Who are the best romance authors?

The best-known romance authors here, ranked by how widely they are read and written about, are William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charlotte Brontë and Giovanni Boccaccio.

What are the best romance series?

Twisted by Ana Huang, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer — each listed in reading order.

Can I read romance books for free?

Yes. 1,525 romance books by these authors are in the public domain in the US and free to read here.

Romance authors and series

The best-known romance authors are William Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Geoffrey Chaucer. Below are all 381 romance writers in the directory, their best-known series in reading order, and 1,525 of their books free to read.

Authors: 381
Series: 329
Free to read: 1,525

Best-known romance authors

Romance series in reading order

All series

Twisted
Ana Huang · 4 books
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas · 7 books
Shatter Me
Tahereh Mafi · 6 books
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer · 9 books
Fifty Shades
E. L. James · 6 books
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Jenny Han · 3 books
Kings of Sin
Ana Huang · 7 books
Bridgerton
Julia Quinn · 9 books
Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas · 8 books
The Empyrean
Rebecca Yarros · 3 books
In Death
Nora Roberts · 75 books
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Jenny Han · 3 books

Free romance classics

All free classics

Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Love and Freindship [sic]
Jane Austen
The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems
Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer's Works, Volume 2 — Boethius and Troilus
Geoffrey Chaucer
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
Villette
Charlotte Brontë
The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
The Decameron, Volume I
Giovanni Boccaccio
A pair of blue eyes
Thomas Hardy
Desperate Remedies
Thomas Hardy
The Devil's Pool
George Sand
The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters
George Sand

Classic romance authors

All romance authors

William Shakespeare 53 books
Jane Austen 12 books
Geoffrey Chaucer 2 books
Charlotte Brontë 7 books
Giovanni Boccaccio 11 books
Thomas Hardy 38 books
George Sand 28 books
Sinclair Lewis 28 books
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 32 books
Edith Wharton 55 books
Giacomo Casanova 3 books
Lope de Vega 16 books
Benjamin Disraeli 0 books
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 8 books
Prosper Mérimée 7 books
Alfred de Musset 10 books
Alphonse de Lamartine 13 books
Margaret Mitchell 4 books
Henry VIII 0 books
Frédéric Mistral 3 books
Stephenie Meyer 23 books
Kate Chopin 4 books
Ann Radcliffe 6 books
Georgette Heyer 61 books
Alexandre Dumas fils 0 books
Christine de Pizan 2 books
Edmond Rostand 8 books
Aphra Behn 8 books
Colleen Hoover 26 books
Chrétien de Troyes 4 books
Abbé Prévost 5 books
Philip Sidney 4 books
Nora Roberts 296 books
Robert W. Chambers 62 books
Nicholas Sparks 28 books
Barbara Cartland 311 books
Matthew Gregory Lewis 8 books
Eleanor H. Porter 13 books
Sidney Sheldon 34 books
Gene Wilder 5 books
Vita Sackville-West 42 books
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 3 books
Danielle Steel 173 books
Pierre Loti 27 books
E. L. James 14 books
Elizabeth von Arnim 21 books
William Congreve 8 books
Edward Bellamy 7 books
Marie Corelli 34 books
Gérard de Nerval 6 books
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué 5 books
Jean Webster 8 books
Katherine Anne Porter 13 books
Paul Bourget 18 books
Mary Elizabeth Braddon 28 books
Booth Tarkington 34 books
Madame de La Fayette 4 books
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre 5 books
Anthony Hope 30 books
William Harrison Ainsworth 33 books
James Oliver Curwood 34 books
John Fletcher 5 books
Jenny Han 12 books
Tahereh Mafi 28 books
Compton Mackenzie 56 books
Sarah J. Maas 24 books
Sophie Kinsella 38 books
Julia Quinn 39 books
Jojo Moyes 18 books
Alice Oseman 13 books
V. C. Andrews 103 books
Theodor Storm 7 books
Judy Blume 35 books
Earl Derr Biggers 13 books
Kiran Desai 4 books
R. D. Blackmore 18 books
Emilia Pardo Bazán 7 books
Dinah Craik 24 books
Erica Jong 22 books
Gertrude Atherton 45 books
Aubrey Beardsley 7 books
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 3 books
Roberto Bolaño 24 books
Meg Cabot 109 books
Jodi Picoult 32 books
Margaret Oliphant 34 books
Elinor Glyn 20 books
Francis Marion Crawford 52 books
Longus 1 books
Cecelia Ahern 26 books
Henry de Vere Stacpoole 7 books
John Cowper Powys 39 books
Eleanor Alice Burford 154 books
Ana Huang 19 books
Ali Hazelwood 15 books
Sandra Brown 92 books
Jeffrey Eugenides 6 books
Katherine Applegate 228 books
Penny Jordan 221 books
Rebecca Yarros 25 books
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 15 books
Kristin Hannah 32 books
Charles Reade 21 books
Michael Cunningham 11 books
Eden Phillpotts 67 books
Janet Evanovich 94 books
Anna Todd 16 books
Francis Beaumont 4 books
Heliodorus of Emesa 1 books
Max Nordau 3 books
Ludovic Halévy 14 books
Taylor Jenkins Reid 8 books
Randolph Caldecott 15 books
Gary Paulsen 136 books
Rhoda Broughton 10 books
Rainbow Rowell 16 books
Catherine Cookson 119 books
Eliza Haywood 27 books
Carole Mortimer 204 books
Casey McQuiston 4 books
Stephanie Garber 9 books
Janet Dailey 139 books
Tess Gerritsen 45 books
Mary Augusta Ward 13 books
Mary Stewart 25 books
Marion Chesney 169 books
Charlotte Lamb 142 books
Jayne Ann Krentz 182 books
Victoria Aveyard 11 books
P. C. Cast 56 books
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton 15 books
Anne Mather 176 books
Stacey Abrams 16 books
Rex Beach 16 books
Mercedes Ron 8 books
Mary Renault 16 books
Lynne Graham 155 books
Guillaume Musso 13 books
Diana Palmer 226 books
Harry Johnston 9 books
H. D. Carlton 9 books
Elizabeth Goudge 41 books
Johanna Lindsey 68 books
Lady Caroline Lamb 3 books
Elle Kennedy 66 books
Francine Rivers 49 books
Betty Neels 142 books
Julie Garwood 43 books
Linda Howard 75 books
Jacqueline Susann 6 books
Debbie Macomber 236 books
Arthur Wing Pinero 25 books
Zona Gale 11 books
Hall Caine 13 books
Rosamunde Pilcher 24 books
Jennifer L. Armentrout 68 books
Alice Hoffman 45 books
Zoe Sugg 3 books
Emily Henry 10 books
Jude Deveraux 82 books
Jessica Steele 92 books
Mary Balogh 101 books
Matilde Serao 6 books
Penelope Douglas 23 books
Sara Craven 98 books
Judith McNaught 25 books
Sylvia Day 38 books
Christine Feehan 120 books
Heather Graham Pozzessere 233 books
Nicola Yoon 3 books
Sherrilyn Kenyon 83 books
Eleanor Hallowell Abbott 12 books
Helen Bianchin 76 books
Becca Fitzpatrick 9 books
Patricia Wilson 52 books
Lindsay Armstrong 72 books
Lauren Roberts 8 books
Judith Krantz 13 books
Justin Cronin 6 books
Robyn Donald 93 books
Rina Kent 42 books
Margaret Way 142 books
Grace Aguilar 10 books
Geoffrey of Monmouth 4 books
Berthold Auerbach 11 books
Lisa Kleypas 53 books
François Coppée 8 books
Jessica Bird 67 books
Rachel Reid 9 books
Emma Lazarus 1 books
Catherine Coulter 111 books
Sally Wentworth 72 books
Kay Thorpe 77 books
Sarah Dessen 16 books
Lauren Kate 15 books
Paolo Giordano 2 books
Janette Oke 93 books
Mary Burchell 87 books
Maya Banks 91 books
Kristin Cast 33 books
Rebecca Winters 156 books
Roberta Leigh 53 books
Octave Feuillet 7 books
Iris Johansen 115 books
Anne Weale 90 books
Joan Smith 106 books
Joseph Bédier 0 books
Bertrice Small 61 books
Eugène Scribe 2 books
Lauren Weisberger 13 books
Michelle Reid 57 books
Alyson Noël 29 books
Gayle Forman 16 books
Achilles Tatius 1 books
Miranda Lee 97 books
René Bazin 19 books
Shannon Hale 58 books
Lynsay Sands 76 books
Elena Armas 5 books
Lucy Gordon 96 books
Lauren Asher 15 books
Nalini Singh 65 books
Lisa Jackson 114 books
TJ Klune 31 books
Jacqueline Baird 42 books
Daphne Clair 72 books
Charlotte Smith 9 books
Lisa Gardner 38 books
Georges Ohnet 3 books
Karen Kingsbury 97 books
Lucy Score 32 books
Flora Kidd 64 books
Cathy Williams 114 books
Rita Bradshaw 65 books
Sharon Kendrick 114 books
Catherine George 63 books
Essie Summers 57 books
Rosemary Rogers 27 books
Oscar Micheaux 5 books
Eric Jerome Dickey 34 books
Margaret Mayo 83 books
Hannah Howell 69 books
Jill MacLean 65 books
Sara Wood 49 books
Ally Condie 13 books
Karen Marie Moning 25 books
Fern Michaels 136 books
Jenny Haddon 45 books
Jude Watson 46 books
Catharina Maura 21 books
Brenda Jackson 143 books
Helen Hoang 4 books
Connie Mason 60 books
Stephanie Laurens 80 books
Lucy Monroe 68 books
Mary Wibberley 42 books
Linda Lael Miller 153 books
Eloisa James 47 books
Durjoy Datta 23 books
Lora Leigh 84 books
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian 6 books
Anne McAllister 55 books
Kate Walker 63 books
Sandra Marton 90 books
Christina Dodd 62 books
Kim Lawrence 88 books
Melanie Milburne 92 books
Joseph Victor von Scheffel 3 books
Marius Gabriel 31 books
Sophie Lark 16 books
Robyn Carr 71 books
Lori Foster 111 books
Tessa Bailey 54 books
Candace Camp 73 books
Tami Hoag 43 books
Leland Wilkinson 37 books
Kathryn Ross 39 books
Lisa McMann 37 books
Kat Martin 74 books
Carley Fortune 6 books
Day Leclaire 72 books
Navessa Allen 7 books
Joan Wolf 47 books
Brenda Joyce 51 books
Kim Harrison 35 books
Catherine Spencer 46 books
Charles Paul de Kock 10 books
Susan Johnson 46 books
Jamie McGuire 20 books
Teresa Medeiros 24 books
Michael Thomas Ford 48 books
Marjorie Lewty 37 books
Susan Elizabeth Phillips 23 books
Lucy Foley 7 books
Ann Maxwell 51 books
Catherine Anderson 34 books
Jo Beverley 48 books
Julia Phyllis Crabtree 31 books
Marjorie W. Sharmat 74 books
Karen Robards 57 books
Sarah Mlynowski 43 books
Emily McIntire 13 books
Mary Lyons 34 books
Elin Hilderbrand 38 books
Suzanne Enoch 45 books
Susan Wiggs 68 books
Sabrina Jeffries 46 books
Mateo Alemán 2 books
LaVyrle Spencer 27 books
Liz Fielding 63 books
Mary Jo Putney 53 books
Dudu Busani-Dube 6 books
Alex Aster 11 books
Virginia Henley 28 books
Svetlana Chmakova 6 books
Gena Showalter 87 books
Jean S. MacLeod 96 books
Amanda Carpenter 13 books
Elizabeth Thornton 27 books
Barbara Hazard 42 books
Francesco Colonna 0 books
Jane Arbor 28 books
Sheila Walsh 30 books
Renee Roszel 36 books
Parker S. Huntington 6 books
Jennifer Ashley 25 books
Marie Belloc Lowndes 0 books
Sara Cate 26 books
Karen Hawkins 36 books
Ellen Schreiber 11 books
Suman Pokhrel 3 books
Cathy Maxwell 46 books
Lauren Myracle 32 books
Mariana Zapata 14 books
Ernest Legouvé 6 books
Mark Oshiro 8 books
Sarah Adams 15 books
Barbara Metzger 39 books
Janet Louise Roberts 61 books
Sandra Heath 51 books
Krista Ritchie 28 books
Richard Harding Davis 0 books
Megan Hart 32 books
Debra Webb 95 books
Jennifer Crusie 29 books
Jean-François Regnard 4 books
Becca Ritchie 27 books
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire 0 books
Tamara Ireland Stone 6 books
Maggie Cox 41 books
Kendare Blake 19 books
Clare Darcy 15 books
Edith Layton 38 books
Natalie Anderson 55 books
E. W. Hornung 0 books
Delphine de Girardin 2 books
Ellen Wood 0 books
Daisy Ashford 2 books
Jules Arsène Arnaud Claretie 7 books
André Theuriet 8 books
Thomas Dixon Jr. 0 books
Susan Warner 0 books
Dorothy Canfield Fisher 0 books
William Sharp 0 books
Samuel Hopkins Adams 0 books
William Black 0 books
E. Werner 0 books
Patricia Rice 38 books
Carissa Broadbent 8 books
Thomas Lodge 0 books
Alice Duer Miller 0 books
Amelia Opie 0 books
Michael Arlen 0 books
Layamon 0 books
James Elroy Flecker 0 books
Ossip Schubin 0 books
Allan Ramsay 0 books
James Salter 5 books
Friedrich Christian Diez 3 books
Parthenius of Nicaea 0 books
Joana Marcús 2 books

Romance FAQ

Who are the best romance authors?: The best-known romance authors here, ranked by how widely they are read and written about, are William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charlotte Brontë and Giovanni Boccaccio.
What are the best romance series?: Twisted by Ana Huang, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer — each listed in reading order.
Can I read romance books for free?: Yes. 1,525 romance books by these authors are in the public domain in the US and free to read here.

Best-known romance authors

Stephenie Meyer

Georgette Heyer

Colleen Hoover

Nora Roberts

Nicholas Sparks

Barbara Cartland

Sidney Sheldon

Gene Wilder

Vita Sackville-West

Danielle Steel

E. L. James

Katherine Anne Porter

Jenny Han

Tahereh Mafi

Compton Mackenzie

Sarah J. Maas

Sophie Kinsella

Julia Quinn

Romance series in reading order

Free romance classics

Classic romance authors

William Shakespeare

Jane Austen

Geoffrey Chaucer

Charlotte Brontë

Giovanni Boccaccio

Thomas Hardy

George Sand

Sinclair Lewis

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Edith Wharton

Giacomo Casanova

Lope de Vega

Benjamin Disraeli

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Prosper Mérimée

Alfred de Musset

Alphonse de Lamartine

Margaret Mitchell

All romance authors

Romance FAQ