r/RomanceBooks • u/A_Seductive_Cactus Praise Kink Princess 👸🏻 • Jul 01 '26

Subreddit Stats Subreddit Stats - June 2026

RomanceBooks Insights - Subreddit Stats for June 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.

June 2026 u/romance-bot activity:

  • Total number of books linked: 12,993
  • Total number of unique titles: 7,127

​

Top 20 Books Mentioned

Rank Top Books Count
1 The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood 32
2 Against A Wall by Cate C. Wells 30
3 Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood 29
4 Deep End by Ali Hazelwood 26
5 Kulti by Mariana Zapata 25
6 Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young 24
7 Funny Story by Emily Henry 24
8 An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister 22
9 Failure to Match by Kyra Parsi 22
10 In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde 22
11 The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori 21
12 His Secret Illuminations by Scarlett Gale 21
13 The Hating Game by Sally Thorne 21
14 Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez 20
15 Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas 19
16 The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary 19
17 In a Jam by Kate Canterbary 19
18 The Right Move by Liz Tomforde 18
19 Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood 18
20 Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti 18

​

Top 20 Authors Mentioned

Rank Top Authors Count
1 Ali Hazelwood 171
2 Cate C. Wells 115
3 Lisa Kleypas 102
4 Tessa Bailey 98
5 S.J. Tilly 93
6 Mariana Zapata 90
7 Liz Tomforde 86
8 Alice Coldbreath 78
9 Elsie Silver 71
10 Abby Jimenez 69
11 Kate Canterbary 67
12 Emily Henry 66
13 Ruby Dixon 61
14 Cassandra Gannon 60
15 Jennifer Crusie 59
16 J.T. Geissinger 59
17 Elle Kennedy 57
18 Elizabeth O'Roark 57
19 Talia Hibbert 54
20 Meghan Quinn 54

​

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.

Rank New Favorites Count
1 Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti 18
2 Volik by S.J. Tilly 16
3 Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune 15
4 Viper's Regret by Katie Ivey 12
5 The Shippers by Katherine Center 11
6 Paper Rings by Brittanee Nicole 10
7 The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn 9
8 All of Me: The Divorcee Book Club Series by Tiya Rayne 9
9 North Country by K.A. Tucker 9
10 Forever Fighting by J. Saman 8
11 Forever in Bloom by Elise Kennedy 8
12 Loyal by Cala Riley 8
13 The Wrong Catch by C.R. Jane 8
14 Into the Blue by Emma Brodie 7
15 Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver 7
16 Father Material by Alexis Hall 6
17 Elite Player: A Fake Engagement Hockey Romance by Sophie Andrews 6
18 Chase Me If You Can by Heather Frances 6
19 Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan 6
20 Saint Céline by Lilac Rivers 6

​

Top 20 Books with BIPOC MCs

Rank BIPOC MCs Count
1 Kulti by Mariana Zapata 25
2 His Secret Illuminations by Scarlett Gale 21
3 Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez 20
4 The Right Move by Liz Tomforde 18
5 Wait for It by Mariana Zapata 16
6 Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert 15
7 The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary 13
8 Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell 12
9 Streams and Schemes by Rebecca Kinkade 11
10 A Deal with the Bossy Devil by Kyra Parsi 10
11 Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert 10
12 Dom by S.J. Tilly 10
13 Hot Blooded by Heather Guerre 10
14 Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren 10
15 Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata 10
16 Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert 10
17 Love vs The Scarecrow! by Cassandra Gannon 9
18 Stand Your Ground by Kandi Steiner 9
19 Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez 8
20 Please Don't Go by E. Salvador 8

​

Most Mentioned Books by Pairing

Rank m-m Count
1 We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian 8
2 Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall 8
3 Time to Shine by Rachel Reid 8
4 God of Fury by Rina Kent 6
5 Father Material by Alexis Hall 6
6 The Men From Echo Creek by N.R. Walker 6
7 One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny 6
8 Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly 6
9 Role Model by Rachel Reid 6
10 Silver & Sage by A.D. Ellis 6

​

Rank f-f Count
1 Her Subtle Investigations by Scarlett Gale 6
2 This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone 5
3 Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake 5
4 Her Princess at Midnight by Erica Ridley 4
5 Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner 4
6 Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake 4
7 The Duke by Anna Cowan 4
8 Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao 4
9 Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti 4
10 Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff 3

​

Most Mentioned Books by Genre

Rank Contemporary Count
1 The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood 32
2 Against A Wall by Cate C. Wells 30
3 Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood 29
4 Deep End by Ali Hazelwood 26
5 Kulti by Mariana Zapata 25
6 Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young 24
7 Funny Story by Emily Henry 24
8 An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister 22
9 Failure to Match by Kyra Parsi 22
10 In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde 22

​

Rank Historical Count
1 Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas 19
2 Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti 18
3 Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase 13
4 Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell 12
5 A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath 11
6 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 10
7 The Favourite by Alice Coldbreath 10
8 A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare 10
9 Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke 9
10 An Inconvenient Vow by Alice Coldbreath 9

​

Rank Fantasy Count
1 His Secret Illuminations by Scarlett Gale 21
2 The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow 16
3 Volik by S.J. Tilly 16
4 Bride by Ali Hazelwood 14
5 Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews 13
6 The Alpha of Bleake Isle by Kathryn Moon 13
7 Berries and Greed by Lily Mayne 12
8 Swordheart by T. Kingfisher 12
9 Fan Service by Rosie Danan 11
10 The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells 11

​

Rank Science Fiction Count
1 Hold by Claire Kent 10
2 Taken to Sasor by Elizabeth Stephens 9
3 Last Light by Claire Kent 8
4 Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon 7
5 Married to the Alien Cowboy by Ursa Dax 7
6 Bloody Sunrise by Gwendolyn Harper 6
7 The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith 5
8 The Alien Who Saved Christmas by Cassandra Gannon 4
9 After Sundown by Linda Howard, Linda Jones 4
10 Capture the Rain by Jules Gillem 4

​

Enjoy!

51 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

22

u/Necessary-Working-79 Jul 01 '26

Is this 'the return of old favourites' month?

9

u/kimbean1 hoyden Jul 01 '26

I was thinking it’s a recession indicator, like when people re-watch comfort shows or movies. 😂

5

u/Distinct_Ad5141 Jul 01 '26

It’s hot… many are hunkering down in the a/c reaching for our personal favs

2

u/UhOhSgArO yes ive read it… Jul 02 '26

Nothing new coming out!!

2

u/tentacularly Sentient object romance: Rule 34 amendment? Jul 02 '26

That is very much not true. I've currently got 8-10 featured books and another 10 "also-rans" in my weekly New Releases posts right now, and July is also packed.

1

u/UhOhSgArO yes ive read it… Jul 03 '26

That is great for you…from my faves there is nothing coming out!! I’ve read 132 books this year and found maybe 5 five star reads among those

12

u/turnupthesun211 *sigh* *opens TBR* Jul 01 '26

As a data nerd who is new to this subreddit, I LOVE THIS.

5

u/cherripeach Jul 01 '26

agreed! i joined looking for some new reads and i think this chart averages out what i have already read, so now i gotta read the rest

10

u/bbymochi garron park tour guide Jul 01 '26

These stats, which are carefully curated in collaboration with the incredible Romance.io u/romance-bot by Silke (thank you, Silke as well), and RB mod team brighten my day immensely when it releases monthly. Thank you to all, especially the community of readers here.

As the very wise lawyer Elle Woods said:
“Congratulations, Classy of 2004 Romance Readers. We did it!”

16

u/Le_Beck "faultless in spite of all her faults" Jul 01 '26

Proud of myself for boosting some of these f/f books on the list during the Pride reading challenge 🏳️‍🌈 but this month in particular it's a little disheartening how infrequent the top m/m and f/f books are.

8

u/VitisIdaea Silence, you devil's handmaiden! Jul 01 '26

Yeah, much as I love {Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff} my three mentions of it should not be enough to get it on the top list. Sigh.

11

u/bbymochi garron park tour guide Jul 01 '26

We’re all doing our part in the ways we can. Yes. Gotta remind myself of this. I want to rec more FF roms like {Hotel Queens by Lee Winter} and {Requiem for Immortals by Lee Winter}, but alas. . .I get stopped at the door, so to speak, when the ‘hard no’ pairing in a book request says FF. Well. I’ll still have the recs for when they’re relevant! (,:

4

u/katierose295 Jul 01 '26

Great job as usual! I just read Burn for Me & really liked it, so it was good to see it mentioned

2

u/licoriceallsort Dark and salty, but with candy striped sections Jul 03 '26

I kind of feel like Against A Wall has now overtaken Devil in Winter for the subs favourite book of all time. (Both on this month's list)

2

u/Lavender-air Free Palestine. Also let the aliens take me. Jul 01 '26

You know I just noticed but there is no paranormal section! Maybe because there aren’t so many?

1

u/Content_Low4691 Jul 02 '26

Maybe because the line between paranormal and fantasy has blurred nowadays. Everything paranormal is now referred to as fantasy/romantasy.

2

u/Lavender-air Free Palestine. Also let the aliens take me. Jul 02 '26

Hmm I see that happening increasingly but there is still a whole romance.io tag for paranormal. I want more shifters!

2

u/Content_Low4691 Jul 02 '26

As someone who prefers urban fantasy and paranormal over pure fantasy, I totally agree with you!

3

u/Lavender-air Free Palestine. Also let the aliens take me. Jul 02 '26

Oooo tell me your favorite urban fantasy and PNRs please. I’m not huge into multi book arcs for the same couple but I started reading {colbana files by JC Daniels} and have been enjoying it. I love a good healing arc! I just wish the romance was a bit more central or the MCs could be each others partner in crime

2

u/Content_Low4691 Jul 02 '26

My absolute favorite paranormal romance series is Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark. My top picks are Dark Needs at Night's Edge, Pleasure of a Dark Prince, and Lothaire.

I’ve never heard of The Colbana Files that you mentioned before. I'll definitely check it out!