In honor of Valentine’s Day, this week has been Romance Week on Goodreads, where they shared a ton of romance recommendations. My favorite post of theirs this week was the 52 Most Popular Romances of the Past 3 Years. You may know that one of my 2021 reading goals is to catch up on popular contemporary romances, and this list definitely helped me figure out which books people have been reading and what I still need to read. I will put out a disclaimer to say that I know Goodreads generates most of their popular books list based on what users have been reading – I was happy to see that they did share an indie romance list curated by author Talia Hibbert. I have shared romance books that are on my TBR in a few posts

I’m glad to say that I’ve read 13 out of the 20 books I put on my contemporary romance TBR last March. I also did read 2 out of the 5 books I shared in a Top Five Wednesday about romance books back in September – 2 out of 3 that I haven’t yet read are actually on the Goodreads’ list, so I won’t be formally talking about them in this post (The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang at #2 and The Happily Ever After Playlist at #41). 

Back to the Most Popular Romances on Goodreads, I’ve read 25 out of the 52 books over the past few years. I also read 7 out of the top 10 most popular romances! While I won’t be adding all 27 of the other books on to my TBR, today I’ll be talking about some of the books I do plan on reading in the near future. The number after each book I list is its ranking on the Goodreads most popular list. 

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (#12) – From Blood and Ash has been highly recommended to me by one of my bookish friends IRL and so many people from the book blog community. I didn’t read much fantasy in 2020, so I’m excited to dive into this series – I’m probably going to hold off on reading until at least March when I’ll likely be in my post A Court of Silver Flames reading slump. 

The Friend Zone by Abbi Jimenz (#21) – I totally admit that I was previously more interested in reading the second book in The Friend Zone series, The Happily Ever After Playlist, because I’ve read so many rave reviews for that book, but I’m actually really intrigued by the synopsis upon this second time checking it out – the main character faces a medical procedure that would make it impossible for her to have children while developing feelings for a guy who would love to have a big family.

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane (#38) – Mchairi McFarlane is a highly recommended British contemporary romance author, so I’m even more excited to check her work out for the first time with If I Never Met You. Fake dating just might be one of my favorite romance tropes (right after enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers), and If I Never Met You is a fake dating romance set at a law firm between a woman who has really been broken up with by her best friend and the office playboy. 

The Switch by Beth O’Leary (#29) – I feel like everyone & anyone except for ME has read Beth O’Leary’s The Switch and/or The Flatshare. The Switch follows a grandmother and granddaughter who after respectively being newly single and being forced to take a work sabbatical decide to switch houses for a while. I think if I enjoy The Switch, then I’ll likely keep checking out the hype and pick up The Flatshare. 

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (#47) – I think this TBR is partly British romance and fake dating inspired, since Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material is another fake dating romance set in London. This romance follows Olvier and Luc, the latter who is in need of some good PR and decides to do that in form of dating a guy whose the ‘perfect boyfriend material.’

What romance books are on your TBR? Have you read any of the books I mentioned here? How many of the most popular romances on Goodreads have you read? Share in the comments!