Swooon’s Top 5 Romance Best Sellers of April 2025: ‘Great Big Beautiful Life’ & More
April showers can only mean one thing: Emily Henry has taken the romance literary world by storm once again!
Every month, Swooon partners with indie bookstores to find out the five best-selling romance novels across North America. In April, our top five saw four exciting new additions that we are sure will make their way to the top of your TBR, including new works by romance writer royalty EmHen and Abby Jimenez.
As always, we’d love to give a special shout-out to our contributors. This month we’d like to thank All the Tropes, Pages of Passion, Steamy Lit, Heart Bound Bookshop, Trope Bookshop, The Last Chapter, Bedpost Books, Love’s Sweet Arrow, Blush & Bashful Romance Bookshop, Smitten Bookstore, The Romance Era Bookshop, Grump & Sunshine Bookshop, Lovebound Library, and HEA Book Boutique for sharing their highest selling romance books. If you’re local to any of these fantastic bookstores or traveling near one, be sure to check them out, pick out your next favorite love story, and tell them we say hi!
Scroll down to see the top five romance book best sellers of April 2025, and head to our full breakdown of Romance Book Best Sellers to find out the top love stories readers near you have picked up this month.
Phantasma
Kaylie Smith
Kaylie Smith’s Phantasma is like if Stephanie Garber’s YA classic Caraval grew up into a spicy dark romance, and we are so here for it. For anyone who loves a good competition, Phantasma follows Ophelia Grimm, whose desperate need for a granted wish inspires her to join a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion. With her life on the line, Ophelia makes a deal with a charming stranger who promises to get her to the end of the competition in return for the next 10 years of her life. From heated competition to steamy forbidden romance, Phantasma is an adventure you won’t want to miss.
Kiss of the Basilisk
Lindsay Straube
Lindsay Straube’s NSFW dark romantasy, Kiss of the Basilisk, has made our list for the second month in a row. A cross between 2010s era Draco Malfoy fanfiction and Kiera Cass’ The Selection, the book follows Temperance Verus, one of 13 contestants being trained in the art of seduction (by basilisks, nonetheless) to win the hand of a prince. The catch: Temperance has never had sex. She’s never even been kissed. But that is all about to change as she finds herself caught between the prince and her basilisk trainer, the Serpent King.
Wild and Wrangled
Lyla Sage
The fourth installment of Lyla Sage’s beloved Rebel Blue Ranch romance series, Wild and Wrangled, proves that no matter how hard you try, you’ll never forget your first. Nearly 10 years after falling in (and out) of love, Camille Ashwood moves in next door to Dusty Tucker. Can the two avoid each other forever, or is a second chance on the horizon? For anyone who loves a sexy western or small-town romance, Wild and Wrangled is right for you.
Say You’ll Remember Me
Abby Jiminez
We’d like to personally thank Abby Jimenez for creating Xavier Rush, who may be the new epitome of the BookTok boyfriend. Both hilarious and sentimental, Say You’ll Remember Me follows Samantha Diaz, who is actively facing a life-altering family crisis that stands in the way of any kind of romance. However, everything changes when she realizes she meets Xavier, the right person, who shows up at what is certainly the wrong time. If you’ve ever lived apart from the person you love, Jimenez’s newest is bound to pull at your heartstrings, sending you right back to your long-distance days, for better or worse.
Great Big Beautiful Life
Emily Henry
Whether you’ve been strolling in bookstores or scrolling on BookTok, we’re sure you’ve noticed that April belonged to People We Meet on Vacation author Emily Henry. Henry’s latest novel, Great Big Beautiful Life, is an absolute masterpiece, weaving together the sweeping Hollywood glamour of the life of Margaret Ives and the epic love story of competing writers Alice Scott and Hayden Anderson. Best described as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets Beach Read, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves romance (and a good cry).
If you’re an independent romance bookseller interested in joining our list, please email [email protected].
