind since she left him.
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Have you ever wanted to have specific memories totally erased from your brain? That was what Aaron wanted, too. He was trying to recover from a tragedy with the support of friends and his girlfriend. While on the mend, he starts spending more time with Thomas. This leads to some unexpected realizations and memories that would take our hero and the readers by surprise.
The Duke and I by Julia Queen
What do you do to get marriage-minded mothers off your back? Why, pretend to court someone, of course. That is what Simon Basset does. And his partner in the ruse? His best friend’s sister, Daphne Bridgerton. But what happens when that ruse starts to feel real? Crack open the book and find out.
Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
McNaught is another one of those romance genre giants, and she has written yet another masterpiece in Whitney, My Love. Paris society darling Whitney Stone returns to England with the sole purpose of wooing her childhood love, Paul. However, her father had other ideas. He marries her off to the Duke of Claymore. He is as handsome as he is arrogant. But even so, she finds herself slowly seduced by her new husband. Will she fall for the duke’s passion, or will she hold out for her perfect love, Paul?
Have you found a book you’d love to read from our list yet? Maybe you can start a wishlist of romance stories to immerse yourself in our list of romance stories. Either way, happy reading!