Heartbreaking Romance
Love that's raw, emotional, and absolutely gut-wrenching. Bring tissues. These books will leave your eyes teary and your heart achy.
Need some levity and fun to balance the tears in your heart? Check out College Romance or Billionaire Romance for a palate cleanser.Searching for a title that’s not listed? Check our lower-rated reads page for books we don’t recommend and why.Heartbreaking Romance
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Read-&-Rated Favorites (⭐ 3.5+)
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Manacled (out of print) by SenLinYu
⭐ 4.5
MEDIUM, HEA
“Wow this one was intense. I appreciated the deep dives into mental issues - panic attacks, anxiety, depression, agoraphobia, paranoia, PTSD.” - Penelope Black
“It's been a week and I'm still hung over from this one.” - Cardigan B
Sexual Trauma, Slavery, Breeding Program, ]Villain Becomes MMC, Redemption, Healing Together, Slow Burn, Second Chance, Secret Relationship, Enemies to Lovers, Progresses Over Years, Story Told in Past and Present, Social Class Divide, Dramione Fanfic
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Before We Came by Sloane St. James
⭐ 4.25
HOT, HEA
“Freaking great story about the FMC who is reunited with her real family after she's kidnapped and raised by her "adoptive" mom. SPICY and delicious. The only thing missing was more about the kidnapping case and why she was taken. But that's the Forensic Files fan in me. ” - Cardigan B
Hockey, Brother's Best Friend, Second Chance, Kidnapping, Forced Proximity, MMC/FMC has Amnesia, FMC is a Single Mom, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Emotional Abuse, Dirty Talker
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An Offer from a Gentleman (Book 3) by Julia Quinn
⭐ 4.25
MEDIUM, HEA
“We loved this book, it’s truly one of the best in the series. Sophie’s struggle will hurt your heart, but she’s so resilient. She just keeps going, keeps trying to make life better for herself. And when Benedict enters her life, they complete one another. We couldn’t put this one down.” - Cardigan B
Regency/Georgian/Victorian Period, Family Saga, Down on Her Luck FMC, Social Class Divide, FMC previous abused (not by MMC), Masked MMC, Reformed Playboy, Virgin FMC
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Older by Jennifer Hartmann
⭐ 4.25
MEDIUM, HEA
“I’m not usually super emotional but this had me feeling the the feels. While parts made me feel uncomfortable with the age gap and her daddy issues, I felt like Jennifer Hartmann wrote the MCs with such care.” - Penelope Black
Age Gap, Under 18 FMC, 30+ MMC/FMC, High School, Abusive Parent(s), Progresses Over Years, Best Friend's Dad, Tattoos, Childhood Trauma, Coming of Age, Cute Dog(s), Forbidden Love Interest, Forgiveness Arc, Hidden Relationship, Hot Dad, Taboo Relationship, Tortured MMC, Martial Arts
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The One Night by Meghan Quinn
⭐ 4.25
MEDIUM, NHEA
“FUCKING GUTTED. I wrote an IG post about it. HERE Bravo to Meghan Quinn. She ripped out my soul in 82 pages.” - Cardigan B
Best Friend's Ex, Separated/Divorcing/Divorced, One Night Stand, MC has Matchmaking Parents, Family Business, Short/Novella, Christmas Romance, Holiday Matchmaking
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One Pucked Up Pack by Sarah Blue
⭐ 4.25
HOT, HEA
“She scent matches with her pack while they're playing hockey and she's ice skating. A near-rejected mate situation.” - Cardigan B
Omegaverse, Sports, Hockey, Why Choose, Reverse Harem, Fated Mates, Found Family, Long Distance Relationship, Loss of Parent (Death), College/University Students, Pro-Athlete
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Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann
⭐ 4.25
MEDIUM, HEA
“HEAVY. The good news is that the rape isn't graphic. But the book is heartbreaking.” - Cardigan B
Kidnapping, Sexual Trauma, Survival, Mental Health, Personal Growth Journey, Shy FMC, Inner Demons, Rescue, Healing Together, Overcoming Past Trauma, Longtime Crush, Sister's Boyfriend, Friends to Lovers, Forbidden Love Interest, Forced Proximity
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Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“This book surprised me by how much I liked it. Normally I don't love the "We're married and there's a deal to get a divorce" but the author did a great job showing you the past and the present series of events. She had a hulking beast for a husband and I love the HEA.” - Cardigan B
Marriage of Convenience, Separated/Divorcing/Divorced, Reunited after Divorce, Second Chance, Story Told in Past and Present
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Where Quiet Hearts Scream (Book 3) by Victoria Holliday
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“This book was heartbreaking from beginning to end. You could feel Sera's desperation to build her own life and to have it RIPPED from her hands, watching Andreas set fire to it. Oh god, my heart. Well done. Self-harm (cutting) was anguish for me.” - Cardigan B
MC is involved in Mafia, Mistaken Identity, Arranged Marriage, Healing Together, Past Coming Back to Haunt Them, Loss of Parent (Death), Captive Falls for Captor, Forgiveness Arc, Politics, Redemption, Virgin FMC
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Andorra Sector by Lexi. C. Foss
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“Yes! Been on my TBR for years. She's a chemically-created Omega in a dystopian shifter world. He's a misguided, iron-fisted Alpha. I hated when he was finally in his redemption arc saying things like "I blame myself" when...yeah, you did this. Infuriating. He positioned himself like a martyr.” - Cardigan B
Wolf/Shifter, Alpha MMC, Omega FMC, Kidnapping, Knotting, In-Heat, MC is trapped, Dystopian, Power Struggle, Pregnancy, Loss of Parent (Death), Learning a New World, Redemption
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Forsaken Make by Vasilisa Drake
⭐ 3.75
MILD, TO BE CONTINUED
“Heartbroken by chapter 3. She’s a wolf shifter who finds her fated mate. He kills her. She finds herself in purgatory with an unlikely ally who helps her understand her place in the world.” - Cardigan B
Fated Mates, Wolf/Shifter, MMC/FMC is back from the dead, Murder Mystery, Mentor/Protege
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Knot All is Perfect by Holly Monroe
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“WOW. This was an emotional ride. I could feel the desperation to be the "Perfect Omega" that she had been trained to be.” - Cardigan B
Omegaverse, Reverse Harem, Knotting, BDSM, Why Choose, Virgin FMC, Trauma Bonding, Dom/Sub, Touch Her and Die Vibes
@35CARDIGANS @BLACKCAT100
Find us on The StoryGraph
Join The StoryGraph, our romance book tracking app of choice. Scope out our TBRs, see which titles we’ve read, and watch us rate in real time. Just more proof that we’re humans.
(Yea, we also use goodreads…but so do our families. Who we’re connected to).
Sizzle Scale
HOT
(Blazing & Explicit): This is the full five-alarm fire. Bedroom doors are flung wide open, and the scenes are DETAILED, EXPLICIT, and SCORCHING HOT. No fading to black here.
MEDIUM
(Simmering & Steamy): Expect passionate kisses that don't always fade to black. Could be graphic, but probably one scene that goes full throttle. Things get steamy, and the chemistry is sparking. You’ll blush, but you won’t need a fire extinguisher... yet.
MILD
(Sweet & Tender): Expect sweet sighs, maybe a stolen, chaste kiss or two, and plenty of heartwarming moments that make you go "awww." If things get more intimate, the bedroom door gently clicks shut (fade-to-black).
FLOUR
(Platonic, if anything): Rare to find around here. This is a book that has…no romance at all. We probably read this by accident.
FAQs
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A guide to romance novels of all heats and sizes. We’re recommending books we’ve read (we’ve read 1,000s) and telling you what to expect. We’ll help you do your research - your time and money will be happy.
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‘Happily Ever After’ - nearly every book you find on The Velvet Pages has an ‘HEA’. It means that the story reached a satisfying conclusion. It might say “To Be Continued” which means there’s probably an HEA in the series, but that particular title didn’t resolve the relationship.
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This is how sexual or sexy a book is. There’s a range: Hot, Medium, Mild, and Flour.
Hot is ‘“holy Hell I’m sweating.”
Medium is steamy.
Mild is tender and sweet.
Flour means there’s nothing romantic here.
We label each book so you know what to expect and you can choose what you’re comfortable reading.
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We rate each book out of 5. Cardigan B and Penelope Black can rate a book the same score on occasion, but usually the rating you see is an average of their scores.
The ratings are pretty subjective, but include things like:
Did the story make sense?
How did the characters measure up?
Was the writing literate?
Was the premise or were the plot points memorable?
Were the mysteries solved? Did the questions get answered? Did you leave me on ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER, ONYX STORM?
Did the book make us feel something?
Was there a cute cat?
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We recommend starting with Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, or Sports Romance. They’re the most popular and you’ll find recognizable tropes.
Start with Mild to Medium heat and definitely choose an HEA.
If you’re still stuck, email us and we can give you some recs!
Heyyyvelvetpages@gmail.com
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We’ll read pretty much anything. Each month, Penelope and Cardigan select a list of about 20 books to read together. There’s at least one book from each genre and some popular titles that have been recently released.
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We sure do! It’s called ‘The Velvet Edit’. You can sign up at the top or on the ‘Contact Us’ page. We send out a themed list of recommendations each month and a ‘Quickie’ (a single title spotlight) two weeks later. We won’t spam you.
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That’s the section of the site where we share what we’re reading this month for our book club. You can check out our other reading lists from the past few months of 2025, too.
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Nope, not even close. The books on the site are generally the ones we enjoyed the most. Or hit on different trends we see coming up.
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They are! If you buy from a button click on the site, we might earn a commission. You’re not paying more for the product, though. We’re all about ‘pay less for smut’ around here.
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We use Storygraph. It has a friendly app interface and has every book we’ve read. It also shows your reading stats, which is unique.
We have separate Goodreads accounts, but they’re connected to our friends and family and…I don’t want them to see that I read the first and second book in a series about a merman with two dicks.
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MMC is Male Main Character. FMC is female main character.
There are typically one of each, but there can be multiple in genres like Omegaverse or Reverse Harem.
Or, like in the case of Court of Thorns and Roses, the MMC could be one person in one book and another person in another book.
Don’t come at me about ‘spoilers’ - these books were published in 2015.
Email us
Looking for a book recommendation? Want to give us a recommendation you’ve read? Need to yell into the void?