Time for the most evil recommendation feature we have: READY, SET, GO!
Here are the rules:
We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type.
ONE.
ONLY ONE.
And no more than two sentences as to why.
Yes, just one. Which one book do you pick to fill that rec?
What do you think is the best FRIENDS TO LOVERS ROMANCE you’d recommend?
Any genre, but just one rec.
Ready, set, GO!
EllenM: My rec is definitely A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian ( A | BN | K | G | AB )!
Mutual pining, found family, competence porn in hero and heroine, very queer social justice historical—what’s not to love?
Sarah: 
(I love pining.)
Shana: Seconding that.
But not really because I also want to recommend The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. An unrecognized scientist and her bad-boy beta hero best friend!
Aarya: This feature is going to give me grey hairs as I attempt to narrow down to one book!
Okay, my rec is You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista ( A ) (I wrote a B+ lightning review last summer).
It’s a f/f #romanceclass title set in Manila and was one of my favorite titles of 2019. The sex worker rep is excellent and I ugly-sobbed through the immigration storyline.
Amanda: This is sooooo not my trope so please take my rec with a grain of salt since I don’t read many of these.
However, my favorite is Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren. Josh is THE SWEETEST and the way the two of them are there for one another in times of distress really cements the believability in their HEA.
Shana: Oh, that’s a good one. I have to admit this isn’t my favorite trope either.
Claudia: I’m going to go with Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas. Don’t let the title fool you: It’s a slow-burn romance where friendship and respect come first.
Sneezy: Ooo good one with The Countess Conspiracy!!!!
Sneezy: I thiiiink mine is Beyond Control by Kit Rocha.
YEEEEAAAARS long will-they-won’t-they, holy-shit-what-is-this-sexual-tension between the king and queen of the sector/whiskey empire of a corner of dystopian US.
Tara: I have 5 that I really, really love, so I feel guilty choosing just one.
But, since that’s how this thing goes, I have to say Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton ( A | BN | K | AB ). It’s also sort of a second chance because the friends had fallen out of touch.
Carrie: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au )
Catherine: The Countess Conspiracy is just beautiful.
But since that’s taken, how about Last Night’s Scandal, by Loretta Chase? It’s three for the price of one on the trope front, as it also has a fake engagement and opposites attract, but Peregrine and Olivia are childhood friends who have corresponded for years and discover that they are inconveniently attracted to each other when they meet again.
And then Olivia decides to rescue Peregrine, in a way guaranteed to drive him mad, and it’s on….
OK, your turn!
Which one book do you think is the BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS ROMANCE you’d recommend?
Ready, set, go!
L – YESSSSS. You Had Me At Hello is my favourite friends to lover book. Mhairi is my favourite romance writer. If you are looking for romances written with more realistic dialogue and relationship development and which are funny without being slapstick or silly, she’s fantastic. Even her last two books which have somewhat disappointed me are still at the very top of the pile when it comes to well-written romance.
Finding Master Right by LA Witt – mm bdsm contemporary novella. Two good friends share a room at a bdsm conference at Chicago. They had spontaneous, (supposedly) no-strings attached sex the night before the story starts and spend the weekend / novella figuring out what the hell just happened and what they want to be to each other. Plus going to kink workshops, having scenes (with misc other people), dealing with exes and soul searching.
“Faith & Fidelity” by Tere Michaels will always be my fave FtL read. Matt and Evan are *chef’s kiss to fingertips*
I’m a sucker for the friends to lovers trope in YA. Two of my favourites are The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil, and The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth by Marilyn Singer (an older book now, but still one of my favs, and added bonus of taking place during rehearsals for a school production of Midsummer Night’s Dream).
Cinnamon Girl is about graphic artist Alba trying to deal with the doomsday celebration that’s descended on her tiny Australian hometown, the gorgeous tv star she used to know who’s come back home to film it all, and the fact that Domenic Grady (her best friend since the day their mothers first dumped them in a playpen together)is acting weird (now, why would that be??).
The Course of True Love starts when Becky falls for new guy, Blake, and then her best friend Nemi falls hard for Blake’s glamourous sister at the auditions for the school’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Things get complicated from there, and I love me a good theatre romance. CLT was also the first book I ever read as a kid that had a gay romantic subplot.
@Mintaka14 I still have my copy of “The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth”! I should go pull it off my keeper shelf and re-read it – it’s been a few years.
I love Sarah Mayberry’s FTL books — she does several with believable setups, and some unrequited love. Love them!
Also The Pact by Karina Halle
And When Joss met Matt by Ellie Cahilll
And…. many others I can’t remember the names of.
Def my catnip
I am going to have to go with Make Me by Tessa Bailey – it falls into the hero has always lined for the heroine but never expected more category. This is a NA with class differences and the pining just punched me right in the feels.