I was trying to look back and count how many romance novels I’ve read so far this year, and the number is probably a little too embarrassing to admit publicly. I have a deep love – verging on obsession – of reading about love and romance, and whenever I catch a glimpse of a romcom on the office bookshelves, I’m quick to grab it and shove it in my bag. Often, I’ll have finished it by the following morning. I’ve built up such a hopeless romantic reputation that colleagues will now bring me romcoms to read so, yes, I’m a certified romance lover through and through. Whether they’re TikTok hits or Sunday Times bestsellers, I inhale all kinds of stories about falling in love, heartbreak and second chances on a weekly (read: daily) basis.

And the great thing about the world of romance novels is that they’re not all the same. Depending on the mood that you’re in, you may want a devastating read rather than a mushy or slightly cringe story. So, in the spirit of sharing is caring, I’ve pulled together all my favourite romances to read according to the mood you’re in.

When you’re feeling in love

If you could bottle up the feeling of falling in love with someone new, I truly believe it would clear out shelves in minutes. The meetcutes, the build up, the big romantic gestures. A new love feels warm, fuzzy and as if you’re walking through life with rose-tinted glasses on – even when someone’s rude to you on the train. To keep that feeling going for a bit longer, these books will make you feel as if you’re falling in love all over again.

There’s the ‘fake dating-to-lovers’ storyline of the hilarious and heartfelt The Dating Plan, the tense romantic build-up in Honey And Spice and exes giving their relationship a second chance in The Ex Vows. Or you’ve got one of my favourite romantic tropes, the enemies-to-lovers pipeline, in The Slowest Burn, Fault Line and, from the queen of romcoms herself, Emily Henry’s Book Lovers.

When you’re feeling spicy

The world of spicy and steamy romances has always been a popular part of this genre, especially with Mills & Boon books and Jilly Cooper novels. Now, with the rise of spicy and sexy love stories on TikTok and social media users giving books a spice rating, there are lots of new books that’ll make you blush and feel hot under the collar – the ones you definitely can’t read in public. These books are firmly reserved for weekend reading in the comfort of your own home. But even with their steamy content, they’re still love stories that are packed with feeling and romance, just with a whole lot of sex.

When you’re feeling like you want to escape

One of the fastest-growing genres in publishing is the combined worlds of romance and fantasy: romantasy. The term ‘romantasy’ has over 84 million posts on Booktok, and Goodreads even added a ‘best romantasy’ category to its yearly Choice Awards in 2023. It’s a form of pure escapism that still has love at the heart of the stories but is set in a different era – or sometimes even a completely new world.

In Girl, Goddess, Queen, the story of Hades and Persephone is reimagined into the ultimate romcom drama with Persephone’s journey and growth the focus of the story. For emotional and heartfelt period romances, Pride And Prejudice is my go-to annual read as is as a more recent find, the Bridgerton book series. If you want to dive into a series that’s gripped the romantasy world – everyone is picking up a copy and talking about it – A Court Of Thorns And Roses is the place to start.

When you’re feeling heartbroken

Having your heart broken sucks hard, and yes, you can take the usual steps of trying to heal and move on, but I’ve found that picking up one of the hundreds of romance novels I have on my shelves has sometimes done more for my heart than talking things through or blocking an ex on social media. It’s the same comforting feeling I get when I listen to my Taylor Swift-packed sad girl playlist; there’s something about wallowing in your feelings that gives you permission to just feel it all.

Personally, there’s no better way to get into your feelings than reading a devastating love story or two. And you can’t talk about devastating novels without mentioning the classics like One Day and Me Before You. Or you have more recent ones that aren’t as gut-wrenching but can soothe a broken heart, such as the will-they-won’t Talking At Night, the slow burn and curse-breaking Just For The Summer and one of my all-time favourites, The Situationship.

When you’re looking for something easy and comforting

Some romance novels just make a perfect Sunday read. A cup of tea, a lit candle, a blanket draped over you on the sofa and a cosy, easy and comforting romance to end the weekend in a restful and calm way – especially in the face of those dreaded Sunday scaries. We don’t want anything too devastating or complicated, just easy reading, and that’s exactly what these books offer. Bridget Jones’s Diary needs no introduction, but it’s a book I find myself returning to again and again. There are also more recent novels, though. Sara Jafari’s People Change has become a firm favourite and is one of the best second-chance love stories I’ve read in recent years.

Then there’s the fake dating story in Picture Perfect, the small-town romance of Savor It and the friends-to-lovers and forced proximity of This Summer Will Be Different. And then we have well-known names of the romance genre, including Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, which puts an academic twist to the classic enemies-to-lovers trope, and Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series, which I inhaled in one weekend.

When you’re feeling a bit silly 

Then, of course, there are times when you want to read something that’s a little out of the box – something funny or on the sillier side when it comes to storylines and concepts. In Morbidly Yours (an excellent title), we follow a blossoming relationship between an Irish mortician and an American animator as they escape their own pasts and find each other. A cosy and spooky read is Haunt Your Heart Out, about a handsome ghost hunter and the bookseller who made up the ghosts he’s chasing.

Prime Time Romance asks the question: is love on the small screen better than the real thing? The two love interests, Brynn and Josh, are roommates but find themselves transported into Brynn’s favourite TV show in order to give the show the ending it truly deserves. Sticking to the TV theme, The True Love Experiment sees a romance writer and a documentary filmmaker join forces to come up with the ultimate Hollywood love story, but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script. And then there’s Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare, which is all about the out-of-the-box set-up between Tiffy and Leon, who both share a one-bedroom flat, and what happens between them over the course of their flatshare.

Images: Bookshop.org; Amazon