As someone whose path to reading romance included a lengthy period reading X-Files fanfiction (oh, man, who else remembers The Gossamer Project???), I am clearly a huge fan of UST – Unresolved Sexual Tension. In romance, this is the slow burn phase, where the energy of characters’ attraction builds up and up before being released. That’s why I love and developed our Slow burn tag, which I used to make this list of top slow burn romance novels. How “slow” is slow enough and how much you want your “burn” to burn is a matter of taste, so not all of the books listed here will culminate at the same heat level. The blurbs here come from our very own reviews (and every book I featured here is a DIK!)
A lot of well-known favorites fall into this category, such as:
The works of Penny Reid: A large number of her books, especially in the Winston Brothers series, fit this trope, and have been well reviewed here.
The works of Gregory Ashe: It’s pretty much a given in all his books that there will be lots of UST and angst before the MCs get together. We didn’t review all the books in his Hazard and Somerset series (although Em blogged about the series HERE, and Caz reviewed book three, Paternity Case) but the romance is a very slow burn. If Mariana Zapata is the Queen of the Slow Burn, Gregory Ashe is the King of it.
The last novel in the Hoops series stars Kenan Ross and Lotus DuPree. Kenan, a veteran basketball player traded to August West’s losing NBA franchise team, meets Lotus DuPree, cousin and best friend to August’s wife, Iris. Lotus is fierce, beautiful, and she isn’t looking for love – with Kenan, or any other man – and she’s spent the last two books dodging Kenan despite the spark of attraction between them. Hook Shot details their delicious slow burn love affair, and the relationship is sexy, sweet and lushly romantic.
Lucy Hutton sits across the office from Joshua Templeton, and it’s hate at first sight between them. At least Lucy hates Joshua – and she’s pretty sure he hates her too. In spite of that, Lucy finds herself preoccupied trying to figure him out and aware of everything he does. She knows the day of the week by the color of his shirt (Navy leads to Gorgeous Payday Black), and his husky, soft laugh raises the tiny hairs on her arms. The tension and their mutual dislike only escalates after their bosses announce the creation of a third executive position, chief operating officer. Lucy and Joshua are expected to apply and compete for it.
(A very similar, and for some, even better, book is Sarah Mayberry’s Her Favourite Rival)
Quaker Maddy Timms is the only person who realizes that Christian, Duke of Jervaulx, has not gone mad, but rather has suffered what modern medicine would recognize as a stroke. His family is trying to have him declared legally insane, but Christian enlists Maddy’s aid. Maddy finds herself drawn into a world she was raised to reject, going against many of her basic principles; yet she can’t abandon Christian, for that would mean turning away from the Inner Light. This is much more than a simple story of opposites attracting. It has to do with looking beyond what others see and discovering the real person behind the public façade. Christian uncovers the repressed sensuality hidden in Maddy’s nature, and she learns that in spite of the brave front he puts on, he’s vulnerable, petrified at the prospect of being returned to the asylum.
But if you’re well-versed in recent and canonic romance, and you are hankering for more slow burns, what are some other reads you might like?
Napoleonic War veteran Henry Middleton has lost the use of his right arm and his ability to paint. He must marry to support himself. To gain an edge courting a popular widow, he approaches the widow’s companion, Mrs Frances Whittier. Frances and Henry hit it off immediately – she’s clever and witty, and very attuned to him, sensing that he’s having trouble adjusting to civilian life. It’s clear, too, that Frances is very attracted to Henry, but while he enjoys her conversation (the air between them fairly crackles during their exchanges) he is distracted by his plan to court her cousin. The romance is a slow burn but is beautifully developed. The love scenes are sensual, while maintaining a sense of realism by not completely ignoring the problems arising from the fact that Henry has only one working arm.
The poignant, somewhat bittersweet yet heartwarming friends to lovers romance of Tristan Rosier and Malorie Monsard. Tristan and Malorie are descendants of two great perfume houses, the Rosiers and the Monsards. The Rosier family is still a powerhouse in the fragrance industry, whereas the Monsards have just Malori’s late grandmother’s shop, which Malorie is debating restoring. Tristan courts Malorie by offering to help restore the shop and to make perfumes for her, and eventually Malorie is unable to resist his charms. He comes across as a sweet, fun loving and adventurous man with a zest for life. Theirs is a slow burn romance but heats up over time with some sensual love scenes.
The third in Erika Kelly’s Rock Star Romance series, this is the story of Mimi and Calix, an aspiring chef and a session musician for the band Blue Fire, respectively. Calix is the band’s temporary keyboardist and Mimi works as their personal cook while she sorts out the rest of her life. The chemistry between the two is immediate, but their intimacy builds with a worth-the-wait sensuous slow burn. Take Me Home Tonight is mysterious without being frustrating, sweet without being saccharine, family-oriented without being schmaltzy. The heroine is self-assured and in need of her own journey. The hero is a quiet Alpha with Beta tendencies. Also, it’s sexy as all get out. Kindle-meltingly sexy.
Seidel transports you into the meticulously researched world of a historical soap opera called My Lady’s Chamber (think Downton Abbey, but set in the Regency era), written by Jenny Cotton and starring Alec Cameron as, yes, a lofty, frosty Duke. Alec is immediately captured by Jenny’s creative intelligence and her gift for her job – but Jenny still lives with her long-time boyfriend. It is fascinating to watch Jenny’s real-life relationships play out in her characters. When one of her soap characters does something wonderful, and you realize that it means that Jenny is subconsciously falling for Alec… it’s just magic.
In this medieval, Christopher (a blind warrior) married Gillian (a survivor of abuse) to protect her from her father. Sounds like another “tormented hero/heroine” story? What Kurland does is focus on the changes they both make instead of dwelling on their tragedies. She imagines perfectly how a medieval warrior would handle blindness, and how a gentle soul such as Gillian would act after being abused. Through the story they learn to love and trust each other and themselves, eventually becoming a passionate, teasing, and joyful couple. And although the sensuality rating is PG, there is quite a bit of sexual tension between them.
Shifter Joe meets his neighbor Ox in this book our reviewer called “wonderfully nuanced… there are so many layers to the tale, it’s difficult to convey them in a review without spoiling this beautiful – and epic – romance” which “in places reads like poetry. The patient reader is amply rewarded. The book only has a few steamy scenes, but Klune makes the most of them; hot, passionate and delightfully dirty – I loved every moment.”
Still need more? Well, that’s what our Slow Burn tag is for – and also, the comments! Please recommend some of your favorites here!
~ Caroline Russomanno
Interested in finding more books AAR Loves..?
Check out these posts:
Yes We Can! Our Favourite Activist Heroines
Romances featuring Refugee Heroines
Romancing it Royally – Some of our favourite royal romances
AAR Loves… Historical Romances featuring scientist heroines
AAR Loves… Romances featuring music and musicians
AAR Loves… Romances featuring realistic parent/child relationships
AAR Loves… Partners to Lovers romances – Part One (Military, law enforcement etc.)
AAR Loves… Partners to Lovers romances – Part Two
Five Baseball Romances Worth Your Time
AAR Loves… Representation of Disability and Chronic Illness in Romance (Part One)
AAR Loves… Representation of Disability and Chronic Illness in Romance (Part Two)
AAR Loves… Romances featuring marriages in trouble
I would include Laura London’s The Windflower in the slow burn category. It’s also a great book for the unexpected, such as the bit about cheese traders and their cons.
I was glad to see the recommendation for “Again” by Kathleen Gilles Seidel. I think a lot of her books are slow burns. For another soap opera-setting romance, try The Real Thing by Carole Buck. It is a Second Chance at Love title, so it is out of print, but as in many of Buck’s books, the supporting characters are very good, too. Sonia, the producer of the show, is nicknamed “She Wolf.”
A lot of Joan Wolf’s Regency novels are slow burns, I feel. I second the recommendation of Carla Kelly, too.
In general, I have found books where the male hero is a virgin to be slow burns. Often the revelation of the hero’s status comes late in the novel, so if you don’t want to know that key, hidden plot point about these books, stop now.
SPOILER ALERT
Somewhat o/t, but there’s been a discussion over at Smart Bitches the last couple of days about how to recommend books with “surprises” (specifically virgin heroes) when the “revelation” is part of the enjoyment of reading the book. I can think of four contemporary romances right off the top of my head with virgin heroes, but I don’t want to spoil them because the hero’s situation is revealed slowly, it’s not like he says, “I’m ready to lose my virginity” on page one. It is a quandary: I want to recommend some good books, but I don’t want to ruin the book for other readers.
That’s quite a conundrum, isn’t it? I think the spoiler tags on comment sections are one good way to do it. Maybe an article could use one to say something like, “Looking for some virgin heroes in romance? Maybe you don’t want this plot twist spoiled, but if you do, push the button for a list. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!”
We have a tag for this, which on the one hand is spoilery but on the other… if you click on “virgin hero,” you’re kind of asking to be spoiled.
Actually, sometimes I like knowing about the plot surprise. It’s like knowing a secret that others don’t (in a good way!). Also, I’m more in tune with some of the clues dropped by the author.
There’s a modern one that I really love that is part of a series of connected stories with an overarching mystery that has a virgin hero and I hate to spoil it too.
The hero is exceptionally quiet and a big mystery to others in the book as well,as the reader so when you finally see inside his head as a POV character for the first time (well into the book) it’s a big “WHOA” moment.
I know! You don’t want to spoil the surprise by telling anyone else what it is, but you’d like to share the enjoyment you found in reading a good book. As I said in the discussion over at SBTB, it’s almost like telling someone who hasn’t seen “Citizen Kane” what Rosebud is or someone who hasn’t seen “Vertigo” who the shopgirl is: part of the pleasure of watching those movies is the surprise at the reveal. It’s the same with the books I’m thinking about.
If you email it to me, I’ll put it in as a spoiler!
I don’t think it’s been reviewed here yet. But other of the author’s books have. She can be hit or miss.
tease…
LOL I’m happy to email it to you. Let me go look for the email.
I LOVE Again and I will never stop banging my drum for it. I also interviewed Seidel once and she was a completely lovely person. Always a joy to hear from another fan!
Love the post and the comments. But it made me wonder, what is NOT a slow burn romance? Romance is all about getting to an HEA . . . so, by definition, aren’t all romances “slow burn”? It would seem to me, the “better” the romance, the slower the burn. I’m not mocking here. Genuinely curious. Leaving “erotica” aside for a moment, what is the difference between the “average” romance and slow burn? Can anyone think of a truly great romance that is not a slow burn?
Great question! I don’t have any recs offhand of “a truly great romance that is not slow burn,” but I think lots of category romances today rush into the sex scenes early in the story instead of letting the tension simmer until near the end of the book.
“But it made me wonder, what is NOT a slow burn romance?”
Just as a recent example that’s still fresh in my mind, the other evening, I read the Harlequin Historical Western The Ballad of Emma O’Toole. It was a forced proximity/enemies-to-lovers/marriage of convenience story where the characters ended up having sex for the first time within the first 20-30% of the book. Given the tropes employed, the progression from “I hate your guts” to “Let’s have a roll in the hay” felt way too fast and definitely not slow burn.
If I had to offer a comparison using a favorite author I’d say Joanna Bourne’s book “The Forbidden Rose” is not a slow burn as the main couple get together physically and emotionally well before the last part of the book. In the first third they are physically and emotionally entangled pretty seriously.
In her other books like The Black Hawk and My Lord and Spymaster and even The Spymaster’s Lady the couples aren’t together until towards the end of the books. There is definitely an emotional connection but commitment and physical consummation happens much later.
If the book prior to coitus is entirely taken up with mental lusting, then I think it doesn’t qualify as slow burn. I read a recent Harlequin where all the H/h do is think about sex with the other, to the detriment of plot and character development. It wasn’t awful, but it was boring (lust, rinse, repeat).
On the other hand, Mary Balogh’s “The Notorious Rake” is not a slow burn but is one of my favorite romances. The H/h actually have sex very early in the book, which was shocking in a trad Signet Regency at the time the book first appeared. They are merely acquaintances and aren’t even sure they like each other. The rest of the book is him pursuing her and her regretting what she feels was an enormous mistake that she just wants to forget. At first he simply wants her to be his mistress but then, bit by bit, he falls in love with her. There is also a secondary plot of him becoming reconciled to his family, from which he’s been estranged for many years. It’s a lovely book, IMHO.
I second this!
I get that lust is important in romance, but when that lust seems exclusively physical and characters mentally objectify their partners all the time, it’s boring and infuriating.
I mean, physically attractive people are (obviously) attractive, but aren’t we all attracted to kindness, intelligence, humor, etc. too??
I liked this definition of slow burn up thread, from DiscoDollyDeb:
If I get into a pattern of reading a bunch of traditionally or big mainstream published romances, I notice the progression of physically intimacy from kisses to penetrative happens at roughly the same time in every book. For me, that’s not a knock against them, those novels are just hitting familiar beats.
Slow burns break up that pattern. The couple don’t have penetrative sex until after the halfway point or they don’t substantively “come together” (physically or emotionally) until the end.
And, maybe this seems crazy, but I like love-at-first sight or insta-lust stories too. I think that there are great romances that aren’t slow burns.
“And, maybe this seems crazy, but I like love-at-first sight or insta-lust stories too. I think that there are great romances that aren’t slow burns.”
Agreed, sometimes I want a fast pace or even one where they jump into a relationship or just a tryst and then have to back into the feelings or the relationship.
I know a lot of people don’t like Kristen Ashley but Motorcycle Man hooked me from the first chapter due to the crazy set up. Woman meets a guy at a party on a Friday night, falls head over heels and hooks up with him for the best night of her life thinking he fell in insta love too. He pats her on the behind, thanks her and basically tells her fun’s over time to go. She then has to show up at her new job on Monday (which she really really needs) knowing he’s her boss- but he doesn’t know. On the way into work that first Monday morning she sees him kissing another one night stand goodbye. That’s all the first chapter. I kept thinking how is this going to turn into a happily ever after?
Yes, exactly! I actually think this as difficult to manage successfully as slow burns. Just like it’s challenging for an author to maintain pining, sexual tension or conflict during a long slow burn, it seems challenging to write a love story that begins with sex or the couple falling in love-at-first-sight and then having them figure out their relationship…but it can be done well! And it’s so much fun.
I’ve been meaning to read Kristen Ashley for awhile — I love a good alpha (problematic as they are sometimes) & Motorcycle Man sounds bananas! :)
Your comment “it seems challenging to write a love story that begins with sex or the couple falling in love-at-first-sight and then having them figure out their relationship…but it can be done well!” perfectly describes one of my all-time favorite romances, LIBERATING LACEY by Anne Calhoun (who, after an amazingly prolific decade, stopped publishing in 2017). The h&h of LIBERATING LACEY hook up the first night they meet, then spend the rest of the book figuring out their relationship. The complete opposite of a physical “slow burn,” but it takes the entire book for them to get from sex to love.
Ok, this seals the deal. 2020 will be the year I finally read Anne Calhoun!
Uncommon Passion, though not even vaguely a slow burn love story, is sublime.
I’d also recommend TURN ME LOOSE, which has so much sexual tension, you could cut it with a knife. In fact, almost everything Calhoun wrote was good—even THE LIST in which I think you can see Calhoun struggling against the HEA requirements of a romance novel. I think if she’d published THE LIST as women’s fiction, the h&h would not have remained together at the end. It’s still very good, though; it just struggles to be a romance.
It is bananas! That’s just a few pages in.
Ashley’s books are not for me but I get their appeal. I love Shannon McKenna’s books which are batshit crazy in a totally different way.
I love a good batshit crazy book when I’m in the mood. Unfortunately Ashley can also just go to plain boring when she gets into a ten page description of someone’s “kickass” kitchen or living room, lol.
I got tired of every hero dropping his g’s. Too many darlin’s for my nerves!
I don’t know why it makes me laugh but when her heroes just say “gratitude” instead of thank you back to someone it cracks me up. I’ve never heard that done before. “Gratitude, Darlin’” Or sometimes just “gratitude”.
Also- the voice of the hero in Motorcycle Man sounds like Sam Elliot in my head when I read it.
This reminds me of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. It sounds like a mixture of cringe, laughter, and world-building.
How about the other book in that series, Dream Man, where the hero picked the heroine up at a bar one night and then just TURNS UP IN HER BEDROOM for sex on other nights and they keep doing it and she doesn’t even know who he is?