Do you dream about the open plains of the western frontier? Do you like when the male protagonist in romance books rides a wild stallion, instead of a white horse? And does he wear a cowboy hat instead of armor? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then most likely the sub-genre of western romance is one that appeals to you, or if you are new to these types of works, then we think that they will appeal to you.
Western romance is a fairly broad sub-genre of romantic literature, and can be categorized also under the historical romance books genre or the contemporary genre. But there are a few features which unite them all into this sub-genre.
The setting is usually in the middle to western part of the USA, like Texas, Montana, Arizona and sometimes places as far east as Tennessee, while areas used in historical works, are usually referred to as “the wild west” or the frontier. A popular element of these stories is cowboys, but they also include pioneers, Native Americans and ranchers.
We have brought together some of our favorite western romances and have listed them below, in no particular order. But we have divided them into two categories, those set in a historical period, and those with a contemporary setting.
Historical
- “For the Roses” from author Julie Garwood
- “Texas Rain” written by Jodi Thomas (The next in the Whispering Mountain series is “Texas Princess”)
- “Christy” by Catherine Marshall
- “The Outsider” authored by Penelope Williamson
- “A Heart So Wild” from author Johanna Lindsey (Interested in learning more about this particular author, then check out our page on Johanna Lindsey books)
- “Foxfire Bride” written by Maggie Osborne
- “The Man from Stone Creek” by Linda Lael Miller (The next work in the Stone Creek series is “A Wanted Man”)
- “The Touch of Fire” from author Linda Howard
- “Keegan’s Lady” written by Catherine Anderson
- “Montana Rose” from Mary Connealy (Check out book two in the Montana Marriages series entitled “The Husband Tree”)
- “Whitefeather’s Woman” authored by Deborah Hale
Contemporary
- “Lonestar Sanctuary” written by Colleen Coble (The next book in the Lonestar series is “Lonestar Secrets”)
- “Heart of Texas, Volume 1: Lonesome Cowboy & Texas Two-Step” from author Debbie Macomber (And if you liked the first volume, then you may want to check out “Heart of Texas, Volume 2: Caroline’s Child & Dr. Texas”)
- “Her Kind of Hero” by Diana Palmer
- “Jenna’s Cowboy” authored by Sharon Gillenwater (The next part of the Callahans of Texas series is “Emily’s Chance”)
We hope that you have enjoyed reading our page on western romance books and we hope that you have found several new novels to check out.