14 Romance Novels for Non-Romance Readers

This book is unlike anything you’ll read elsewhere; it’s a story about the love of family, and the anguish of loss, and how you find love in the least expected places. It will tear your heart out and dance on it, but you won’t regret a single second of it.

Whenever we get asked what our favorite book is—and we get asked that a lot—we answer without hesitation. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson was one of the first books we read together when we became co-authors, but it isn’t only that sentimental link that makes it special. This is the story of Lennie, a girl who has just lost her sister, and how she struggles to find her way forward. It is an absolutely stunning, uplifting, and unforgettable book.

I kid you not, we read these books so fast we did ZERO real work for a few days. The first book throws you in unprepared and expects you to keep up as you are sent through a wild storm of battling princes, politics, starkly different sexual culture and a queer romance to knock you over. Want your romance hero with a side of Another Romance Hero? Start here. You won’t be able to help loving Laurent, just trust us.

It’s just one night—one night of walking, and talking, and trying to find the elusive graffiti artist Shadow—but it is enough to make you obsessively love Lucy and Ed and remember those days of high school wandering and sweet, young infatuation.

The first page of this book opens and you’re smacked in the face with the almighty VOICE—that sharp, singular style we authors try to wrestle out of every character (with varied success). Here, Mercy Brown nails voice—reminiscent somehow both of John Hughes and mid-nineties indie rock—and she does it while writing a compelling, smart, and sexy as hell romance.