It is game, set, and match as romances capture readers’ attention and provide swoony delights. Three key trends are shaping the genre now and into the first several months of 2025. Sports in romance has long been popular but is expanding beyond longstanding titles focused on hockey and football to feature F1 racing, soccer, tennis, and even pickleball. Love stories infused with danger and magic are also flourishing, as the rise of romantasy continues to take flight. And protagonists with more life experience (including being a parent) are starting to feature prominently in romantic comedies, offering realistic stories and plots.

Readers will also find a bevy of adventure romances, novels with writers as protagonists, and plenty of time-travel tales, but particularly notable is the small number of historical romances recently; the dip in the genre is surprising in light of the ongoing popularity of Bridgerton.

A downloadable list of all titles mentioned can be found here.

Play On!

The intensity of competitive sports seems a perfect match for stories highlighting the fight for a happily-ever-after. Hockey is still hot, with plenty of titles featuring the sport, including Tessa Bailey’s Dream Girl Drama (Avon), Lia Riley’s Puck and Prejudice (Avon), Rachel Reid’s The Shots You Take (Carina Adores), Kate Cochrane’s Wake Up, Nat & Darcy (Carina Adores), and Shoot Your Shot (Canary Street) by debut author (and wife of a former NHL player) Lexi LaFleur Brown. In an exciting new twist on the subgenre, a hockey player and a ballet dancer fake-date in Bal Khabra’s Spiral (Berkley), the second book in her “Off the Ice” series.

Football is also well represented, with The Hook Up (Canary Street), Kristen Callihan’s first sports romance and a series starter, and its sequel, The Friend Zone (Canary Street), as well as Jamie Wesley’s A Legend in the Baking (St. Martin’s Griffin).

The explosion of sports romance has helped the subgenre to expand beyond the usual athletic pursuits, with F1 racing seeing a particular surge thanks to Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive. Pole Position (One More Chapter) by Rebecca J. Caffery, Crash Test (Avon) by Amy James, Ride with Me (Berkley) by Simone Soltani, and Overdrive (Avon) by Esha Patel all feature F1 race car drivers. Ilana Long’s adult debut, Pickleballers (Berkley), captures the competition and fun of the United States’ fastest-growing sport in an enemies-to-lovers romance. Tennis features in Meg Jones’s Clean Point (Avon), soccer scores a goal with Jessica Yale’s He’s a 10 (Penguin) and Becky Ward’s Playing the Field (Avon), and baseball has a hit with Katie Cotugno’s Heavy Hitter (Harper Perennial). Bestselling Ali Hazelwood adds water to her STEM romance formula with Deep End (Berkley), in which the forbidden pairing of a diver and a swimmer steams up the locker room and the college bio lab.

Romantasy’s Rise Continues

The rise of romantasy hasn’t stopped (or even paused), and there are several forthcoming titles for fans to look for. Top of the list are highly anticipated installments in popular series, including Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm (Entangled: Red Tower), the third of her publishing-sensation books about dragons, military students, and a fight to save a continent. Other sequels not to miss are A Monsoon Rising (Harper Voyager) by Thea Guanzon and An Honored Vow (Union Square & Co.) by Melissa Blair.

Two debut authors to note are Alexandra Kennington, whose Blood Beneath the Snow (Ace) is a heart-pounding tale of love and survival, and Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez, who offers an enemies-to-lovers historical romantasy set in Gilded Age New York with The Gods Time Forgot (Alcove).

In bestselling Karina Halle’s scorching Realm of Thieves (Ace), two thieves put their lives and hearts on the line as they vie for dominance in the illegal dragon egg trade. Kristin Cast is releasing The Empress (Bloom), her first solo book and a series starter. Julie Johnson also launches a new series, “Reign of Remnants,” with The Wind Weaver (Ace). Sarah Hawley, in a move away from paranormal rom-coms, will be exploring the underground kingdom of the Fae with the “Shards of Magic” trilogy starter Servant of Earth (Ace). Rachel Van Dyken, who writes Regency and contemporary romance, turns to romantasy with Fallen Gods (Entangled: Red Tower), a story set in a small Norwegian town. Piper CJ offers a prequel duology to her “Night and Its Moon” series, starting with A Chill in the Flame (Bloom). Stephanie Burgis sets her newest, Wooing the Witch Queen (Bramble), in a gas lamp–lit world filled with magic, hags, and ogres, while Mary E. Pearson moves from YA to adult romantasy in The Courting of Bristol Keats (Flatiron).

Mom-Coms

While new-adult romances continue to regularly hit the bestseller lists, there are a slew of forthcoming romances that feature slightly older protagonists who are already mothers. Divorced columnist Anna tries to save her job by agreeing to write about her dating life, with suitors chosen by her young children, in Is She Really Going Out with Him? (Putnam) by Sophie Cousens. Interior designer Natalie is in her mid-thirties, divorced, and focused only on her career and two children—until she meets video game designer Eugene—in Jaci Burton’s Designs on You (Berkley). Nora Dahlia writes an enemies-to-lovers romp in Pick-Up (Gallery) as a work trip lands divorced mom Sasha on an exclusive private island with an annoying but adorable dad she knows from after-school pick-up. After being a stay-at-home mom and losing her husband, Juliana returns to work and eventually finds a lover in her work nemesis Ben in Amy Buchanan’s Let’s Call a Truce (St. Martin’s Griffin). In Between Now and Forever (Montlake) by Adriana Locke, Jay falls hard for the sexy single mom next door. Old friends Jillian and Levi get a second chance at love when they both end up back in their small hometown in Get Lost with You (St. Martin’s Griffin) by Sophie Sullivan. B.K. Borison, author of the popular “Lovelight” series, pens a Sleepless in Seattle–inspired story, First-Time Caller (Berkley), in which 12-year-old Maya, worried that her single mom, Lucie, is lonely, calls into Aiden Valentine’s romance hotline on a local Baltimore radio station to get Lucie some dating advice, leading to unexpected love.

Writing Their Way to Romance

Romance continues to find space in the genre-spanning trend of biblio-centric novels. This season, writers as protagonists have replaced bookish settings, as several forthcoming titles exemplify. The Perfect Rom-Com (Thomas Nelson) by Melissa Ferguson is a slow-burn comedy about an aspiring ghostwriter and her literary agent. In Katie Naymon’s You Between the Lines (Forever), Leigh is trying to prove herself at a prestigious poetry MFA program, where she encounters her high school crush–turned–nemesis. Not in My Book (Alcove) by debut author Katie Holt features a heroine with dreams of becoming a writer and her archnemesis/classmate/ex-crush; they find love when they are forced to work together. The heroine of Pepper Basham’s Some Like It Scot (Thomas Nelson) is a travel writer who finds love on assignment in Scotland. A fake relationship goes awry when two people fall in love for real in Charlotte Stein’s sexy, laugh-out-loud My Big Fat Fake Marriage (St. Martin’s Griffin), set at a writer’s retreat. A ghostwriter travels to Scotland to finish her mentor’s memoir in Scot and Bothered (Canary Street) by Alexandra Kiley; unfortunately, that means working with her ex—the man who blew up her career and got her expelled from Edinburgh University. The Lodge (Atria) by Kayla Olson features a journalist who uncovers the truth about a missing pop star while ghostwriting a memoir and falling in love with a local ski instructor. The immensely popular Lucy Score begins a new series, “Story Lake,” with Story of My Life (Bloom), about a jaded big-city rom-com writer who moves to a small lake town. In Erin Connor’s trope-filled Unromance (Forever), a heartbroken TV heartthrob enlists a bitter romance novelist to ruin love for him so he won’t fall for anyone ever again. Then there’s rom-com author Allie, who attempts to overcome her writer’s block but instead finds love in The Plot Twist (One More Chapter) by Eleanor Goymer. In Christy Swift’s Celebrity Crush (Forever), an author’s dream comes true, but not without complications, when her romance novel is turned into a film starring the man who secretly inspired her book’s hero.

Time Travel

Keep track of romances that play with time, another focus of the season. Everything I’ll Say to You Tomorrow (Sourcebooks Casablanca) by Elísabet Benavent explores the ideas of memories and regrets through a time-travel romance and a breakup that leads to happiness. In Sarah M. Eden’s The Tides of Time (Shadow Mountain), a violent storm at sea tosses the protagonist overboard in 1793 France; she is mysteriously saved by a gallant lighthouse-keeper in 1873 England. J.M. Frey offers a time-travel queer romance in Time and Tide (W by Wattpad), in which modern-day Jessie survives a plane crash and finds she’s been transported to 1805. In Sian Ann Bessey’s A Time Traveler’s Masquerade (Shadow Mountain), the contemporary heroine is transported to 1605 England, mere weeks before Guy Fawkes’s Gunpowder Plot will take place. She and the hero race to unravel the threads of Fawkes’s treasonous scheme as their connection deepens. Struggling poet Joe encounters Esi while she’s on a time-traveling tour in Love and Other Paradoxes (Morrow) by Catriona Silvey.

Adventure Romance

Readers seeking adrenaline cut with romance, and sometimes comedy, are fueling the proliferation of adventure romances that feature dangerous and amorous escapades, including Temple of Swoon (Berkley) by Jo Segura and If I Dig You (St. Martin’s Griffin) by Colby Wilkens, both starring archaeologists who uncover love. A hiker and her guide get swept up in a hunt for treasure in The Jewel of the Isle (Berkley) by Kerry Rea. Sexy spies star in Code Word Romance (Berkley) by Carlie Walker and Mr. Nice Spy (Berkley) by Tiana Smith, while a hot fixer features in The Big Fix (Kensington) by Holly James.

Romance Debuts

The popularity of romance is proven by the number of authors stepping into its world, offering readers new voices and new types of stories. Bestselling author Allison Raskin is making her adult debut with Save the Date (Canary Street), a smart, funny, and original twist on the marriage-of-convenience trope. I Think They Love You (St. Martin’s Griffin) is YA author Julian Winters’s funny, big-hearted adult debut, which proves that fake-dating your way to success can mean a second chance at love. Shaylin Gandhi’s powerful When We Had Forever (Canary Street) is an intense story about heartbreak, loss, and, ultimately, finding one’s soulmate. Annie McQuaid’s Crash Landing (Avon) is a funny, heartwarming romance about exes forced to unite when they’re stranded on a desert island. Video game creators go head-to-head in Tara Tai’s Single Player (Alcove), a delightful queer enemies-to-lovers office romance. Also in the workplace, Noel Stark’s Love, Camera, Action (Alcove) is a steamy, enemies-to-lovers romance featuring a scrappy TV director and her sexy director of photography. Work in Progress (Avon) by Kat Mackenzie is a warm, sexy, laugh-out-loud debut about a woman who books a literary bus tour across the UK and whose only travel companions are the tour guide (an infuriatingly handsome Scotsman) and a lively group of older women.

Love All

Romance offers joy, with heartening and supportive dialogue, quick plots, and the promise that all will end well. Add in the reassurance that partnership can be forged, loneliness countered, and problems solved, and the result is a genre that is affirming too. Little wonder then that readers continue to find, share, and delight in romances, driving demand in subgenres and filling TikTok and Instagram feeds with their own takes on its swoony pleasures.

Heather Miller Cover is LJ’s contemporary romance columnist and a 2022 LJ Reviewer of the Year. She retired in 2021 after 26 years at the Homewood Public Library and now spends her days reading romance novels.