New and Noteworthy | The Best Novella I've Ever Read

Plus two others worth adding to your TBR.

I think romance novellas are majorly underrated. Other than being quick and easy to read, they’re a great way to familiarize yourself with the genre if you’re a novice, since they don’t require a ton of emotional investment. You can pick one up after work and be finished with it by the time you go to bed. I also think they serve as great palette cleansers between reads. Just finished reading something heavy and need to lighten the mood? Read a novella. Not quite ready to fully commit to a new book? Novella.

I classify a novella as a book that has fewer than 200 pages. I can imagine that writing in a truncated format can feel challenging to authors, who are used to having 300+ pages to fully develop their plot and characters. Many of my go-to authors who have written novellas tend to do so around the holidays, when expectations are lower, or as part of a commissioned collaborative series alongside other authors. In other words, the format doesn’t seem to be a priority for most authors, and because of all that, it is not easy to come across a good one. Which is why when I read the debut release from 831 Stories, the new imprint from the two women behind

A Thing or Two

, I knew I wanted to highlight it.

Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff

★★★★☆

For being under 200 pages, this story did not feel rushed, lacking, or underdeveloped at all, which is a huge feat that I can’t stress enough. A lot of novellas rely on dialogue (I’m assuming to show you the connection between the characters rather than wasting precious space telling you about it), but this one didn’t skimp on the storytelling. Plus, the writing was actually good, rivaling the likes of Emily Henry or Rebecca Serle. It was basically a book that didn’t feel like at all like a novella, but short enough to finish in one sitting. Win-win.

The story is marketed as The Idea of You (one of my top 10 favorite books) meets Scandal, which definitely tracks. Reeling from her high-profile divorce, a well-known political strategy consultant is determined to keep her head down and avoid any further drama to salvage her career. The last project she needs to take on is helping the lead singer of a formerly popular boy band kickstart a solo career. Especially when he’s even more handsome, intelligent, and thoughtful than her teenage self thought possible.

Bonus recommendations: If you’re looking for more novellas, only a few others have received four stars from me over the years. Ali Hazelwood’s trio of short stories features her trademark banter and utterly besotted heroes — Below Zero is my favorite out of the bunch, but they’re all fun.

A bunch of notable romance authors like Abby Jimenez, Ashley Poston, and Jasmine Guillory contributed to a collection of short stories centered around Valentine’s Day. The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren is the first one and by far the best. I read the second one in the collection as well, and then decided to trust the Goodreads reviews that say they go downhill after the first.

Lucy Score, Jessica Joyce, and Tessa Bailey all have novellas, too!

If you liked this post, I would so appreciate it if you could give it a like! This helps other readers discover my content.