Reviews of some of my favorite romance novels and the latest books I’m currently loving. All ratings are out of five stars.
Say You’ll Remember Me
by Abby Jimenez
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Quick Take: This was such delightful, sweet story that warmed my heart. I flew through this book in two days, which is really fast for me. There was so much I loved.
Favorite Quote: “You think it’s the big memories you should be chasing … But the small memories are the fabric of your life, the ones so inconsequential that you don’t even remember them. You just remember how you felt when you were making them.”
How to End a Love Story
by Yulin Kuang
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: Loved! Incredibly heartfelt and moving. Kuang somehow managed to tackle heavy subjects with nuance and sensitivity, while also balancing them with humor, romance, and spice.
Favorite Quote: “I’d rather have a fraction of you than all of someone else.”
Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: This felt like classic Henry to me—same writing style with so many traces of her other books. It made me feel like I kind of know Henry a little bit now. It’s not my favorite of hers, but it was still compelling and I’ll definitely reread.
Favorite Quote: “When you love someone, you do anything to give them what they need. You unmake the world and build a new one.”
Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood
by Sarah J. Maas
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Quick Take: Wonderful! Really impressive world-building filled with high stakes, fun twists, engaging mysteries, and a whole lot of heart.
Favorite Quote: “You’re the person I don’t need to explain myself to—not when it matters. You see everything I am, and you don’t run away from it.”
Done & Dusted
by Lyla Sage
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Quick Take: Really enjoyable! Cute, sweet, & fun (but the sex scenes could’ve been better).
Favorite Quotes: “I don’t know when it happened, but I like you. I like you a lot more than I fucking should, and I know we shouldn’t do this because a million things could go wrong, but you feel so right.” (180)
“The feeling of his lips on mine was one of those things I’d never get used to. It just so right—like, what were my lips even for if not kissing the hell out of this man?” (313)
Wild Love
by Elsie Silver
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.25
Quick Take: Overall an entertaining, sexy read with a lot of fun banter, but a little longer than it needed to be.
Favorite Quotes: “Rosie, I’m a grown-ass man. Your period doesn’t scare me.”
“I definitely don’t hate you, Rosie. Not even close. But I can fuck you like I do if that’s what you need.”
All the Missing Pieces
by Catherine Cowles
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: Loved! A super engaging story that has a little bit of everything—crime, romance, tragedy, humor. It also combines one of my favorite romance tropes—enemies to lovers—with a good mystery.
Favorite Quotes: “Be safe, Chaos. It’s going to piss me the hell off if you end up dead.”
“If I break my neck pulling this ridiculous stunt, I’m going to haunt your ass.”
The Rose and the Yew Tree
by Mary Westmacott (aka Agathie Christie)
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: Absolutely stunning. A provocative meditation on life, love, worry, what it means to be a person in the world, and whether there are new possible ways to navigate it that we’d never considered.
Favorite Quote: “You really loved her. You loved her enough to leave her alone.”
Tangled Up In You
by Christina Lauren
Star Rarting: ⭐⭐⭐.75
Quick Take: A little silly and even at times absurd, but overall really fun and entertaining, with two romantic leads who truly bring out the best in each other.
Favorite Quote: “Observing the world through Ren’s eyes made Edward realize how often he didn’t really pay attention to what was going on around him. He moved through life constantly on the offense and went into every interaction with an objective. It meant he missed the details, missed the moments that made life worth living.”
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match
by Sally Thorne
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: Sizzling chemistry, delightful banter, compelling obstacles, full of heart.
Favorite Quote: “Angelika Frankenstein knew what physical qualities her ideal man should have; unfortunately, she had to find those attributes at the morgue.”
The Unhoneymooners
by Christina Lauren
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: Cute, fun enemies-to-lovers story with Pride & Prejudice vibes. Great banter, chemistry, and sexual tension.
Would You Rather
by Allison Ashely
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: I love a story about a man whose been secretly pining for a woman for years. It made the sexual tension and passion that much more palpable. Super appreciated the storyline about the FMC’s health issues and how that held her back from romantic relationships.
The Kiss Quotient
by Helen Hoang
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: What could be more fun than gender-swapped Pretty Woman? Super steamy, yet the romanctic leads are so gentle, understanding, and encouraging of each other. They come from completely different worlds but see and bring out the best in each other.
Book Lovers
by Emily Henry
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: Might be my favorite Henry novel. Really appreciated that the characters faced a legitimate obstacle to their relationship: he’s moving to his hometown to care for his parents, but she’s a city girl who loved her job. Also loved that the FMC’s relationship with her sister was central to the story.
Red White and Royal Blue
by Casey McQuiston
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quick Take: The longing between the romanctic leads, the heartache, the banter, the sexual tension, the sexual RELEASE—it’s all absolute perfection.
Melissa Rose 