20 Best Spicy Romance Books Everyone’s Obsessed With

1. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Ali Hazelwood is the undisputed queen of STEM romance and of men who worship quietly and intensely while pretending not to. This one kicked off her empire: Olive, a PhD candidate, ends up involuntarily faking a relationship with a grumpy professor, and then proving every hypothesis about slow-burn tension. It’s smart, funny, and somehow manages to make pipettes feel erotic.

Tropes: fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, academic setting | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: slow

2. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Hazelwood again, because no one else writes yearning quite like her. Two rival physicists clash over research, egos, and every suppressed emotion under fluorescent lab lights. It’s heavier on intellect and slower to ignite, but when it does, it’s fireworks over chalkboards.

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, rivals in academia | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: very slow

3. Part of Your World (Part of Your World #1) by Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez writes love stories for true grown-ups, the ones about balancing ambition, guilt, and the terrifying idea that happiness might actually require changing your life. This one pairs a city doctor with a small-town carpenter, and somehow turns goats, casseroles, and trauma healing into something quietly magnificent.

Tropes: opposites attract, small-town romance | Spice: 2.5/5 | Burn: medium-slow

4. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

This is the book that launched a thousand fake boyfriends. The Spanish Love Deception is pure slow-burn chaos: an engineer agrees to bring her insufferably handsome coworker as her date to her sister’s wedding. The setup is outrageous, the tension is exhausting (in the best way), and the payoff is the kind of scene that makes you close the book just to breathe.

Tropes: fake dating, workplace rivals, enemies-to-lovers | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: painfully slow

5. Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Emily Henry always writes with the precision of someone who has broken her own heart for research. Book Lovers takes the usual small-town rom-com and flips it: a sharp, overworked literary agent ends up in a town straight out of one of her client’s novels, and runs into her least favorite editor. It’s romance for people who love ambitious women as much as they love emotion.

Tropes: rivals-to-lovers, small-town, career-driven leads | Spice: 2.5/5 | Burn: medium

6. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

This one hurts, and that’s why we love it so much. Love and Other Words is a dual-timeline story about childhood friends who drift apart, then collide again years later. Every page feels like remembering something you shouldn’t. The writing is graceful, the chemistry is devastating, and it’s one of those books that makes you understand why people reread romance for both comfort and punishment.

Tropes: friends-to-lovers, second chance, dual timeline | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: slow

7. Not a Love Song by Julie Soto

Julie Soto writes tension like it’s choreography. Set in the charged world of theater production, Not a Love Song follows a stage manager and a director trying — and failing — to stay professional while everything around them burns hotter than the spotlight. The dialogue is razor-sharp, the longing sometimes unbearable, but the payoff is truly cinematic. Soto proves that contemporary romance can be smart, sexy, and genuinely fresh.

Tropes: rivals-to-lovers, workplace romance | Spice: 3.5/5 | Burn: medium

8. First Time Caller (Heartstrings #1) by Kathryn Jayne Borison

A quiet surprise on this list. What starts as playful anonymous calls between two strangers turns into something disarmingly intimate. The premise sounds light — it’s not. First Time Caller earns its spot among the best spicy romance books because it digs into loneliness and connection with more emotional insight than you’d expect, sneaking up on you while you’re laughing.

Tropes: anonymous connection, opposites attract | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: medium

9. Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros

The romantasy juggernaut of the decade. Dragons, danger, and a heroine who’s too fragile to survive until she isn’t. Fourth Wing feels like reading an adrenaline rush, as it’s filled with military academy politics, slow-burn obsession, and a love interest so unreasonably intense it borders on myth. It’s a true fantasy book with the emotional rhythm of romance, and it’s brilliant at both.

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, training academy | Spice: 4/5 | Burn: slow

10. A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas

If you’ve ever scrolled through BookTok, you already know this title. ACOTAR is basically an initiation ritual in the spicy romantasy genre. What begins as a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast transforms into a political, emotional, and sensual labyrinth. Maas builds a world where desire has claws and the line between power and tenderness is razor-thin.

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fantasy court intrigue | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: very slow

11. Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross

Ross doesn’t waste time dressing up the story, she just drops you into a world where gods are real and war is tearing everything apart, but the real tension is between two journalists who start writing to each other without knowing who’s on the other end. It’s not flashy or trying to be clever, but it just works—because the characters feel like people and not tropes. The romance builds in the margins, and somehow that’s where it hits hardest.

Tropes: rivals-to-lovers, anonymous letters, wartime longing | Spice: 2.5/5 | Burn: slow

12. Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy #1) by Lauren Roberts

This one sits somewhere between dystopia and fairy tale. A powerless girl is trying to survive in a world where strength defines worth and, naturally, she catches the attention of the one man she shouldn’t. Powerless slides into the best spicy romance books category because it perfectly mixes political tension, forbidden affection, and a kind of emotional pacing that makes every glance feel dangerous.

Tropes: forbidden love, protector/outsider, found strength | Spice: 3.5/5 | Burn: slow

13. Bride (Bride #1) by Ali Hazelwood

Hazelwood (yes, again) trades lab coats for fangs and somehow makes it work. Bride is a paranormal romantasy with the same mix of brainy banter and unbearable longing that made her STEM novels so addictive. Two paranormal opposites in a forced alliance (and proximity) discover that logic may have no defence against chemistry. It’s funny, emotional, and a little unhinged, exactly what her readers wanted her to write next.

Tropes: marriage of convenience, enemies-to-lovers, paranormal alliance | Spice: 3.5/5 | Burn: slow

14. The Knight and the Moth (The Faebound #1) by Rachel Gillig

Rachel Gillig writes like she’s painting in moonlight, if it makes sense? The Knight and the Moth is lush, gothic, and beautifully restrained, a fae romance wrapped in political tension and aching loyalty. Every sentence feels very intentional, every touch earned. This is for readers who want their books poetic and their romance emotionally devastating.

Tropes: politics, forbidden love, protector dynamic | Spice: 3/5 | Burn: very slow

15. The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia #1) by Carissa Broadbent

The gold standard of modern spicy fantasy romances. Serpent takes the brutality of a vampire competition and turns it into a study in trust, obsession, and power. Broadbent writes tension with surgical precision, and it’s romantic, yes, but also mythic, violent, and strangely tender. It’s a masterclass in how to make us poor readers suffer beautifully.

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, deadly competition, reluctant alliance | Spice: 4/5 | Burn: slow

16. Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy #1) by Brynne Weaver

If Tarantino and Sally Rooney ever collaborated, it might look like this. Two serial killers who shouldn’t fall for each other somehow create one of the most strangely tender love stories in dark romance. Weaver’s writing is sharp, darkly funny, and genuinely moving. Butcher & Blackbird earns its place among the best spicy romance books because it’s gore and poetry in equal measure, and it shouldn’t work,  but it really does.

Tropes: morally gray duo, dark humor | Spice: 4/5 | Burn: slow

17. The Risk (The Mindf*ck Series #1) by S.T. Abby

This is the dark romance everyone whispers about. It’s five short novels that read like a single, relentless story: a serial killer out for justice, an FBI profiler hunting the truth, and a connection so volatile it feels illegal to read. Abby turns what could have been pulp into pure tension, balancing brutality with startling tenderness. It’s the kind of book that keeps you awake at 3 a.m., heavily questioning your morals.

Tropes: forbidden love, moral opposites, serial killer vs agent | Spice: 4.5/5 | Burn: medium-slow

18. Sinners Anonymous (Sinners Anonymous #1) by Somme Sketcher

Sinners Anonymous is a refined dark romance with elegant prose, dangerous men, and a psychological tension that feels addictive rather than cheap, which can happen is this particular sub genre. Sketcher’s writing is instead always clean, cinematic, and heavy on emotional intelligence; every scene builds intimacy in a very intentional way. It’s what dark romance looks like when written by someone who can actually write.

Tropes: redemption arc, morally gray hero, psychological obsession | Spice: 4.5/5 | Burn: slow

19. The Sweetest Oblivion (Made Series #1) by Danielle Lori

We know mafia romance gets a bad reputation, but The Sweetest Oblivion earns our praise. Lori writes with unexpected grace, and it’s dark, yes, but grounded in emotional truth. There’s glamour, danger, family tension, and a relationship that evolves through trust rather than theatrics. Spicy, fast-paced, and surprisingly tender under all the grit.

Tropes: mafia romance, forbidden love, protective hero | Spice: 4/5 | Burn: medium-slow

20. Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet #1) by H.D. Carlton

This is not for the faint of heart. Haunting Adeline is an unflinching, gothic fever dream, a story of obsession, danger, and trauma. It’s atmospheric and beautifully written, but it’s also deeply disturbing. Every chapter feels like crossing a line, and that’s the point. Carlton’s prose is surprisingly elegant for such brutal subject matter, which is exactly why it gets under your skin. Readers who love it call it a masterpiece of emotional torment, but others can’t get past page fifty.

Important: this one includes extreme content, so you should really check the trigger warnings before diving in.

Tropes: stalker romance, gothic mystery, obsession | Spice: 5/5 | Burn: medium-slow