Romance Novels (and Adjacent Works) in the 2023 Tagset

[amphipodgirl]

This is a list of romance novels and romance-adjacent works in the 2023 Yuletide tagset. I use the RWA definition of the genre: a romance novel has (1) A central love story with (2) an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending (HEA or HFN).

Please let me know about any errors or omissions! There are quite a few books here that I haven't read for which I am going on Goodreads's notion of genre which is...imprecise.

Wow! So many folks have commented with additions that we are now well over 100 works, which is way more book than that since many are series. Go Team Romance!


Romance Novels

Each novel is marked with the gender combo of the love interests and the sub-genre of romance. Where there are multiple pairings listed, they are generally the main couples of different books in a series. Books marked with an era are historical romances set in that time; if a book was written a while ago, it will say "written in (era)".

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz - MM YA Contemporary
Arden St. Ives Series - Alexis Hall - MM Billionaire Romance
Atlantide - E.M. Epps - MF Fantasy
The Art of Deception - Stephanie Burgis - MF Historical Fantasy
Autoboyography - Christina Lauren - MM YA Contemporary
Band Sinister - K. J. Charles - MM Regency with polyamorous aspects
Bedwyn Saga - Mary Balogh - MF Regency
Big Bad Wolf Series - Charlie Adhara - MM Paranormal
Black Sheep - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
Blue Castle - L. M. Montgomery - MF, written 1920s
The Boy I Love Series - Marion Husband - MM Post-WW I Historical
Boyfriend Material - Alexis Hall - MM Contemporary Romcom
A Brother's Price - Wen Spencer - M/FFFF Fantasy (Matriarchal)
The Brothers Sinister Series - Courtney Milan - MF Victorian
The Cabots - Cat Sebastian - MM Mid-Twentieth-Century Historical
The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun - MM Contemporary Romcom
A Charm of Magpies Series - K. J. Charles - MM Victorian Fantasy
Clown in a Cornfield Series - Adam Cesare - MM YA Horror
The Corinthian - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
Cyclone Series - Courtney Milan - MF Contemporary
The Doomsday Books - K. J. Charles - MM Regency
Dragon Prince Trilogy - Melanie Rawn - MF Fantasy
Duskwalker Brides Series - Opal Reyne - MF Fantasy/Paranormal
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell - MF YA Contemporary
The Elemental Blessings series - Sharon Shinn - MF Fantasy
Emma - Jane Austen - MF, written during the Regency
The Empyrean - Rebecca Yarros - MF YA Fantasy
England Series - K. J. Charles - FF, MM Edwardian
Enlightenment Series - Joanna Chambers - MM Regency
False Colours - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
False Doctrine Series - Alice Degan - MF 1920s Historical Fantasy
Frederica - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting - K. J. Charles - MM Regency
The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
Green Men Series - K. J. Charles - MM Early Twentieth-Century Historical Paranormal
Guild Hunter - Nalini Singh - MF Paranormal
The Happy Couple - Naoise Dolan - MF Contemporary
Havemercy Series - Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett - MM Fantasy
Healer and Seer Series - Victoria Hanley - MF YA Fantasy
Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews - MF Urban Fantasy
His Fair Assassin - Robin LaFevers - MF YA Fantasy
Innkeeper Chronicles - Ilona Andrews - MF Urban Fantasy
The Iron Covenant - Ilona Andrews - MF Urban Fantasy
Jane in Love - Rachel Givney - MF Time-travel Romance
The Jacobite Trilogy | The Flight of the Heron Series - D. K. Broster - MF 18th Century Historical
Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews - MF Urban Fantasy
Last Binding Series - Freya Marske - MM, FF, MM Edwardian Fantasy
Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree - FF Fantasy
Like Real People Do - E. L. Massey - MM Sports Romance
Lilywhite Boys Series - K. J. Charles - MM, MF, MF, MM Victorian
London Highwaymen - Cat Sebastian - MM, MF Georgian
Longhope Abbey Series - Mia Vincy - MF Regency
The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood - MF Contemporary
Lynes and Mathey Series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott - MM Victorian Fantasy
Magic in Manhattan - Allie Therin - MM 1920s Fantasy
The Marsdens Series - Sherry Thomas - MF Victorian
Maurice - E. M. Forster - MM Written early 20th century
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen - MF Written in the early 19th century
Mercy Thompson Series - Patricia Briggs - MF Paranormal
Monstrous Series - Lily Mayne - MM Paranormal
Mortal Follies Series - Alexis Hall - FF Regency Fantasy
Night World - L. J. Smith - MF YA Paranormal
A Noah & Cole Thriller Series - Tal Bauer - MM Romantic Suspense
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell - MF, written in the Victorian era
Ocean's Echo - Everina Maxwell - MM Science Fiction
One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston - FF Speculative Fiction Romance
Page & Sommers - Cat Sebastian - MM Post-WW II Cosy Mystery
Perilous Courts - Tavia Lark - MM Fantasy
Persuasion - Jane Austen - MF, written during the Regency
Pistols For Two - Georgette Heyer (short story) - MF Regency
The Princess Bride - William Goldman - Fantasy
The Quiet Gentleman - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
Radiance Series - Tavia Lark - MM Fantasy
Regency Faerie Tales Series - Olivia Atwater - MF,MF,FF Regency Fantasy
The Reluctant Widow - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
The Rest of the Story - Tal Bauer - Hockey Romance
Roaring Twenties Magic - Allie Therin - MM 1920s Fantasy
Role Playing - Cathy Yardley - MF Contemporary
The Saint of Steel Series - T. Kingfisher - MF, MF, MMF Fantasy
Seducing the Sedgwicks - Cat Sebastian - MM Regency
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - MF Written during the Regency
Sins of the Cities Series - K. J. Charles - MM Victorian
The Sleeping Soldier - Aster Glenn Gray - MM Time-travel Romance (1865, 1965)
Smythe-Smith Quartet - Julia Quinn - MF Regency
Sons of the Fallen Series - Jaclyn Osborn - MM Fantasy
Spires Series - Alexis Hall - MM Contemporary
Spy Stuff - Matthew J. Metzger - MM YA
Summers at Castle Auburn - Sharon Shinn - MF Fantasy
Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms - Mercedes Lackey - MF Fantasy (only Worldbuilding nominated)
This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - FF Speculative Fiction
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute - MF, written 1950s
The Turner Series - Cat Sebastian - MM Regency
Twelve Houses - Sharon Shinn - MF Fantasy
The Unknown Ajax - Georgette Heyer - MF Regency
Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead - MF YA Paranormal
Wanted A Gentleman - K. J. Charles - MM Regency
We Could Be So Good - Cat Sebastian - MM 1950s Historical
The Warrender Saga - Mary Burchell - MF - Written late 20th century
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley - MM Victorian Fantasy
Whyborne and Griffin - Jordan L. Hawk - MM Fantasy Victorian
The Will Darling Adventures - K. J. Charles - MM Edwardian
Winter's Orbit - Everina Maxwell - MM Science Fiction
七爷 | Qi Ye - priest - MM, historical fantasy/wuxia (may also appear under the translated title 'Lord Seventh')
天涯客 | Faraway Wanderers - priest - MM, wuxia (will also appear under the pinyin title of 'Tian Ya Ke')
杀破狼 | Sha Po Lang - priest - MM, steampunk/historical fiction (will also appear under the translated title 'Stars of Chaos')
烈火浇愁 | Lie Huo Jiao Chou - priest - MM, mix of urban fantasy and historical fantasy (will also appear under the translated title of 'Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire')
镇魂 | Guardian - priest - MM, urban fantasy (may also appear under the pinyin title of 'Zhenhun')
默读 - priest | The Light in the Night - priest - MM, crime/thriller (will appear most places as 'Mo Du' or 'Silent Reading', the ao3 canonical is VERY confusing there)
小蘑菇 - 一十四洲 | Xiǎo Mó Gū - Yī Shí Sì Zhōu - MM, post-apocalyptic SF (will also appear under the translated title 'Little Mushroom')



There is also a list of works I consider romance-adjacent: love stories without happy endings, meta works about romance genres, non-romance novels by romance writers, and just plain stuff I think romance readers like.


Romance-adjacent Works

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter - Alexis Hall (Hall mostly writes romance but my impression is this is not one)
Alexander Trilogy - Mary Renault - Ancient Greek Historical Fiction
Cecilia - Frances Burney - MF Novel of manners written in the 18th century
The Charioteer - Mary Renault - WW II Historical Fiction, a love story but not a romance novel
Doctrine of Labyrinths - Sarah Monette - MM Fantasy
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell - Civil War Historical Novel
Heather Wells Series - Meg Cabot - Light detective series with an MF romance at its center
Howards End - E. M. Forster - Early Twentieth-Century Novel
The House in the Cerulean Sea - T. J. Klune - Fantasy novel with MM romance subplot
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë - 19th Century Gothic Novel
The Last of the Wine - Mary Renault - Ancient Greek Historical Novel
Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Series - Claudia Gray - Mysteries that are Pride and Prejudice fan fic
My Cousin Rachel - Daphne du Maurier - MF Gothic; not sure if it has an HEA
My Most Excellent Year - Steve Kluger - YA LGBT Contemporary
The Sherwood Ring - Elizabeth Marie Pope - YA dual-timeline American Revolution and mid-20th century
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller - Ancient Greek historical novel
Tales of the City Series - Armistead Maupin - Queer found family with some romantic relationships (gay and straight)
We Are A Picturesque Small Town And We Refuse To Be The Setting For Your RomCom - Rachel McKenny - Humorous short story, I guess?
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë - Gothic, written in the 19th century
The Romance Genres Discuss - Elisabeth Wheatley - Short videos in which the personifications of 4 romance genres discuss their love lives
The Serpent Gates - A. K. Larkwood - FF Fantasy
Victorian London's Hidden Porn Trade Locations (Anthropomorphic)
不见上仙三百年 - 木苏里｜Bù Jiàn Shàng Xiān Sān Bǎi Nián | Unseen Immortal of Three Hundred Years - Mù Sū Lǐ - MM
千秋 - 梦溪石 | Thousand Autumns - Mèng Xī Shí - MM
图灵密码 - 非天夜翔 | Turing's Code - Fēi Tiān Yè Xiáng - MM
我嗑了对家x我的cp | I Ship My Adversary X Me - PEPA - MM
魔尊也想知道 - 青色羽翼 | Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know - Cyan Wings - MM

Comments

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Perilous Courts and Radiance Series are both m/m romance series by Tavia Lark that are in the tagset!

[amphipodgirl]

Added, thank you!

[topaz_eyes]

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute is WW2/post-WW2 m/f romance written in 1950.

[kitsunerei88]

Both Courtney Milan series are also romance. Brothers Sinister is MF Regency (? Might be Victorian, haven't read them in awhile), Cyclone Series is MF Contemporary.

[amphipodgirl]

Thank you, I've added them to the list. GR says Brothers Sinister is 1863, so I labeled it Victorian.

[amphipodgirl]

Thank you, added it!

[jaegermighty]

Heather Wells Series - Meg Cabot is definitely romance-adjacent at least - it's a light detective series with a romance at its center!!

[amphipodgirl]

Thank you! I've added it under romance-adjacent.

[daisyninjagirl]

You could add North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell? It's MF, written in the Victorian Era.

Thanks for compiling the list!

[amphipodgirl]

Thank you! It's so long since I've read it that I wasn't sure whether to include it. I've added it to the list.

[taken_aback_by_tuesdays]

I have to agree that the affair of the mysterious letter is not a romance at all -- this is one of the few works of Alexis Hall that doesn't have a bit of it (there's maybe the slightest hint in the introduction but that's pretty much it). It's a mystery and/or adventure, and solidly fantasy.

[amphipodgirl]

Thank you for such a lovely munch of additions!

[amphipodgirl]

Yes, I think he was still finding his groove.

[choirwoman]

Both the Atlantide books by E.M. Epps are F/M fantasy romance.

[daisyninjagirl]

Thank you!

[celamity]

Cecilia - Frances Burney is a M/F romance-adjacent 18th century novel of manners.

[amphipodgirl]

I thought it might be! Thank you for letting me know -- I've added it.

[amphipodgirl]

Added!

I'm going to have so much to add to my TBR...

[graycardinal]

The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (better known for her fantasy The Perilous Gard) is romance-adjacent at the least, and the two nominated characters constitute the novel's primary pairing. It's tricky to categorize in modern genre terms - it was published for younger readers before the modern "middle grade" and "YA" categories were codified, and also before the modern genrefication of category romance, but is one of those books that is genuinely accessible to all ages.

To summarize very briefly: this is a dual-timeline story set partly during the American Revolution and partly in the mid-20th century (it's set mostly at an Old Family Estate™ when rural phone service was still, well, rural). The primary romance occurs in the Revolutionary period, related to our nominal viewpoint character by the ghosts of the Revolutionary players. Meanwhile, two secondary modern characters are dueling over access to family papers which may solve a historical mystery regarding the notorious British spy and guerilla leader Peaceable Drummond Sherwood. There's the suggestion of incipient romance for our modern heroine as well, but that's mostly incidental to the overall narrative. The writing is engaging in the extreme, and there are multiple extended character/action scenes that would be amazing to see on stage or screen (I am moderately astonished that Disney didn't adapt this during its early Classic Family Film era).

[amphipodgirl]

Oooh, that sounds fascinating! I kinda sorta distilled your lovely explanation down to a one-liner and put it in romance-adjacent. Thank you!

Re: Disney -- this would have beat the pants of The Gnomemobile!

[a_belladonna]

Doesn't "The Princess Bride" lack a pairing-tag? (I'm not familiar with book, so I genuinely don't know if it's because it's a romance without an actual couple, or if it's an omission)

But thanks for compiling the list - I found a couple of novels to put on my reading list :)

[amphipodgirl]

Oh, PBride is all about Buttercup/Westley! Now, Westley’s not a nominated character, but as a book it definitely qualifies for central love story. I suppose one could quibble about the ending, but I’m not going to. And it’s really something special—consider reading it.

[pure_anon]

Definitely add The Warrender Saga - Mary Burchell to this! They're MF written from the 1960s-1980s. I'm requesting specifically fic for Music of the Heart and Masquerade With Music from the series, but they're all so worth a read. They're set in and around the opera scene in Britain at the time, written by an author who really was friends with the leading opera players of the day -- so they read extremely authentically.

“Do you know what I mean by a music-maker? It's something quite different from a performer, you know. Different from someone who goes on a platform to demonstrate -- often very successfully -- how accomplished he or she may be. It means someone who serves the great art of music with heart and soul, as well as fingers and brain. It takes everything... to make the real thing. Above all, there must be that desire to serve, rather than to impress. To be humble rather than easily satisfied with oneself.”
― Mary Burchell, Child of Music

They're really lovely -- the heroines are all so vibrant and interesting, the heroes competent and sometimes cold, but in a really interesting way. They just make me so happy to read!!! They're very into the idea of work and industry; the characters are often talented, but if they don't have the work ethic to back it up, they will not get far. Burchell creates such a marvelous world -- it really draws you into this artistic field. The way she writes about it is so!!

For a second such panic overwhelmed her that she nearly rushed from the stage too. But then an innate self-discipline — and the knowledge that several people were depending on her — gave her some courage. And the first notes from the orchestra warned her to be ready.

In something between desperation and supplication, she glanced in the conductor’s direction, and again she received that wonderful smile which she had seen him occasionally bestow on others but never, until that day, on herself.

“It’s part of his technique for making me do what he wants, and doesn’t really mean a thing,” she told herself. And then she thought no more of him as a person. Only as the supreme support and inspiration which carried her, almost effortlessly, into her first phrases from an operatic stage.

At first, in her nervousness, she hardly seemed to hear anything. And then, suddenly, the glorious intoxication of singing with full orchestra for the first time was upon her. It seemed as though the whole world opened out before her to limitless horizons, and, as her voice soared into the upper reaches of the opera house, it was as though she soared too — a spirit released from human bondage.

Nothing like it had ever happened to her before, and she was so indescribably elated that she would have forgotten all artistic discipline and control if she had not been held by the iron authority, and yet flexible direction, of the man at the conductor’s desk."
― Mary Burchell, A Song Begins

Not to mention, they're also extremely hecking romantic at times. I love a lot of the pairings in the 13 book series, and they're all so unique and interesting.

‘You’re very quiet.’ He frowned impatiently. ‘Have you decided to be offended or something?’

‘N-no.’

‘Then what’s the matter? — Why,’ he exclaimed incredulously, ‘you’re crying!’

‘No, I’m not.’

‘I don’t believe you.’ He put out his hand and caught her, lightly and with some accuracy, by the wrist. Then with a questing, uncertain movement he unexpectedly put his other hand against her wet cheek. ‘You are crying,’ he said again, and there was astonishment and amusement in his voice, and something else which curiously warmed her cold, frightened heart.

‘I’m — sorry,’ she gasped.

‘No, don’t be sorry. I can’t recall that anyone ever cried for me before. Perhaps arrogant people don’t inspire tears.’ And he laughed slightly. Then he released her wrist, but only so that he could take her face between both his hands.

'You silly girl,’ he said, half mockingly, half tenderly. ‘Your cheeks are quite wet. But I think, from the feel of it, that you have a pretty shape to your face — and laughter lines here — ’ those sensitive fingers traced a light curve round the corners of her mouth. Then suddenly he released her and said in a matter-of-fact sort of tone,

‘Well, I suppose we’d better do some of those letters, particularly the ones from the people who loathe me. After all, we don’t want them to think I’m self-pitying, do we?’

‘N-no,’ agreed Antoinette huskily. ‘We’ll reply to them very promptly and confidently.’

Sorry for the gushing! I just love these books so much -- I need to go off and write my promo post! :D

[celamity]

I see you added it as a comedy of manners. It's a novel of manners (a separate different genre). While there are satirical elements, and some humour in places, it is no comedy.

[amphipodgirl]

Added! And I'd say you're well on your way to that promo post! 8^)