At the recent Oregon Library Association conference, I found myself wandering through a maze of session titles, searching for the one that felt a little like destiny. Then I saw it: Meet Me at the Cottage (iykyk) — a “Romance Round-Up” presented by Lori Lieberman.
Drawn in by curiosity and the promise of happily-ever-after, I took my seat as Lieberman (Lincoln High School Librarian and Romance Book Club leader) began sharing how the romance genre is soaring in popularity. If you can believe it, there were 18 million copies of romance sold in 2020 and a whopping 39 million copies of romance sold between 2023-2025. That is a lot of readers falling in love with reading about, well, love. These romance readers should be taken seriously, as they have made the romance genre into a billion-dollar industry.
Lieberman shared that the romance genre’s popularity has led to a 761% increase of romance bookstores over the last three years. It’s no surprise, considering romance has become a space where readers can lose themselves in stolen glances, aching tension, and unforgettable first kisses. With 84% of romance readers being women — many discovering the genre between the ages of 11 and 18 — these stories often grow alongside them, offering both comfort and escape. In fact, 91% of readers finish the books they start, proving just how captivating these love stories can be. But romance is about more than love; the genre also celebrates women’s strength, resilience, and heroism, weaving empowerment into page.
Romance is also hot right now because there are so many different sub-genres within it that are trending. You may be wondering what those sub-genres are, and I am here to share: monster romance, sports romance, vampire/werewolves romance (hoa, hoa, hoa, anyone?), romantasy, dark romance, cowboy romance, and even sentient object romance.
Now that the romance genre has found its way into countless book bags and glowing Kindles, it’s easy to see that this love for romance stories is reflected within the JCLS collection as well. JCLS patrons had over 2000 checkouts in the past year of items written by the popular romance authors featured on this list. And among the shelves, Young Adult romance graphic novels continue to steal readers’ hearts – especially Heartstopper Volumes 1 and 2, which have become standout favorites across all our libraries. The most popular romance title in Adult Fiction at JCLS was Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. In our digital collections, Quicksilver by Callie Hart led Libby and Bound by Ali Hazelwood kept our patrons happy on Hoopla.
If you’re feeling inspired to read about love, make sure to check out one (or all) of these romance booklists created by JCLS librarians, because the best love stories always steal a little sleep and keep you turning pages past midnight