Suleikha's Top 20 Romance Books of 2024

Here I am bringing another romance reading year to a close. How to pick 20 favorite 2024 releases when I read 261 books overall was no easy task—especially since most of what I read came from authors' backlists. (That means books that aren't recent. For my own purposes, I count anything from the last three years as new.) So, I'm bending my own "2024 releases only" rule to include two books that dropped in 2023: Will They or Won't They? by Ava Wilder and Aydra Richards' Exit, Pursued By a Baron. The latter knocked my socks off so thoroughly that I reread it on Dec. 31, so I feel like that needs acknowledging. To that end, I also have to do a special call-out of Judith Ivory's The Proposition. I finally got around to this classic title from 1999 in February and then devoured it all over again in August. I'm advocating for it to be the historical romance that gets recommended to everybody as the must-read of the genre, because I think Mick and Winnie deserve it. (Sorry, Lord of Scoundrels.)

But let's get back to 2024! You may notice that the bulk of this list consists of a) historical romances and b) self-published titles. You may also notice that there is no romantasy on the list when that subgenre dominated romance publishing this year. These things just speak to my personal tastes and should not be seen as a commentary on what traditional publishers and their authors are getting up to! (Some of my best friends are trad-pubbed. lol.)

1. Well Bred by Adriana Anders

2. It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier

3. One Kiss to Desire by Grace Callaway

4. Isabel and the Rogue by Liana De la Rosa

5. Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

6. 'Til Heist Do Us Part by Sara Desai

7. The Lady's Last Mistake by Cara Devlin

8. Right Where We Left Us by Jen Devon

9. Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar

10. The Finest Print by Erin Langston

11. Make Room For Love by Darcy Liao

12. The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

13. Exit, Pursued By a Baron by Aydra Richards

14. Lady Diana's Lost Lord by Aydra Richards

15. One More Shot by Anise Starre

16. Wild Life by Opal Wei

17. A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley

18. Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder

19. A Love Song For Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

20. Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley

You can check out my 2023 list here.