I started reading romance (specifically, contemporary romance / romantic comedy) books somewhat regularly when I started my Bookstagram at the beginning of 2020. I’ve always loved reading but didn’t read much during college, so when I got back into reading a few years after I got my degree, I wasn’t totally sure what kind of books I enjoyed. I started by reading a variety of genres, but it didn’t take me long to figure out that rom-coms were the books I wanted to read most often and that they were the ones that kept me the most interested.

Romance has blown up even more in the last four years, especially when Colleen Hoover’s books were all the rage in 2022. While I’m personally glad we all seem to be mostly past the CoHo phase, I am really glad that it made reading romance books “cool” because… it is cool. It’s also fun, relaxing, happy, emotional, and a much more productive way to spend time compared to scrolling on social media (even though I still do plenty of that, too).

So, if you’re someone who is newer to the romance genre and you’re wondering where to start, I’m hoping this post will help. This post is a compilation of the books that I would recommend to anyone who asked me where to start in the romance section of the library or book store. These are all books that I’ve given 4/5 or 5/5 stars to, and they all fall in / are close to the contemporary romance genre. I don’t read many books from related genres like romantasy (romance/fantasy) or historical romance, so I won’t get into those here.

One last note is that a lot of these are wonderful audiobooks – I’ll note the ones I’ve listened to and recommend.

Part of Your World – Abby Jimenez

This is the first book in Abby Jimenez’s second series, but note that this series takes place in the same universe as her first series of three books. I definitely recommend the first three books too, so if you like to read things in order I would start with those (The Friend Zone, The Happy Ever After Playlist, Life’s Too Short). However, Part of Your World has become a staple of the rom-com world, it’s my favorite of the five books she’s written, and I think I can speak for most of the Bookstagram world when I say it’s an incredibly loved book. It’s also incredible audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan and Zachary Webber.

Any (or all) of Emily Henry’s first three books

I was torn on which of Emily Henry’s first three books to include on this list, so I would say start with whichever one piques your interest. I always say my favorite thing about Emily Henry is how incredible she is at writing internal monologues – I find myself wow’d by the characers’ thoughts every time I re-read them. I mostly listen to these three – they’re all narrated by Julia Whelan.

• Beach Read is about a romance author working through her writers block after finding out her parents’ romance was not exactly what she thought. She moves to her dad’s lake house on Lake Michigan and recognizes the neighbor as someone she went to college with.
• People We Meet on Vacation is my personal favorite Emily Henry novel; we follow polar opposite best friends on their summer vacations for like 9 years. It’s a very slow burn with timeline jumping, lots of traveling, and lots of reflecting on the past.
• Book Lovers is about a literary agent who gets dragged from New York City to a small town by her sister for a much needed vacation, even though she isn’t very good at taking vacations. She runs into someone unexpected from NYC while there.

The Soulmate Equation – Christina Lauren

This was another book that was really popular in the last few years, which doesn’t always happen with Christina Lauren books – they can be pretty hit or miss. I think this one is important to read because it gives you a taste of Christina Lauren’s best work, and they really are a staple in the contemporary romance world. They’re two women who write together using both of their first names as their pen name.

The Love Hypothesis – Ali Hazelwood

This book took the Bookstagram world by storm when it came out and was one of the Book of the Month options in fall 2021. It’s a beautifully written romance and tribute to women in STEM, and it’s a book that I recommend to everyone I know. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll leave it at that.

The Hating Game – Sally Thorne

This was an incredibly popular book when I joined Bookstagram, and I re-listen to it about once a year on audiobook. It was also turned into an incredibly well done movie a few years ago starring Lucy Hale. It is a classic enemies to lovers book and workplace romance, so kind of two birds (common tropes) with one stone.

The Simple Wild – K.A. Tucker

This was another really popular book around when I joined Bookstagram – K.A. Tucker has written a lot of books, but I think this one was so popular because it took place in a rural part of Alaska which felt unique and had a lot of unique issues that came with it. It’s actually a series of three books and a novella, if you get sucked into the characters’ universe like so many of us did.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of my very favorite authors; she writes really good books that are usually shelved as general fiction, but they often have some kind of love story / romance in them. While this isn’t strictly a romance, I still put it on this list since 1) it’s an amazing book and 2) with seven husbands, you know there are a lot of relationships throughout.

The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary

This was one of my first audiobooks when I joined Bookstagram, but I still can’t remember why I listened to it – it could have been recommended on Audible? But I’m really not sure. Regardless, it’s an incredible book and audiobook, made even more amazing by the fact that it was Beth O’Leary’s debut AND she wrote almost the whole book on the train while commuting between work and home. It’s a great book from a UK author, which is always fun even though I don’t know where any of the towns are that they talk about, and it was recently made into a TV show that very closely followed the book. It’s available on Amazon Prime from Freevee.

Practice Makes Perfect – Sarah Adams

This is a book I recently read and is actually the second in the series, but it was super cute and made me cry, so I’m including it. It’s been all over Bookstagram this year and has the prettiest cover. This is a great fake dating book, which is another core trope of contemporary romance books.

Just Haven’t Met You Yet – Sophie Cousens

This is another great UK author to check out. I really enjoyed this book, and it felt a little different than a standard contemporary romance book, maybe because it had a lot of direct women empowerment in it? I listened to it and it was a little long for an audiobook though, so I might recommend reading it instead. I’ve also heard good things about her newest book, The Good Part, so I’m hoping to check that out soon.

The Proposal and / or Royal Holiday – Jasmine Guillory

Jasmine Guillory became really popular when The Proposal made Reese’s Book Club – it’s a super cute book, and one of my top two by her. The other one I really liked and recommend is Royal Holiday – I loved this one because it focuses on an older couple, which we don’t see too often in contemporary romance; for some reason it seems like everyone is in their late 20’s / early 30’s.

Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuinston

This is another classic Bookstagram book, so I think it’s good to read if you’re getting into romance. It was also made into a really good movie that is on Amazon Prime – I feel like every time I’ve talked to someone about books that were made into movies recently, this one comes up. I personally don’t love the last third of this book, but overall I think it’s still worth reading.

Holiday Romance – Catherine Walsh

If you’re looking for a holiday romance, check out… Holiday Romance. Her second book in the series, Snowed In, has gotten great reviews this year and made Holiday Romance regain popularity. I think I liked Holiday Romance better, but Catherine Walsh is a great writer and selfishly I hope she keeps writing books that take place around the holidays – it’s something to look forward to each winter.

Thank You For Listening – Julia Whelan

Julia Whelan has written a couple books, but she’s most well known for being one of the best female narrators ever – like you may have noticed, several of the books on this list are narrated by her. I really enjoyed this book and it stands out in my memory because so many aspects of it are unique. One unique aspect that I haven’t personally seen in another books is that the main character is a narrator, which no one knows better than Julia Whelan. In addition to being a great story, it felt like a glimpse into the narrator / audiobook world that I don’t know if I would have gotten without this book. Especially getting into romance books (and hopefully romance audiobooks), it will give you things to notice as you listen to books in the future.

One Day in December – Josie Silver

Josie Silver is possibly my favorite UK author – her first three books made me cry, with the record going to her second book (The Two Lives of Lydia Bird) which had me in tears by like page 15. One Day in December is her first book, and it was one of the books that made me really realize how much I loved romance books – I read it right before I started my Bookstagram account. I think this one is worth reading since it’s good and so popular – it also made Reese’s Book Club a few years ago.

Let me know if I missed any key contemporary romance books that you would recommend to new romance readers!