The Return of the Rom-Com | Bay County Library System

blue background with red hearts, black text that reads the return of the rom-com superimposed over an image of a man on bended knee offering heart to a woman.

Despite romance's bestselling spot atop all other fiction genres, it has a long history of not being respected by "serious" readers and is often derided as fluff. Things have come a long way since Harlequin first began publishing romance in the late 1940's, and although Harlequin is still very much around there is so much more than that to choose from these days!

The resurgence of the contemporary romance novel in the past couple of years, helped along by social media platforms like Twitter and Tik Tok (with its influential #booktok hashtag), is sending new readers in droves to their libraries and bookstores to find the newest, trending titles. Whether you're one of those readers that has always eschewed the romance genre or a seasoned romance reader, today's contemporary romances deserve a second look. Couldn't we all use a little more happily ever after in our lives?

Check out one of these great new romance titles today and see what you've been missing!

The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams

Ramón and Julieta - Alana Quintana Albertson

The Spanish Love Deception - Elena Armas

Honey & Spice - Bolu Babalola

Fix Her Up - Tessa Bailey

Delilah Green Doesn't Care - Ashley Herring Blake

A Proposal They Can't Refuse - Natalie Caña

The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun

By the Book - Jasmine Guillory

Boyfriend Material - Alex Hall

The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood