Best Romance Novels of All Time

What are romance novels? How does one categorize a novel as belonging to this genre? Which are the most famous novels of the genre? These are just some of the questions that we answer for you in this article.

The genre that is today popularly called the 'romance genre' was developed sometime in the early eighteenth century, with the publication of what must have been the first romance novel, Pamela which was also published under the name Virtue Rewarded.

Over time, the genre was crowded by many literary gems including the many works of Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters.

The books that are categorized under the romance genre are those that have at the core of the story, a passionate relationship and a love store between the protagonists. Most romance novels are written from the female perspective.

Check out a list of the best romance novels of all time, and you will notice that women and their perspectives are described in length in these novels.

From the best historical romance novels of all time to the vampire romance novels that are a rage today, this is a genre that will always remain popular. In this article, we give you a list of the best selling novels of the romance genre.

Look at sales charts of any book store, and you will see that romance novels are the most popular genre of literature, mostly amongst women.

This is especially true for the Americas. But to a large extent, besides the classic of the romantic genre, which will always be heralded amongst the best romance novels, most books in this category are often criticized for their crowd-pleasing content, which is often less than literary in nature.

But there are many books in this category that have been called classics, and have been favorites with bibliophiles for many generations. Given below is an alphabetically arranged list of the best romance novels ever.

• A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
• A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux

• Angelique by Sergeanne Golon
• According To Jane by Marilyn Brant
• A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
• A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh
• Angelique and the King by Sergeanne Golon, Anne Golon
• Angelique in Barbary by Sergeanne Golon, Anne Golon

• Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Christy by Catherine Marshall
• Comanche Moon by Catherine Anderson
• Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

• Danger in the Shadows by Dee Henderson
• Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
• Dawn's Early Light by Elswyth Thane
• Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
• Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
• Dream Man by Linda Howard
• Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

• Family Blessings by LaVyrle Spencer
• Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
• Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor
• Frederica by Georgette Heyer

• From This Day by Nora Roberts
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
• Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood
• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

• It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
• Katherine by Anya Seton
• Knight of a Trillion Stars by Dara Joy

• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

• Love Story by Erich Segal
• Mark of the Lion Trilogy by Francine Rivers
• Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
• Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer
• Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

• On the Night of the Seventh Moon by Victoria Holt
• Once and Always by Judith McNaught
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Paradise by Judith McNaught
• Perfect by Judith McNaught

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

• Say You Love Me by Johanna Lindsey
• Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas
• Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
• Short Straw Bride by Dallas Schulze
• Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
• Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas
• Sunshine and Shadow by Sharon Curtis, Tom Curtis
• Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

• Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• The Bride by Julie Garwood
• The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

• The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
• The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer
• The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
• The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

• The Fury by L.J. Smith
• The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
• The Manny by Holly Peterson

• The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson
• The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer
• The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
• The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

• The Princess by Lori Wick
• The Prize by Julie Garwood
• The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer
• The Rake by Mary Jo Putney

• The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
• The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer
• The Secret by Julie Garwood
• The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh
• The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
• The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce
• The Struggle by L.J. Smith
• The Summer Before the Dark by Doris Lessing

• The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
• The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer
• The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
• These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
• Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson
• Wake by Lisa McMann

• When the Splendor Falls by Laurie McBain
• Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas
• Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Years by LaVyrle Spencer

Romance is a genre of novels that has had many little girls building castles in the air, weaving little dreams of their own love stories, imagining their own tall, dark, and handsome princes. While these dreams may not often come true, the best selling romance novels of all times keep the hope alive in most women, even if it is foolish to do so.

The best love stories are an escape from the dreariness of life, a place where anything is possible, and everything ends in a happily ever after.