Subgenre

Romantic comedy books

Laugh-out-loud banter, chaotic set pieces and a happy ending. Fun first, feelings close behind. 43 books so far, including Beach Read, Book Lovers and Butcher & Blackbird.

Personalise: add your spice & hard nos

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Beach Read
Emily Henry
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
Two blocked writers, side-by-side lake houses and a genre-swap bet. Grief, banter and a slow-burn payoff.
- Rivals to lovers
- Grumpy x sunshine
- Forced proximity
Book Lovers
Emily Henry
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
The cutthroat literary agent is not the heroine who gets the small-town hottie. Except this time she is.
- Rivals to lovers
- Workplace romance
- Grumpy hero
Butcher & Blackbird
Brynne Weaver · Book 1 of 3 in The Ruinous Love Trilogy
Spice 5/5 · Scorching
Two serial killers, a yearly kill competition and the funniest dark romance on the shelf.
- Rivals to lovers
- Touch her and die
- Found family
Funny Story
Emily Henry
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
Her fiancé left her for his best friend, so she moves in with the best friend's ex. Revenge fake-dating at its finest.
- Fake dating
- Roommates
- Cinnamon roll hero
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
Best friends, ten summer trips and the one that went wrong. Peak friends-to-lovers yearning.
- Friends to lovers
- Road trip / vacation
- Opposites attract
Red, White & Royal Blue
Casey McQuiston
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
The First Son and a British prince fake a friendship after a cake disaster. The emails alone.
- Enemies to lovers
- Secret relationship
- Royalty
The Hating Game
Sally Thorne
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
Two executive assistants who hate each other compete for the same promotion. The office enemies-to-lovers blueprint.
- Enemies to lovers
- Workplace romance
- Rivals to lovers
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A grad student fake-dates the scariest professor in the department. STEM rom-com that started a Hazelwood obsession.
- Fake dating
- Grumpy x sunshine
- He falls first
Assistant to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer · Book 1 of 3 in Assistant to the Villain
Spice 1/5 · Sweet
An office romcom where the boss is the kingdom's Big Bad. HR is a dragon. Delightfully silly.
- Villain gets the girl
- Boss x employee
- Workplace romance
Boyfriend Material
Alexis Hall · Book 1 in London Calling
Spice 2/5 · Simmer
A tabloid-disaster rock-star son needs a respectable fake boyfriend: an uptight barrister. Hilarious.
- Fake dating
- Opposites attract
- Grumpy x sunshine
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Talia Hibbert · Book 1 of 3 in The Brown Sisters
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A chronically ill woman makes a list to get a life, and hires her tattooed building superintendent to help.
- Grumpy x sunshine
- Opposites attract
- Bad boy
It Happened One Summer
Tessa Bailey · Book 1 of 2 in Bellinger Sisters
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A Hollywood party girl is exiled to a fishing town and a very grumpy bearded sea captain. Schitt's Creek with spice.
- Opposites attract
- Grumpy hero
- Cinnamon roll hero
Leather & Lark
Brynne Weaver · Book 2 of 3 in The Ruinous Love Trilogy
Spice 5/5 · Scorching
A hitman is forced to marry the chaotic woman who keeps trying to ruin his life. Feral and funny.
- Marriage of convenience
- Enemies to lovers
- Touch her and die
Love on the Brain
Ali Hazelwood
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A neuroscientist at NASA has to co-lead a project with her grad-school nemesis. He is suspiciously helpful.
- Rivals to lovers
- Workplace romance
- He falls first
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
She falls for the girl on her subway train, who turns out to be stuck there from the 1970s.
- Found family
- Time travel
- BIPOC main character
The Cheat Sheet
Sarah Adams
Spice 1/5 · Sweet
A pro footballer and his best friend have been in love for years. One interview blows it all open. Clean.
- Friends to lovers
- Cozy / low stakes
- Football player
The Flatshare
Beth O'Leary
Spice 2/5 · Simmer
They share a bed, at different times: he works nights, she works days. Post-it note romance.
- Roommates
- Only one bed
- Cinnamon roll hero
The Spanish Love Deception
Elena Armas · Book 1 of 2 in The Spanish Love Deception
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
She needs a date to her sister's wedding in Spain. Her irritating coworker volunteers.
- Fake dating
- Enemies to lovers
- Workplace romance
The Unhoneymooners
Christina Lauren
Spice 2/5 · Simmer
The whole wedding gets food poisoning except the bride's sister and the groom's grumpy brother. Free honeymoon, one bed.
- Enemies to lovers
- Fake dating
- Road trip / vacation
A Week to Be WickedTessa Dare
A Week to Be Wicked
Tessa Dare · Book 2 of 5 in Spindle Cove
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A geologist and a rakish lord fake an elopement to Scotland. Fossils and banter.
- Road trip / vacation
- Opposites attract
- Smart / nerdy heroine
Act Your Age, Eve Brown
Talia Hibbert · Book 3 of 3 in The Brown Sisters
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A chaotic heiress hits a grumpy B&B owner with her car, then becomes his chef. Two autistic leads, lots of heart.
- Grumpy x sunshine
- Forced proximity
- Neurodivergent MC
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea
Rebecca Thorne · Book 1 in Tomes & Tea
Spice 2/5 · Simmer
A queen's bodyguard and a mage run away to open a bookshop tea house. Sapphic, cozy, low stakes.
- Cozy / low stakes
- Found family
- Badass heroine
Fix Her Up
Tessa Bailey · Book 1 of 3 in Hot & Hammered
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A party clown fake-dates her brother's best friend, a former pro baseball player having a crisis.
- Brother's best friend
- Fake dating
- Athlete
Funny Feelings
Tarah DeWitt
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A comedian and her best friend go on tour together. Years of pining in a car.
- Friends to lovers
- Road trip / vacation
Hook, Line, and Sinker
Tessa Bailey · Book 2 of 2 in Bellinger Sisters
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A fisherman womanizer becomes roommates with his platonic pen pal. Spoiler: not platonic.
- Friends to lovers
- Roommates
- Small town
In a Holidaze
Christina Lauren
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A Christmas time loop that keeps sending her back to the cabin with her secret crush. Holiday comfort food.
- Friends to lovers
- Holiday romance
- Time travel
Love, Theoretically
Ali Hazelwood
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A theoretical physicist with a side gig as a fake girlfriend runs into the man who ruined her mentor.
- Rivals to lovers
- Fake dating
- Workplace romance
Lovelight Farms
B.K. Borison · Book 1 of 3 in Lovelight
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A Christmas tree farm owner fake-dates her best friend for a contest. Holiday cozy with real heat.
- Fake dating
- Friends to lovers
- Holiday romance
Mr. Wrong Number
Lynn Painter
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
She texts the wrong number for months. It is her brother's best friend. Who she is now living with.
- Brother's best friend
- Roommates
- Secret identity
Practice Makes Perfect
Sarah Adams · Book 2 of 2 in When in Rome
Spice 1/5 · Sweet
A sweet small-town girl asks a bodyguard to teach her how to date. He is not handling it well.
- Bodyguard
- Cozy / low stakes
- He falls first
Romancing the Duke
Tessa Dare · Book 1 of 4 in Castles Ever After
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
She inherits a castle that comes with a grumpy, blind duke who refuses to leave. Delightful.
- Beauty and the Beast
- Grumpy hero
- Disability rep
Secretly Yours
Tessa Bailey · Book 1 of 2 in Vine Mess
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A grumpy professor and a sunny wine-country girl have a secret kiss neither can forget.
- Grumpy x sunshine
- Secret identity
- Smart / nerdy heroine
Spoiler Alert
Olivia Dade · Book 1 of 3 in Spoiler Alert
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A TV star and a fanfic writer are internet friends who do not know each other's identities. Then they meet.
- Secret identity
- Rockstar / celebrity
- Cinnamon roll hero
Take a Hint, Dani Brown
Talia Hibbert · Book 2 of 3 in The Brown Sisters
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A viral video fakes a romance between a PhD student and the security guard who rescued her. He is a romance-novel-reading sweetheart.
- Fake dating
- Friends to lovers
- Bodyguard
The American Roommate Experiment
Elena Armas · Book 2 of 2 in The Spanish Love Deception
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A ceiling collapse leaves her sharing an apartment with her cousin's charming best friend. Many fake dates.
- Roommates
- Fake dating
- Cinnamon roll hero
The Bodyguard
Katherine Center
Spice 1/5 · Sweet
She is the bodyguard. He is the movie star. She has to pose as his girlfriend. Gender-flipped and adorable.
- Bodyguard
- Fake dating
- Rockstar / celebrity
The Ex Hex
Erin Sterling
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A witch drunkenly curses her ex. He comes back to town nine years later. Halloween rom-com.
- Second chance
- Holiday romance
- Witches & magic users
The Friend Zone
Abby Jimenez · Book 1 of 3 in The Friend Zone
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
She cannot have kids. He wants a big family. Very funny, very sad, very good.
- Friends to lovers
- Single parent
- Cinnamon roll hero
The Soulmate Equation
Christina Lauren
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
A DNA matchmaking app says her soulmate is the arrogant scientist who founded it. Data does not lie.
- Enemies to lovers
- Fake dating
- Single parent
The Wedding Date
Jasmine Guillory
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
Stuck in a hotel elevator with a stranger who then needs a date to his ex's wedding.
- Fake dating
- Opposites attract
- BIPOC main character
When in Rome
Sarah Adams · Book 1 of 2 in When in Rome
Spice 1/5 · Sweet
A burnt-out pop star breaks down in a tiny town and lands at a grumpy pie-maker's house. Hallmark with jokes.
- Cozy / low stakes
- Rockstar / celebrity
- Grumpy hero
Payback's a Witch
Lana Harper
Spice 3/5 · Steamy
Three women dumped by the same player team up for magical revenge. Sapphic and spooky.
- Revenge plot
- Holiday romance
- Witches & magic users
Throne in the DarkA.K. Caggiano
Throne in the Dark
A.K. Caggiano · Book 1 of 3 in Villains and Virtues
Spice 4/5 · Spicy
A Dark Lord who has never been loved and the heroine who is not scared of him. Readers report actual book hangovers.
- Villain gets the girl
- Captor / captive
- He falls first

Popular tropes in rom-com

Rom-com: FAQ

What are the best rom-com books?

Reader favourites include Beach Read by Emily Henry; Book Lovers by Emily Henry; Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver; Funny Story by Emily Henry; People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. Use the spice filter above to narrow it to your heat level.

What are the spiciest rom-com books?

For explicit rom-com romance, try Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver; Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert; It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey; Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey; Funny Feelings by Tarah DeWitt. These are rated 4 or 5 out of 5 on our spice scale.

Are there low-spice or clean rom-com books?

Yes: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer; Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall; The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams; The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary; The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren are rated 1 or 2 out of 5, closed door or kisses only.

Are there standalone rom-com books?

If you do not want to commit to a series, try Beach Read by Emily Henry; Book Lovers by Emily Henry; Funny Story by Emily Henry; People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.