Best Top Romance Novels of All Time

The list is compliled from Amazons Bestsellers in Romance for the peoples view, from Romance Readers Top 100 Romance Novels for a Criteque View, And from the Best books From last 10 years lists. Each book has been rated at least 4 star by at least 75 readers.
1

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4.29 avg rating — 4,677,351 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 1,137,243 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,275,877 ratings
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4

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4.31 avg rating — 1,248,031 ratings
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5

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4.09 avg rating — 1,274,331 ratings
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6

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4.16 avg rating — 1,817,625 ratings
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7

by
4.15 avg rating — 758,323 ratings
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8

by
4.34 avg rating — 380,080 ratings
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9

by
4.39 avg rating — 326,874 ratings
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10

by
4.11 avg rating — 38,638 ratings
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11

by
4.28 avg rating — 16,917 ratings
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12

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4.20 avg rating — 55,899 ratings
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13

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4.33 avg rating — 29,449 ratings
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14

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4.27 avg rating — 939,772 ratings
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15

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4.20 avg rating — 38,179 ratings
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16

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4.17 avg rating — 17,380 ratings
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17

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4.31 avg rating — 5,381 ratings
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18

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4.20 avg rating — 97,003 ratings
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19

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4.08 avg rating — 39,634 ratings
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20

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4.14 avg rating — 11,803 ratings
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21

by
3.99 avg rating — 23,872 ratings
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22

by
4.22 avg rating — 69,901 ratings
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23

by
4.15 avg rating — 59,966 ratings
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24

by
3.93 avg rating — 14,330 ratings
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25

by
4.30 avg rating — 36,579 ratings
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26

by
4.63 avg rating — 10,982 ratings
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27

by
3.80 avg rating — 666,119 ratings
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28

by
4.40 avg rating — 4,489 ratings
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29

by
4.24 avg rating — 127,025 ratings
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30

by
3.79 avg rating — 27,171 ratings
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31

by
4.50 avg rating — 2,503 ratings
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32

by
4.20 avg rating — 310,113 ratings
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33

by
4.04 avg rating — 69,116 ratings
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34

by
4.03 avg rating — 43,823 ratings
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35

by
4.07 avg rating — 17,323 ratings
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36

by
3.80 avg rating — 45,959 ratings
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37

by
4.04 avg rating — 40,020 ratings
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38

by
4.34 avg rating — 4,762 ratings
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39

by
4.43 avg rating — 187,925 ratings
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40

by
4.06 avg rating — 27,475 ratings
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41

by
4.23 avg rating — 34,528 ratings
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42

by
4.17 avg rating — 28,590 ratings
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43

by
4.17 avg rating — 69,108 ratings
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44

by
3.75 avg rating — 2,055 ratings
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45

by
4.10 avg rating — 267,230 ratings
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46

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3.68 avg rating — 552,886 ratings
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47

by
4.29 avg rating — 93,062 ratings
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48

by
4.19 avg rating — 182,865 ratings
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49

by
3.89 avg rating — 7,563 ratings
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50

by
4.25 avg rating — 56,021 ratings
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51

by
4.16 avg rating — 46,899 ratings
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52

by
3.88 avg rating — 416,589 ratings
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53

by
3.69 avg rating — 14,472 ratings
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54

by
4.13 avg rating — 23,327 ratings
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54

by
4.07 avg rating — 75,625 ratings
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56

by
4.11 avg rating — 21,859 ratings
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57

by
4.32 avg rating — 201,015 ratings
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58

by
3.89 avg rating — 12,237 ratings
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59

by
4.14 avg rating — 47,241 ratings
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60

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,232 ratings
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61

by
4.25 avg rating — 704,680 ratings
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62

by
4.30 avg rating — 25,298 ratings
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63

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,000,192 ratings
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64

by
3.72 avg rating — 44,138 ratings
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65

by
4.19 avg rating — 24,522 ratings
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66

by
4.04 avg rating — 20,195 ratings
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67

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 69,179 ratings
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68

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,088,161 ratings
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69

by
3.99 avg rating — 471,016 ratings
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70

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,975,142 ratings
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71

by
4.09 avg rating — 71,660 ratings
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72

by
4.13 avg rating — 20,173 ratings
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73

by
4.16 avg rating — 13,038 ratings
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74

by
4.20 avg rating — 53,035 ratings
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75

by
4.05 avg rating — 47,343 ratings
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76

by
4.16 avg rating — 36,209 ratings
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77

by
4.17 avg rating — 35,803 ratings
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78

by
4.19 avg rating — 12,923 ratings
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79

by
4.16 avg rating — 18,738 ratings
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80

by
4.11 avg rating — 19,666 ratings
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81

by
4.04 avg rating — 20,129 ratings
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82

by
4.33 avg rating — 38,095 ratings
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83

by
4.26 avg rating — 29,955 ratings
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84

by
4.22 avg rating — 32,044 ratings
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85

by
4.23 avg rating — 17,267 ratings
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86

by
4.04 avg rating — 46,625 ratings
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87

by
4.15 avg rating — 180,596 ratings
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88

by
4.35 avg rating — 814,945 ratings
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89

by
3.98 avg rating — 160,865 ratings
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90

by
3.96 avg rating — 463,440 ratings
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91

by
4.02 avg rating — 60,125 ratings
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92

by
4.20 avg rating — 839,843 ratings
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93

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,781,871 ratings
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94

by
4.05 avg rating — 958,259 ratings
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95

by
3.95 avg rating — 24,698 ratings
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96

by
4.51 avg rating — 362,677 ratings
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97

by
4.23 avg rating — 77,392 ratings
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98

by
4.04 avg rating — 8,168 ratings
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99

by
4.05 avg rating — 27,005 ratings
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100

by
4.09 avg rating — 20,420 ratings
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698 books · 1,407 voters · list created May 5th, 2011 by Sandil (votes) .
184 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Sandil 8 books
1 friend
Laura 3757 books
1 friend
Kelli 1912 books
72 friends
Mar 191 books
35 friends
Emery 677 books
1293 friends
Bma 8 books
28 friends
Julie 368 books
172 friends
Krissi 1078 books
29 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sunny☼ (new)

Sunny☼ Librarians, I need you help please. Could you remove all books from this list that do not meet the criteria.

ie. books with less than 3.9 stars and rated by at least 75 readers? Too many not meeting this have been added.

Also please remove the duplicates.


message 2: by Sandil (new)

Sandil Thank you Sunny. That has bothered me for way too long. I didn't know how to fix it.

Please librarians Delete all books not conforming to the star and to the reader requirements for this list and duplicate entries.


message 3: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Found and deleted: 7 duplicates.

The criteria create a real obstacle for anyone wanting to add a recently published book. I know that the list maker is supposed to be able to set the standard, but a lot of our more recent lists are designed to be finite. I think I am going to decline to help enforce this one. Let the paid staff deal with it. This small rebellion is one of the only perks of being a volunteer librarian.


message 4: by Sunny☼ (new)

Sunny☼ LOL, Thank you Donna for your help with duplicates. I understand your POV for other requests.


message 5: by Matt (new)

Matt where's silvia day?


message 6: by Brodyn (new)

Brodyn and age of innocence ( Pulitzer prize winner ) is far far better than pride and prejudice should be at the top.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Brodyn wrote: "and age of innocence ( Pulitzer prize winner ) is far far better than pride and prejudice should be at the top."

Isn't that just a matter of opinion?


message 8: by Pat (new)

Pat Gorely Where is "Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and Forever Amber"?? Some on this list I dont even consider romance, like Pillars of the Earth, which I would consider more of historical novel spanning a lifetime


message 9: by Sara (last edited Apr 14, 2019 01:00PM) (new)

Sara Can someone please explain to me why in the world "Gone with the Wind," "Jane Eyre," "The Notebook," "The Princess Bride," "Rebecca," "The Count of Monte Cristo," any of the "Anne of Green Gables" books, "Pillars of the Earth," or "The Thorn Birds" are considered "romance novels?"

The RWA defines romances as this:

Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.

An Emotionally Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.

Exactly none of the books above qualify for that. If you take the love stories out of the books above, most of them still function just fine with the plot in tact. And the ones that have unhappy endings do not qualify as romance novels because that is one of the staples of romance novels. Just because a book has a "love story" does not mean it is a "romance novel." They are two separate things, and it really bothers me when they are put together. It is one of my pet peeves, and it slowly driving me crazy to see how often books that just happen to have strong love stories but otherwise aren't romance novels are thrown in with romance novels.


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