Top 100 Romance Novels on Goodreads

Posted by Jessica on February 8, 2015

In the mood for a little soulful yearning? Or do you need some sweaty, pulse-pounding action? No matter your tastes, we've got some romance for you! In honor of Romance Week here at Goodreads, we combed through thousands of romance novels to find the top 100 romance novels of all time! You'll find trusted icons like Jane Austen and Margaret Mitchell all the way up to current fan favorites Colleen Hoover and Sylvia Day, with all sorts of timeless, juicy, steamy love stories in between.

To help narrow the field, we limited our results to books aimed at adult audiences (sorry, Twilight) and books with at least a 4.0 average rating (sorry, Fifty Shades of Grey). We found that contemporary romance—especially erotica!—is read in the greatest numbers, but we also included results in popular sub-genres, including historical romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense.

What's your "number"...how many have you read? Tell us in the comments! You can also view this list on Listopia and compare numbers with friends!





































































































What's your "number"...how many have you read?


Comments Showing 1-50 of 1,691 (1691 new)


message 1: by Landslide (new)

Landslide 7 in 100... I have a lot of catching up to do!


message 2: by Pranusha (new)

Pranusha 18!


Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* Well, one of them I have read but you have marked as "want to read" on this page for some reason. Gone with the wind is my favorite on this list - but I argue about it being an actual love story, I find the story very unromantic and definitely not a love story. Its called one but that's inaccurate to me.

Not sure otherwise on this list of books I enjoy that I consider romances - Dark Prince by Christine Feehan was a guilty pleasure and a lot of fun, so maybe that one.


message 4: by Tracey (new)

Tracey 11 but want to read lots more


message 5: by Muniat (new)

Muniat 25! Gotta read more


message 6: by Hulya (new)

Hulya Kara Yuksel 15 :)


message 7: by Elisa (new)

Elisa Wang 33 :)


message 8: by Hristina (new)

Hristina Todorova 29 already done and 8 marked "to read" - it's not so bad :)


message 9: by Fadwa (new)

Fadwa 9 books


message 10: by Brandy Stabile (new)

Brandy Stabile 14


message 11: by Gloria Uribe (new)

Gloria Uribe 10 books and 1 currently reading!!!!


message 12: by Bookish (new)

Bookish Temptations 26 that I remembered to mark as read :)


message 13: by Marina (new)

Marina 4 books and suddenly i realize that i rate them 2 stars lol. maybe i'm not really into romance genre lol


message 14: by Danielle (new)

Danielle 23! And now some more reading!


message 15: by ~Lynn~ (new)

~Lynn~ 55!! Wow, half way through!


message 16: by diana marcela (new)

diana marcela Ballestas wow. only one. :'(


message 17: by Grisel (new)

Grisel 11. Hm.


message 18: by SassyFraz (new)

SassyFraz 25


message 19: by chusky08 (last edited Feb 10, 2015 02:07PM) (new)

chusky08 26 however, there are so many more that should be added to this list-such as Gabriel's Rapture and Gabriel's Redemption!


message 20: by Lisa VH (new)

Lisa VH 14 - but another 4 I own and on my tbr pile for the next month :)


message 21: by [deleted user] (new)

Fifty-one, so far. There are several more I already own but have not read yet.


message 22: by Stéphanie (last edited Feb 11, 2015 01:02PM) (new)

Stéphanie 23.. Still have many left tout read


message 23: by Holly (new)

Holly Reads Xx Read 27
TBR 13
The rest I'm not interested in.


message 24: by Pamela (new)

Pamela Harder 31 read


message 25: by Elizabeth (new)

Elizabeth Wait! Nothing from Mary Balogh?


message 26: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Braden Lewis Hooray! I read this list specifically to look for Jane Eyre and there it is. Hands down the most romantic book I've ever read. I listened to the audio book, in fact, while I worked on my wedding favors 10 years ago, and it gave me the tingles. Awesome.


message 27: by Ashley (new)

Ashley N. 10 read, several others on my "to read"


message 28: by Paula-O (new)

Paula-O Erin (*is in a reviewing slump*) wrote: "Well, one of them I have read but you have marked as "want to read" on this page for some reason. Gone with the wind is my favorite on this list - but I argue about it being an actual love story, I..."

Erin Rhett was in love with Scarlett trough all the wars and her many men, dont you see that? greatest love story ever that she did not realize what she had til it was gone.


message 29: by Danielle (Danniegurl) (last edited Feb 10, 2015 04:01PM) (new)

Danielle (Danniegurl) 31 read.
13 tbrs


message 30: by Christi (new)

Christi 12-And I agree that Gone With the Wind is not a love story. NOT.


Temperamental Angel 30 read
7 TBR


message 32: by Toni (new)

Toni 31


message 33: by Susana (new)

Susana I've read 22.


message 34: by Elle (new)

Elle 11 read
8 TBR


message 35: by Michele (last edited Feb 10, 2015 05:02PM) (new)

Michele 34... 4 DNF
1 TBR


message 36: by Ruth (new)

Ruth I have read 13. Need to read more!


message 37: by Mary (new)

Mary Only 7....!


message 38: by Jodi (new)

Jodi 33 Read
13 TBR


message 39: by Carol (new)

Carol 20


Laura CandOs Mom 45 and counting. I am going to put more on my TBR list. Thanks hot the info


message 41: by Ellie (new)

Ellie 37 !!!


message 42: by Nilofer (new)

Nilofer 19 - but agree, need Mary Balogh on this list, and Anne Stuart's Black Ice too!


message 43: by Ririn (new)

Ririn You should give a note that you only put the first book of the series in this list. Because surely Love in The Afternoon (The Hathaways #5) deserve to be here more than Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways #1) rating wise.

I'm just angry because Devil in Winter (Wallflowers #3) deserve to be here hands down. LOL.


message 44: by Angela (new)

Angela 34 Read and several are ready and waiting on my kindle


message 45: by Doris (new)

Doris Hayner The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is the best of the best.


message 46: by Renee (new)

Renee 16 read...I guess I've got some catching up to do!


message 47: by Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* (last edited Feb 11, 2015 07:26AM) (new)

Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* Paula-O wrote: "Erin Rhett was in love with Scarlett trough all the wars and her many men, dont you see that? greatest love story ever that she did not realize what she had til it was gone. "


Of course I 'see' that - but to me that's not a romance or love story. I loved Gone with the wind, but I see it as an epic drama and tragedy, certainly not the greatest love story


message 48: by Cyndi (new)

Cyndi 17 with many more I need to read


message 49: by Joy (new)

Joy 35 read and 5 already downloaded


message 50: by Manisha (new)

Manisha Rajpurohit I have read 23 out of 100


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