2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance Book
Every year readers pick the annual winner for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance book. Check out the entire list of Goodreads Choice Awards Nominees for Best Romance Book 2020 and the winner of this year’s award.
*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Every November Goodreads readers are tasked with selecting the best romance book of the year as part of the Goodreads Choice Awards – the only major book award decided by readers.
Of course the Goodreads Choice Awards honor more than just the best in romance. Winners are selected in 20 different categories, but I’m all about romance so that’s the winner I look forward to discovering most.
I don’t know why I get so excited for these awards, but I do.
I find it fun to see which books are able to gather a nomination, but more importantly I love to see which books get the coveted write-in spots.
So how exactly do the Goodreads Choice Awards work and how do we find out the 2020 winner of Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance Book?
The Goodreads Choice Awards Voting Schedule: Don’t Miss Out!
Beginning with the opening round (Oct. 27-Nov. 8), readers vote on 15 nominees for best romance book (as well as other book categories).
Book selections must have an average rating of 3.5 or higher at the time of the awards launch and are chosen after analyzing “statistics from the millions of books added, rated and reviewed on Goodreads.”
If your favorite romance book for the year didn’t make the list, readers have the option to write in and cast their vote for an eligible book.
The top 5 write-in books are added as official nominees for the semi-final round (Nov. 10-15).
From these 20 nominees, they are narrowed down to 10 romance book finalists in the Final round (Nov. 17-30) with the winner announced on December 8.
Here’s a quick recap on this year’s voting schedule:
- Opening Round: Oct. 27-Nov. 8
- Semifinal Round: Nov. 10-15
- Final Round: Nov. 17-30
- Winner Announcement: Dec. 8
2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance Book Nominees
What do you think of this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards best romance book nominees?
I for one am impressed by the diversity represented on this list of nominees for 2020’s Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance Book.
The diversity in authors as well as storylines and characters is commendable!
Regarding romance book sub-genres, the nominees include:
- historical romance,
- fantasy romance,
- gay/lesbian romance and
- contemporary romance
Romance book tropes include:
- fake relationship romance,
- time travel,
- opposites attract and
- office romance to name a few.
I honestly would like to see more independent authors represented in these awards, and would have liked to have seen at least one of my most favorite books of 2020 on the list!
Surprisingly, I have only read three of the nominees at the competition’s official announcement. Two were just okay books for me and one was a big disappointment.
Regardless, it’s a huge honor for these authors to be recognized and to have their work nominated, and I can’t wait to add a few to my TBR list.
2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Winner:
Best Romance Book
From Blood and Ash
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Chosen from birth as a Maiden, Poppy’s life has never been her own. She’s never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure.
Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods.
When Hawke, a guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life.
Related: From Blood and Ash Series
Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominees for Best Romance Book
Boyfriend Material
by Alexis Hall
One compromising photo too many puts Luc’s job in jeopardy. His one chance at redemption turns out to be a fake relationship with a respectable boyfriend to clean up his image.
That “job” falls to Oliver Blackwood, a barrister, who is the opposite of Luc in every way.
Related: Alexis Hall Books
Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
In a Holidaze
by Christina Lauren
Maelyn is spending the holidays at a cabin in Utah with her family and friends. Only she wakes up the morning after Christmas having kissed her long-time friend, NOT his brother whom she’s had a massive crush on since she was a teen.
That morning kicks off a time loop where she’s stuck reliving the same vacation giving her a chance to right the past.
Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
The Switch
by Beth O’Leary
Eileen and Leena are both stuck. Eileen, newly single and about to turn eighty, would like a second chance at love, but her tiny village offers slim pickings. Eileen’s twentysomething granddaughter Leena is forced to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a presentation at work.
To solve both their problems, Leena proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen will live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will rest and take care of things in rural Yorkshire.
Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena find themselves…and maybe even find love?
Amazon | Goodreads
In Five Years
by Rebecca Serle
When asked where she sees herself in 5 years in an interview, lawyer Dannie Kohan is ready with her prepared answer.
Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep but wakes in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man in 2025, five years in the future.
After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away until four-and-a-half years later, when she meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.
Amazon | Goodreads
Take a Hint, Dani Brown
by Talia Hibbert
Dani is over romance and is only interested in finding the perfect friend with benefits situation. When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, she may have found her man.
When the video of the rescue goes viral Zaf is begging Dani to play along. She’s all for faking a relationship if she can get her benefits on the side, but Zaf is a hopeless romantic ready to take down her walls and maybe his own.
Amazon | Goodreads
You Had Me at Hola
by Alexis Daria
Telenovela stars Jasmine and Ashton have a lot riding on the movie they are making together. Jasmine needs to improve her image after a public break up landed her in the tabloids and Ashton needs to revive his acting career or see it finished.
A disastrous first impression has their on-screen chemistry lacking so they’ve resorted to rehearsing in private where the chemistry becomes smoking. It remains to be seen if this connection can translate on screen or destroy them both.
Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
One to Watch
by Kate Stayman-London
Bea Schumacher is a stylish plus-size fashion blogger who is obsessed with the hit reality show Main Squeeze, only she’s tired of the lack of body diversity on the show.
Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star. Bea agrees, on one condition–under no circumstances will she actually fall in love.
Amazon | Goodreads
A Rogue of One’s Own
by Evie Dunmore
Lady Lucie and her band of Oxford suffragists have finally scraped together enough capital to control one of London’s major publishing houses, with one purpose: to use it in a coup against Parliament. Only her old nemesis, Lord Ballentine is standing in her way.
He’s been thwarting her carefully laid plans but is willing to stop for an outrageous price—a night in her bed.
Amazon | Goodreads
The Happy Ever After Playlist
by Abby Jimenez
Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can’t seem to get her life back on track. All it took was a trouble-making pup to help her start feeling more like herself again. But weeks after unanswered texts, the dog’s owner reaches out – wanting his pup back.
Not willing to give up her dog without a fight, Sloan begins texting and then talking with Jason and forms a connection with the musician. She’s unsure if this connection can turn into more or if she’s destined for another heartbreak.
Related: Abby Jimenez Books in Order
Amazon | Goodreads
Party of Two
by Jasmine Guillory
When Oliva moves to LA to start her own law firm, she never envisioned being captivated by the gorgeous man she spends a night flirting with at a hotel bar. Only that man is junior senator Max Powell who proceeds to sweep her off her feet.
But once their romance goes public, Olivia’s life is opened to public scrutiny and it remains to be seen if their relationship can stand the heat.
Amazon | Goodreads
Something to Talk About
by Meryl Wilsner
Hollywood powerhouse Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on the red carpet, and just like that, the tabloids declare them a couple. The so-called scandal couldn’t come at a worse time–threatening Emma’s promotion and Jo’s new movie.
But as the two women spend more time together, they begin to realize the rumor might not be so off base after all…but is acting on the spark between them worth fanning the gossip flames?
Amazon | Goodreads
Beach Read
by Emily Henry
Augustus and January are literary opposites. He’s an acclaimed author of literary fiction and she writes bestselling romance. The only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, both struggling with writer’s block.
To force them out of their creative ruts they agree to a deal: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. Both will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
Related: Emily Henry Books
Amazon | Goodreads
Pin This for Later:
Regretting You
by Colleen Hoover
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes and Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Both agree that they want to be nothing alike. Luckily it’s Chris, Morgan’s husband and Clara’s father, that keeps the peace until his tragic and questionable accident.
While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.
Related: Colleen Hoover Books in Order
Amazon | Goodreads
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
by Josie Silver
Lydia thought she’d be with Freddie forever but then he died in a car accident.
Trying to get over her heartache, she enlists the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, to open to life–and perhaps even love–again.
But then something inexplicable happens giving her another chance at her old life with Freddie. Lydia is now living two lives at once. One in the past where Freddie is alive and still owns her heart and her real life in the present where someone else wants her too.
Amazon | Goodreads
You Deserve Each Other
by Sarah Hogle
Naomi has the perfect doting fiancé and yet she’s sick of him and wants out. And it appears that Nicholas is just as unhappy.
Even though both are having second thoughts neither wants to end the engagement and have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill.
In an effort to push the other into saying “I don’t” both Naomi and Nicholas are finally being themselves and finding that they may actually like each other after all.
Amazon | Goodreads
Emerald Blaze
by Ilona Andrews
As Prime magic users, Catalina Baylor and her sisters have extraordinary powers—powers their ruthless grandmother would love to control. Catalina can earn her family some protection working as deputy to the Warden of Texas, overseeing breaches of magic law in the state, but that has risks as well.
When House Baylor is under attack and monsters haunt her every step, Catalina is forced to rely on handsome, dangerous Alessandro Sagredo, the Prime who crushed her heart.
The nightmare that Alessandro has fought since childhood has come roaring back to life, but now Catalina is under threat. Not even his lifelong quest for revenge will stop him from keeping her safe, even if every battle could be his last. Because Catalina won’t rest until she stops the use of the illicit, power-granting serum that’s tearing their world apart.
Amazon | Goodreads
Spoiler Alert
by Olivia Dade
Marcus may be the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, but he’s secretly just as famous as the anonymous and popular poster who shares his own thoughts about the characters online
April’s hid her secret love of fanfiction and cosplay long enough and when she decides to post a picture on Twitter on her plus-size take of the show’s beloved heroine, it goes viral. Seeing the picture Marcus asks her out on a date, not knowing that April is his closest fandom friend.
With secrets hidden can these two make a match made in fandom?
Amazon | Goodreads
Sweet Temptation
by Cora Reilly
After losing his wife, Cassio is in need of a new wife to take care of his two small children…and to warm his bed. But in his world of power, taking a wife is about duty and tradition.
Giulia always knew she’d marry a man chosen by her father but she’s not willing to be treated as the mere nanny and child-bride. Now that she’s a wife and mother to two kids, she’s willing to fight for the family she wants.
Amazon | Goodreads
Hands Down
by Mariana Zapata
Bianca thought she was over being ghosted by her friend all those years ago but now Zack’s back in her life as a famous NFL quarterback and she’s at risk of getting her heart broken a second time.
Amazon | Goodreads
Do you have a favorite among these nominees? Share in the comments below!
Related Posts:
- 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominees for Best Romance
- 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Romance
- 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominees for Best Romance
- 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance Book
- 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Romance Book
- Best Romance Books of 2020
Looking For More?
Be sure to like my Facebook page and follow me on Pinterest so you can stay in the know of all the latest when it comes to romance books.
Make sure you don’t miss a single book list or review by joining my email list, and I’ll also give you my list of Top 10 Romance Book Boyfriends!
