These past two years have been a doozy. Between a global pandemic and working from home, to racial justices finally coming to light, a presidential election, an insurrection, the Supreme Court being what it is, and so much more. With these past two years being the way that they are, I’m so glad that I treated reading as a self-care activity again because … it saved me. Not to be dramatic, but there it is: reading saved me.

And not just reading, but reading romance novels. Who knew that romance novels would come in and be the self-care that I needed? I started reading all types of romance: historical romance (hello, Bridgerton!), contemporary romance, YA romance, spicy romance (thanks, Tessa Bailey!), and in those genres, individual tropes that I came to fall in love with.

But there’s an interesting sub-genre of romance that I personally love: the feel-good romances. Now, you’d think all romance would be “feel-good.” You’d think that, right? Isn’t all romance feel-good? Not necessarily. Some romances are PAINFUL. Not in the painful type of like, this is bad writing. (What is bad writing? I firmly believe that there is no such thing as bad writing ….) But the type of romance that are painful deal with heavy topics like grief and mental health and infidelity. And sure, those can be feel-good romances (The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun is a great example of a feel-good romance that talks about mental health.)

But I’ve read some great feel-good romance books that put me in a positive mood and give me butterflies. They’re not necessarily ignoring these heavy topics like grief and mental health, but they did give me butterflies.

If you’re in need of a feel-good romance that gives you butterflies, I encourage you to read on and read some of these books! And let me know in the comments of more feel-good romances … we can all use some!

Lease on Love by Falon Ballard

I would say that this is the first book with a feel-good romance that came to mind. I read this in a matter of days on a work trip and it was … DELIGHTFUL. It does cover grief, but overall, the book is wonderful. It follows the friends-to-lovers and roommates-to-lovers trope. But also, the main character quits her finance job to start a floral business. She needs a roommate — and place to live — first, however. I loved this book and it was a very quick and short read!

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

My first thought after reading this was … why didn’t I pick this one up sooner? I read this on Kindle and it just gave me butterflies throughout the entire book. I loved this enemies-to-lovers book that featured the First Son of the United States (son of the first female president!) and the Prince of Wales. And … it’s going to be a movie and they just wrapped filming! Casey McQuiston has a way with words and specifically writing romance.

You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria

I heard that if you like Jane the Virgin, then you’ll love this one … and they were right. This follows two telenovela stars that … hate each other. But then they fall for each other. So typical enemies to lovers. But I loved the relationship dynamic between the two main leads. The second book, A Lot Like Adios, is also a very good second chance at love and childhood friends to lovers story and a feel-good romance as well.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

I love Casey McQuiston’s writing. I read I Kissed Shara Wheeler around the time when Roe v. Wade was overturned … or around the time of the Uvalde shooting. (I can’t remember.) Either one, it was a big week in the news and my heart was very heavy. Reading this simple, feel-good romance novel definitely lifted my spirits. I gave this book a 4/5 on my #bookstagram but I definitely will only associate good memories with this book considering what was going on around the world when I was reading this book. This is a LGBTQ romance (similar to her other books) that follows high school teens. It also had a mystery element of trying to find the character, Shara Wheeler, after she kissed three people: her boyfriend, an old friend, and the main character, Chloe. This is absolutely a must-read.

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

I have to say this: Tessa Bailey writes steamy romance novels. Or should I say, spicy romance novels. Steamy and spicy. But honestly, she pulls it off. I picked this book up because I was told that the main character is like Alexis from Schitt’s Creek … and they’re right! The main character, Piper Bellinger, is a spoiled party girl who, after her stepfather threatens to cut her off, is sent to a small town in Washington where coincidentally, her late father who passed when she was younger, lived. It’s there she meets Brendan and the two are instantly attracted to each other. The story follows a grumpy/sunshine romance and the entire time, I was thinking, “why aren’t there more grumpy/sunshine romances where the guy is a ray of sunshine and the girl is grumpy?” I feel like I would read that. Still, this book was definitely a feel-good romance for me.

American Royals by Katharine McGee

I hesitated putting this in the list, as it’s not technically a similar feel-good romance like the rest on this list, but it does have a feel-good romance. But it has more than that too. It follows the Washington family who are the American Royals. The story is that if George Washington was crowned King of America instead of President and the American government was a monarchy instead of a democracy. It was very entertaining to read (especially in the middle of an election) and I did love the family dynamic and the relationships between each of the family members. For those who have read American Royals, my favorite character is Beatrice!

By The Book by Jasmine Guillory

I absolutely loved this Beauty & The Beast modern retelling. It was a little too YA for me, but when I read it, I loved every moment. The story follows Izzy, an editorial assistant for a publishing house who is sent to retrieve the pages from an author, Beau, who is not responding to any of her and her boss’s inquiries about his novel he’s supposed to be writing. Well, since this is a feel-good romance, you can guess that they start to fall for each other. I really enjoyed this one and I hope you do too.