A couple of days ago, a lovely vlogger made a video over on YouTube where she shared her favorite slow-burning romances in (mostly YA) literature. With a love for a good slow-burner ourselves, we sat down and took notes. Our TBRs are groaning under the added weight, but our inner romantics are thanking both Riley and our weak nature when it comes to book hoarding. It appears that there will be quite a few more of these in our future!

 Inspired by Riley's choice of topic, meanwhile, we've chosen to dedicate this Top 10 Tuesday to our very own slow-burning-romance picks, and attempt to explain why it is we love them so, so very much. (And boy, do we ever!) 

 (Spoiler alert: below in this post, we discuss some of the more-or-less principal romances in Harry Potter, Throne of Glass, Percy Jackson, The Raven Cycle, Love Rosie, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, One Day, Penryn & the End of Days, Anna And The French Kiss and The Scorpio Races series. We have tried our best to keep the explanations low on spoilers of actual events, but the sheer title of each pairing is a spoiler in and of itself. Proceed with caution.)




1. Ron and Hermione (Harry Potter)



Pick by: Natalie

 It's known from book four that Hermione and Ron start to develop feelings for one another, and it's an incredibly slow-burninng romance that doesn't actually take form until three books later. As shippers, we waited for a long time and were very satisfied with their coming together in Deathly Hallows. It was a romance worth waiting for. All the blushing, jokes, hurt feelings and jealousy, it finally happened and it was exactly what we wanted.

Whether Jo intended to write a ship so popular is a question none but her can answer, but Ron and Hermione's relationship has certainly captured the hearts of many. Ron and Hermione were my first and always will be my number one OTP.

2. Aelin and Rowan (Throne of Glass)
Fan art by Ashleigh

Pick by: Lexie

 At the present, Aelin Galathynius and Rowan Whitethorn are carranam - kin souls, best friends, the first two members of a newly-established and soon-to-be-conquering Fae court. Their connection is, in other words, not a romantic one. But with the contiunuation of their story just days away and a particular bias towards this ship by both of us, Rowan and Aelin have found themselves practically headlining this list. Because all bias and personal preference aside, this is a pairing where each brings out the very best in one another - where each inspires change and growth and the kind of strength previously unknown to the other. They are strong apart, stronger together, and their bond is forged on loyalty, unwavering trust and a deep-seated love of kicking one another's ass while sparring.

3. Percy and Annabeth (Percy Jackson)



Pick by: Natalie

 Through all the madness that is the Percy Jackson series, you can't deny the attraction between Percy and Annabeth. Since age 12 when the series kicks off, they're loyal friends until they start heading into the teenage years and feelings start to develop. It's not until the last book - a repeat of the Hermione and Ron relationship - that we actually get to witness anything between them emerge, and when it does, it's glorious. But luckily, we have the Heroes of Olympus series to actually see their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend. We read it, and we loved it. 

4. Blue and Gansey (The Raven Cycle)


Fan art by GalaxySpeaking

 Pick by: Lexie

 If ever there was a slow-burn in series format, its name is The Raven Cycle, and it's out to eat your soul. In an act of supreme divergence from her previous kissing-oriented series, author Maggie Stiefvater has penned this one - where kisses are deadly, glances are covert, the romance is in the vaguest of the subtexts, and the covers lie to you. There is nothing romance about this paranormal - except, of course, there might be, in the end. With the fourth and final book due in February 2016, we can only hope that Bluesy finally happens (not to mention Pynch!). It has been such a long time in the making, it gives a whole other meaning to slow burn. But it's Maggie Stiefvater - it's wit and charm and sarcasm and cars and novel prose - and when it does come to a burning point, boy, will the payout be worth it.

5. Rosie and Alex (Love, Rosie)


Pick by: Natalie

 This is probably the slowest-burning romances I've read. When I read Love, Rosie, I didn't expect the waiting game to take this long, which made me a bit happier when the movie decided to bring it forward a bit. These two are such amazing friends, and you're just waiting...waiting...waiting...for that opportunity for one of them to just get on with it. But when years pass by, hope dwindles, but then rises again only to be diminished again. Alex and Rosie finally do get their arses into gear and start a relationship but it's a hell of a rollercoaster to get there.

6. Karou and Akiva (Daughter of Smoke and Bone)
Fan art by BlackBirdInk

 Pick by: Lexie

As with all-things-DoSaB, Karou and Akiva are inexplicable and difficult to summarize. This pairing was both an instant burn, and a slow burn. It was both passionate and non-existent. It was both the primary plot driver and something left largely to the imagination of the reader. But whether we choose to treat it as a great epic romance, or the thing that barely happened, one thing is for certain - burn it did. And burn it did for long, and hard. And it was this build-up to the explosion which wound up deciding the fate of all - and not in a done-before way you might expect. Laini Taylor, in fact, is eternally unexpected.

7. Emma and Dexter (One Day)



 Pick by: Natalie

It's a hell of a ride for Emma and Dexter to get where they got, but it was definitely worth it. Ignoring the very end of the book, their relationship started out rocky (mostly on Dexter's part on being a bit of a lad), the attraction was pretty much there from the start. Choosing to ignore it but pining from a distance, the relationship when through some real trials and tribulations before finally happening. As readers, we were relieved. How many things can get in their way before Em and Dex can finally be happy? 

8. Penryn and Raffe (Penryn & the End of Days)
Fan art by Elluna

 Pick by: Lexie

Raffe doesn't like Penryn at all. He only saved her that one time because he owed her. He can barely tolerate humans in general. When he said she was extraordinarily beautiful, he just meant for a human. And he certainly didn't mean to kiss her back that one time. Total impulse. Out of his control. And Penryn for her part could want nothing less than to tangle her fate with that of this gorgeous fallen angel. Ridiculous. The only thing they have in common is sarcasm.

 Believe it or not, for over two books, this logic sustains the pair. Until... it doesn't anymore. Truth has a way of coming out, after all.

9. Anna and Etienne (Anna and the French Kiss)


Pick by: Natalie

I'm sure most people are aware of this book, so you must be familiar with the tension between Anna and Etienne throughout this whole book. It's obvious that both of them have a lot of feelings for one another, but the problems including girlfriends, boyfriend and jealous friends, many things got in their way. The attraction was still there, burning slowly and their touches and days out in Paris together, we can't not cheer these two on. Well-suited, adorable and perfectly matched.

10. Puck and Sean (The Scorpio Races)
Fan art by EvolvingWildThing

 Pick by: Lexie

It's another Maggie Stiefvater pairing, because Lexie is in charge of picking half of this list. ("But you do this every week!" you might be crying right about now. And - yes, we do. It's because Lexie compiles half the list every week. In the interest of full disclosure, she isn't even sorry about the Stiefvaterisms. She's shameless like that.) As with The Raven Cycle, this is a pairing that is not for so long, we almost forget to expect it. And as we're hoping for The Raven Cycle, when it all finally comes to a head and the burn leads to romance, it is stunning, beautiful, epic, and heartbreaking all at once. All best romances are.


When it comes to romance in literature, we claim no clear preference. At times we love this slow-burning kind. At times, we are clamoring for the pair which is making out within days of their first meeting. We don't even detest love triangles with quite the same zest as everyone else does. The only romantic trope we forsake is instalove. All else is fair game. But slow-burning romances are by nature quiet and subdued (until they aren't) and have, as such, received less prominence on the blog thus far. This list has therefore been so much fun to compile. And it's lead to many an incoherent fangirly ramble.

Share your favorite slow-burning romances with us, or comment on our picks, in the comments below. Or, as always, find us on social media where we plot to take over the world.