The Best Rom-Com Books to Melt Your Heart

Fans of The Hating Game, this one's for you! Harper Jenkins is a brilliant journalist and celebrity editor of a major newspaper with a knack for getting even the most secretive Hollywood stars to open up to her. But when her awful boss hires talented reporter Ryan to be the new Features Editor, Harper is furious. 

They're former interns, nemeses, and lovers whose whirlwind relationship ended in flames. Thrown together in a busy newsroom, they constantly clash over who's writing what and who gets the last word on everything. Layoffs are imminent and both are determined to hold onto their jobs at any cost. 

That'll grow ever more complicated when Harper realizes that her emotions for Ryan are slowly changing. Now, they've been thrown together for a romantic press trip abroad and things are about to explode...

Margo Anderson is an online success thanks to the podcast she hosts with her best friend Jo. The pair of them offer advice for hooking up and having no-strings-attached fun. Commitment is for other women. 

So when Jo surprises everyone by deciding to get married and taking up a sponsor’s offer to host an all-expenses-paid wedding trip on Catalina Island, their listeners aren't wild about the development. To keep their audience pleased, Margo comes up with a plan to break all her own dating rules, just to prove it's a bad idea. Her target? Her high school nemesis Declan Walsh. Surely she'll never catch feelings from that jerk? 

But he's different now, and the more time they spend together dealing with wedding parties and cake tastings and fabric swatches, the more Margo wonders if she can go through with her plans. Can she pick Declan over her listeners?

Florist Kat Kowalski has decided to give up on love following her latest rubbish boyfriend dumping her and leaving behind his pet hedgehog. Armed with a list of qualities for her perfect Mr. Right, Kat swears off dating until she finds The One, no substitutes. 

A disastrous meet-cute leads her into the arms of Mick O’Sullivan at his family's funeral home. Sure, he's gorgeous and charming and presses all her buttons, but she can't risk losing her heart, not to a man who seems more like Mr. Wrong than Right. Can they just be friends? As she gets to know him better, the lines blur, and Kat starts to wonder if her list of perfect man requirements is upside down.

Artist Sadie Montgomery has reached a new peak in her career by placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. So, the last thing she needs is to fall ill with a (hopefully) temporary case of face blindness. Now, everyone she looks at is a jumbled pile of shapes and features, which puts her artistic dreams on hold. Is it possible for her to continue painting when she can't see the very thing she paints? 

At least there's Dr. Joe Addison, the veterinarian who is looking after her beloved dog Peanut. She can tell he's handsome, even without seeing his face, and he's offered to help her through this new stage in her life. Not being able to see faces is making her notice a lot of things she's been ignoring for most of her life. Maybe she's actually seeing clearly now.

Indira and Jude don't like one another. They never have. They're childhood enemies who are committed to the hater energy well into their 20s and beyond. Now, however, they must rely on one another for a very messy fake dating scheme. 

Indira has just discovered her boyfriend in the arms of another woman, and Jude is struggling to readjust to normal life after three years traveling the world as a doctor for humanitarian crises. Surely the only way to fix both of their problems is to pretend to date as they prepare for the wedding from hell. 

They dislike one another too much for their feelings to ever change, right? But the closer they get, the more that hate begins to turn to love...

Savannah Wilde is a highly powerful witch who's about to walk down the aisle and marry the gorgeous Griffin Carter. He doesn't know she's a witch, but then again, she doesn't know that Griffin is a top agent for a secret organization that hunts witches. Now, both of them have been tasked with taking the other one out. Talk about pre-marital problems! 

When Savvy and Griffin discover a secret that could take down both of their agencies, they realize their only option is to team up. Will they survive long enough to make it down the aisle? 

Carla Black is a committed traveler who goes from place to place in her vintage Jeep Wrangler, coming and going as she pleases. She only stops long enough to raise more adventuring funds, then she's back on the road. 

Eamon Sullivan is a modern-day cartographer who creates digital maps. Fate throws them together when Carla arrives in Dublin for her best friend’s wedding and Eamon is tasked with picking her up from the airport. A simple drive to Dublin turns into its own misadventure with tons of unexpected detours, bad weather, and sizzling chemistry between driver and passenger. 

But Carla doesn't do love, and Eamon is still hurting after being dumped. Exploring their feelings would surely be a disaster, right?

Freelance writer Sora Reid is the odd one out in a close-knit family of high achievers, but she's happy to play things slow and simply. What's wrong with low expectations? The one thing that disrupts her inertia is a hatred for Valentine's Day. She's had her heart broken too many times to believe in the overly commercialized holiday. 

When her pledge to stay single in February inspires her readers to go solo this Valentine's Day, everything seems to be right in Sora's world. But then she meets Jack Mann, a hunky baker from her past who she's instantly attracted to. How dare she find the perfect guy the moment she swears off dating and makes it a movement!

Leah Keegan is used to being alone, especially after taking care of her sick foster mother for the past year. Now, she's ready to leave Willow Cove, the small town she called home, and find herself anew. 

Eli Masterson is determined to get back his girlfriend after she left town to jet off to Rome for a whole year. Winning her heart will require some classic rom-com education, courtesy of Leah and her friends. Soon, Eli is taught about the world of meet-cutes, grand romantic gestures, and getting the girl for your happy-ever-after. 

It seems to be working its magic, but Leah didn't expect to be taken in by Eli's earnestness and charm. She doesn't want him to change a thing about himself. Perhaps there are lessons about love that Eli can't learn from a rom-com.

Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to blow off some steam. She isn't looking for a hook-up, but the gorgeous stranger sitting next to her is too tempting to turn down. Running into your one-night stand the next day is awkward enough, but it's agony when it turns out she's the mother of your best friend. 

Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not sleep with a woman the same age as her kid! And despite Erin's better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night. The tension is unbearable and Cassie wants to have more than one night with Erin. Sneaking around behind their friend/daughter's back could doom them both, but what they have can't be ignored.

Aja Owens moved to the small town of Greenbelt, South Carolina, to find a work-life balance she couldn't keep up in the big city. Being out of the madness helps her deal with her anxiety, and her evenings at the local bingo hall have made her some friends with the town's dedicated players. 

Now sitting at their table is Walker Abbott, the grandson of one of Aja's friends, back home to help look after his grandma after an illness. Walker would rather be anywhere else than the town that made him miserable as a kid. He plans to leave as soon as possible, and what better way to pass the time than with a bingo-based sex pact with the gorgeous Aja? If only emotions could be dealt with as easily as a full house.

Lyric Bishop is studying the concept of sexual chemistry in romantic partners and what it takes to make a long-term relationship work. If only she knew how to apply it to her own life. The science is sound, but the reality? Less so. 

In order to complete her doctoral thesis, she must crack the Sizzle Paradox: the more sexually attractive she finds a guy, the less likely it is to come with an emotional connection. 

Kian Montgomery is Lyric's best friend, roommate, and fellow grad student. He's far more successful at being a romantic, so he offers Lyric lessons in finding the perfect match. But once the two progress with their "tutoring sessions," simple science starts to get very emotional, and neither of them accounted for the possibility of real feelings emerging from their friendly partnership.

Jada Townsend-Matthews is the most hated woman in America after turning down a marriage proposal on a wedding reality show. Hoping to lay low and heal from the embarrassment, she finds herself working at San Diego's newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz. 

The business is owned by the uptight pro-football player Donovan Dell, who finds peace off the field in making delectable cakes. When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage. She'll get her reputation back and his struggling business will get a boost. A fake romance doesn't seem all that hard, but of course, love is seldom easy.

Tara Park doesn't do serious relationships, but that doesn't mean she'll jump into bed with just anyone. Take Seth Kim, for example. He's gorgeous, charming, and up for some no-strings-attached fun with Tara. But he's also her best friend’s new brother-in-law, so surely it's too messy to even try? 

But Seth is leaving for a new job in Paris in a month and that would give them enough time to let off some steam and not worry about the messy aftermath. Neither of them are ready for something serious, but what's growing between them is too big to ignore.

What happens when a wedding planner dies and leaves the business to both his wife and his mistress? 

In a book that People calls “a charming rom-com to kick off your summer,” It Had to Be You by Georgia Clark follows the unlikely partnership of Liv and Savannah, the two romantic partners of the late Eliot Goldenhorn. Full of second chances, secret romance, and steamy soul mates, this New York City-centric rom-com is one to remember.

Another Regency romance, Diary of an Accidental Wallflower explores class, friendship, and family ties in a story about a doctor and a debutante. Miss Clare Westmore has her sights on the next Duke of Harrington, but an unfortunate incident leaves her nursing an injured ankle, watching her best friend dance the night away with the man of her dreams. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel Merial doesn't have time for distractions … but he can't stop thinking about Clare. If he does his job correctly, she'll soon heal and be back in the duke's arms in no time. But will their time together give Clare a chance to reevaluate her priorities?

Not all historical romance needs to be heavy and melodramatic, and Booklist calls this Regency story by Christina Dodd "wickedly entertaining, lusciously sensual romance featuring distinctive characters and fairy-tale charm.”

A twist on the classic tale of lost princess and a courageous prince, The Barefoot Princess puts the power in the hands of the princess. Fed up with injustice in her exile, Princess Amy decides to kidnap the tyrannical Jermyn Edmondson, marquess of Northcliff. Surely, she thinks, Jermyn's rich uncle will pay his uncle. 

But soon it turns out that Jermyn's uncle has no interest in paying such a ransom—in fact, he'd be quite happy to have Jermyn out of the way. Meanwhile, holding the furious, guileful, sensual Jermyn chained in her basement is becoming a challenge to Amy’s restraint—and her virtue…

There's nothing really wrong with Faith Frankel's life. She has a stable, if somewhat boring, job. Her love life is stable, even if her fiancé is too busy to return her texts at the moment. 

In Elinor Lipman's On Turpentine Lane, however, it's clear that something is missing. As Faith explores the mysterious artifacts in the attic of her new home, she begins to question her own life. Fortunately, Faith's dependable and affable coworker/friend Nick Franconi is ready and willing to help her sort through it all. 

Mafia dons, social workers, angry exes… don't let author Susan Mallery fool you with the bells and whistles in Someone Like You. At its heart, this book is a small-town romance about Jill Strathern, who returns home after many years to run a small law practice, and her childhood-crush-turned-cop, Mac Kendrick. 

Mac might have rejected her back in high school, but Jill can't deny what she feels for him even after all these years…

New York Times bestselling author says, "Debbie Macomber writes characters that are as warm and funny as your best friends.” Not a bad start for a rom-com, right? If you're an animal-lover, all the better! This short, sweet story set in San Francisco is all about two cats who bring a divorced woman together with her handsome neighbor.