Last Updated on November 29, 2023 by Louisa
Time travel has always been something that’s both fascinated me and intrigued me. Paired with romance, and you’re on to a winning romance trope!
Time travel love stories can be truly enthralling as love is explored between characters across different periods and places.
As readers, we have often been whisked away to faraway moments in history beyond our imagination and knowledge, whether in the past to 17th-century Scotland or the future when Martians have conquered the earth.
And this makes time travel romance books so gripping for me; it’s not just the romance story but what I learn about history and cultures in a time beyond the one I know.
If you’re looking for a special time travel romance book that combines creative imagination, history, and love, then you’re going to love these 15 books…
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What To Expect From Time Travel Romance Books?
Time travel romance books are known to combine elements of science fiction, adventure, and romance.
What I love about this genre is there are no limits. You can soar into a dystopian future, or back in time to a regency period.
Wherever your time travel plot takes you, you can expect to be taken on an imaginative journey where love transcends time and space.
These books often feature strong-willed characters from different eras or dimensions, who find themselves drawn to each other even though they are separated by time or circumstance.
Being from different generations and time periods, there are often cultural clashes, and different opinions on values, morals, or ways of courtship.
The character dynamics are one of the biggest reasons to read a time travel romance book, and they will be sure to have you questioning your own values and morals in today’s world.
Best Time Travel Romance Books
Now you know a little bit about the main features of the genre, it’s time to show you my favorite fantastic time travel romance books to leave you wishing time travel was real.
1. A Highlander For Hannah – Mary Warren
A Highlander for Hannah is a warm and easy-going, time-travel book with a slow burn romance story.
As the title suggests, the story is about the heroine Hannah and her budding relationship with Graham. Graham is a Highlander from the 1700s.
Hannah summons Graham with a love spell purchased at a Renaissance Fair. Eventually, Hannah has to listen to her heart and decide if she wants to send Graham back to his own time at the next equinox.
Many readers describe this book as charming. Where many time travel stories can be action-packed, this story is more light-hearted and a book to cozy up with.
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2. The River of No Return – Bee Ridgway
The River of No Return is an action-packed read. The story tells of Nick Devanant, who was set to die during the Napoleonic Wars but finds himself in London in 2003.
He eventually settles down as a farmer in Vermont.
Nick is also a part of a time-traveling organization that is involved in intrigue and spying across different eras.
Previously a Lord, Nick navigates his new life while shadowed by The Guild (a guild of time lords), who want him on an assignment in the past.
Nick also meets Julia, a woman from a neighboring estate.
Their romance is explored through all the action and mystery of Nick’s life as a spy and time traveler for the Guild. The mystery and romance are sure to leave you curious.
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3. The Winter Sea – Susanna Kearsley
The Winter Sea tells the story of Scottish author Carrie, who treads the fine line between fiction and reality.
As a writer, Carrie starts recounting memories of her characters’ lives. A more imaginative way to explore time travel, this book transports you back to 17th-century Scotland.
The time travel is done as Carrie recollects vivid memories of her book’s fictional characters. However, the reader is left curious as to what memory is, what imagination is, and what reality is.
The book also explores a secretive and tense romance between Carrie and her landlord’s son, Graham.
A more unconventional way to explore time travel, this story jumps back and forth through the visions of the heroine. A book that will spark your curiosity and leave you guessing til the end.
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4. Beautiful Wreck – Larissa Brown
Beautiful Wreck is about a girl who travels back in time and falls in love. Though it’s not anything new in terms of plot, it has been well written and the world-building is excellent.
Ginn is a virtual reality designer who surprisingly finds herself in 10th-century Iceland. Ginn’s current reality is dull as she exists in a future that is desolate and void of the romance she is craving.
The book tells the story of how Ginn surprisingly finds herself in Viking Iceland!
She starts to enjoy the simple and homely life of the village she finds herself in and meets and falls in love with a native Icelandic Viking named Heirik.
Although she finally finds the romance she has always wanted, she learns that love is much more complicated than expected. Henrik is reserved and tormented by what he believes is a curse.
Penetrating his heart and also fighting against forces that try to tear them apart, this time travel romance lives up to the name of its title, a beautiful wreck.
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5. A Knight in Shining Armour – Jude Devereux
A Knight in Shining Armour is a classic time travel romance book by author Jude Devereux.
It tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with a real knight from the Elizabethan age in England.
The book unpacks the love between the heroine Douglass, a young teacher, and a medieval knight, Nicholas.
Douglass is in a dating relationship with a doctor who treats her poorly, and only when meeting Nicholas can she experience true love.
Although the book is about finding true love, it also shows that love between people from different decades can be challenging. Nicholas and Douglass are tested when they are separated from each other to go back to their times.
This book will captivate your heart as you become invested in the fight for love between the two main characters.
They fight to discover why Nicholas has come to the current day and how to save his life in the past.
This is a must-read for fans of time travel, romance and adventure genres, as it combines all three in an unforgettable story.
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6. What the Wind Knows – Amy Harmon
What the Wind Knows follows the protagonist Anne as she surprisingly finds herself in Ireland in 1921.
The context is war, and we also glimpse Anne’s inner turmoil as she struggles with hurt and navigates the past.
You are introduced to the history of The Irish Revolution in the 1920s and also to a mysterious doctor named Thomas Smith.
The book explores Anne’s struggles as she begins to fall in love with a man who becomes involved in the war.
Readers are mesmerized by Amy Harmon’s poetic writing and ability to capture the love and heartbreak between Anne and Thomas.
What the Wind Knows brilliantly weaves history, love, and social commentary into one book.
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7. In A Holidaze – Christina Lauren
In A Holidaze is a different take on time travel where the main character Maelyn (Mae) is stuck in a time loop.
She travels back in time, but again and again. She is given a chance to re-live the past as she sees fit.
The book’s romance is not too heavy as it’s about Mae’s budding crush on her friend Andrew. Reliving the past gives her the courage to express how she feels about him finally.
Set during the Christmas season, it is also festive. This is a friends to lovers romance book with a story that is great for a casual, fun, and upbeat read.
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8. Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is a charming story about a coffee house in Tokyo that allows people to travel back in time.
It follows the story of four people who want to travel back in time.
Examining the reasons we love Before the Coffee Gets Cold provides insight into the motives behind love.
One story follows a wife as she travels to the past to meet her husband again and explores love with sincerity and honesty.
Time travel in this book is not without its rules. Time travelers must return to the present in a stipulated time, and their journeys prove interesting.
A moving and emotional read, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s novel is for those who want to dive deeper into time travel and deeper into love.
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9. Time and Again – Jack Finney
Time and Again is not only a love story between the main character Simon and Julia but a love story about New York…
The story tells of a 1970s man Simon traveling back to 1882 to solve a mystery plaguing his heart.
This is one of the historical time travel love stories that is also an ode to the city in which it is set. New York is the third love in this book, with the author Jack Kinney capturing the city in its early years.
His writing is gripping and makes it feel like you have been transported back to New York.
The romance is also a tale of choosing to follow the head or the heart, as Simon is torn between the present and the past.
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10. Ruby Red – Kerstin Gier
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier is a witty and lively story of young Gwen who lives in London but soon learns that she can time travel.
A time travel gene runs through her family, although she does not expect to be someone who can time travel.
Soon she is catapulted into time travel suddenly and an unexpected romance. To tell you who the romance is with would spoil the book. You would have to find out by yourself.
The book is fun and an excellent read for younger readers.
The heroine is 16 years old, and we see the world through her eyes. Described as a clever story, Ruby Red is the easy-going read for your next pick-me-up book.
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11. In Five Years – Rebecca Serle
In Five Years is a time-travel romance that fast-forwards to the future!
The main character Dannie finds herself 5 years in the future (through a vision, or is it a reality?), living a life she did not anticipate. She is living with a random man who is not her current fiance.
The book follows Dannie as she unpacks her life 5 years in the future.
A future she is not familiar with but one with desirable possibilities. In this book, time travel is a tool that helps her to ask, what does she want?
It leaves the reader also wondering, what if I could get a picture of my future? Would I change anything?
The author’s writing style is poetic and evocative, with descriptions that transport you to different times and dimensions.
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12. Somewhere in Time – Richard Matheson
Somewhere in Time is a beautiful story of love that lasts the test of time and different periods.
It explores the complications that exist for a modern man as he falls in love with a famous actress in San Francisco in 1896.
The author, Richard Matheson, writes this book intricately and can describe the love between the two characters with warmth.
We learn about love at first sight and are taken away by the chemistry between the two main characters.
The time travel aspect is a unique and interesting vehicle that drives the plot, but at its core the story is about love, sacrifice, and second chances.
This book is also excellent for anyone who loves reading books about historical America and San Francisco.
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13. More of Us to The West – Trinity Dunn
More of Us to The West tells of heroine Alaina’s budding romance with Jack as they are both stranded on an island after their plane crashes.
The only problem is that Alaina is already married to Chris.
She struggles to make sense of her new romance and how Jack and she ended up stranded on an island, along with 11 other strangers.
The reader is torn between the past and the future as Alaina tries to make sense of her heart as she is torn between Chris and Jack.
The book also lures you with a mystery you will be dying to solve, making it hard to put it down.
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14. Return Once More – Trisha Leigh
Return Once More tells of 16-year-old Kaia, part of a time-traveling group known as the Historians.
Set in the future where humans live on other planets, Kaia grows up quickly as she is taught to be a Historian.
She is tasked with going back in time to witness important events.
Young and brave, Kaia is lucky enough to be told who her “True One” is. Learning that her true one is her soulmate, she is eager to meet him.
This story explores Kaia’s relationship with her “True One,” Caesarion. Caesarion happens to be Cleopatra and Caesar’s son from the past!
Expect nothing less than a creative and original narrative set in the future but also an exotic past.
This book does a great job of depicting a romance across two different cultures and timelines.
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15. A Thousand Pieces of You – Claudia Gray
A Thousand Pieces of You joins heroine Marguerite as she travels through time and a different universe. Marguerite is on the hunt to solve a mystery close to her heart.
Marguerite’s parents are the inventors of the Firebird, the machine that allows her to jump from one exciting universe to another.
While focused on her mission, she finds love along the way in the most unexpected places!
This book does a great job of exploring the heart of a young girl keen on an adventure but also open to love.
Part mystery, part romance, this book is a fast-paced and action-packed book that is great for younger readers.
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Final Word on Time Travel Romance Books
So there you have it, those are the best time travel romance books. As you can see, there are a lot of great novels to choose from!
I hope you found something on this list that sparks your interest. If you have any more suggestions, let me know in the comments.
