Build Your Own 2027 Reading Challenge: 30 Prompts for Romance Readers

The best 2027 reading challenge is one you build yourself: a list of prompts that fits what you actually love to read, and a goal number taken from your real pace instead of a wish. Below are 30 prompts for romance and romantasy readers, a quick way to pick a number you will keep, and a simple routine for tracking the challenge from January to December.

Use all 30, pick your favourite 12 for one a month, or mix them with prompts of your own. It is your challenge, so the rules are yours too.

Step one: pick a realistic goal number

Before the prompts, decide how many books you want to read in 2027. The number should come from last year, not from enthusiasm.

1. Count what you read in 2026. Finished books only. If you do not know, count the last three months and multiply by four.
2. Think about the year ahead. A new job, a move, a baby or exams all eat reading time. A long holiday gives some back.
3. Think about length. Ten romantasy doorstops take far longer than ten contemporary romances. If you plan to read a big fantasy series, lower the number.
4. Set the goal at or a little above last year. Ten to twenty percent more is a stretch you can feel. Doubling it rarely survives March.

If you read 40 books in 2026, a 2027 goal of 45 is ambitious and kind. Our guide to setting a reading goal you can keep goes further, including how to adjust it midyear without guilt.

Step two: choose your prompts

Each prompt is a box to fill with one book. One book can tick more than one box, unless you decide otherwise. Skip any prompt that does not appeal: a challenge is supposed to send you to good books, not to books you will hate.

Tropes

1. Enemies to lovers.
2. Friends to lovers.
3. Fake dating or a marriage of convenience.
4. Second chance romance.
5. Forced proximity.
6. A trope you have never read before. Our guide to romance tropes has a list to choose from.

Heat and heart

7. A closed-door romance.
8. The spiciest book you can find on your TBR.
9. A book that makes you cry.
10. A rom-com that makes you laugh out loud.
11. A romance with a happy-for-now ending instead of a wedding.
12. A book with a heroine over forty.

Romantasy and beyond

13. A romantasy with a map.
14. Fae, dragons or gods: pick one.
15. Book one of a fantasy series you have been avoiding because of its length.
16. A paranormal romance.
17. A historical romance.
18. A romance in a genre you rarely read: sci-fi, thriller or mystery.

Your shelf

19. The oldest book on your TBR.
20. A book you bought in 2026 and never opened.
21. The next book in a series you abandoned.
22. A reread of a favourite from years ago.
23. A debut.
24. A book under 250 pages.

Seasons and people

25. A winter romance for January.
26. A summer romance read in summer.
27. A spooky or gothic book in October.
28. A holiday romance in December.
29. A buddy read with a friend.
30. A book someone recommended to you in person.

Step three: track it through the year

A challenge falls apart when you stop looking at it. A small routine keeps it alive without turning it into homework.

• When you finish a book, log it straight away and tick any prompt it fits. Add the date, a rating and one line of thought while it is fresh.
• Once a month, look at the number. Are you roughly on pace? A goal of 36 is three a month, so a two-book month is a wobble, not a failure.
• Once a quarter, look at the prompts. Pick two you have not touched and move a book that fits each onto your up-next pile.
• In July, be honest. If you are far behind, lower the goal. If you are flying, raise it. Changing the number is part of the plan, not cheating.
• Decide on DNFs early. Most readers do not count books they did not finish. Either way, keep them on your shelf with a short reason. Our guide to tracking books you did not finish shows how.

Rules that keep it fun

• Rereads count, if you want them to.
• Audiobooks count. So do novellas.
• You can swap a prompt for one you like better at any point.
• Reading off-list is always allowed. The prompts are a menu, not a contract.

End the year with a recap

The best part of a challenge is looking back. In December, gather your favourite book, your biggest surprise, the prompt you nearly skipped and the line you loved most. Our year in books recap guide gives you a list of questions to answer.

How Cherry Books handles it

Cherry Books asks How many books do you want to read in 2027? and keeps your progress through the year. Every book has trope tags, a spice meter, a tear meter and a notebook, so ticking a trope or heat prompt is part of logging the book anyway. The calendar has 48 stamps to collect, so there is a second little challenge built in, and when the year ends the Reading year recap pulls it all together.

For prompt 29, reading together lets up to ten readers share sealed notes without spoilers. If your 2026 books are on Goodreads or StoryGraph, you can import the CSV and start 2027 with your history in place. It works in the browser on phone, tablet and laptop, and everything you write is private.

The short version

1. Set your 2027 goal from last year's real count, plus ten to twenty percent at most.
2. Pick the prompts you like from the 30 above, or use all of them.
3. Log each book when you finish it and tick its prompts.
4. Check the number monthly and the prompts quarterly.
5. Adjust the goal in July without guilt.
6. Finish with a recap in December.

A good challenge sends you to books you would not have found on your own. That is the whole point.