Just Kiss Already! My 7 Favorite Friends-to-Lovers Romance Reads

Jennifer Proffitt
July 30 2020
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One of my favorite tropes is friends to lovers. In a genre that often gets labeled as unrealistic, it feels like one of the more likely scenarios that can bring a pair together romantically. Sure, we all enjoy a love-at-first-sight meet-cute, but nothing beats the moment a switch goes off between people who only ever saw each other platonically, and suddenly the sparks fly. When that moment is done right, it can lead to a magical romance. From powerhouse writing duos Christina Lauren to new-favorite Talia Hibbert, this trope seems to be a favorite among authors as well!

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown
by Talia Hibbert

You might have met the Brown Sisters with Talia Hibbert’s Get a Life, Chloe Brown, the first book in this exuberant series, and now, with the second novel, it’s time for Dani Brown’s own happy ending! Professional success and academic renown are Danika Brown’s priorities in life…and the occasional hookup to relieve all that scholarly tension. In Take a Hint, Dani Brown, friends to lovers gets a fun twist with one of my other favorite tropes: fake relationship! Zafir Ansari rescues Dani when a fire drill goes wrong—just in time for someone to capture the moment and make it go viral. Zaf is a retired rugby player with a children’s foundation in need of good publicity, so after the viral photo, he begs Dani to fake a relationship with him to help his foundation. That wasn’t exactly what Dani had in mind when she first saw the handsome ex-rugby player, and Zaf doesn’t want to just roll into bed with Dani like she would prefer. Thus begins an amazing, sexy tale of two people embarking on the wonderful transformation from friends to each other’s happily ever after.

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Take a Hint, Dani Brown
Talia Hibbert

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Dear Emmie Blue
by Lia Louis

For anyone who loved Cecelia Ahern’s Love, Rosie as much as I did, you may find you love Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis even more. When Emmie Blue was 16, she released a red balloon with her name, her email address, and a secret into the air. Hundreds of miles away on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau picked up Emmie’s balloon and responded to her message. A 14-year-long friendship that started with one secret blossoms into more, and now Emmie holds another secret: she’s in love with her friend Lucas.

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Dear Emmie Blue
Lia Louis

“A delightful story about how the things we imagine to be best for us usually aren’t. The reason you will love Dear Emmie Blue is because you’ve probably *lived* Dear Emmie Blue, in some small part of your own journey to adulthood.” Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

In this charming and poignant novel, teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it; now, fourteen years later, the one thing Emmie has been counting on is gone for good, and everything she planned is up in the air.

At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached addressed, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.

Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship—she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off from her job. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it?

Emmie Blue is about to learn everything she thinks she knows about life (and love) is just that: what she thinks she knows. Is there such thing as meant to be? Or is it true when they say that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans? A story filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

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Marriage on Madison Avenue
by Lauren Layne

Lauren Layne is a staple for many contemporary romance fans. In Marriage on Madison Avenue, Layne introduces us to lifelong friends Audrey Tate and Clarke West. They’ve been friends since childhood and while many people say men and women can’t be friends, Clarke and Audrey beg to differ! As in Take a Hint, Dani Brown, this book begins as these two friends embark on a fake relationship. Clarke needs help dodging his matchmaking mother, and one day he impulsively announces he’s engaged…to Audrey. Things move fast between these two friends—and soon fake feelings turn real. Now wedding bells seem to hold a lot more appeal for these friends turned lovers.

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Marriage on Madison Avenue
Lauren Layne

“The word charm is pretty much synonymous with Lauren Layne.” —Hypable

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne, the “queen of witty dialogue” (Rachel Van Dyken, New York Times bestselling author), comes the final installment of the Central Park Pact series, a heartfelt and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Sally Thorne and Christina Lauren.

Can guys and girls ever be just friends? According to Audrey Tate and Clarke West, absolutely. After all, they’ve been best friends since childhood without a single romantic entanglement. Clarke is the charming playboy Audrey can always count on, and he knows that the ever-loyal Audrey will never not play along with his strategy for dodging his matchmaking mother—announcing he’s already engaged…to Audrey.

But what starts out as a playful game between two best friends turns into something infinitely more complicated, as just-for-show kisses begin to stir up forbidden feelings. As the faux wedding date looms closer, Audrey and Clarke realize that they can never go back to the way things were, but deep down, do they really want to?

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Beautiful Player
by Christina Lauren

When you arrive in a new city, you’ll search out anyone you know to make new connections—even your older brother’s best friend who you haven’t seen in years. At least, that’s what Hanna Bergstrom does when she arrives in New York City (after a bit of badgering from said older brother that she needs to get out more). Enter Will Sumner. Beautiful Player is the fifth book in Christina Lauren’s Beautiful series and it is by far my favorite—if not one of my favorite books of all time. Will and Hanna have a story that perfectly balances sexy and sweet, and you’ll fall in love with their book as easily as these two fall in love with each other.

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Beautiful Player
Christina Lauren

In the third book in the Beautiful Bastard series, an agreement between a venture capitalist and a bookish woman quickly becomes a very NSFW version of My Fair Lady.

A bombshell bookworm. A chronic Casanova. And a lesson in chemistry too scandalous for school.

When Hanna Bergstrom receives a lecture from her overprotective brother about neglecting her social life and burying herself in grad school, she’s determined to tackle his implied assignment: get out, make friends, start dating. And who better to turn her into the sultry siren every man wants than her brother’s gorgeous best friend, Will Sumner, venture capitalist and unapologetic playboy?

Will takes risks for a living, but he’s skeptical about this challenge of Hanna’s…until the wild night his innocently seductive pupil tempts him into bed- and teaches him a thing or two about being with a woman he can’t forget. Now that Hanna’s discovered the power of her own sex appeal, it’s up to Will to prove he’s the only man she’ll ever need.

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MENTIONED IN:

Just Kiss Already! My 7 Favorite Friends-to-Lovers Romance Reads

By Jennifer Proffitt | July 30, 2020

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Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating
by Christina Lauren

 When I said this trope seems to be a favorite of Christina Lauren, I wasn’t joking! That’s why they earned two spots on this list. In Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, we learn very quickly that Josh Im and Hazel Camille Bradford are definitely. Not. dating. But they are in love! Josh and Hazel have known each other since college and their lives continue to collide through the years. Finally, after Josh’s love life crashes and burns because of a cheating girlfriend, he and Hazel begin to “not date” in order to gain much needed perspective for their next relationships (which will totally not be with each other). Again, Christina Lauren delivers a sexy and sweet tale that I read in a single sitting!

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Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating
Christina Lauren

Most men can’t handle Hazel. But her best friend Josh isn’t most men. Don’t miss New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s new novel about two people who are definitely not dating…no matter how often they end up in bed together.

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?

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Friends Without Benefits
by Penny Reid

Before Penny Reid became famous for her small-town, Tennessee-set Winston Brothers series, she had readers falling in love with her Knitting in the City series. The second book in the series, Friends Without Benefits, which also works as a stand-alone, is great for any friends-to-lovers fans. Elizabeth Finney used to hate Nico Manganiello, and while they’re now former enemies and reluctant friends, Elizabeth knows she wants not a single benefit with him. Luckily for all of us rooting for happy endings, Elizabeth doesn’t stand a chance against Nico’s charm.

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Friends Without Benefits
Penny Reid

Before Penny Reid became famous for her small-town, Tennessee-set Winston Brothers series, she had readers falling in love with her Knitting in the City series. The second book in the series, Friends Without Benefits, which also works as a stand-alone, is great for any friends-to-lovers fans. Elizabeth Finney used to hate Nico Manganiello, and while they’re now former enemies and reluctant friends, Elizabeth knows she wants not a single benefit with him. Luckily for all of us rooting for happy endings, Elizabeth doesn’t stand a chance against Nico’s charm.

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MENTIONED IN:

Just Kiss Already! My 7 Favorite Friends-to-Lovers Romance Reads

By Jennifer Proffitt | July 30, 2020

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The One for You
by Roni Loren

Before I dive into describing this book, this title comes with a content warning for the series. The Ones Who Got Away series contains flashback scenes of a school shooting that link the characters and bring them back together for the 10-year anniversary of the event—and many of the characters deal with PTSD. In The One for You, Loren wraps up the series with the long-awaited story of Kincaid Breslin and Ashton Isaacs, two friends from childhood who both survived the terrible night that marked their school forever. The tragedy at the senior prom severed their friendship, and years have driven them apart. When Ash finally returns to their Texas hometown, he’s conflicted over his buried feelings for Kincaid and the secret that could take her away from him forever.

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The One for You
Roni Loren

Before I dive into describing this book, this title comes with a content warning for the series. The Ones Who Got Away series contains flashback scenes of a school shooting that link the characters and bring them back together for the 10-year anniversary of the event—and many of the characters deal with PTSD. In The One for You, Loren wraps up the series with the long-awaited story of Kincaid Breslin and Ashton Isaacs, two friends from childhood who both survived the terrible night that marked their school forever. The tragedy at the senior prom severed their friendship, and years have driven them apart. When Ash finally returns to their Texas hometown, he’s conflicted over his buried feelings for Kincaid and the secret that could take her away from him forever.

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MENTIONED IN:

Just Kiss Already! My 7 Favorite Friends-to-Lovers Romance Reads

By Jennifer Proffitt | July 30, 2020

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