AAR’s Top 100 Romances List Analyzed Through Time : All About Romance

The AAR Top 100 Romances list has been a go-to source for romance book recommendations for 20+ years. It’s one of the few best-of lists that’s based on reader input, thanks to the thousands of dedicated romance readers (you!!) who have voted on the lists over the years. First launched in 1998, a total of 7 AAR Top 100 Romances lists have been published to date: 1998, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2018.

As someone who is newer to the romance community and eager to learn more about the genre’s history, I love that these snapshots exist—they give us a fascinating glimpse at which books, authors and subgenres AAR readers favored at different points in time. And as I’ve recently discovered, this is data that’s hard to come by.

Recency Bias in Best-of Lists

I’m a romance book data analyst (on Instagram @romancingthedata) and run a website called Best of Romance Books, a directory of top romance books. After analyzing 135+ romance best-of lists for the directory, it’s become clear to me that most lists favour more recent books over older ones.

For example, I researched and published a Best of the Best Romance Books of All Time list last year (October 2024). On that list of 70 books, a whopping 76% were published in the 2000s, even though the modern romance genre started in the early 1970s.

Given this obvious recency bias, I started thinking about how I could analyze older romance books, particularly those published in the late 20th century. Of course, one list came to mind: AAR Top 100 Romances!

 Methodology

I decided to analyze the 7 AAR Top 100 lists in order to create a consolidated Top 100 list and see which books have endured on the lists over time. I used a simple ranking system:

1. I grouped and ranked the books based on how many lists they appeared on
2. Within each group, I ranked the books by their cumulative rank score (determined by adding up their numerical rankings on each list—the lower the score, the better the rank).

If you’re interested in the details of the analysis and ranking, you can view the detailed spreadsheet.

 Consolidated AAR Top 100 Romances List (1998-2018)

As if fated by Cupid himself, it turns out there were exactly 100 books that appeared on 3 or more of the past AAR lists! Here is the consolidated list of those 100 books in their ranked order:

1. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase (1995)
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1991)
3. Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale (1992)
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
5. It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1994)
6. The Bride by Julie Garwood (1989)
7. Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1997)
8. Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas (1994)
9. MacKenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard (1989)
10. Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1995)
11. Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (1995)
12. Ravished by Amanda Quick (1992)
13. The Secret by Julie Garwood (1992)
14. Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1998)
15. The Rake by Mary Jo Putney (1989)
16. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (2000)
17. Paradise by Judith McNaught (1991)
18. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie (2000)
19. Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens (1998)
20. Dream Man by Linda Howard (1995)
21. A Knight in Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux (1989)
22. Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught (1989)
23. Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard (2000)
24. Sea Swept by Nora Roberts (1998)
25. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught (1985)
26. Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1996)
27. Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer (1932)
28. After the Night by Linda Howard (1995)
29. The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale (1991)
30. Perfect by Judith McNaught (1993)
31. Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood (1987)
32. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (2004)
33. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (2000)
34. Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh (2005)
35. A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh (2003)
36. A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught (1989)
37. As You Desire by Connie Brockway (1997)
38. Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer (1989)
39. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)
40. Saving Grace by Julie Garwood (1993)
41. Thunder and Roses by Mary Jo Putney (1993)
42. Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas (1993)
43. To Have and to Hold by Patricia Gaffney (1995)
44. Something Wonderful by Judith McNaught (1988)
45. More than a Mistress by Mary Balogh (2006)
46. My Dearest Enemy by Connie Brockway (1998)
47. Once and Always by Judith McNaught (1987)
48. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (2006)
49. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (2002)
50. Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase (2005)
51. The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt (2006)
52. Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase (2006)
53. It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas (2005)
54. Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward (2006)
55. Match Me if You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (2005)
56. Persuasion by Jane Austen (1818)
57. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (2004)
58. The Proposition by Judith Ivory (1999)
59. Frederica by Georgette Heyer (1965)
60. Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (2006)
61. Born in Fire by Nora Roberts (1994)
62. One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney (1997)
63. The Prize by Julie Garwood (1991)
64. Shattered Rainbows by Mary Jo Putney (1996)
65. Ransom by Julie Garwood (1999)
66. See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson (2003)
67. Born in Ice by Nora Roberts (1995)
68. The Windflower by Laura London (1984)
69. This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (2001)
70. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (1994)
71. Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas (2000)
72. Venetia by Georgette Heyer (1956)
73. The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh (2002)
74. Son of the Morning by Linda Howard (1997)
75. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley (2009)
76. Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas (2009)
77. The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne (2008)
78. Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (2008)
79. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (1992)
80. Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (2005)
81. Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann (2001)
82. Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas (2008)
83. Ain’t She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (2004)
84. All Through the Night by Connie Brockway (1997)
85. Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas (2001)
86. Rising Tides by Nora Roberts (1998)
87. Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas (2010)
88. For My Lady’s Heart by Laura Kinsale (1993)
89. Castles by Julie Garwood (1993)
90. Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory (2002)
91. Cry No More by Linda Howard (2003)
92. Lady Sophia’s Lover by Lisa Kleypas (2002)
93. Open Season by Linda Howard (2001)
94. The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (2008)
95. Lord Carew’s Bride by Mary Balogh (1995)
96. Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (2009)
97. A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole (2006)
98. The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase (1998)
99. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (1950)
100. Sleeping Beauty by Judith Ivory (1998)

You can also check out the Best of AAR Top 100 Romances list I published, which features the top 31 from this list and can be filtered by subgenre, spice level, decade published and representation.

Additional Analysis

Here are some additional insights about the consolidated list.

Century Published

Did this analysis feature more books from the late 20th century? Yes! Here is the breakdown of the list based on century published:

• 1800s: 3%
• 1900s: 58%
• 2000s: 39%

As expected, romance books published in the 20th century are well-represented on the list, making up 58% of the total—the vast majority of which are from the 80s and 90s. Note that the newest book on the list is from 2010 (Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas).

To compare, only 18% of the books on the Best of the Best Romance Books of All Time list I compiled in October 2024 were published in the 1900s.

Duplicate Authors

Another interesting trend among the AAR Top 100 Romances is how many books by the same authors appear on the list. The consolidated list has 35% unique authors, meaning the 100 books on the list are written by only 35 authors.

These 19 authors all have multiple books on the consolidated list:

• 9 books: Lisa Kleypas, Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• 7 books: Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, Linda Howard    
• 6 books: Laura Kinsale
• 5 books: Mary Balogh
• 4 books: Georgette Heyer, Julia Quinn, Loretta Chase, Mary Jo Putney, Nora Roberts
• 3 books: Connie Brockway, Diana Gabaldon, Judith Ivory
• 2 books: J.R. Ward, Jane Austen, Jennifer Cruise, Sherry Thomas

For the sake of comparison, the Best of the Best Romance Books of All Time list that I published in October 2024 had 89% unique authors (62 authors of 70 books).

Subgenre

Here is the breakdown of the consolidated list by subgenre—as you can see it is dominated by historical romance:

• Historical: 65%
• Contemporary: 20%
• Suspense: 8%
• Paranormal: 4%
• Classic: 3%

To compare, the Best of the Best Romance Books of All Time list that I published in October 2024 was dominated by contemporary (47%), followed by historical (27%), fantasy/paranormal (13%), classic (7%), young adult (4%) and erotic (2%).

Thanks again to all the readers who voted on, discussed and shared the AAR Top 100 Romances over the past 20+ years!

 Lady Jane

I’m Lady Jane of Romancing the Data (www.romancingthedata.com), a blog that combines my love of romance books and spreadsheets with charts, graphs, lists, rankings and more. I also manage Best of Romance Books (www.bestofromancebooks.com), a curated directory of the best romance books based on my analysis of 135+ published best-of lists. I’ve been a dedicated romance reader since 2019, reading 150 books a year on average. My favorite subgenres are historical and contemporary (although I often dabble in others!) and my favorite tropes are forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine and dating/sex lessons.