Romance is my least favorite genre, but I'm trying to not make that the reason why I'll never know good storytelling because I know there are good romance books out there. I'm not really into BookTok romance, usually the boy/girl next door type cliche storytelling or boss is into the secretary stories. If you have any recommendations, feel free to share them!
by Sim_phogustus
7 Comments
Look you said you’re not into BookTok romance and this definitely *did* pop off with the BookTok girlies, but as someone who likes to read romance once in a while but is definitely not *into* the genre, I would pretty strongly recommend *The Love Hypothesis* by Ali Hazelwood. It’s a very romance tropey romance for sure, but she’s genuinely a strong writer who builds good relationships (both platonic and romantic) between well developed characters, and she’s occasionally quite funny.
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid is one of my favorite books i’ve read in recent years!! i wish i could read it for the first time again
I have some but they’re all queer:
Call Me By Your Name – André Aciman
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid
Is there something you particularly do like? I’m a huge fan of Courtney Milan – most of her romances have the big conflict as the world at large rather than tropes like the couple misunderstanding each other. There’s also the longer burn romances where romance is part of the story but not the main plot like Ilona Andrews’ Magic Bites series.
A Dowry of Blood by S.T Gibson
So I’m not usually into romance either. Here’s what I recommend:
As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katoh- set during the Syrian Civil War. The characters and relationship building is fantastic.
Middlemarch by George Eliot. This is an older book and a long one, but it really captures a lot about how humans interact. Definitely a more complex cast web here.
The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker – historical fantasy romance, slow burn.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. One of the most unusual romances I’ve ever read. It’s about a guy who works in IT for a newspaper around Y2K. One of his tasks is screening the emails of the people who work there. He ends up getting a crush on someone based on reading her emails, but he has never actually met her. He wants to approach her, but worries that she would think that was creepy.