Romance titles ruled at Smashwords in 2014, grabbing 16 of 25 spots on the annual list of bestselling titles published on the company's platform, with Natasha Preston's Broken Silence coming in at #1.

Despite the big romance presence this year, three of the top five titles were works of historical fiction by Shayne Parkinson: Mud and Gold in at #2, Settling the Account at #3, and A Second Chance at #5 -- all three books are part of the author's Promises to Keep series.

Also dominating the annual list were series. According to Smashwords Founder Mark Coker, 21 of 25 books on the list are by series writers, and all the authors have at least one series starter priced at "perma-free."

"We've been advocating this strategy for six years," Coker says. "It works. We introduced enhanced series metadata capabilities in late 2013, and this set the stage for some strong series performance in 2014."

Finally, just a single nonfiction title made Smashword's annual bestseller list in 2014: Pride Over Pity, a memoir by Kailyn Lowry of Teen Mom 2 fame, which came in at #14.

Rank Title Author Genre Price
1 Broken Silence Natasha Preston Romance $2.99
2 Mud and Gold (Promises to Keep: Book 2) Shayne Parkinson Fiction $2.99
3 Settling the Account (Promises to Keep: Book 3) Shayne Parkinson Fiction $2.99
4 Betrayed: Book Two - The Road to Redemption Nicky Charles Paranormal Romance $2.99
5 A Second Chance Shayne Parkinson Fiction $2.99
6 Enjoying the Chase Kirsty Moseley Romance $2.99
7 Drawn 2 - Redemption (Damien) Lilliana Anderson Romance $3.99
8 Heller's Regret JD Nixon Mystery $2.99
9 Fable Chanda Hahn YA Fiction $3.99
10 Reign Chanda Hahn YA Fiction $3.99
11 A Sweet Life Boxed Set Various Authors Romance $2.99
12 Tall, Silent and Lethal R.L. Mathewson Paranormal Romance $2.99
13 Saving Angel Brenda Kennedy Romance $2.99
14 Pride Over Pity Kailyn Lowry Memoir $9.99
15 Storm Shells GJ Walker-Smith YA Romance $3.99
16 Second Hearts GJ Walker-Smith YA Romance $3.99
17 The Will Kristen Ashley Romance $3.99
18 The Silver Siren Chanda Hahn YA Fiction $3.99
19 All For This Lexi Ryan Romance $3.99
20 Daisy's War Shayne Parkinson Fiction $2.99
21 Poles Apart Kirsty Moseley Romance $2.99
22 Secret North GJ Walker-Smith YA Fiction $3.99
23 Deacon Kristen Ashley Romance $3.99
24 Four Score (Gypsy Brothers, #4) Lili Saint Germain Romance $2.99
25 Unconditional Melody Grace Romance $4.99