1. From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
A contemporary sports romance between two childhood enemies. They both practice in the same arena which the hero’s family owns. We get to see a lot more of the heroine’s family than most romances show and we also see a lot of the protagonist Jasmine’s struggles with putting all she has into figure skating. Still, it is very funny and often unexpected. It made me laugh, cry, and make heart eyes.
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Both figure skaters
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Sassy, big-hearted and clueless protagonist
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Banter :)
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Enemies-to-lovers
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Disastrous and funny skating partnership
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Slow burn
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M/F
2. What I Did For Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
After childhood actress Georgie gets divorced by her actor husband, she runs into her former co-star and wakes up married to him. The thing is Bram and Georgie hate each other. However, with both their careers and lives going down the drain,they think this extra publicity might be a good thing. How will this marriage between enemies play out? Pretty well in my opinion. It made me laugh, cry, and smile a lot. A good read to get all your feels out, especially if you have had or are having a crush. Also I will note that this author likes to insert mini romance stories in books, so we follow the life of some of the supporting characters like Georgie’s dad as well.
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Marriage of convenience
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Dramatic personalities
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Protagonists in the spotlight
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Sideline plotlines
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Acting, films, screenplays
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Jealous exes and fake relationships
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M/F
3. Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Series #6)
This is a long futuristic, paranormal series and has beautiful and complex world building so I would recommend starting with the first book, Slave to Sensation, but Branded by Fire is my first favorite of the series (I love a lot of them). Each book weaves into a larger plotline and the individual romance sits right in between the plotline and adds to it rather than detracting from the overall plotline. I’d say each book is like a temporary spotlight. I put down the following quick summary of the major points of world building for clarification and because I find it so interesting.
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Psy-Changeling Series(3 races evolved from humans, set in future, you can kind of skip around after reading the first one and that is what I did)
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Psy- psychically gifted, weakest race physically, not emotional, powers such as telekinesis, telepathy, and foresight.
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Changeling- shifters that have both a human and animal form, increased strength and speed, primal, free with sex, touch is necessary to them
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Humans- self-explanatory(they do not change much from now and our present day)
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This book: Two channelings, Riley and Mercy, from adjacent but different changeling groups. RIley is a wolf, and Mercy is a leopard. They start as casual sex partners and work together during a kidnapping and brewing political intrigue (the Psy race is destabilizing and races are mixing). The banter between the two is absolutely hilarious. Both of them try to resist their attraction (they fail) and it is so entertaining. The reader gets both the male and female protagonists views and some random, unknown POVS mixed in that are related to the overarching plotline.
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Frenemies to lovers
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Opposites attract
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Strong, free spirit female protagonist
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Stubborn, responsible male protagonist
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Mercy calls Riley out
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M/F
4. The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori (Made Series #1)
An arranged marriage between two mafia families. Nico wants the sister who isn’t his betrothed, and Elena is attracted to her future brother-in-law. They both hate that they want each other and antagonize each other at every turn. Lori’s prose is addictive and beautifully written. I could not put it down. It made me laugh, smile, and blush (exactly what coronavirus blues calls for)
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Powerful, dangerous, smart male protagonist
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Sentimental, playful, and intelligent female protagonist
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Hilarious teasing and jealousy
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A lot of quotable lines
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Mention of guns, blood, and violence
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Obsessive and possessive attention
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M/F
5. Lothaire by Kresley Cole ( Immortals After Dark Series #12)
A paranormal romance which is not the first in the series, but it is pretty easy to follow without having read the previous novels. An ancient vampire breaks a country girl, Ellie, out of prison because he believes his bride is trapped inside Ellie’s body. With seer fairies, demons, valkyries, werewolves and other supernaturals, antics ensue and things get crazy and funny. Also born vampires in this world can’t lie and that gets interesting for a kidnapper that cannot lie.
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Ancient, clueless a-hole male love interest
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Funny, smart, and optimistic female protagonist
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Power plays and banter
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Ellie calls Lothaire (love interest) out a lot :)
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M/F