Romance Novels Celebrating Friendship
While we’re always rooting for the HEA in our romance novels, we know we can’t get by without a good crew supporting us (and giving us real talk) along the way.
Here are a few romances with BFFs we wish we knew in real life. Here’s to our BFFs in life and lit!
It’s about time roommates Alejandro and Kenny get married. Or at least, that’s what all their close friends and family think when they announce their engagement. The kicker? The two are faking their whole relationship so Alejandro can get a green card. But if Han was going to marry anyone, it would be his ride or die since second grade.
Han has never been able to put down roots, and the only one who truly breaks through his walls is Kenny. Sweet, sensitive Kenny is newly single, and what better distraction from his soul-sucking relationship than proposing marriage to Han? Kenny can’t think of anything more fun than spending his life with his best friend, even if it’s just for a piece of paper. But as Kenny keeps up the charade, he’s soon struggling to resist their sizzling chemistry.
The line between fact and fiction begins to blur the closer they get to their wedding date. With all eyes on Han and Kenny—including a meddling ex and immigration officers—will these two bros make it down the altar for real?
For years, Emery has lived with a condition that means her heart could literally stop at any second. While her friends and family try too hard to protect her, Emery refuses to live in perpetual fear. Besides, she has a secret—when her heart stops, Emery actually dies . . . and that’s the only time she can see Nick.
Nick is Emery’s constant—the man who exists in the space between life and death, helping souls cross over to whatever comes next. Usually, he meets people just once and for a fleeting moment. But Emery and Nick keep meeting, keep tilting each other’s worlds and pushing the limits of their time together.
Every brush with death brings Emery closer to a soulmate she can never have while she remains alive. Yet the universe seems determined to prove it still has a few surprises left for her—first kisses, second chances, and unexpected, world-changing opportunities. Emery could finally have a chance at a real future, but how can she give up the love of her afterlife to seize the life she has now?
When her boyfriend of seven years suddenly breaks up with her, relationship advice columnist Gemma Cho is convinced that real love doesn’t exist. As a bisexual woman who’s had zero luck with both men and women, she’s ready to give up on her own romantic prospects. That is, until she's paired up with world-renowned photographer Celeste Min on a potentially career-saving piece on modern love.
Celeste is extremely talented and sexy, and would be the perfect collaborator and rebound for Gemma—if it weren’t for the fact that she’s Gemma’s ex, the one that broke her heart in college and moved to a whole other country before Gemma could even make sense of what went wrong between them. Heightened by the unmistakable sparks that still fly between them, Gemma and Celeste struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional. For the sake of her career, Gemma needs this piece to do well. And for the sake of what’s left of her beaten up hopeless romantic heart, she wants to fall head over heels for Celeste again.
But can she trust Celeste to feel the same this time around?
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Never judge a book by its cover . . . or a dude by his delts
Thirty-something Ellie Hayes is generally prepared for the worst—living with endometriosis will do that—but when a new medical flare-up points to a possible MS diagnosis, all her careful plans fall apart. Suddenly, Ellie needs a new lease (literally) on life and unexpectedly lands on the doorstep of a house shared by a trio of collegiate beefcakes.
Grant, Alistair, and Diego are buff, beautiful, and woefully short on practical skills. But type-A Ellie thinks living with them could be just the break she needs. She’ll teach them how to adult, and they’ll help her take charge of her fitness and embrace life in all its beautifully spontaneous glory.
Bonus: Grant’s older brother Ian is the gorgeous man mountain she made out with the night she moved in. But as Ellie and Ian get closer, he feels less like a break from reality and more like an excellent life choice. Could a real relationship be possible, or will her traitorous body be a dealbreaker once again?
For Rose Marie Jones, risks are a hard no—except for on Game Night. For one precious evening a week, Rose can forget about her demanding boss and her lackluster love life and focus on beating the pants off her friends. But no one brings out her competitive side quite like William Ashdern.
Her best friend’s half-brother, William is the paragon of a sexy nerd. The tall, dorky, and handsome game designer is Rose’s playing nemesis. But when Rose decides to enter a contest with the board game she’s secretly invented, there’s only one person who can help her win.
Now the competition between Rose and William is getting a lot more serious. And after spending her entire life trying not to lose, Rose might finally be ready to risk it all—and play to win.