Welcome to the results of the 2018 AAR Top 100 Romances Poll. This is a reader generated poll we do every five years or so. This year, we had over 5000 votes and so many marvelous books nominated.
We’ve decided not to rank these books, but rather just put them in alphabetical order. We did rank the top ten and you can see them here.
All 100 are available at Amazon and maybe found here.
A printable list of all 100 may be found here.
Previous years’ polls may be found here.
Enjoy!
The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie
Jennifer Ashley
European Historical Romance
2009/05
A-
read our review here
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake
Sarah MacLean
European Historical Romance
2010
B
read our review here
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
Mariana Zapata
Sports Romance
2016
The AAR 2018 Top 100
Act Like It, Lucy Parker, Contemporary Romance, 2015/11
Ain’t She Sweet?, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Contemporary Romance, 2005
Almost Heaven, Judith McNaught, European Historical Romance, 1991
An Extraordinary Union, Alyssa Cole, American Historical Romance, 2017
Angels Blood, Nalini Singh, Fantasy Romance, 2009
Any Duchess Will Do, Tessa Dare, European Historical Romance, 2013/06
Anyone But You, Jennifer Cruise, Series Romance, 1996/08
Beard Science, Penny Reid, Contemporary Romance, 2016
Bet Me, Jennifer Crusie, Contemporary Romance, 2004
The Black Hawk, Joanna Bourne, Historical Romance, 2011
Blue Eyed Devil, Lisa Kleypas, Contemporary Romance, 2008
The Bride, Julie Garwood, Medieval Romance, 1991
Burn for Me, Ilona Andrews, Urban Fantasy, 2014/11
The Countess Conspiracy, Courtney Milan, Historical Romance, 2013
Dark Lover, J.R. Ward, Vampire Romance, 2005
Devil in Winter, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2006/03
Devil’s Bride, Stephanie Laurens, European Historical Romance, 1998
Devil’s Cub, Georgette Heyer, Classic Fiction, 2003
Dragon Bound, Thea Harrison, Fantasy Romance, 2011
Dream a Little Dream, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Contemporary Romance, 1998
Dreaming of You, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 1994
The Duchess Deal, Tessa Dare, Historical Romance, 2017
The Duke and I, Julia Quinn, European Historical Romance, 2000
A Duke of Her Own, Eloisa James, European Historical Romance, 2009
Duke of Midnight, Elizabeth Hoyt, European Historical Romance, 2013/10
The Duke of Shadows, Meredith Duran, Historical Romance, 2008
Duke of Sin, Elizabeth Hoyt, Historical Romance, 2016/06
Flowers From the Storm, Laura Kinsale, European Historical Romance, 2003
Frederica, Georgette Heyer, Classic Fiction, 2000
A Gentleman’s Position, K.J. Charles, Historical Romance, 2016/04
The Governess Affair, Courtney Milan, European Historical Romance, 2012/05
Hate to Want You, Alisha Rai, Contemporary Romance, 2017
The Hating Game, Sally Thorne, Contemporary Romance, 2016
Heart of Obsidian, Nalini Singh, Paranormal Romance, 2013/06
Heaven, Texas, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Contemporary Romance, 1995
The Heiress Effect, Courtney Milan, European Historical Romance, 2013/07
Him, Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, Historical Romance, 2015
His at Night, Sherry Thomas, European Historical Fiction, 2010/06
A Hunger Like No Other, Kresley Cole, Paranormal Romance, 2006
The Iron Duke, Meljean Brook, Steampunk, 2010/10
It Had To Be You, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Contemporary Romance, 1994
It Happened One Autumn, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2005/10
It Happened One Wedding, Julie James, Contemporary Romance, 2014/05
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Classic Fiction, 2004
Kiss of Snow, Nalini Singh, Paranormal Romance, 2011/06
Kulti, Mariana Zapata, Sports Romance, 2015
Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase, European Historical Romance, 1995
Lord Perfect, Loretta Chase, European Historical Romance, 2006/03
Love in the Afternoon, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2010/07
Lover Awakened, J.R. Ward, Vampire Romance, 2009/06
The Luckiest Lady in London, Sherry Thomas, European Historical Romance, 2013/11
Mackenzie’s Mountain, Linda Howard, Contemporary Romance, 2000
The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie, Jennifer Ashley, European Historical Romance, 2009/05
Magic Binds, Ilona Andrews, Urban Fantasy Romance, 2016
Married by Morning, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2010/06
Marrying Winterborne, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2016/05
Match Me if You Can, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Contemporary Romance, 2005
Mine Till Midnight, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2007/10
More than a Mistress, Mary Balogh, European Historical Romance, 2001
Mr. Impossible, Loretta Chase, Historical Romance, 2005/03
Mr. Perfect, Linda Howard, Contemporary Romance, 2001
Naked in Death, J.D. Robb, Futuristic Romantic Suspense, 1995
Natural Born Charmer, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Sports Romance, 2009
Neanderthal Seeks Human, Penny Reid, Romantic Comedy, 2013
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, Sarah MacLean, European Historical Romance, 2010
Nobody’s Baby But Mine, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Contemporary Romance, 1997
Not Quite a Husband, Sherry Thomas, Historical Romance, 2009/06
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon, Time Travel Romance, 1992
Persuasion, Jane Austen, Classic Fiction, 2003
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, Classic Fiction, 1983
Private Arrangements, Sherry Thomas, European Historical Romance, 2008/03
A Promise of Fire, Amanda Bouchet, Fantasy Romance, 2016
Radiance, Grace Draven, Fantasy Romance, 2015/01
The Rake, Mary Jo Putney, European Historical Romance, 1998
Ransom, Julie Garwood, Medieval Romance, 1999
The Raven Prince, Elizabeth Hoyt, European Historical Romance, 2006
Ravished, Amanda Quick, European Historical Romance, 1992
Rock Hard, Nalini Singh, Sports Romance, 2015
A Rogue by Any Other Name, Sarah MacLean, European Historical Romance, 2012/03
Romancing Mister Bridgerton, Julia Quinn, European Historical Romance, 2002
Sea Swept, Nora Roberts, Contemporary Romance, 1998
The Secret, Julia Garwood, Medieval Romance, 1992
Secrets of a Summer Night, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 2004
A Seditious Affair, K.J. Charles, Historical Romance, 2015/12
Slave to Sensation, Nalini Singh, Alternate Reality Romance, 2006
Slightly Dangerous, Mary Balogh, European Historical Romance, 2005
Something About You, Julie James, Contemporary Romance, 2010
The Spymaster’s Lady, Joanna Bourne, European Historical Romance, 2008
The Suffragette Scandal, Courtney Milan, European Historical Romance, 2014/07
A Summer to Remember, Mary Balogh, European Historical Romance, 2003
Then Came You, Lisa Kleypas, European Historical Romance, 1993
The Viscount Who Loved Me, Julia Quinn, European Historical Romance, 2000
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, Mariana Zapata, Sports Romance, 2016
A Week to Be Wicked, Tessa Dare, European Historical Romance, 2012/04
Welcome to Temptation, Jennifer Crusie, Romantic Suspense, 2004
What I Did for a Duke, Julie Anne Long, European Historical Romance, 2011/03
When Beauty Tamed the Beast, Eloisa James, European Historical Romance, 2011/02
When He Was Wicked, Julia Quinn, European Historical Romance, 2004
White Hot, Ilona Andrews, Urban Fantasy Romance, 2017
Wildfire, Ilona Andrews, Fantasy Romance, 2017
Impenitent social media enthusiast. Relational trend spotter. Enjoys both carpe diem and the fish of the day.
I have read the top 27 of these
I’ve read 32 of these!
Wow, I’ve read a ton of these books, but where is linda Howard’s “Open Season?” I re-read “Open Season” every year because it’s so good. Also missing is Jayne Ann-Krentz/Amanda Quick. I also re-read books by her every year as well. I’ve read all of her books and reread several each year as well. The Lavinia Lake/Tobias March books are in my top 20 of all-time. Christina Dodd, old Jude Deveraux should also be on the listed.
hi, sir is too good,
Thank you AAR staffers for conducting this poll. I have read 89 of the books on the list. It’s nice to see some of my old favorites mixed with some of my new favorites. I’m disappointed that my all-time favorite, Paradise, by Judith McNaught fell off the list.
Another interesting thought exercise: I have a list of favorite titles but also attempted to rank order authors. It was surprising to see the disconnects: authors who do not have a spot in my Top 10 list by titles and vice versa e.g. I don’t have a single Jo Goodman title in my Top 10 list of titles, but several titles in my Top 100. if I could only keep books by 10 authors on my shelves, she’d be there. Conversely, Flowers From the Storm by Kinsale is in my Top 10, but that is the only Kinsale title in my Top 100.
BTW – I’ve read ~70 of the current Top 100.
I’ve only read 23 – need to up my game!
Thank you for the collection of such extraordinary book titles. Now, I am Confused, Which one to Read First.
Thank you for the collection of such extraordinary book titles. Now, I am confused, which one to read first.
We did rank the top ten. You could start here!
https://allaboutromance.com/the-aar-top-ten-romances-with-a-new-number-one/
Thank you AAR staffers for conducting this poll. I have read 89 of the books on the list. It’s nice to see some of my old favorites mixed with some of my new favorites. I’m disappointed that my all-time favorite, Paradise, by Judith McNaught fell off the list.
A nitpick – AAR has Mackenzie’s Mountain listed with a publishing date of 2000. The original publishing date was April 1989, it was published in the Silhouette Intimate Moments line.
My very tattered copy lives in my bedside table.
I have read & reviewed the majority of these books. Many of my favourite ones are included here –The Black Hawk, A Seditious Affair, Lord of Scoundrels, The Iron Duke, Anyone but you, The Countess Conspiracy,Flowers from the Storm, The Hating Game or Hate to Want you, to name a few of my 5-star novels.
It is impossible to find a universally appreciated list. There’s not a ‘perfect Top 100’. But I love this one because it’s done by readers like me. SO thank you again for the opportunity you give us, the readers, to express our opinions and chose ammong our beloved novels.
I’m not surprised that some of my favourite authors are not here, for instance, Sandra Brown. I know that suspense is not a genre that people remember when they have to vote. Most surprising –for me– is the absence of Brockway’s All Through the Night or As You Desire, or A Lady Awakened, by Cecilia Grant. I thought they were generally appreciated. And Kenyon’s Acheron, I though all those in the paranormal world likes that book (I haven’t read it, but I have seen very good reviews).
Now I have a new challenge: to read or re-read and review the few books on this list that I haven’t yet brought to my blog.
nblibgirl— Great idea. I’d be interested in a top 10, 20,or something author list too. Is anyone else interested? AAR? The message boards?
BTW, Jo Goodman would be on my top 10 authors list, too. :-)
Thank you for conducting the poll! I always look forward to it. The poll used to be conducted by each person submitting a ranked order list of favorite titles. I still have my personal Top 100 from 2013; and loosely reshuffled it into a 2018 list. I still have various staffers 2013 Top 100s as well. I’ve gotten some great recommendations from those, so looking forward to them this year too. I know there are issues with the message boards and appreciate all the work going into trying to fix them. It would be fun for everyone to have a place to post their Top 20? 30?
Another interesting thought exercise: I have a list of favorite titles but also attempted to rank order authors. It was surprising to see the disconnects: authors who do not have a spot in my Top 10 list by titles and vice versa e.g. I don’t have a single Jo Goodman title in my Top 10 list of titles, but several titles in my Top 100. if I could only keep books by 10 authors on my shelves, she’d be there. Conversely, Flowers From the Storm by Kinsale is in my Top 10, but that is the only Kinsale title in my Top 100.
BTW – I’ve read ~70 of the current Top 100.
Wow, I’ve read a ton of these books, but where is linda Howard’s “Open Season?” I re-read “Open Season” every year because it’s so good. Also missing is Jayne Ann-Krentz/Amanda Quick. I also re-read books by her every year as well. I’ve read all of her books and reread several each year as well. The Lavinia Lake/Tobias March books are in my top 20 of all-time. Christina Dodd, old Jude Deveraux should also be on the list.
I’ve only read 23 – need to up my game!
A former winner A Knight in Shinig Armor by Jude Deveraux didn’t even make the list. Do you think the novel is dated, actually not very good, or forgotten because it’s was published in 1989?
My biggest disappointment is the absence of As You Desire by Connie Brockway. When Harry describes Desdemona as his Egypt…
Thank you to AAR staff for conducting the poll. I look forward to the results each time.
Yes, I would have to agree with you that the absence of Brockway’s As You Desire is greatly missed. I love that book so much!
I wish this was available in ebook form – I’m doing the Ripped Bodice Bingo and I need a hero named Harry for one of the squares!
That’s a shame. There is Harry Rutledge from Kleypas’s Tempt Me at Twilight. The hero is named Harry in Guhrke’s And Then He Kissed Her, in Hoyt’s The Leopard Prince, and in Loretta Chase’s Scandal Wears Satin. Brockway’s Harry Braxton is still the best though!!
I’ve read 62 of these books, but I’m likely to read only five or six more on the list that I haven’t read yet, About 25 of the top 100 are on my own all-time favorites list. I wonder if I could come up with a top 100 list of my own. Just thinking about doing it, though, makes me think about all the work that went into this current AAR effort. Thanks to all for all the work you did!
Thanks.
Outlander is always my number one. <3
Mine too Abby, Mine too! (I have it in my profile as a reviewer here as my favorite romance)
I have read 55 of the books.
I read 44 of the books. It’s nice that Judith McNaught is still remembered, since she hasn’t published anything in over 10 years. I’m surprised Julie Anne Long, Joanna Bourne & Meredith Duran didn’t have more books in the Top 100. Several of their books are in my Top 100.
Since someone brought up lack of books by authors of color or featuring POC characters, I wanted to suggest that one way to make more readers aware of good books you’ve read involving POC/LBGQ/disabled characters and/or authors is to post a rec or review on the message boards here. (You can find the Message Boards under “Connections” at the top of the page.) I’m not sure the current boards get a lot of traction, but I check them regularly and have gotten some good recs that way. Just my 2 cents.
I’m not sure the message boards are that useful anymore though for reader reviews as they seem to be largely unused now. I always posted reviews here for years but have shifted over to Goodreads. I do think though that AAR reviewers try to post more reviews focused on diversity. The review comments section for individual books can be useful. It might be nice for AAR to offer a once-a-month blog asking readers what books stood out for them for the month as more people will likely see those posts. Just a thought.
Great idea!
I second that! I really miss those old forum discussions, but this would be a nice alternative.
I hope we do this, but I’m not sure if it’s still something we plan to incorporate into the blog in 2020?
It’s a good idea!
I don’t know if it’s just me but the message boards are not working right now. For a short while I wasn’t able to log in at all. But now, I can log in but the message board doesn’t recognize that, and says that I’m not able to reply to the topic and no message box pops up to allow you to do so.
So, right now, posting a recommendation for any book is not possible, unless doing so through the comment sections of these article posts.
Is this true for everyone? I thought this had been fixed.
I sometimes see a message that I cannot reply but once I re-login with my username and password, the problem is resolved immediately. I usually have to re-login maybe once a month.
That used to be my experience as well. But now, it doesn’t matter how many times I log-out and log-in, the message board never recognizes it. It’ll even say, at the bottom of the web page, that I’m logged-in and my profile will say the same, but the board, itself, still acts like I’m not.
I still cannot post to the message board. It’s been almost two weeks. It shows me as logged in, but every thread has “You cannot reply to this topic.” at the bottom. I logged out and back in several times, but still the same. I emailed you at the address you posted, but haven’t heard back.
There is a problem with the software we use and we can’t figure out what that problem is! We are working on this.
I’m still having trouble. . . . I can read what is on the boards but I can’t reply or post.
You might consider, in the future, having a reasonable maximum number of titles per author on the final list. (I’d suggest either 3 or 5). When you have people who love a particular author, they will tend to vote for all books by that author, which may skew the results. From a ‘introduce people to new books’ perspective, having more authors to choose from is a definite good, once they’ve decided they like an author, finding the rest of their books is generally easy.
I’m disappointed by the lack of books by WOC or featuring POC characters; I mean seriously? *Nothing* by Beverly Jenkins is in the top 100???
I have to disagree with you about the diversity of the list. It’s not a perfect at all but compared to the list that AAR came up with the last time marked improvement has been shown. There are over ten POC ranking authors including Alyssa Cole, who ranked fourth, and several books with poc leads included. It’s still very straight and very white but that’s sadly signifies how slowly progress happens and how long it takes for publishing houses to diversify popular fiction.
It’s again not perfect but you can see the progress that’s been made over time.
The top 100 is not ranked, it’s in alphabetical order. Alyssa Cole’s An Extraordinary Union was not in the top ten; Flowers from the Storm finished 4th.
AAR seems to have more reviews of books featuring POC and books written by AOC than when I first started visiting. That’s certainly good in terms of introducing more diverse books to readers who might not pick them up otherwise. But ultimately you have readers voting in these polls, and AAR can only do so much to encourage a more diverse top 100 if people would rather pick every Lisa Kleypas book in existence (I honestly don’t get the appeal of most of them) or SEP’s entire Stars series.
While I appreciate the hard work AAR staff put into this, I wasn’t a fan of the voting procedure. If it were up to me, I’d have one round of nominations, capped at 10 or 20 per person, and *maybe* a voting round where readers can vote for (or even rank) a top ten. The latter would encourage people to be selective and pick real favorites rather than every random book they liked. I’d also consider limiting the number of titles by one author than can get into the top 100, which would free up spots and make for a more interesting and varied list (look at the top 150 from round 3 to see some of the books and authors that came close but didn’t make it).
I’ve read maybe half of the books in the top 100, and would consider only a small number of them for my personal top 100.
Noted and thank you for saying so. I think it’s a fairly interesting idea. Also maybe series consolidation would help things.
Huh, the final 100 is surprising! I’m sad that a number of authors I voted for – Patricia Gaffney, Judith Ivory, & Cecilia Grant – didn’t make the last version of the list. It would’ve been nice to see Carla Kelly or Rose Lerner on there as well since their books are equally evocative, emotionally complex and well-researched.
However, if I see it as a list reflecting RECENT reading preferences rather than an allover “best of the genre”, I think it makes more sense. In the last few years, debuts from Lucy Parker, Sally Thorne, and Amanda Bouchet have knocked my socks off too! :)
I’d also love to see a top 100 list from the editors of All About Romance or top 20 by each reviewer. I’m obsessed with the “best of” lists at the end of each year and it would be interesting to see the authors that would pop up on a list that wasn’t confined to a single year. But, I also know that this survey is a giant amount of work and I could see why no one at AAR wants to think about lists for a very long time. :)
Thank you for this thorough investigation – it was so fun to vote & see what other readers are into!
Watch this space, Cecily! We’re working on a staff Top 100 right now :)
Yay! I can’t wait. :)
It’s been interesting to view the progression of these lists. I was a little surprised that Nora Roberts, Judith McNaught, and even Linda Howard have a noticeably smaller presence in this poll. On the flip side, Lisa Kleypas and Susan Elizabeth Phillips have such a large presence. I think I’m probably especially surprised by Garwood here as her books seem woefully outdated. I’ve never been able to enjoy Nalini Singh or Julie James, and Singh especially seems quite popular.
I am sad for the loss of Judith Ivory and Anne Stuart in the polls. I’m sorry too that Cecilia Grant didn’t make it to the final list. Also, only one Meredith Duran is represented here, as is only one Julie Anne Long. Sorry too that Rainbow Rowell’s _Eleanor and Park_ didn’t make it to the final list.
On a happy note, I’m thrilled for Penny Reid, Sally Thorne, and Lucy Parker as new editions. All three authors have big reader audiences and promising futures in romance writing. And of all the books listed that I have not read, I’m especially excited to read those from Mariana Zapata, Ilona Andrews, and K. J. Charles this year.
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all those who tabulated the results of this huge undertaking! :)
I love Penny Reid and most Mariana Zapata books.
I think more readers have become aware of Linda Howard’s personal racist views and this has affected their willingness to vote for her books.
So glad to see so many of my favorites on here. In addition to some I mentioned in previous posts, I love Duke of Sin, Kiss of Snow (my first Psy-Changeling novel and still perhaps my favorite, along with Caressed by Ice), The Raven Prince, and More than a Mistress. Really wonderful books.
Sorry that Carla Kelly’s Reforming Lord Ragsdale and Gaffney’s To Have and to Hold did not make the cut. They’re still on my Keeper Shelf. (Right alongside Fifty Shades of Grey and its even better companion piece, Grey. :-) )
It’s been noted on Twitter that 10% of this list is Lisa Kleypas. In the last poll, it was 12%!
I am happy to see many of my favorites on this list, and several newer books that I have enjoyed but have not stood the test of time to say that they are “favorites.” Notably missing are any books by Carla Kelly or Jo Beverly. I also find it interesting that while represented, Nora Roberts does not have a huge presence on this list, nor does Linda Howard. There was a time when they would have dominated this sort of survey. Time and readers move on!
I’ve read 84! Wow….
I’ve read 58 out of the top 100, which isn’t too bad!
I’ve read about 37 of the books … I think. (I have recently bought a couple of books I thought I hadn’t read, only to find that they’re on my list of “books read”, that I keep on my computer. I sincerely can’t remember them, so I guess I’ll be enjoying them again!)
On another topic, the other day I noticed that Lucy Parker’s books are now being sold both as e-reads and hard copy books. Since I like to have hard copies of books I’ve enjoyed, I may purposely buy the ones I know I’ve read all over again, just to have the print books with the nice covers.
I have gone back and bought paper copies of Parker’s books, as I love them and like you, want to have a hard copy of them.
I have too! I am just waiting for the third book to come out in print. I haven’t looked if they are in audiobook format but I’m sure I’d enjoy them that way as well.
I’ve listened to both Act Like It and Pretty Face… you know I’m a HUGE audiobook fan, but I felt both these are best enjoyed in print. The narrators are good (the narrator of Act Like It also narrates Making Up) but neither quite captures the essence of the books, IMO.
I’ve read 64. The list represents books I would, for the most part, expect. Some of the new appearances don’t surprise given the popularity of the authors or books and how frequently I see them pop up in other readers’ recs or in algorithms (because you bought x you might like y). A few are books I expect to disappear from lists just as quickly as they came. I’d be interested in knowing how many on this final list came from the curated list in Round One. It seems like a lot did.
I’ve read 74 of these!
I have read 56 of the books on the list. Many are still on my keeper shelf. There are authors that are not on the list. Jo Beverley, Kelly Bowen, Liz Caryle, Victoria Holt who are on my “save shelf” for re-reading. With so many reading choices I thank you for keeping this genre and category of books alive even though “mainstream” thinks they are frivolous. Not so to us!
I was stunned that Jo Beverley wasn’t on the list. Her Devilish is an incredible romance!
I’ve read 45 of the books on this list. Some of them are my favorites, some aren’t but it is still intriguing to see which books are voted on every year. I think Kleypas may be the author most often voted for, although I haven’t done an official count so I’m not positive. Thanks to all who worked on this – I know it was a HUGE job and really appreciate the effort put into it.
By my count, there are 59 historical romances on this list, 24 contemporary romances, and 17 fantasy/PRNs.
I’ve read the majority of the books listed and a large number are on my keeper shelf. I’m happy to see some older books made the list.