She Reads Romance Books’ 2026 Romance Book Reading Challenge

Ready to explore the romance genre in 2026? Join me for the 2026 Romance Book Reading Challenge – THE reading challenge devoted exclusively to the romance genre where we read romance all year long…because life is better with a love story!

For the She Reads Romance Books’ seventh annual Romance Book Reading Challenge, we will be reading ONE romance book a month while having fun and exploring the major tropes of the romance genre. Here are all the details if you’re up to the challenge…

The 2026 Romance Book Reading Challenge Themes

This year we are going to make our way through 11 of the major romance book tropes (with one month to choose your favorite or one not listed!) because they are so much fun to read! Plus, by focusing on tropes this year, you can also explore the different categories in romance no matter the trope, choosing between contemporary, fantasy, historical, paranormal romance, and many others for your picks each month.

Here’s what we are exploring in 2026:

January – Marriage of Convenience

February – Enemies to Lovers

March – Friends to Lovers

April – Second Chance Romance

May – Fake Dating

June – Relationship/Bedroom Coach

July – Grumpy Sunshine

August – Why Choose

September – Age Gap

October – Opposites Attract

November – Forced Proximity

December – FREE CHOICE

How to Join the Reading Challenge

Joining the reading challenge is easy and open to any reader. Simply follow along with the monthly tropes above and have fun. You can jump in at any time of year, and if you need to take a break, just hop back in whenever you are able.

If you sign up for my newsletter, you can get a copy of my free Challenge printable where you can track your book selections by trope. Each month I’ll send an email reminding you of our romance trope of the month and share my book recommendations for each.

Increase the Challenge!

If you want to take things up a notch, you can also create your own 52-week Romance Book Reading Challenge using my A Year of Reading Romance Card Deck. This card deck contains 52 playing cards, each with two reading challenge prompts to spark some ideas and to add variety to your reading. One reading prompt helps you explore the variety of romance categories and tropes in the genre and the other is a more general reading challenge prompt.

Buy your copy of A Year of Reading Romance Card Deck today. The opportunities for fun are endless!

Where to Find Books for the Reading Challenge?

To help you pick your monthly selections, explore my romance book lists here on She Reads Romance Books. I guarantee you’re going to find a great book on one of my lists. If you’re looking for something specific, use the search bar in the menu above.

A great tool to help you easily complete the 2026 Romance Book Reading Challenge is a Kindle Unlimited subscription or Audible subscription if you prefer audiobooks or both!

Kindle Unlimited is FULL of a wide variety of romance book titles in each of these romance categories and you can’t beat the price for a monthly membership! If you need some convincing, check out my post where I ask, Is Kindle Unlimited Worth It?

Share Your Selections in the Facebook Group

I cannot wait to cheer you on in this romance book reading challenge and hear what you’re reading. Join my private Facebook group, the She Reads Romance Books Reader Lounge where we will be talking about the challenge all month and year long.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to connect with a fun community of fellow romance book readers.

If you prefer to share on Storygraph, you can follow the She Reads Romance Books 2026 Romance Book Reading Challenge on Storygraph.

Grab Your Free Reading Challenge Tracker

Keep track of this year’s challenge tropes and your book selections, all in one place with the Romance Book Reading Challenge tracker. You can grab your free copy below.

Remember All Your Reading Challenge Favorites

If you’re looking to track even more about your favorite reading challenge selections this year, then don’t forget to grab a copy of the Romance Book Reading Journal!

The Romance Book Reading Journal is a reading tracker, planner and journal all in one with over 100 pages created exclusively for romance book readers.

With pages such as the monthly reading tracker, favorite quotes tracker, book series list, book review form and pages to track your favorites in over 20 categories and tropes, it has everything you could possibly need and want (plus more!) in a book journal. Grab the paperback or hardcover on Amazon or the printable version now!

Happy Reading…because life is better with a love story!

xox, Leslie

Past Romance Book Reading Challenges:

• 2025 Romance Book Reading Challenge
• 2024 Romance Book Reading Challenge
• 2023 Romance Book Reading Challenge
• 2022 Romance Book Reading Challenge
• 2021 Romance Book Reading Challenge
• 2020 Romance Book Reading Challenge