New York Times Romance Best Sellers Ranking: May 2026

Monthly ranking of the romance and romantasy books on The New York Times Combined Fiction Best Sellers list.

Here is the May 2026 ranking of the romance and romantasy books on The New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Best Sellers list.

This month, 69% (9 of 13) of the NYT romance best sellers appeared on the Amazon Kindle Store Top 100 Best Sellers in Romance (as marked below), a big increase from 39% last month.

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Data Source

List: The New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Best Sellers

Sales Period:
May 2026 (4 weeks: May 3 to 30, 2026)¹

Methodology: The romance and romantasy book on the list are ranked by:

• number of weeks on the list this month

• then average rank this month

• then number of weeks on the list all time.

May 2026

🅰️ = Also appeared on Amazon Kindle Store Romance Best Sellers: May 2026 (full list and analysis coming soon)

1. The Deal by Elle Kennedy 🅰️
   This Month: 3 weeks (Avg Rank: 5)
   All Time: 3 weeks

2. Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune 🅰️
   This Month: 3 weeks (Avg Rank: 12)
   All Time: 3 weeks

3. The Mistake by Elle Kennedy 🅰️
   This Month: 2 weeks (Avg Rank: 7)
   All Time: 3 weeks

4. The Score by Elle Kennedy 🅰️
   This Month: 2 weeks (Avg Rank: 8)
   All Time: 3 weeks

5. The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker 🅰️
   This Month: 2 weeks (Avg Rank: 8)
   All Time: 2 weeks

6. Fury Bound by Sable Sorensen 🅰️
   This Month: 2 weeks (Avg Rank: 9)
   All Time: 2 weeks

7. The Final Target by Nora Roberts
   This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 3)
   All Time: 1 week

8. Broken Dove by Dani Francis
   This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 7)
   All Time: 1 week

9. The Daisy Chain Flower Shop by Laurie Gilmore
   This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 8)
   All Time: 1 week

10. Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick
    This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 9)
    All Time: 1 week

11. (tied for #10) Fever Dream by Elsie Silver 🅰️
    This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 9)
    All Time: 1 week

12. Rules for the Summer by Meghan Quinn 🅰️
    This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 13)
    All Time: 1 week

13. Starside by Alex Aster 🅰️
    This Month: 1 week (Avg Rank: 15)
    All Time: 1 week

Happy reading! Let me know if you have any questions.

1. Sales Period: May 2026 (4 weeks: May 3 to 30, 2026)

↳ Lists Included:

• May 24, 2026

• May 31, 2026

• June 7, 2026

• June 14, 2026

The New York Times Best Sellers lists reflect sales from the week starting three Sundays prior to their publication date.