I’m over at The House of Kirkus today talking about Friends-to-Lovers plots, and the various pitfalls that could happen to the hero and heroine on their way from friends to friends-with-benefits all the way to friends-with-happily-ever-after.
There’s the type in which one person is secretly in love with the other, while the other remains ignorant of all that ardor. I call this One Pines and One is Clueless.
Then there’s the type where one or both Wake Up (often at about the same moment) and See Something More in the other person that wasn’t so obvious before.
Both plots can be very satisfying, but there are pitfalls to each—it’s easy for the book to go off the rails or for the characters to lose the reader’s respect regardless of what path they take.
I loooove friends-to-lovers plots, like The Kiss Test and the slightly-more-a-boss-nanny-than-friends-to-lovers story Not Just the Nanny, because when that “something changes” happens, it can be explodey with the joy and possibility, and then there’s pages and pages to explore that possibility.
What are your favorite friends-to-lovers plots? Share share, please – I’m loading up the digital reader for the long weekend today!
The Earl’s Dilema by Emily May is my favourite! I admit that the plot has been done before, but I’ve never enjoyed it as much as I did in this novel.
James Hargrave, Earl of Arden, urgently needed a wife—and who better than his best friend’s sister?
He wasn’t looking for passion in this marriage of convenience and plain Kate Honeycourt had been on the shelf for years.
Why, then, should she so firmly turn him down? Surely she couldn’t be holding out for a love match? Although, curiously, the more he saw of Kate, the more aware he became of her attractions. Maybe love wasn’t as impossible as he’d once thought….
Branded as Trouble by Lorelei James, sooo hot and so touching (they meet at AA and had been friends for 3 years prior to the action in the book). Loved this one!
My favorite is definitely Tears of the Moon! Shawn and Brenna’s friendship is the most believable I’ve read so far among books of this particular trope. Nora Roberts perfectly captures the coziness/comfort level of being with someone you’ve known forever (warts and all), as well as the zing-y awareness of seeing them in a new light. The conflict wasn’t earth-shattering, but given their shared history and characterization, it rang true.
I also liked Red Lily, and Kristan Higgins’s stuff.
I love the friends-to-lovers trope, because I think that’s where the best marriages come from. I tell my children that, and anyone who will hold still long enough to listen. The fella and I were friends before we started dating. (I was always attracted, but didn’t think he’d be because we’re the same height barefoot—which makes me taller in shoes.) The daughter and her hubby were friends first. The older son and his ex were not. (see?) The younger son and his girlfriend were friends first, so if they do stick it out, I think they’ll make it. If you like each other without falling in love first, then you’re more likely to keep on liking each other after you fall in love.
Anyway, all the books listed that I’ve read, I’ve loved. All the ones I haven’t read, well, they’re now on my list. 🙂