l just finished a book in a series with the slowest burning romance ever. I’m seven books in and the main character just let his partner know he’s in love with her AT THE END OF THE BOOK. I need more! I don’t want a romance book, just a book or series with a solid friendship that turns into love. Think Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.
by Lazy_Victory825
34 Comments
11/22/63 by Stephen King has a great romance in the middle of a time travel adventure.
It’s a long series, but the Gaslight Mystery series by Victoria Thompson has this. They start off not as enemies, but unsure of each other, then become friends, and later marry, but I don’t think the romance is really introduced until book 10 or 11 if I remember correctly, about halfway through the series. Late Victorian era, in NYC.
* The *Broken* trilogy and the *Angel*-trilogy by La. A. Weatherly (both YA dystopian)
* *A Court of Thorns and Roses*-series by Sarah J. Maas (YA fantasy)
* *Prison Healer*-trilogy by Lynette Noni (YA fantasy)
* If you want something more romance-forward maybe *The selection* by Kiera Cass (kind of a mix between Hunger Games and Cinderella)
Love in the Time of Cholera
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. The romance is build up during the book. The book is more about building up the cafe then it is about their romance.
**A Ballad of Love and Glory** by Reyna Grande
The Cainsville series by Kelley Armstrong does a nice slow burn.
More importantly, what series did you just finish?! I love me some good 800-pages-until-their-fingers-touch books…
Try the Julia Spencer Fleming, Fergusson/Van Alstyne Mysteries (9 book series). Claire Fergusson is a Anglican pastor and Russ Van Alstyne is a police chief in upstate New York.
I’m not sure if it exists in English but it probably does and I don’t know the English title (and can’t find it on the Internet) but Autre Monde by Maxime Chattam (French author) is a great book series and there is a beautiful love story that only really happens in the 2 last books but is building up little by little from book 2 if I remember well. It’s about teenager during a very weird ”apocalypse” where nature takes back the earth and most adults disappeared. There is an ecological message behind it but it’s more complicated than that. The love story is not the main topic at all but it’s a very cute love story bc they are teenager that discover love while in a very hard situation with lots of responsibilities and many unanswered questions.
It mainly takes place in the US (reason why I’m pretty sure there is an English version)
I 100% recommend it, it made me love reading again after a long pause and I finished the series really quickly. I hope it exists in English
Americanah
11/22/63 by King.
Mmh Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews ? Fairly slow burn
It had been some time since I read them, but Moira J. Moore’s _Hero_ series.
Highly recommend Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. High fantasy with a cool magic system. Main plot is about overthrowing the government system and the consequences that follow. But I love the romance in the book because it feels very real to me. The initial crush, the inevitable insecurity, and the eventual acceptance of who they are as a person and who you are and loving yourself and them for that.
It’s 3 books and it’s a great story.
Well, if you like slowburn, then the Cemeteries Of Amalo series has a sweet dynamic between the main character and another character which isn’t resolved yet as of the second book. You prooooobably wanna read The Goblin Emperor first if you haven’t already, since it’s set in the same universe, but you don’t *have* to, if you wanna go straight to CoA.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was exactly this.
Any book by Mhairi Mcfarlane but particularly It’s Not Me It’s You
Anything by Cathy Lamb will probably hit the spot.
Try Cormoron Strike since it is also JK Rowling
Haha. Someone has clearly just finished the Running Grave 😂
Caraval Triology! I’ve only read 2/3 but they’re so well written and there’s a nice bit of romance in there but it isn’t the main focus of the story, I loved it!
Lions of Al Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay,
The love story arc in Dorothy Sayers murder mysteries, starting with Strong Poison,
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I feel like Jane Eyre fits this.
Summer of Katya – great psychological horror embedded into a charming romance plot.
The Scholomance Series!
Legends and Lattes and the banned bookshop of Maggie banks. It both has romance, don’t know if they will become series but they are rlly good books.
I would recommend the Inkeeper Chronicles by Illona Andrews, first book is *Clean Sweep*
Additionally Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourne first book is *A Curious Beginning*
Possibly also *Six Crimson Cranes* by Elizabeth Lim
Emily of New Moon series does this pretty well, but only through a three book series
Six of crows duology
It’s a YA for sure but try The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Princess runs away to become a dragons captive on purpose and punches the prince who comes to save her. It’s seriously one of my favorite reads of all time.
Girl in pieces is slow burn and not focused on the romance. The topics are very heavy but it’s done very well. I haven’t read the other 2 similar books by the author because of the drug addiction in them. If you can take it I’m sure those are good too. They were at the top of my list but an accident happened and now I’m staying away from heavy books. I’ll let you know if I remember too when I read them and let you know if they are the same.
Ascendance of a bookworm! (Like, we are at book 26? And still the end couple hasn’t had any romantic feelings. Spoilers .<They were in a kinda teacher/student relationship; very nice the author didn’t go with anything inappropriate there and instead focused on them learning from each other. But things happened, someone’s life got in danger, and the other was basically like “bitch, this is war!” and literally started an invasion.>.
I love the way Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom handles romance. There’s three different couples, and they’re all done super well, and the plot still manages to be good while balancing three couples that fit different tropes. One has probably a little more coverage than the other two (and it is good. Like… *so damn good*.) but they’re honestly all good. The plot is great, it’s like a heist with a bunch of magic too. It is a sequel series to another series (Shadow and Bone) so it’s the tiniest bit tricky to start, but I read Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom first – once you get into it, terms are either explained or make sense in context.
The Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons is kinda like that. There is immediate attraction towards one character but it doesn’t really turn into a full romance for a few books if I remember correctly and the books are all pretty long so it doesn’t feel rushed at least to me.