Happy New Year, friends and readers!

In 2025, I read or listened to 22 romance novels. It was a hard year. The happy endings felt more like a necessity than a frivolous escape.

The romance genre is truly its own world. It’s not little, either. Romance sales drive publishing, and the cultural impact of romance fiction isn’t stopping any time soon. (I see you, Heated Rivalry, and I love you.)

But look, I need to be honest. I’m a literary fiction snob. It’s the genre where I’m most at home, and I love sinking my teeth into a difficult novel with well-written prose. I like a book that forces me to think. I need character development, rich settings, interiority, and growth. But if I’m being truly honest, I’ll admit that I can get all those things from a good romance.

So I’d like to unpack what works – for me – in a good romance novel. The emphasis here is for me, because in the romance genre there is literally something for everyone. You want an erotic orc/royal pairing? It exists. You want horny figure skaters? It exists. You want emotionally intelligent cowboys? It exists.

Romance readers love to dissect by sub-genre and trope, something I find a bit frustrating because mostly I’m looking for decently crafted sentences, believable dialogue, and minimal sexism. (See this explainer from the blog She Reads Romance if you have no idea what I mean by “trope”.)

And if I’m playing by the genre’s rules, I would tell a fellow romance reader that I tend to like contemporary romance and romantic comedies, and my tropes are expat romance, second chance romance, enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, forced proximity, and sometimes grumpy/sunshine.

That said, here are few things that I believe make a good romance novel work, even if it’s outside my usual sub-genres and tropes:

1. First and foremost, chemistry: Meet-cutes matter and must be followed by palpable chemistry between the leads. I need to feel a tinge and a zing!

2. Dialogue: Related to chemistry, the dialogue needs to be good. A bit of banter can go a long way.

3. Tension: We need some stakes! It can’t be happily-ever-after right away. The story needs to build up to something meaningful.

4. Yearning: Related to tension, the leads need some yearning, some longing, some will-they-won’t-they before the relationship happens. The yearning can come after sex and physical connection (again, I see you, Heated Rivalry). Or it can end with a mere chaste kiss. Both can work well.

5. Growth: I like to see our mains grow as individual people and figure something out about themselves. My favorite romance writers, like Emily Henry, Linda Holmes, and Talia Hibbert, often have some plot involving self-actualization.

6. Pacing: While we need some tension and yearning, the story needs to move at a steady pace. Too drawn out and it’s boring. Too quick, and there’s nothing to build to.

Going back to the emotionally intelligent cowboy, I recently finished Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage. Big Sky Country and small towns are decidedly NOT my thing, and I find cowboys rather boring. (An interesting exception might be gay cowboys who actually get a happy ending.) But for a small town, straight romance, Swift and Saddled works!

This book focuses on a big city gal named Ada, who goes to Wyoming for an interior design job renovating an old ranch house. She has instant chemistry with Weston, the cowboy who hires her. Now, the tension lies in that fact — Weston hired her, so she is keeping things professional despite the attraction. We get some forced proximity, and the tension builds at a good pace. Both characters confront some issues and grow as people. It has some cheesy moments, but overall, it works. While I probably won’t read the rest in Lyla Sage’s Rebel Blue Ranch Series, I understand why these books are so popular.

If you’re curious and maybe your tropes align with mine, here are some other romances that I really liked (and all have decently crafted sentences):

• Book Lovers by Emily Henry (note that Emily Henry’s Funny Story was on my Best of 2025 list. She’s a best seller for a reason. Book Lovers and Funny Story are her best by far.)

• You, Again by Kate Goldbeck

• What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon

• Roll for Romance by Leonora Woods (local author!)

• The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

• Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson

• Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

One final note: I borrowed all these titles from either my university library or the public library. I listen to audiobooks through my public library’s Libby app. These books move fast, and I consume them pretty quickly, so they aren’t usually worth purchasing. The library is the best way to access them!