Just Kiss Already! 10 Slow Burn Romance Books Worth the Wait

Aurienne’s only reason to keep Osric alive is her oath to do no harm. And as one of the realm’s premier healers, she might actually be the only person who can save him.

Osric greets this news with about the same level of joy she does; his assassin instincts deeply annoyed by her healer need to save everyone, even the people he needs to kill.

But to him, his life is worth her inconvenience, so he makes her a deal—money for the research needed to save the dying population of children in exchange for her best attempts to cure an illness that will get him killed sooner rather than later.

What starts as volatile animosity between them slowly morphs into curious animosity and eventually a begrudging, respectful, maybe attractive animosity. They can’t say they ever stopped hating each other, but maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing if both of them lived.

Elodie Tarrant is one of those people who runs directly towards magical disasters instead of away from them. Thankfully, unlike the tourists who tend to follow her, she’s trained in managing them; in fact, she’s very happily on her way to Wales to manage one such crisis when she gets word she’s not the only one who’s been assigned the case. Gabriel Tarrant, another expert in magical disasters, is also on his way.

While they share their expertise by happenstance, they share their last name intentionally. At least, years ago, when they first got married, it had been intentional. Now it’s more of an inconvenience. Even more inconvenient? Having to work together after having perfected their ability to ignore each other.

But Wales (and possibly all of Great Britain) is in serious danger, meaning they’ll have to put aside their animosity and learn to work together again until the world is safe and they can go their separate ways.

Lady Georgiana Cleeve has finally made the life for herself that she wants, supporting herself and her mother through publishing her Gothic novels. However, a new author has appeared to challenge her comfortable life, an enigma known only as Lady Darling who seems to be poaching every new idea she has, printing a book on the same topic weeks before Georgiana’s hits the shelves.

But Georgiana’s plan to unmask and ruin the thief goes horribly wrong when she realizes her rival is none other than Cat Lacy, the first woman she ever had a crush on. As they’re forced to team up to escape the haunted mansion they find themselves trapped in, Georgiana slowly starts to wonder if that crush from long ago wasn’t as one-sided as she thought.

Sometimes, people lie because it’s convenient. Sometimes, they do it just for kicks. And sometimes, like Harriet and Wyn, they lie because they don’t know how to tell a mutual friend group on an annual vacation that they’re no longer engaged—in fact, they’re no longer even together.

As they fake-fiancé their way through the week, the feelings that originally caused them to say forever come rushing back, and this time, they’ll be forced to face the doubts that tore them apart instead of just running from them.

Under the watchful gazes of the people who know them best, it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out, but will it be the truth that they don’t belong together, or that they do?

Halla would really rather not end things, but if it’s between that and marrying her cousin with clammy hands, her choice is obvious. Finding herself in this situation because of inheriting a small fortune, she decides to take drastic action.

After contemplating just how one might fall on a sword to be impaled, she unsheats the sword only to find a man suddenly appear in her bedroom, demanding she not only cease her attempt, but also that she put some clothes on.

Sarkis, the Servant of the Sword, has been trapped in the sword for centuries, sworn only to one purpose: protect the bearer at all costs. In the past, that has meant on the battlefield. But now, it looks like he’s going to have to save her from herself—and her cousin with the clammy hands.

Getting her out of the house she’s trapped in turns out to be the simplest task before them as they face ever-changing dangers and ever-growing feelings for each other.

Jackson and Delilah have a lot in common: they both love their town, they’re both meteorologists, and their families are the center of their worlds. Of course, that’s all overshadowed by Jackson’s tidy, responsible, and quiet life that clashes disastrously with Delilah’s messy, frantic, and loud one.

Rivals at the best of times and arch nemeses at the worst, they know before they even leave that the trip their bosses are sending them on together to track an incoming blizzard is going to be a disaster.

On the road with only a grumpy technician as a buffer, they can't help but get to know each other. And as determined as they are to despise one another, it becomes harder and harder to remember why.

Devin’s not crazy—he knows he played a werewolf on Arcane, a supernatural TV show, for too many years—and he knows that big publicity stunts aren’t going to help him get out of the typecasting troubles this is causing him now.

He’s also pretty sure that he’s actually turning into a werewolf, and no one will believe him. Well, no one except for Alex, the owner and archivist of the fan forum for Arcane who, helpfully, happens to be a vet.

Enlisting her to assist with his little wolf problem is supposed to be simple, but as they get to know each other (and his wolf side, for that matter), an already complicated situation becomes a bit hairy.

Things that make wedding planning challenging include venues going up in smoke (literally), wedding bands being notoriously terrible, and a best man and maid of honor who can barely stand to be in the same room as each other. Unfortunately for Georgia and Eli, all of these things are also true for them.

Their relationship ended five years ago, but Adam, the third in their ex-and-also-best-friend trio, remains important to them both. So when he asks them to help him plan a whole new wedding in a week, how can they say no?

As long as they stay far away from each other, never speak of their past, and ignore all of the feelings for one another that they never quite forgot, they will be fine. Totally, completely fine.

Florence thought the worst thing that could happen to her was the bitter breakup that made her lose faith in love. Then, she was assigned a new editor, refused an extension on her manuscript deadline, and found herself on the verge of losing her career.

As if that wasn’t enough, her life then had to get upended by the worst phone call she’s ever received—her father has suddenly died, and she needs to go home to help arrange his funeral.

When she gets there, somehow, her new (and unfairly handsome) editor, Benji, is there as well. Only he’s a ghost. She doesn’t understand why he’s there, and neither does he.

Unable to accept he’s dead, Benji becomes one more thing on Florence’s to-do list until talking to him starts to become an unexpected light in the midst of her dark world.

Philippa is a scientist who likes understanding how things work and hates the idea of being ignorant. This means, as her marriage and accompanying wedding night loom, she’s not so much apprehensive as to what it entails as she is frustrated. She has no idea what to expect or what’s expected of her, and in Philippa’s world, that’s simply unacceptable.

Enter: Cross. Never mind that she’s not supposed to be acquainted with him or that he’s one of the most notorious scoundrels in London; if she wants to be ruined, or at least understand what that even means, she’s going to need his help to do it. Except Cross isn’t the man everyone thinks he is, and ruining Philippa is absolutely not something he’s willing to do… No matter how much he wants to.

Understanding her fear and curiosity, he offers a compromise: he’ll answer her questions, explain anything she wants explained, but he won’t touch her. And if they can’t touch each other, that also means they can’t possibly fall in love. Right?