Romance Awareness Month
Though the idea of Romance Awareness Month is really to bring attention to romance and the idea that even in an established relationship there should be some intention behind gestures that keeps the spark and fun of the relationship alive, it's important to remember that you don’t have to be in a relationship to celebrate the joys of romance!
And what better way than to check out a romance book or a fun romantic comedy? You can do a buddy read with a significant other, curl up on the couch together and pop a movie in, or sit down and enjoy some time to yourself with your favorite cup of tea and delicious snack. Treating yourself is just as important as treating others.
Recent Romance Books:
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
Never Never by Colleen Hoover
Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood
Radiant Sin by Katee Robert
Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
Back in a Spell by Lana Harper
Meet Me At the Lake by Carley Fortune
Things We Hide From the Light by Lucy Score
Authentically Izzy by Pepper D. Basham
Remember Me by Tracie Peterson
Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
- Romance novels generate more than $1.44 billion in revenue, making it the highest-earning genre within fiction.
- Romance novels reached over 39 million printed units sold from June 1st, 2022, to May 31st, 2023 (a 52 % increase from last year!).
- 60% of total romance sales are ebook sales.
- Colleen Hoover is at the top of the market, with more than 48% of print sales going to her during the year 12 months up to May of 2023.
- 18% of romance readers are men, and 45% have a college degree.
- The average age of romance readers is 42 years old (and over the years, the average has been getting younger).
- Roughly 78% of romance readers read more than one book a month, and roughly 46% read one book a week.
Most Popular Romance Movies Over The Years:
Casablanca
Pride and Prejudice
Titanic
Roman Holiday
The Princess Bride
If Beale Street Could Talk
Dirty Dancing
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Featured below are some of my favorites!
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
"Stella Lane comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's, and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional--which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. With the looks of a K-drama star and the martial arts moves to match, the Vietnamese-Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer"-- Provided by publisher.
The Love Con by Seressia Glassc
"He's cosplaying as her boyfriend but their feelings for each other are real in this romantic comedy from Seressia Glass. Sometimes Kenya Davenport believes she was switched at the hospital-how else could a lover of anime, gaming, and cosplay come from STEM parents? Still, Kenya dreams of being able to turn her creative hobby into a career. She finally has a chance to make it big when she joins the reality show competition Cosplay or No Way. There's just one catch: the challenge for the final round is all about iconic pairs, and the judges want the contestants' significant others to participate. Unfortunately, Kenya is as single as can be at the moment. Luckily her best friend, Cameron Lassiter, agrees to be her fake boyfriend for the show. Role-playing a couple in love will force them to explore what they're hiding under the mask of friendship. Can Kenya and Cam fake it until she makes it, or will she be real about her feelings, knowing it could cost her the best friend she's ever had?"-- Provided by publisher.
Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai
"As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, ignored middle child Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she is underemployed as a mediocre magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency. Nevertheless, she challenges herself by covertly outfitting Luc, her client and crush, with high-powered glyphs. Half-elf Luc, the agency's top security expert, has his own secret: he's responsible for a curse laid from an old assignment. To heal them, he'll need to perform his job duties with unrelenting excellence and earn time off from his tyrannical boss. When Elle saves Luc's life, they begin a dangerous collaboration, but their chemistry blooms. Happiness, for once, is an option for them both. But Elle is loyal to her family, and Luc is bound by his true name. To win freedom from duty, they must make unexpected sacrifices"-- Provided by publisher.
The Last Exiles by Ann Shin
"Jin and Suja meet and fall in love while studying at university in Pyongyang. She is a young journalist from a prominent family, while he is from a small village of little means. Outside the school, North Korea has fallen under great political upheaval, plunged into chaos and famine. When Jin returns home to find his family starving, their food rations all but gone, he makes a rash decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, miles away, Suja has begun to feel the tenuousness of her privilege when she learns that Jin has disappeared. Risking everything, and defying her family, Suja sets out to find him, embarking on a dangerous journey that leads her into a dark criminal underbelly and tests their love and will to survive"-- Provided by publisher.
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
"Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, he's known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster. Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character through his stories, especially the ones that feature the internet's favorite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he'd be fired. Immediately. April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she's hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her "real life" for years - but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral. Trolls and supporters alike are commenting on her plus-size take, but when Marcus, one half of her OTP, sees her pic and asks her out on a date to spite her critics, she realizes life is really stranger than fanfiction. Even though their first date is a disaster, Marcus quickly realizes that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. And when he discovers she's actually Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to hide from her. With love and Marcus's career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?"--Publisher.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. She's come up with seven directives to help her "Get a Life", and she's already completed the first: finally moving out of her family's mansion. She's ready to enjoy a drunken night out, ride a motorcycle, and other adventures. But it's not easy being bad, and Chloe knows just the man to help her complete her list. Redford 'Red' Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and sex appeal, who paints at night but hides his work. When she enlists Red to help her rebel, she discovers what really lies beneath his rough exterior. -- adapted from back cover
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz, with his sister and the Veep's genius granddaughter, are the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. Then photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids. The plan for damage control: stage a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex soon discovers that beneath Henry's Prince Charming veneer, there's a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him. As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. -- adapted from back cover
One Day in December by Josie Silver
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story. Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away. Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be. What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.