Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
The Swoonies Team is so excited to announce the winners of The 2021 Swoon Awards!.
If you need a refresher, The Swoon Awards is a readers’ choice award for romantic fiction. This is our second year holding the award and we are just blown away by how much support we’ve seen. We’ve received almost double the votes we received in 2020 (5.1k+ vs. 2.1k in the final round), and we are grateful to everyone who participated.
Now on to the award winners! 🎉🎉
Update (Feb 28th, 2022): Due to recent events, we have made the decision to retract one of the previous winners of the romance novella/short story category – Games We Play by Dana Isaly – and holiday romance category – Dipped in Holly by Dana Isaly. The Swoon Awards team does not condone plagiarism nor do we condone the exploitation of sexual assault victims.
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
First Place:
Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas
Runners-Up:
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore
Bombshell by Sarah MacLean
The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian
Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
First Place:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Runners-Up:
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
FANTASY ROMANCE
First Place:
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Runners-Up:
The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
PARANORMAL/URBAN FANTASY ROMANCE
First Place:
Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews
Runners-Up:
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Last Guard by Nalini Singh
ROMANTIC SUPSENSE
First Place:
Marriage and Murder by Penny Reid
Runners-Up:
Legacy by Nora Roberts
Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall
SCIENCE-FICTION ROMANCE
First Place:
Bad Guy by Ruby Dixon
Runners-Up:
Fated Blades by Ilona Andrews
Sam’s Secret by Ruby Dixon
EROTIC ROMANCE
First Place:
Neon Gods by Katee Robert
Runners-Up:
Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta
Saint by Sierra Simone
YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE
First Place:
A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
Runners-Up:
Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
NOVELLA/SHORT STORY ROMANCE
First Place:
Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly
Runners-Up:
The Witch’s Wolves by Ellie Mae MacGregor
Seducing My Guardian by Katee Robert
ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY
First Place:
Rake I’d Like to F… by Sierra Simone, Nicola Davidson, Adriana Herrera, Eva Leigh, Joanna Shupe
Runners-Up:
Amor Actually by Adriana Herrera, Alexis Daria, Diana Muñoz Stewart, Mia Sosa, Priscilla Oliveras, Sabrina Sol, Zoey Castile
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by M. Robinson, Skye Warren, Claire Contreras, Katee Robert, Pam Godwin, Giana Darling, Jenika Snow, Amelia Wilde, Alta Hensley, Theodora Taylor
HOLIDAY ROMANCE
First Place:
Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey
Runners-Up:
The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese
Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday
A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli
The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert
DEBUT ROMANCE
First Place:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Runners-Up:
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Sweethand by N.G. Peltier
ROMANCE AUDIOBOOK NARRATION
First Place:
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Brown; performed by Ione Butler
Runners-Up:
Saint by Sierra Simone; performed by Jacob Morgan, Sean Crisden
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey; performed by Charlotte North
Reel by Kennedy Ryan; performed by Eboni Flowers, Jakobi Diem, Nicole Small
The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley; performed by Moira Quirk
ROMANCE COVER
First Place:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood; illustrated by Lilith Saur
Runners-Up:
A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria; illustrated by Bo Feng Lin and Elsie Lyons
Archangel’s Light by Nalini Singh; illustrated by Tony Mauro
BOOK OF THE YEAR
First Place:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Runners-Up:
Neon Gods by Katee Robert
Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews
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Join us in congratulating our 2021 winners!
If you feel inclined to, you can help support our work by buying us a coffee on Ko-Fi.
Have you read all of these books? If not, worry not!
We’ll be back this summer with 2021 Read the Swoonies challenge.
Until next time,
