As we prepare for our 2026 AAR Top 100 Romances poll, I’ve been trying to narrow down the books that will be in the final poll–it’s just too overwhelming (and bad polling policy) to give people a list of hundreds of books to choose from. We’ve narrowed down readers’ picks with this poll. (Last chance–it will close this weekend!) Now, it’s time to pick from the many of the books AAR reviewers picked as their faves since we did the last poll. There’s overlap, although not much, with the books picked by readers.
Click here for survey.
Well Bred by Adriana Anders
Cold Snap by Toni Anderson
Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara
Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews
Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
The Deepest of Secrets by Kelley Armstrong
Marrying Off Morgan McBride by Amy Barry
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Two Tribes by Fearne Hill
Blackberry Beach by Irene Hannon
If Only You by Chloe Liese
Twisted Tome by Vanora Lawless
Red Blossom in Snow by Jeannie Lin
Fortune Favors the Viscount by Caroline Linden
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase
Duet by Julie Kriss
What Happened Last Night by Julie Kriss
The Ippos King by Grace Draven
The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews
A Kiss in the Moonlight by Cathy Maxwell
One Dangerous Night by Cathy Maxwell
The Dark King by Gina L. Maxwell
Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough and Caroline Tung Richmond
King’s Man by Sally Malcolm
Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke
The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz
Viscount in Love by Eloisa James
The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James
How to Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long
My Season of Scandal by Julie Anne Long
The Beast Takes a Bride by Julie Anne Long
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Homecoming by Kate Morton
Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
Headliners by Lucy Parker
Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston
A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore
The Will Darling Adventures by K. J. Charles
Death in the Spires by K. J. Charles
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
A Nun for the Viking Warrior by Lucy Morris
The Viking She Loves to Hate by Lucy Morris
The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin
Butt-Dialing the Billionaire by Annika Martin
Just Not That Into Billionaires by Annika Martin
Marvelous by Molly Greeley
Rebel at Heart by Zoe York
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
At First Spite by Olivia Dade
The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest
The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest
The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett
Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan
Simply the Best by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend by Penny Reid
Bananapants by Penny Reid
The Doctor by C. S. Poe
Until You by Briar Prescott
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach
Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon
Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson
The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
In Step by Jay Hogan
The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell
A Fault Against the Dead by Gregory Ashe
The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea
Two Wars and a Wedding by Lauren Willig
Wilder With You by Serena Bell
Walk on the Wilder Side by Serena Bell
Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan
Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
You Can Die by Rebecca Zanetti
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
One Golden Summer by Carly Fortune
The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella
There were some really great books on that list. I love the two Ilona Andrews ones (just got her newest Hidden Legacy novella, Beast Business, this morning.) Small Mercies was great, so was Frozen River. This, in itself, would make a great TBR list.
There are lots of my favorites here. I thought Fourth Wing would have made the list. I think it’s more popular than Onyx Storm because it started the series. Thanks for doing these lists. It can’t be easy.
I think it probably belongs on the final poll simply because of its massive popularity.
Thanks for all your work!
I find interesting that it doesn’t overlap with the readers list as much as I would think.
Any ideas on that?
I notice there are two Julie Kriss books included. I am a big fan so I tried to get into her website to see if there was any news of forthcoming books but it had disappeared. Do you know if she is still writing.
She has vanished. Everything about her on the internet other than the books she’s already published has been taken down. No clue why.
Out of curiosity, Is there a reason the Will Darling series (3 books) is a single entry but other authors like Ilona Andrews or Julie Anne Long have individual books from a series listed?
An error on my part! The poll is single books only. I’ll fix that in the next iteration.