What were the biggest romance book trends for 2022?

2022 has been a huge year for romance books. As a romance book reader, I can confidently say I’ve never read more in a single year.

I won’t divulge the number because it’s a little embarrassing. Regardless, there is something to be said about reading so many books in a single year especially when it comes to the trends in the romance world.

In particular, I feel like there are plenty of awesome romance trends we’ve seen come and go this year. In bringing up trends, I figured it only right to talk about some of the popular trends we’ve seen in 2022. As you might imagine, that brings up an entirely different conversation about trends we’d love to see next year, too which could be another post.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though as we still have a bit of time left in 2022 and there are plenty of awesome romance book trends to discuss from this year.

What were some of the biggest romance book trends from 2022?

The major trend in romance books for 2022 had to be cooking/baking. In general, I feel like food can be romantic and it’s clear romance authors share the sentiment. Just looking at the Goodreads list of contemporary romances, some of the titles include Fake It Till You Bake It, The Romance Recipe, Sadie on a Plate, Chef’s Kiss, and A Dash of Salt and Pepper. Whether it was about chefs, baking, or food in general, cooking was a huge trend in the romance world for 2022.

Another huge romance trend in 2022 was lots of small-town romances. While small-town romances aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, I can see why people enjoy them. The major example I have for this one is Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score. This book sat atop the Amazon Kindle charts for years and while it might not be number 1 now, it’s still on the list somewhere.

Some other popular small-town romances that blew up in 2022 were Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake, Bet On It by Jodie Slaughter, and Juniper Hill by Devney Perry. All in all, there were plenty of small-town romances with tons of tropes and pairings to choose from.

Another trend I noticed was romance books with a mental health aspect. Whether it’s the main character, the love interest, or someone in either of their lives, mental health is finally getting the page time it deserves. Some romance books that focused on mental health were Bet On It by Jodie Slaughter, Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon, Everything For You by Chloe Liese, and Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan.

Last but certainly not least, I had to feature a historical romance book trend because historical romances make up such a huge part of the publishing world. In 2022, it felt like historical romance upped its game from being super straight and white. Some publications included A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera, A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall, Nobody’s Princess by Erica Ridley, Never Cross a Highlander by Lisa Rayne, and To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins.

All in all, this was a pretty solid year for romance books. A lot of the romance world seemed to focus on one author who we won’t name but aside from that, 2022 was a great year to be a romance reader.

What were some romance book trends we missed? Let us know in the comments.