Heat Up with Some Warm (and Sometimes Red-Hot) Romance Novels
When I was given the assignment to highlight a few of the year’s best romance novels, I knew I’d need to rely on my reader’s advisory skills. At present, my bedside table is filled with gloomier books, where, if romance appears, it serves a decidedly smaller role in the story at large (think Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker, or The Child Finder by Rene Denefeld, both novels I’ve recently loved). But as I started researching romance releases for the year, I thought of some of the romance books I read when I was young.
I was particularly enamored with a mass market copy of Jackie Collins’s Hollywood Husbands, borrowed from my grandma, who to my delight devoured seriously racy content. Collins’s romances are gritty even as their narratives veer toward the expected happy ending; the books listed here are hopefully lighter-hearted fare and showcase healthier relationships overall. These titles are meant to be fun, positive, warm reads that will usher in some much-needed love and light to the darkest months of the year, especially following this fraught election season. Here are a few new ones to check out.
If you’d like more book recommendations by Sharma, click here.
Best Romance Novel Recommendation Guide
A Note From our Editor
These romance novels are perfect for Spring 2025, offering the ideal balance of light-hearted love stories and heartfelt moments that make for the perfect seasonal read, all with inclusion in mind. If you’re seeking a swoon-worthy escape or a tale of personal growth and connection, these titles bring warmth and joy to the new season and beyond.
And if you love the Spokane Public Library as much as I do, you’re in luck—each of these books is available for reservation through the library’s catalog. Simply reserve your copies at the branch nearest you and dive into these must-reads for Spring! Enjoy the journey and let the romance bloom. – Erin Peterson
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian
A reporter and a professional baseball player fall for one another (reluctantly, of course!) in this moving queer romance set in 1960s New York. Arts reporter Mark Bailey hates the assignment given to him by his flailing newspaper. They want him to write about shortstop Eddie O’Leary, who is having a terrible season. Mark dislikes sports and Eddie dislikes snobby writers, but as the interviews continue, the two men find a potential answer to their loneliness in one another. Like a great baseball game, this will elicit both tears and cheers.
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton
Encased in this jaw-dropping book jacket (so pretty!) is an enemies-to-lovers tale involving two dogged bird experts and potential “fowl play.” The birds being tracked are magical and deadly, making for a wild, feather-ruffling, genre-blending ride. Set in Europe, this is part of a new series of historical-fantasy romances, campy and fun and clever.
Raiders of the Lost Heart and Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura
Northwest writer Jo Segura’s adventuresome romances feature Aztec empires, Amazon rainforests, and a “disgustingly handsome”(lol) rival archaeologist. Grab this series if you’re ready to head to Central and South America for a steamy, lush, romantic romcom.
Time and Tide by J.M Frey
For lovers of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and Diana Gabaldon, consider Time and Tide, in which a twenty-first century bisexual woman named Sam is magically transported back to 1805, where she meets a landlady who is also destined to become a world-renowned author. Their love affair will inspire the first lesbian kiss in British literature, and a comeuppance for a hideous villain.
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Set in Harlem, this romance involving a florist and a musician has been deemed the “Best Romance Book of 2024” by the New York Times, Library Journal, BookPage, Publishers Weekly, and more. The book is not only steamy and romantic, but complex and wise. Reader’s Digest describes it as “a story layered with nuance that gracefully examines thornier topics of parenting in the modern age, life with chronic pain, and Black identity.”
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
What happens when two exes unwittingly book the same European food and wine tour? Trapped together in Europe for three weeks, Theo and Kit swear there’s no longer a connection between them, and to prove it, they start waging bets about who can sleep with the handsome tour guide first, and who can rack up the most conquests throughout their travels. But maybe they’re carrying more of a flame for one another than they first realized… There are tons of sensory delights in this book as it moves through the romantic landscapes of Italy, Spain, and France.
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
This novel is a sweeping “spicy” romantasy, a queer tale involving Imperial China that spans thousands of years from 4 BCE to the 18th century to present-day Los Angeles. If you relish historical, sexy, love-story-reincarnations, then pick this title up from your local library or indie bookstore. Reviewers describe this as “red-hot” and “magical.”
If you’re not into sharing your books and want to purchase, we highly recommend finding some of our best romance novels list recipients (and more!) at local bookstores like Page 42 Books, Auntie’s Bookstore, and Wishing Tree Books.
