10 Friends to Lovers Books That Will Steal Your Heart

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Plenty of romance storylines are quickly labeled as unrealistic, but one trope that many can relate to is the friends-to-lovers love story.

Although the details vary, these books typically follow two friends, often with at least one of them concealing their true feelings toward the other. After a series of (often comical) mishaps and miscommunication, the two realize that what they share is much more than just friendship.

In this post, we’ve rounded up 10 of the best friends to lovers books that will have you shouting at the main characters to wake up already and see the love that’s clearly growing between them.

Friends to Lovers Books

Here are 10 romantic books that offer their take on the classic friends-to-lovers trope.

1. Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Seed

Jamie Goldberg doesn’t mind volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he gets to stay behind the scenes, since he’s not the best at talking to strangers.

Meanwhile, Maya Rehman is having the worst Ramadan ever, and for some reason her mother thinks political canvassing with some awkward dude she hardly knows is the solution.

As the pair go door to door, the polls are getting closer—and so are Maya and Jamie. But navigating the cross-cultural crush of the century proves much more complicated than local activism.

2. Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Hazel knows she’s a lot to take, and most men just aren’t up for the challenge. With her army of pets, love for the absurd, and lack of a filter, Hazel is a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh has known Hazel since college, where her zany personality proved incompatible with his mellow restraint. He’s always thought of Hazel as more of a spectacle than a peer.

But now, 10 years later, a cheating girlfriend has turned Josh’s life upside down, and going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Josh and Hazel don’t date each other, though. Setting each other up on progressively awful double blind dates means there’s nothing between them… right?

3. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Poppy and Alex had nothing in common, yet somehow, a fateful shared ride home many years ago turned them into the best of friends.

They live apart for most of the year, but every summer for 10 years, they took glorious weeklong vacations together.
 
At least they did until two years ago, when they ruined everything and haven’t spoken since. Poppy knows the last time she was truly happy was with Alex, so she convinces her best friend to take one more vacation together so they can set everything right.
 
Alex agrees, and now Poppy has a week to face the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect friendship.

4. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Danika Brown is focused on professional success and academic renown. Real romance has proven nothing but a distraction, so Dani’s content with the occasional roll in the hay to relieve some of that career-driven tension. So, Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits situation.

When big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, she takes it as an obvious sign that he’s the universe’s solution.

But before she can explain that to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral, and suddenly half the internet is shipping the two. Turns out Zaf’s sports charity for kids could really use the publicity, so he begs her to play along.

Dani plans to fake a relationship in public, and seduce Zaf behind the scenes. But grumpy Zaf is secretly a hopeless romantic, and he’s determined to melt down Dani’s stone-cold realism.

5. Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne

Audrey Tate and Clarke West believe they’re solid proof that guys and girls really can just be friends. 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 play along with his strategy for dodging his matchmaking mother.

When Clarke announces that he’s already engaged to Audrey, what starts as a playful scheme turns into something much more complicated.

As their fake wedding date looms closer, Audrey and Clarke realize they can never go back to the way things were. But do either of them really want to?

6. Friends Without Benefits by Penny Reid

Elizabeth Finney is almost always right about everything, including the fact that “benefits” with human Ken dolls are better without friendship. She also knows that the sun has set on her once-in-a-lifetime chance for true love.

But then Elizabeth’s plans for benefits without friendship are derailed by the irritatingly charismatic and chauvinistic Nico Manganiello, her former nemesis.

Elizabeth struggles to maintain the invisible fence she’s built around her heart while avoiding Nico’s charismatic pull and the risk of falling in love.

7. This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender

Nate is the ultimate film buff, but he’s seen the demise of too many real-life relationships to believe that happy endings actually exist.

Ever since his dad died and Nate saw his mom unravel, Nate’s focus has been on playing it safe to avoid a broken heart.

But his best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is determined to see Nate find someone else.

Someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, Nate’s childhood best friend. After a painful mix-up when they were kids, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie his true feelings. But will Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

8. Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis

When she was 16, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached were her name, email address, and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of.

Weeks later, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon on a beach in France and immediately emailed the attached addressed, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.

Now, 14 years later, Emmie is secretly and desperately in love with Lucas. She has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship, giving up the search for her absentee father and no longer trying to build bridges with her distant mother.

When Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s sure this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings—but nothing in life ever goes quite as planned.

9. Lease on Love by Falon Ballard

After she’s passed over for an overdue and much-needed promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night stand.

But when an accidental mix-up lands Sadie on the doorstep of Jack Thomas’s gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone, it’s too bad she’s more attracted to the real estate than the man himself.
 
Jack is still grieving the unexpected death of his parents, and has found comfort in video games and movie marathons instead of friends.

So while he’s not quite sure what to make of Sadie, he’s willing to offer her his spare bedroom while she gets back on her feet.

The two are polar opposites, but as Sadie’s presence begins to transform the brownstone into a home, they both start to realize they may have just made the deal of a lifetime.

10. The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

Bree Camden is hopelessly in love with her longtime best friend and extremely hot NFL legend, Nathan Donelson. But Nathan clearly sees her as a best friend with no romantic potential, and the last thing Bree wants is to ruin their friendship.

It’s probably for the best, since Bree has other things to worry about anyway. After a car accident ended her ballet career, Bree changed paths and now owns her own dance studio and has big dreams to expand it, but one more rent increase could mean the end of the studio entirely.

Nathan, as usual, comes to the rescue and buys the entire building. Bree is stubbornly unhappy about his unsolicited aid, and decides to rebel with more than a few tequila shots.

But her plan backfires when she spills her deepest, darkest secret to a TMZ reporter. Once the video of her confession goes viral, the world thinks Nathan and Bree are the perfect couple.

Before they can really talk about what happened, Nathan’s publicist proposes a big opportunity that could mean financial security for Bree. All they have to do is pretend to be in love for three weeks. What will happen when Bree gives in to the feelings she’s been hiding for so long?

More Than Friends

Though they may seem entirely different in concept, the friends to lovers trope is pretty similar to enemies to lovers in that we watch a relationship transform from one state into something more.

If you like romances like these, check out our list of 11 great enemies to lovers books to watch unlikely matches develop.

Do you have a favorite friends to lovers story? Tell us about it in the comments below!

 

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