Admittedly, I wasn’t sure how to sum this up in a quippy title, so definitely sound off with some suggestions in the comments. This one comes from Katie:
I would like to put in a request for a Rec League!
As I posted in my comments in a previous Whatcha Reading:
The Tyrant Alpha’s Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells: Let me start by saying that this trope was something I didn’t know I really wanted in my life, but I do, I really do. Now I want all the recommendations of books where one of the MC is rejected by the other at the beginning of the book and the rejecter then has to make up to the rejectee the whole story – whether fated mates or contemporary or historical or fantasy I need all the recs. No idea this was my catnip, but there you go.
Sarah: Well, there’s Romancing Mister Bridgerton, ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ) where Penelope hears Colin saying he’d never marry her, and then he has to walk that back as he realizes, hold up, she’s hot.
Amanda, would Lothaire ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Scribd ) qualify?
Amanda: Hmm! It’s not the whole book as it’s not a quick rejection and he then feels super badly but does play a good part of the climax/resolution!
Good call!
Claudia: I think Caroline Linden has a HR that may not fit the bill entirely, but I really like. The hero is about to ask the father permission to court the heroine, but he’s a minute too late and she’s already engaged. Years later she’s a widow and they not only have to reconnect but also get out of the friend’s zone. It’s A Rake’s Guide to Seduction. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) CW the heroine suffers from depression.
Shana: In All the Feels by Olive Dade, the hero insults the heroine when they first meet but they still have to work together. He has an uphill battle to gain her friendship, and then love…but I’m not sure it takes the entire book.
Which books would you recommend? Let us know in the comments!
I have read two Cate C Wells so far, and both of them have had plots which I would usually nope so hard on (police officer knocks up seventeen year old, girl falls for her old high school bully) but she’s executed them well. Part of the charm for me is that she gets the dark side of the small town dynamic so well. Small country towns are so often presented as cosy utopias in romances (where orchards and cupcake bakeries are profitable endeavours!) but if you’ve ever been the broke kid from the bad family on the wrong side of the tracks, they are considerably Less Fun. Even if you’re from the right side of the tracks, but you don’t go to THE church or any church at all, it can be less than fun.