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My favorite romance novels bring warm, comforting vibes, often through cozy settings, flirtatious banter, and a mouth-watering food description or two. But nothing tugs on my heartstrings more than an adorable pet. Pets make excellent additions to romance novels. They bring people together in unexpected ways, and they provide ample opportunities for comedic relief. You might even call them (ro)man(ce)’s best friend.

Pets brighten up our real lives, and they can be just as fun to encounter in a good romance novel. Below you’ll find some of my favorite romance novels with the best animal characters to wiggle their ways into my heart. Let’s hear it for the emotional support dogs/cats/rabbits/goldfish/whatever other animals that make our protagonists smile — and sometimes help bring about unforgettable meet-cutes.

The Re-Do List by Denise Williams

I’m a fan of Denise Williams and knew I’d love her newest book, but it’s that illustration of Gus on the cover that had me making heart eyes right from the start. In The Re-Do List, we meet recently-dumped-and-virally-embarrassed Willow, who’s dog-sitting her brother Cruz’s German shepherd while he’s deployed as a pararescue jumper. Cruz asked his best friend Deacon to keep an eye on — and his hands off — his baby sister. We spend much of the story with the lovable Gus, who’s so perfectly behaved that Deacon jokes he’s “pretty sure that dog is trained to do Cruz’s taxes and oversee a multilevel marketing operation.” Even better, we meet Deacon’s rescue pitbull Cupcake, who is best friends with Gus. What’s more romantic than dates at the dog park?

All access members continue below for more romance novels with animal characters.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Talia Hibbert’s wildly popular Brown Sisters series is a total delight. But where would the first sister, Chloe Brown, have ended up if not for a well-timed encounter with a cat? Shortly after challenging herself to be more adventurous, Chloe spots a cat seemingly stuck in a tree. Scratch (as we come to know him) is “small, but wonderfully fat, with fur so gray as to seem almost black, and piercing eyes that seemed to say, Surely you won’t leave me here?” It turns out Smudge is actually quite athletic and capable of getting himself out of the tree. Perhaps he was really pushing Chloe to climb a tree and live a little. We love a Cat Distribution System success story.

Alice Rue Evades the Truth by Emily Zipps

This chaotic bisexual While You Were Sleeping retelling stole my heart in many ways, from its endearingly messy protagonist to its hot butch love interest and powerful representation of MS. But the character that lives rent-free in my head is Frank, the tall, lanky, slobbery, scene-stealing, very good boy. Frank is “all legs and elbows, with floppy ears, light brown speckles, and an enormous grin,” and I would give anything for one of his signature hugs. Frank is based on a real dog, who you can find on author Emily Zipps’ Instagram, and he’s described with the kind of loving enthusiasm that makes him leap right off the page and into your heart.

The Baby Dragon Café by A. T. Qureshi

This cozy romantasy series takes place in a world full of pet baby dragons. Picture the adorable feistiness of a kitten. Now add wings and fire. You can imagine why most restaurants won’t allow baby dragons inside. But Saphira opened her café with baby dragons in mind, serving coffee and snacks to humans and treats like charred naan to their pets. After a baby dragon accidentally sets her espresso maker on fire, Saphira worries her business won’t recover from the accident. Then handsome gardener Aiden realizes how good Saphira is with his unruly little dragon Sparky and offers to pay Saphira to train him. It’s a delightful story full of baby dragon chaos.

With Stars in Her Eyes by Andie Burke

Bookstores, both real and fictional, are sometimes home to adorable cats and dogs. Andie Burke’s secret-rockstar sapphic romance With Stars in Her Eyes features a bookstore that takes the animal love a step further. Menagerie Books, the bookstore where protagonist Courtney hides from the viral disaster that ended her music career, is known for fostering exotic pets. You’ll meet colorful characters like Baxter the potbellied piglet, Harry Styles the horny toad, and Lady Fruitcakes the ferret in this story that will make you wish you could take a trip to Menagerie Books in real life.

We hope you enjoyed these romance novels with the best animal characters! You might also enjoy:

Best Romance Books of the Century So Far

8 Romantasy Books with the Best Banter

15 Books with Pets on the Cover

The post Romance Novels with the Best Animal Characters appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Jessica Pryde is a member of that rare breed that grew up in Washington, DC, but is happily enjoying the warmer weather of the desert Southwest. While she is still working on what she wants to be when she grows up, she’s enjoying dabbling in librarianship and writing all the things. She’s the editor of Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters, and her fiction has been published by Generous Press. She can be found drowning in her ever-growing TBR and exclaiming about romance on When in Romance, as well as on social media. Find her exclamations about books and internet ridiculousness on BlueSky (JessIsReading) and instagram/threads (jess_is_reading).

View All posts by Jessica Pryde

Jessica Pryde is a member of that rare breed that grew up in Washington, DC, but is happily enjoying the warmer weather of the desert Southwest. While she is still working on what she wants to be when she grows up, she’s enjoying dabbling in librarianship and writing all the things. She’s the editor of Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters, and her fiction has been published by Generous Press. She can be found drowning in her ever-growing TBR and exclaiming about romance on When in Romance, as well as on social media. Find her exclamations about books and internet ridiculousness on BlueSky (JessIsReading) and instagram/threads (jess_is_reading).

View All posts by Jessica Pryde

It might not be Con Season, but it’s always a good time to read about people who love cosplay! The creativity, the drama! We love a person of any gender who knows how to handle a sewing machine AND a makeup brush. And on top of that, these are the people who are incredibly passionate about their favorite fandom(s) and aren’t afraid to put themselves out there. If people want to stomp on their joy? Psh. You can’t bring them down.

On top of the messaging that comes from the acceptance and community of the right fannish friends, cosplay and fandom offer great opportunities to land in potential meet-cute (or meet-disaster) situations! Just look at YA novels like Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala and NerdCrush by Alisha Emrich, where themes of confidence and being yourself sit side by side with suuuuper awkward relationship troubles! 

But don’t worry; these adult romances centering on cosplay might only make you want to read between your fingers in secondhand embarrassment a little bit. 

Enter for a chance to snag a brand-new Kindle Paperwhite for carrying a pocketful of stories wherever your holidays may take you.

All Access members, read on for recommendations of cosplay romance books.

Cosplay and Confrontation by Sarah Zane

In a story inspired vaguely by Pride and Prejudice, Lanie and Gwen were once cosplaying besties. But after Gwen broke their mutual friend’s heart and left town, they basically never spoke again. Now, Gwen is back and just wants to get through this big cosplay contest (winning, of course). But the two will have to face their pasts, and Lanie will have to deal with her anger, before the whole event crashes down on their heads. 

Pivot by Anna Pulley

The cosplay doesn’t do as much heavy lifting in this story, but it does lead our two leads to each other in a pretty embarrassing way. When we meet Paula, she is putting the finishing touches on her Plavalaguna costume, preparing to sing “Il Dolce Suono” (not a good harbinger of success, iykyk) as an introduction/supplication to her cosplay crush. It…does not go well, but she does meet Nita, who helps her escape from the situation. They have instant chemistry, but neither is looking for a relationship. Doesn’t mean they can’t be friends, right? And in Nita’s case, it doesn’t mean she can’t use Paula as an interview source for her family’s tanking newspaper. 

Cosplay Worthy by Quiana Glide

Layla loves comics and cosplay, and is excited to meet her favorite comics artist, dressed in cosplay for her favorite character from his work. When they meet, there might be a few fireworks, and the convention weekend leaves them both pretty satisfied. They go their own way at the end, but an online connection leads to them building something real out of the opportunities the internet provides them. But fans can be terrible people, and their relationship might be the next casualty of fandom shenanigans (derogatory). 

If that’s not enough for you, keep an eye out for Lydia San Andres’s Only Friends, her first contemporary romance, about a Times Square cosplayer and model and the screenwriter who gets him to do Regency Thirst Traps for her.  

Looking for more fannish romance? Check out this list of romances with fanfiction themes.

The post Dress Up With These Cosplay Romance Books appeared first on Our Story Insight.

They also made a couple of interesting observations, including how the genre has gained a few “mega-authors” courtesy of TikTok and how a good chunk of the authors on the list self-published before getting big publishing deals. One thing we noticed ourselves, which is not unusual for Goodreads lists, is that the books are really lacking in diversity. There are only a few nonwhite authors and a couple of queer books in the whole list.

Still, if you are curious about which romances Goodreads members have been shelving the most, below is a small sampling of the list:

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros

King of Sloth (Kings of Sin, #4) by Ana Huang

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (Bright Falls, #1) by Ashley Herring Blake

Flawless (Chestnut Springs, #1) by Elsie Silver

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Before I Let Go (Skyland, #1) by Kennedy Ryan

The full list includes everything from the ever-popular romantasy to Westerns, sports romance, rom-coms, and more. To see it in its entirety, visit Goodreads.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

The post The Most Popular Romance Books of the Last Few Years, According to Goodreads appeared first on Our Story Insight.