If you’ve been anywhere on BookTok in the past few months, you’d know readers are being spoiled with movie and show adaptations! From lab coats and fake dating to parking spot wars to getting hit by rugby balls, these romance books are all getting their time to shine on the big screen. The main three books that I will be covering in this article are The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter, and the book series Boys of Tommen by Chloe Walsh. Whether you’ve read these books cover to cover or have no clue what I’m talking about, I’ll get you caught up on everything you need to know before these books turn into your next binge-watch.
But before we get into behind-the-scenes pictures, casting drama, and fan speculations, let’s start with their basic summaries. (Spoiler free, of course!)
The Love Hypothesis:Fake Dating & Real
Chemistry
Olive Smith is a biology Ph.D. student who finds herself in a fake relationship with Adam Carlsen, an intimidating professor at Stanford. What starts as a completely fake romance gets a little harder to keep under control when Olive realizes there may be some very real chemistry between the two. After all, you can try to make a relationship a controlled experiment, but love doesn’t always follow the scientific method! And trust me, I’ll be paying very close attention to the results! The movie stars Lili Reinhart as Olive and Tom Bateman as Adam. It will be available to stream on Prime Video beginning September 23, 2026.
Better Than the Movies:The Boy Next
Door
Liz Buxbaum is a hopeless romantic senior in high school whose world is flipped when her longtime crush is back in town. She teams up with her annoying next-door neighbor Wes Bennett in order to swoon over her childhood crush. Of course, the gears shift when Liz realizes her soulmate may have been right next-door all along. Beatrice Kitsos will play Liz and David Iacono will play Wes in Netflix’s upcoming movie. The film is currently in production, but a release date is yet to be announced.
Boys of Tommen:Rugby, Romance, and
Drama
Last but certainly not least, Boys of Tommen takes us all the way to a high school in Ireland, where rugby star Johnny Kavanagh meets Shannon Lynch, a painfully shy new student. Johnny is dealing with an injury bad enough to end his rugby career, while Shannon silently suffers in her abusive home. Their relationship becomes much more layered than a typical high school romance as the two begin to rely on each other. The Prime Video series will adapt the first two books of the series, with Conor Sánchez playing Johnny and Nancy Surridge playing Shannon. The series is currently in production, but there is no release date yet.
Okay, But What Do We Actually Know?
The Love Hypothesis is currently the adaptation we know the most about, with an official trailer recently released by Prime Video. Since its release, fans have wasted no time analyzing each frame, making edits, and practically examining every scene shown in the two minute trailer. Between international premieres, interviews, behind-the-scenes TikToks, and Lili’s adorable rom-com-inspired press-tour looks, we’ve gotten plenty of sneak peeks to obsess over while we wait for the film to release. The movie even held its New York City early screening on September 16, 2026, giving lucky fans their first chance to see The Love Hypothesis before its official release.
Better Than the Movies is a bit more mysterious, with most filming under wraps. Netflix has announced the full cast and the movie is currently filming in Chicago, so official behind-the-scenes is still limited. (Netflix, respectfully, we are ready.) While we anxiously await the film, Lynn Painter is giving fans more Wes & Liz moments with Behind the Movies, a new book featuring deleted scenes, alternate POVs, and an all-new scene. The book is set to release January 5, 2027.
Boys of Tommen is more confidential, but fans have already received some exciting glimpses of the upcoming series. Prime Video released the official main cast and the first official images of the show in September, giving us our first looks at Conor and Nancy bringing their characters to life. Since filming began, fans have also spotted the cast around town, taken selfies with them, and even captured videos on set while scenes were being filmed, leaving everyone yearning for an official trailer to drop as soon as possible. Because blurry fan videos taken from meters away are all we have to survive on for now.
So… Which One Are You Watching First?
Safe to say, our watchlists are about to be just as full as our bookshelves. Whether you’re already counting down to The Love Hypothesis on September 23, waiting for Netflix to announce a release date for Better Than the Movies, or desperately waiting for the official Boys of Tommen trailer, there is DEFINITELY a lot to look forward to.
Now, for the most important question: Which adaptation are you most excited to watch, and which love interest are you already claiming? Between you and me, Adam Carlsen is mine. Finders keepers. 😉