8 New York Romance Books to Put You in an Empire State of Mind

The latest novel from Red, White, & Royal Blue author Casey McQuiston has been praised as “swoony, thoughtful, hilarious” by Jasmine Guillory. 

New York transplant August doesn’t have any romantic delusions about her new life in the big city. She knows she functions better alone, so she keeps her head down and her feet moving forward in her new home. That is, until she sees Jane on her subway commute. 

Heartbreakingly handsome, Jane looks like a drop-dead-sexy punk straight from the 70s. Turns out, she is. Jane is trapped outside of her own New York timeline, and August must help her get back, and try not to get her heart broken in the process.

This modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen explores gentrification and generational differences in Bushwick, Brooklyn. 

When a rich family called the Darcys move in across the street from Zuri Benitez, she can’t stand their teenage sons. Her four sisters feel differently. 

As Zuri prepares for college and major transitions in her own life, she also feels unmoored by the rapid changes in her neighborhood, and the feelings she reluctantly develops for Darius Darcy. 

Likotsi is in New York so her heart can heal after a breakup. But second-chance romance sparks on a subway platform for Likotsi and her ex, Fabiola. 

Fab asks Likotsi out for a cup of tea, and Likotsi agrees against her best judgment, hoping to gain some clarity about why Fab abruptly ended their romance. But tea might not be enough for these two. 

This is the classic 1952 lesbian pulp romance novel that inspired Carol. 

Therese aspires to be a stage designer, but for now she’s stuck in a department store job. It’s there she meets Carol, a compelling woman from the suburbs in the midst of a difficult divorce.

This New York romance was groundbreaking at the time of publication for giving its lesbian leads a happy ending. 

Grace makes bespoke suits for privileged clients at her father’s shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Since most of the clients are men, Grace has never been tempted to mix the personal with the professional. 

Then Grace meets Dakota Lane, who makes a living as both a bike messenger and a model. Dakota has never been interested in commitment. But Grace makes Dakota want to tame her wild ways, or at least bring on a partner in crime.

This queer historical is set in 1831 New York, and follows doctors William and Augustus, lovers who find secret solace in each other. 

But their private paradise changes when a trans man arrives at New York Hospital. The patient is threatened with institutionalization, and William and Augustus are compelled to intervene. Their mission sends them on an odyssey through the upper crust and underground communities of New York. 

For her first 28 years on Earth, Grace has avoided trouble. Then she takes a trip to Vegas after earning her PhD; and before she can say “Elvis lives,” Grace is married to Yuki Yamamoto, a woman she barely knows. 

Grace should immediately go into damage control mode: annul the marriage, focus on finding a job where she can use her degree. Instead, Grace moves to New York with Yuki for the summer. There, Grace begins to fall in love—with herself, and her wife—for the first time.

After he wrote In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda went on to pen Hamilton, the iconic musical about New York, the power of immigrants, and the history of America. Inspired by the musical, Hamilton’s Battalion is an anthology from Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole. 

It features three novellas set against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War. This historic context provides the perfect setting for crossdressing, love across enemy lines, and attraction between Eliza Hamilton's maid and a beautiful dressmaker. Truly, how lucky we are to be alive right now!