Slow burn romances are the ones where you are dying for the couple even to kiss each other, and they have such undeniable chemistry in one of them. The entire relationship is dragged out until the end. It is so satisfying to read a book where the relationship progresses slowly.
All the little moments make it so good, and you’re waiting for them to get together and finally do in the end. However, something is satisfying about reading a slow-burn romance when they finally get together. It’s the most amazing moment ever.
15 Slow Burn Romance Books
Slow burn romance has a specialty that it can turn anybody into romance. For example, you hate someone, but you will fall in love with them over time. We see the enemy plot converts into a lover in slow-burn most of the time. So it is all about the time where anything can be possible.
Romance readers love this trope very much because it makes them read the whole book and wait until the end chapter. As a romance reader, I will review my top 15 slow-burn romance books for you. Let’s begin!
1. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
This is a phenomenal book. The book follows Vanessa, an assistant to a popular football player (Aiden). She’s been working for him for a few years, but she’s over it and wants to leave. Aiden is cold towards her, and she wants to move forward with her art career. So she quits the job. He seems unmoved by it, but he ends up showing up at her house a few weeks later and begs her to return to her position. It goes beyond that.
So Aiden is super distant until the end. I don’t want to spoil this book because I had no idea what was going into it, and I found it very satisfying. However, I can tell you that the slow burn in this story was phenomenal. You’ll probably enjoy this book if you guys like the more cold, distant male leads and sports romance.
Author: Mariana Zapata
Average Customer Review: (4.6 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Sports Romance
Number Of Pages: 428
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
2. Storm (Ashes & Embers)
This is the first book in a companion novel series called Ashes and Embers. All the books in the series are standalone, and you can read them either together or not together because the characters go back and forth. It follows a girl (Evelyn) driving somewhere, getting caught in this horrible snowstorm.
So Evelyn ends up having to stay with a man (Storm) who finds her after her car breaks down in his truck with him for three days while there’s this storm going on. It is also a stuck together or forced proximity romance. You can think about how that would go like you’re stuck with a stranger for days on end. Its obvious tensions are going to be high.
There’s going to be a lot of conversation. Evelyn does have a boyfriend when the book starts, so you can imagine why it is such a slow burn. But Storm ends up being very smitten by her and wants a chance to prove himself. So the story goes after them.
Author: Carian Cole
Average Customer Review: (4.5 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: College Romance
Number Of Pages: 286
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
3. Birthday Girl
You have not met slow burn until you have read this book because it has one of the best slow burn romances I’ve ever read. It’s about a girl (Jordan) that falls for her boyfriend’s dad (Pike). It’s not as crazy as you may think. The banter, conversations, and tension between the two characters are even kissing for the first time. It’s insane and powerful.
Pike does not know that Jordan is his son’s girlfriend. After knowing that, he feels very stressed and guilty. In the meantime, he makes a sweet relationship with Jordan that they can not deny. When you’re reading, you can’t stop reading because it’s so enticing, and you need to find out what’s going to happen. So if you like the age gap and forbidden romance, this book is for you.
Author: Penelope Douglas
Average Customer Review: (4.5 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Contemporary Romance
Number Of Pages: 407
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
4. Mr. Masters (Mr. Series)
This book follows a girl (Brielle) from Australia, and she ends up moving to England for a job. She will be becoming a living nanny for a man (Julien) who has two kids. He’s a single dad, and she’s shocked at first. But she also came from Australia. So she becomes a nanny for his two kids and lives there.
A romance blossoms from this. But again, it’s a very slow burn, with forbidden aspects. Julien is super moody and has a bit of an attitude. Sometimes it adds a bit of flair because the characters always get little tiffs. Brielle is a lot younger, and it’s workplace-type boundaries. They don’t want to make it uncomfortable for the kids. But they both have this constant like for each other throughout the story, and they can never make it happen. If you like age gap, single parent, and nanny romance, this book is for you.
Author: T L Swan
Average Customer Review: (4.6 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Family Life Fiction
Number Of Pages: 460
Available: Paperback | Kindle
5. Sweet Dandelion
The story is about a girl (Dandelion Meadows) who lived with her mother. But one day, there was a school shooting at her school. Her mother is a teacher at the school. She gets shot and killed. Unfortunately, the girl has some minor injuries, but no family is left in her state. So she ends up moving in with her brother for her senior year and still dealing with a lot of trauma.
Then Meadows gets assigned to meet with a guidance counselor every day during one of her periods at school. Her guidance counselor is Lachlan Taylor, and the romance is between her and her guidance counselor. So you can guess with this one why it’s such a slow burn. It’s because it’s so forbidden and they should not be together at all. This book deals with much emotional trauma about the main girl. So keep that in mind with this book.
Author: Micalea Smeltzer
Average Customer Review: (4.5 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Inspirational Romance
Number Of Pages: 610
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
6. Torn (All Torn Up)
It’s about a girl (Kenzi) who falls for her father’s best friend (Tor), who’s 15 years older than her. So it’s an age gap romance with forbidden aspects. They know that they shouldn’t be together, and they have to keep the relationship a secret. But they have an undeniable attraction. Some people think it’s weird because the guy had known the girl her whole life growing up.
As a secret and taboo relationship, it is a slow burn love that takes a long time to decide what to do. You don’t see much action going on until the end, but it’s satisfying to get to, so I recommend it.
Author: Carian Cole
Average Customer Review: (4.6 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: College Romance
Number Of Pages: 522
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
7. The Truth about Heartbreak (The Truth About)
River gets adopted when she’s 13 years old to a family. She ends up developing a crush on her adoptive brother’s best friend, who’s a few years older than her. They have an attraction or mutual love for each other, even if it’s on a friend level at first. They’re both very protective of each other, especially the guy to her, and they have base-level love for each other. But you get to see it blossom into more over the years of them growing up.
So it’s one of those books where this situation never works, and one of them is dating someone, or they’re not together. There’s always an issue why they can’t be together, even though it’s very obvious they would like to be together. You get to explore that throughout the book. If you like a slow burn with brother’s best friend romance trope, check it out.
Author: B. Celeste
Average Customer Review: (4.4 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Romantic Suspense
Number Of Pages: 484
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
8. Stepbrother Dearest
This book follows a girl who’s like 16 years old, and her mother has gotten remarried to a man. He has a son living with his mother across the country. But he comes to live with them for the summer. So they have known each other for all of two months. They’re not even like siblings that grew up together.
They have a rough start and get into many fights and arguments, but eventually, it blossoms. Then they find a connection between all the madness surrounding them and all the drama with family stuff. But then something happens, and the rest of the story picks up seven years later.
So you can assume seven years later, that’s the slowest burn of all time. You’re waiting seven years to see how this relationship progresses, and I don’t even know how to explain this. It’s a romance story where there’s barely any romance, but it’s so worth it.
Author: Penelope Ward
Average Customer Review: (4.6 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Contemporary Romance Fiction
Number Of Pages: 232
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
9. Room Hate
This is a slow burn that’s also friends and enemies to lovers. The two main characters were friends when they were little, and they grew out of being friends and had a falling out. They grow up, and both inherit half of the house of someone who dies. So they both end up going the same summer and staying at the house together.
So that’s how it starts, but this book goes in a million different directions in the best way. They do not get along in the beginning. So if you do like that enemies to lovers type slow burn, this is the one for you.
Author: Penelope Ward
Average Customer Review: (4.4 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Romance Erotica
Number Of Pages: 281
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
10. The Fortunate Ones
This one’s about a girl (Brooke Davenport) who works in a country club with many rich people. She doesn’t want to be working there, but she needs a job, and her sister works there. It is the country club’s VIP member, and James is one. They meet one night, and they hit it off. He’s ten years older than her. So this is a situation where they can’t be together because of society’s stigma on them.
There’s no way this is going to work. The fact that she’s in her twenties and she wants to go abroad, and she wants to keep on doing nanny. They’re completely different stages of their life, but they have so much chemistry. Their lives are not in the same places, so it takes a long time before they even kiss each other. They’re so hesitant because of their different parts in life or different points of society.
Author: R.S. Grey
Average Customer Review: (4.4 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Romantic Comedy
Number Of Pages: 368
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
11. Brooklynaire (Brooklyn Bruisers)
This is the fourth book in the series, and you’ve wanted Nate and Rebecca to get together since book one. So you’re waiting, and you finally get this book. But they don’t get together because they have their past together. Rebecca is his assistant, and it’s the stigma against society. Nate cares about her.
So they’re both too stubborn to admit that they like each other. Nate ends up taking care of her when she gets a concussion. They have to take care of each other, and things build from. It is a very angsty and slow burn where you want to solve their problems and see them as a sweet couple.
Author: Sarina Bowen
Average Customer Review: (4.5 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Billionaire Romance
Number Of Pages: 298
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
12. The Hating Game
The main characters, Lucy and Josh, cannot stand each other. So it takes them a while to look past their feelings about not liking each other before they get together. They are very competitive, and they don’t want to admit that they like each other because they’re enemies. They worked for different publishing companies, then their companies merged. So they’re both assistants to the heads of the company.
The first chapter talks about how competitive they are with each other, and it’s funny. Then we’re only in Lucy’s point of view. She dislikes him and freaks out when she feels herself falling for him. It’s super cute, and she doesn’t want to admit it because they compete with each other. So it is slow-burn love where it takes a long time to admit their feelings to each other.
Author: Sally Thorne
Average Customer Review: (4.5 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Self-Help & Psychology Humor
Number Of Pages: 369
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
13. On the Island
This is about a girl (Anna) who’s an English tutor. She is going to an island with her student (T.J. Callahan), who is only sixteen years old. Callahan is in remission, and he missed out on many schools. So Anna is going with him and his family to an island for the summer so that she can help get him back on track for school. It’s her and him flying together later with this pilot. The pilot has a heart attack, stranded on an island together.
It is a slow burn relationship because nothing happens between them for two years. So they’re on this island for four years, and they only start to have feelings for each other when he’s much more mature. Since they’re on an island together, he matures a lot faster. Even though he’s 18, he acts so much older for his age. He learns how to survive and take care of himself and her. They have to wait because of their relationship’s stigma and the taboo. After a long time, they start a relationship, and it’s teacher student romance that is forbidden/taboo.
Author: Tracey Garvis Graves
Average Customer Review: (4.5 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Action & Adventure Romance
Number Of Pages: 334
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
14. The Butterfly Project
Zelda is a graphic artist, and she has a graphic novel that she has written that’s dystopian. But it’s inspired by what she’s gone through. Moreover, she’s still struggling to get over what happened to her that she felt was her fault. Then she meets Beckett, who spent two years in jail because of armed robbery, and he’s still beating himself up over it.
So Beckett feels like he’s not good enough for anybody, especially Zelda. Zelda is still trying to overcome her guilt about her past. So they’re both in places in their lives where they are not ready to be in a relationship, but they fall for each other. Also, they try to deny their feelings for each other, and it’s so annoying. Everybody around them knows they should be together. But they’re pushing away their feelings, and she feels jealous.
Author: Emma Scott
Average Customer Review: (4.6 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: College Romance
Number Of Pages: 278
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
15. House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City)
This book is about a girl (Bryce Quinlan) who lives in a city called Crescent City, and there are different divisions of the city. There are werewolves, vampires, angels, and other types of creatures. It starts with mystery because her friend is murdered. She’s trying to find who the murderer is, and she gets help from an angel (Hunt Athalar).
This is a slow-burn romance with five hundred pages where you’re finally getting a kiss on the cheek. I loved the world-building that this had the politics. Sarah Mass’s adult fantasy book has many twists, angsty, world-building, and creativity.
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Average Customer Review: (4.7 out of 5, on Amazon)
Category: Galactic Empire Science Fiction
Number Of Pages: 807
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
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