Never more so than in the blighted year of 2020 did I need the most marvellously frivolous of the genres, romance fiction! In the darkest days of the Spring when the concrete realities of the pandemic (and the US Republican party’s decision to make denying those realities culture-war purity tests) became horrifyingly clear, I needed the torrid encounters and happy endings of romance novels more than ever. I read a mountain of them, and these were the best of them:

10 Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr (Mira)

Location-based romance novels - this by Robyn Carr is the 21st set in Virgin River - are typically constructed around the central idea of being welcoming, and this story of blocked writer fining not only craft but renewal in Virgin River was even more so in a year when actual travel was so perilous.

9 The Virgin and the Rogue by Sophie Jordan (Avon)

This latest installment in Sophie Jordan’s wonderful “Rogue Files,” featuring the most circumspect and introverted of a group of wallflower sisters finding unexpected love, was a little feast of conflicting personalities.

8 The Princess and the Rogue by Kate Bateman (Bow Street Bachelors #3) (St. Martin’s)

This third and final installment in Kate Bateman’s delightful Bow Street Bachelors series reached me very late in the year (its actual 2020 publication date may not have yet occurred when this list appears) and completely won me over with its story a trouble-seeking Earl and a trouble-fleeing princess.

7 A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane (A Gathering of Dragons #1) (Berkley)

Certainly the palm for most intriguing romance novel of the year goes to this first installment in Milla Vane’s “A Gathering of Dragons” series, a well-imagined clash of expectations set in a fantasy world of warring kingdoms. And the subsequent volume, A Touch of Stone and Snow, also published in 2020, was every bit as good.

6 Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (Sourcebooks Casablanca)

This story of a straightlaced barrister and a rock star’s publicity-prone son setting up a fake relationship for social media consumption is completely charming from the first page and just kept bringing a smile to my face as the plot took its twists and turns.

5 Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian (Avon Impulse)

This latest volume in Cat Sebastian’s “Seducing the Sedgwicks” series of gay Regency romances is darker than the previous two, full of shadowy threats and starring a badly broken protagonist, and yet this author’s ability to craft uplifting conclusions comes shining through.

4 Her Wicked Marquess by Stacy Reid (Entangled: Amara)

The bookish heroine of this second installment of Stacy Reid’s completely captivating “Sinful Wallflowers” series creates a scandal about herself in order to avoid a boring marriage - and in the process not only draws the attention of a man she may come to love but also kicks off a wonderfully antic novel.

3 Earl’s Well That Ends Well by Jane Ashford (Sourcebooks Casablanca)

This fifth installment of Jane Ashford’s “Way to a Lord’s Heart” series turns the spotlight on the selfless Earl of Macklin and - in a plot full of emotion and sharp dialogue - seeks to find him true love. This is the strongest book in a very strong series.

2 Out of the Storm by BJ Daniels (HQN Books)

The plot of this first volume in the “Buckhorn, Montana” series by BJ Daniels kicks off with a whopper: the heroine has hoped for years that she would some day find her true love, who disappeared in an explosion long ago. It’s outlandish and touching at the same time - a BJ Daniels specialty.

1 This Cowboy of Mine by RC Ryan (Forever)

The second book in RC Ryan’s “Wranglers of Wyoming” series, and the best romance novel of 2020, takes all the strengths of its predecessor, My Kind of Cowboy, and ratchets them up a notch, with wonderfully bristly opposites attracting, fantastic evocations of Wyoming, and a thriller subplot simmering in the background.