Why do we all love “love stories”? In most cultures, people are looking for connections with others. We want a deep and lasting bond with another human being. Although most readers of romance novels are women, some men also enjoy the fantasy of a love story that almost always promises a happy ending. Isn’t that what we are all looking for — happily ever after?
For many, a romance novel presents a fantasy. While some prefer fantasy stories of space travel, magic and monsters, romance novels are the highest-grossing genre of fiction in the world today and not just in the United States. People around the world are looking for love in all the right places — in books.
With all the romance novels out there today, here are some of the latest and greatest for your enjoyment.
1. This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
Soledad Barnes is the one who has everything organized and planned out. She is in charge of everything — the parties, the home, her family — until it all breaks down when she loses the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with. Can she fix this? Can she survive this loss? Can she pick up the pieces, rediscover herself and trust a man again?
2. Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
If you loved Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, you are going to be crazy about his newest love story. Well, it doesn’t start out as a love story. It’s all about a legendary, wealthy Chinese family that is about to be parted from their fortune. The matriarch has arranged for the daughter to marry into another rich Chinese family, but unbeknownst to her, they are also down on their financial luck. At the same time, she’s scheming to get her son to seduce another rich woman at the wedding for her money. The problem is, he’s really in love with the girl next door, the daughter of a humble doctor. Then the wedding is completely disrupted by a volcanic eruption. To further complicate matters, a hot mic discloses a secret tryst. Will all the family plans go up in flames? Will love win out over the quest for money?
3. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
When Phoebe Stone arrives at a Rhode Island hotel, the site of a lavish society wedding, everyone assumes she is one of the wedding guests. Her dreams of staying there with her husband are not meant to be and she has hit rock bottom. Sustained by the pain pills prescribed for her cat, Phoebe forges ahead hoping to have a grand time. To her surprise, the bride reaches out to her and the two form an immediate connection, leading to shared confessions. Told with tenderness and humor, we see how chance encounters can have lasting effects.
4. The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gilmore
Love in a bookstore? Why not! Bookstore manager Hazel is fast approaching her 30th birthday and she is a bit depressed about it. She never did anything very adventurous in her 20s, so when a secret message shows up between the pages of a book in the store, she decides to do something about it. But to follow the trail of clues she needs some help. Along comes Noah, a fisherman and gorgeous hunk who is always up for an adventure (and secretly has a crush on Hazel). Together they set out to plan a scavenger hunt that throws them together as they pursue clues around town, at Dream Harbor and at the bookstore that sells freshly baked cinnamon buns.
5. Funny Story by Emily Henry
What better way to pull yourself up from a broken romance than to become roommates with your ex’s new girlfriend’s ex? Complicated? Yes! But Daphne finds herself stuck in her ex’s hometown with no friends, her dream job as a children’s librarian with barely enough to cover her bills and who better to understand her situation than her ex’s new girlfriend’s ex? They reluctantly decide to become roommates, just to save money of course. While avoiding one another, they become friends and even post misleading pictures of their adventures together — real or fantasy? You will just have to read the book to find out
6. The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
What could possibly go wrong when you marry for convenience? Once the need is fulfilled, you can get divorced, right? But then your ex shows up three years later, indicating you are still married. Anna marries Liam while in college for access to subsidized housing and when school is over, he moves out and they sign divorce papers. Then he shows up three years later because of a clause in his inheritance papers that states that he needs to prove he has been happily married for five years. The best-laid plans of mice and men … !
Read CityView Magazine’s “The Love Issue” February 2025 e-edition here.
