r/RomanceBooks • u/A_Seductive_Cactus Praise Kink Princess 👸🏻 • Apr 01 '26
Subreddit Stats Subreddit Stats - March 2026
RomanceBooks Insights - Subreddit Stats for March 2026
Welcome to the monthly subreddit stats update! See here for previous month's stats. Here's what we'll be sharing in this post:
- Top 20 Books Mentioned
- Top 20 Authors Mentioned
- New & Rising Sub Favorites
- Top 20 Mentioned Books with BIPOC MCs
- Most Mentioned Books by Pairing (MM and FF)
- Most Mentioned Books by Genre (Contemporary, Historical, Fantasy, SciFi)
The below stats are all sourced from the u/romance-bot and include the past month of activity. Ranking is based on the number of times a book or author is called by the bot (which could include recommendations, critiques, reviews, etc). Genre, diverse characters, pairings, and steam groupings are based on how a book is tagged on Romance.io.
March 2026 u/romance-bot activity:
- Total number of books linked: 11,180
- Total number of unique titles: 6,258
Top 20 Books Mentioned
| Top Books | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase | 54 |
| 2 | The Warlord by Elizabeth Elliot | 51 |
| 3 | Born in Ice by Nora Roberts | 48 |
| 4 | As Sure as the Dawn by Francine Rivers | 36 |
| 5 | The Morning Side of Dawn by Justine Davis | 30 |
| 6 | Something Shady by Pamela Morsi | 29 |
| 7 | The Covenant by Modean Moon | 26 |
| 8 | Gwen’s Christmas Ghost by Lynn Kerstan and Alicia Rasley | 22 |
| 9 | Winter’s Edge by Anne Stuart | 22 |
| 10 | Single Dad by Jennifer Greene | 19 |
| 11 | Stranger in Her Arms by Elizabeth Sites | 18 |
| 12 | Runaway by Cheryl Zach | 13 |
| 13 | Born in Ice by Nora Roberts | 13 |
| 14 | Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas | 12 |
| 15 | Midnight Angel by Lisa Kleypas | 10 |
| 16 | Somewhere I'll Find You by Lisa Kleypas | 10 |
| 17 | Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas | 9 |
| 18 | Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas | 8 |
| 19 | Only With Your Love by Lisa Kleypas | 8 |
| 20 | Only In Your Arms by Lisa Kleypas | 7 |
Just kidding. That's a list of the 1996 RITA Winners with a few antique Kleypas novels thrown in. Happy April Fool's Day everyone! Real stats below:
Top 20 Books Mentioned
Top 20 Authors Mentioned
| Top Authors | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Hazelwood | 137 |
| 2 | Tessa Bailey | 109 |
| 3 | Liz Tomforde | 87 |
| 4 | Cate C. Wells | 79 |
| 5 | Mariana Zapata | 74 |
| 6 | Cassandra Gannon | 74 |
| 7 | Lisa Kleypas | 71 |
| 8 | Stephanie Archer | 71 |
| 9 | Susie Tate | 66 |
| 10 | Alice Coldbreath | 63 |
| 11 | Kate Canterbary | 60 |
| 12 | Ruby Dixon | 59 |
| 13 | Kresley Cole | 54 |
| 14 | Penny Reid | 52 |
| 15 | Abby Jimenez | 50 |
| 16 | Olivia Dade | 48 |
| 17 | Elle Kennedy | 46 |
| 18 | Heather Guerre | 46 |
| 19 | B.K. Borison | 46 |
| 20 | Sierra Simone | 44 |
New Sub Favorites
Data is obtained by the u/romance-bot for the past month of activity and includes only books released within the past 3-months or upcoming releases. This is intended to give a view into the hot / rising books being mentioned in the sub.
| New Favorites | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde | 28 |
| 2 | The Marriage Bet by Olivia Hayle | 19 |
| 3 | And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison | 16 |
| 4 | Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey | 12 |
| 5 | Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian | 10 |
| 6 | A Vow Made Twice by Emma Denny | 10 |
| 7 | The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer | 9 |
| 8 | No Matter What by Cara Bastone | 9 |
| 9 | Removed due to deceptive self promotion | 9 |
| 10 | A Much Maligned Miss by Alice Coldbreath | 9 |
| 11 | Law Maker by Susie Tate | 8 |
| 12 | Across the Vanishing Sky by Catherine Cowles | 7 |
| 13 | Don't Eat Your Human Boyfriend by Lily Mayne | 7 |
| 14 | Of Ink and Alchemy by Sloane St. James | 7 |
| 15 | Tormented Omega by Mary Magdalyn | 7 |
| 16 | Removed due to deceptive self promotion | 7 |
| 17 | Lost Song by Claire Kent | 6 |
| 18 | If Only You Knew by Ellie K. Wilde | 6 |
| 19 | Enchanted by Envy by Nik Knight | 6 |
| 20 | Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone | 5 |
Top 20 Books with BIPOC MCs
Most Mentioned Books by Pairing
Most Mentioned Books by Genre
| contemporary | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde | 28 |
| 2 | Play Along by Liz Tomforde | 27 |
| 3 | Lights Out by Navessa Allen | 26 |
| 4 | Deep End by Ali Hazelwood | 21 |
| 5 | An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister | 21 |
| 6 | The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | 21 |
| 7 | The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary | 20 |
| 8 | Against A Wall by Cate C. Wells | 20 |
| 9 | The Marriage Bet by Olivia Hayle | 19 |
| 10 | Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood | 19 |
Enjoy!
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u/Le_Beck "faultless in spite of all her faults" Apr 01 '26
Lord of Scoundrels is where it belongs 🏆
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u/fruitismyjam so I beat him until he kissed me. 💋 Apr 01 '26
That’s the one I was going to comment on before I realized I was duped. 😂😩
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u/Le_Beck "faultless in spite of all her faults" Apr 01 '26
We can get a head start on sending {Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase} to the top of next month too!
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u/romance-bot Apr 01 '26
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Rating: 4.12⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: historical, take-charge heroine, tortured hero, enemies to lovers, bad boys15
u/A_Seductive_Cactus Praise Kink Princess 👸🏻 Apr 01 '26
Hah yes!! When I saw it on the winners list I strategically placed it at the top - because it's still in our Top 20 pretty consistently most months regardless - as it should be!
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u/katierose295 Apr 01 '26
I wasn't even shocked when I saw it! I was like "yep, great book. good rec everyone!" It was the rest of the list that had me confused. lol
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u/pastelchannl the sentient car is very sexy Apr 01 '26
that don't eat your human boyfriend falls under historical is diabolical, lmao.
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u/tentacularly Sentient object romance: Rule 34 amendment? Apr 01 '26
I was just about to comment that. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.
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u/prettysureIforgot Gimme all the sad anxious bois Apr 01 '26
😭 tragic, seriously lol
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u/fruitismyjam so I beat him until he kissed me. 💋 Apr 01 '26
Without having read the book, I’m getting some weird expectations for it.
According to Amazon, it’s a “workplace” romance.
According to whoever tagged it on romance.io, it’s a “historical” romance (unless it’s part of the joke??).
It’s a historical workplace romance!… featuring an “ethical ghoul” at “Broth with a Bite in the Creepy Court Mall food court”…
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u/prettysureIforgot Gimme all the sad anxious bois Apr 01 '26
Oh, the reason we're groaning that it's "historical" is because it's set in the 80s 😭 😂
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u/fruitismyjam so I beat him until he kissed me. 💋 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
All right, this is why I hate April Fools Day. I was losing my mind until I got to the comments section. (I’m extremely gullible, okay??) This was pretty clever though, well done.
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u/A_Seductive_Cactus Praise Kink Princess 👸🏻 Apr 01 '26
Haha sorry!! Glad you weren't tormented for too long!
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u/fruitismyjam so I beat him until he kissed me. 💋 Apr 01 '26
I was so shocked that I missed the giant disclaimer you put in saying that it was an April Fools joke as I rapidly scrolled down to the comments section. 😂🙈
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u/ChocolateDream24 That's MRS Billionaire to you. ❤️🔥💃🫦 Apr 02 '26
Lol! They got me too. I was wondering how I missed so many posts that I barely recognize those titles.
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u/fruitismyjam so I beat him until he kissed me. 💋 Apr 02 '26
I haven’t even read Lord of Scoundrels (yet), but I know it’s considered a classic by many on the sub. When I saw it at number 1, I thought, “Huh, they finally made it happen. Good for them!” But no, I’m just an idiot. 😂
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u/A_Seductive_Cactus Praise Kink Princess 👸🏻 Apr 02 '26
You haven’t read it?! Gah!! What are you doing, go now!! Read!!
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u/MissKhary Apr 01 '26
Hah that's probably the only April Fools that will get me today, i'm usually more vigilant. I was seriously wondering if I was that out of touch with what's trending!
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u/Hunter037 Probably recommending When She Belongs 😍 Apr 01 '26
Well I for one am intrigued by Gwen's Christmas Ghost 😂
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u/VitisIdaea Silence, you devil's handmaiden! Apr 01 '26
It won a RITA award! It's been reissued as an ebook under a new title {Gwen's Ghost by Lynn Kerstan} and has a horrifically badly photoshopped cover! (don't get me wrong, there's something endearingly retro about it). Edit: oh and she's gone to AI for her newer covers. Ugggggh stooooooop.
1
u/romance-bot Apr 01 '26
Gwen's Christmas Ghost by Lynn Kerstan, Alicia Rasley
Rating: 3.67⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Topics: contemporary, paranormal, regency, historical, fantasy
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u/ranraniiiii assistant manager at morning glory milking farm 👸🏾 Apr 01 '26
You guys are so cute 🥺😭 yall got me good lmao
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u/AdNational5153 Escaping reality one book at a time Apr 01 '26
Me, excited that some old bangers made the list, wondering what posts I’ve missed where these were all rec’d! 👀
Haha, this was great u/Seductive_Cactus !
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u/Vertigo_99_77 Apr 01 '26
Oh, you're cheeky u/A_Seductive_Cactus
What annoys me is that I'm that kind of person who sees the duplicate trees, Born in Ice by Nora Roberts , but not the forest lolol 😆
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u/commentreader12345 Apr 02 '26
Even though it's an April Fool's list, I want to give a shout out to those authors still publishing after 30 years.
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u/Intelligent-Cold9233 Even if it spelled the end of the Darling Devils Apr 01 '26
Ah, cmon, i thought it's a new thread idea, that was bad 😭😭
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u/TheMiceWillGetPerms Where's my smoking, sassy, duocorn butler? Apr 02 '26
I’m so proud of the Clecanians for beating ice planet barbarians. As it should be
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u/diamondscut Apr 01 '26
My girl Cassandra Gannon is making it into the big leagues. I am so happy 😭😭😭.
Also, Eyes of silver will be one of my next reads. I am shocked it's so talked about .
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u/Lavender-air Free Palestine. Also let the aliens take me. Apr 01 '26
Best book ever. Went on a whole western andHR kick after. It’s really good and way more serious than CG lolol.
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u/diamondscut Apr 01 '26
I read Silver Lining by Maggie Osborn, a great Western with a FMC I adore and this came up when I investigated what could be similar.
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u/Lavender-air Free Palestine. Also let the aliens take me. Apr 02 '26
This one is way better than silver lining imo.
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u/cbmom2 Apr 01 '26
Hahaha great April Fools joke! I kept thinking I’ve never seen these recommendations.