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Best Top Romance Novels of All Time

The list is compliled from Amazons Bestsellers in Romance for the peoples view, from Romance Readers Top 100 Romance Novels for a Criteque View, And from the Best books From last 10 years lists. Each book has been rated at least 4 star by at least 75 readers.
1

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4.29 avg rating — 4,409,053 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 1,092,174 ratings
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3

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4.15 avg rating — 2,163,074 ratings
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4

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4.31 avg rating — 1,236,634 ratings
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5

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4.09 avg rating — 1,229,431 ratings
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6

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4.15 avg rating — 1,745,411 ratings
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7

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4.15 avg rating — 725,063 ratings
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8

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4.34 avg rating — 366,999 ratings
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9

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4.39 avg rating — 316,914 ratings
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10

by
4.30 avg rating — 17,206 ratings
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11

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4.11 avg rating — 37,542 ratings
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12

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4.20 avg rating — 54,689 ratings
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13

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4.33 avg rating — 28,876 ratings
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14

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4.17 avg rating — 11,643 ratings
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15

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4.19 avg rating — 6,779 ratings
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16

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4.03 avg rating — 9,614 ratings
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17

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4.41 avg rating — 3,876 ratings
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18

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3.95 avg rating — 12,223 ratings
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19

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4.62 avg rating — 9,259 ratings
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20

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4.20 avg rating — 45,216 ratings
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21

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4.26 avg rating — 103,927 ratings
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22

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4.27 avg rating — 916,317 ratings
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23

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4.49 avg rating — 2,372 ratings
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24

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4.20 avg rating — 37,290 ratings
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25

by
4.21 avg rating — 92,403 ratings
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26

by
4.08 avg rating — 38,066 ratings
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27

by
3.83 avg rating — 19,884 ratings
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28

by
4.23 avg rating — 181,533 ratings
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29

by
4.05 avg rating — 62,833 ratings
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30

by
4.23 avg rating — 68,231 ratings
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31

by
4.40 avg rating — 3,572 ratings
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32

by
4.30 avg rating — 35,658 ratings
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33

by
3.79 avg rating — 608,795 ratings
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34

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4.10 avg rating — 18,612 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 42,974 ratings
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36

by
4.07 avg rating — 16,732 ratings
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37

by
4.04 avg rating — 39,019 ratings
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38

by
4.43 avg rating — 183,291 ratings
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39

by
4.23 avg rating — 33,471 ratings
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40

by
4.17 avg rating — 27,981 ratings
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41

by
4.17 avg rating — 66,733 ratings
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42

by
4.29 avg rating — 89,128 ratings
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43

by
4.16 avg rating — 45,533 ratings
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44

by
4.25 avg rating — 54,535 ratings
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45

by
3.88 avg rating — 381,773 ratings
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46

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4.12 avg rating — 22,751 ratings
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47

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4.14 avg rating — 45,561 ratings
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48

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,093 ratings
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49

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4.32 avg rating — 196,009 ratings
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50

by
4.25 avg rating — 659,449 ratings
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51

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4.30 avg rating — 24,803 ratings
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52

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4.31 avg rating — 948,666 ratings
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53

by
4.19 avg rating — 23,424 ratings
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54

by
4.04 avg rating — 19,699 ratings
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55

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 68,084 ratings
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56

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,023,786 ratings
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57

by
4.10 avg rating — 68,404 ratings
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58

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 432,070 ratings
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59

by
4.20 avg rating — 50,976 ratings
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60

by
4.05 avg rating — 45,599 ratings
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61

by
4.13 avg rating — 19,805 ratings
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62

by
4.15 avg rating — 12,669 ratings
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63

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,881,472 ratings
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64

by
4.16 avg rating — 35,560 ratings
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65

by
4.17 avg rating — 34,392 ratings
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66

by
4.19 avg rating — 12,419 ratings
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67

by
4.23 avg rating — 16,686 ratings
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68

by
4.16 avg rating — 18,336 ratings
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69

by
4.11 avg rating — 18,787 ratings
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70

by
4.04 avg rating — 19,888 ratings
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71

by
4.33 avg rating — 37,106 ratings
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72

by
4.26 avg rating — 29,282 ratings
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73

by
4.22 avg rating — 31,389 ratings
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74

by
4.04 avg rating — 44,677 ratings
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75

by
3.98 avg rating — 159,573 ratings
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76

by
4.02 avg rating — 57,311 ratings
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77

by
4.15 avg rating — 174,416 ratings
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78

by
3.97 avg rating — 457,649 ratings
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79

by
4.34 avg rating — 784,648 ratings
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80

by
4.13 avg rating — 12,600 ratings
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81

by
4.20 avg rating — 821,777 ratings
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82

by
3.95 avg rating — 24,113 ratings
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83

by
4.51 avg rating — 338,432 ratings
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84

by
4.22 avg rating — 75,946 ratings
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85

by
3.95 avg rating — 32,288 ratings
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85

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,202,573 ratings
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87

by
4.04 avg rating — 8,005 ratings
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88

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,673,925 ratings
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88

by
4.05 avg rating — 914,795 ratings
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90

by
4.06 avg rating — 26,534 ratings
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91

by
4.23 avg rating — 62,457 ratings
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92

by
4.18 avg rating — 24,707 ratings
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93

by
4.18 avg rating — 39,629 ratings
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94

by
4.07 avg rating — 22,971 ratings
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95

by
3.99 avg rating — 225,620 ratings
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96

by
4.27 avg rating — 15,708 ratings
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97

by
4.02 avg rating — 26,410 ratings
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98

by
4.08 avg rating — 228,188 ratings
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99

by
4.15 avg rating — 5,243 ratings
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100

by
4.16 avg rating — 342,381 ratings
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662 books · 1,589 voters · list created May 5th, 2011 by Sandil (votes) .
9 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Sandil 8 books
1 friend
Laura 3900 books
1 friend
Kelli 1912 books
72 friends
Mar 191 books
35 friends
Emery 677 books
1301 friends
Bma 8 books
28 friends
Julie 386 books
172 friends
Krissi 1242 books
44 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sunny☼ (new)

Sunny☼ Librarians, I need you help please. Could you remove all books from this list that do not meet the criteria.

ie. books with less than 3.9 stars and rated by at least 75 readers? Too many not meeting this have been added.

Also please remove the duplicates.


message 2: by Sandil (new)

Sandil Thank you Sunny. That has bothered me for way too long. I didn't know how to fix it.

Please librarians Delete all books not conforming to the star and to the reader requirements for this list and duplicate entries.


Donna Getting a New Knee Be Patient Davis Found and deleted: 7 duplicates.

The criteria create a real obstacle for anyone wanting to add a recently published book. I know that the list maker is supposed to be able to set the standard, but a lot of our more recent lists are designed to be finite. I think I am going to decline to help enforce this one. Let the paid staff deal with it. This small rebellion is one of the only perks of being a volunteer librarian.


message 4: by Sunny☼ (new)

Sunny☼ LOL, Thank you Donna for your help with duplicates. I understand your POV for other requests.


message 5: by Matt (new)

Matt where's silvia day?


message 6: by Brodyn (new)

Brodyn and age of innocence ( Pulitzer prize winner ) is far far better than pride and prejudice should be at the top.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Brodyn wrote: "and age of innocence ( Pulitzer prize winner ) is far far better than pride and prejudice should be at the top."

Isn't that just a matter of opinion?


message 8: by Pat (new)

Pat Gorely Where is "Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and Forever Amber"?? Some on this list I dont even consider romance, like Pillars of the Earth, which I would consider more of historical novel spanning a lifetime


message 9: by Sara (last edited Apr 14, 2019 01:00PM) (new)

Sara Can someone please explain to me why in the world "Gone with the Wind," "Jane Eyre," "The Notebook," "The Princess Bride," "Rebecca," "The Count of Monte Cristo," any of the "Anne of Green Gables" books, "Pillars of the Earth," or "The Thorn Birds" are considered "romance novels?"

The RWA defines romances as this:

Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.

An Emotionally Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.

Exactly none of the books above qualify for that. If you take the love stories out of the books above, most of them still function just fine with the plot in tact. And the ones that have unhappy endings do not qualify as romance novels because that is one of the staples of romance novels. Just because a book has a "love story" does not mean it is a "romance novel." They are two separate things, and it really bothers me when they are put together. It is one of my pet peeves, and it slowly driving me crazy to see how often books that just happen to have strong love stories but otherwise aren't romance novels are thrown in with romance novels.


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