“I’m a cynic. And a cynic is a romantic who’s too scared to hope.”
One of the most anticipated books from 2024, Funny Story is the latest novel by Emily Henry. In it, readers are introduced to Daphne, a woman stranded in Waning Bay, Michigan without friends or family but working her dream job as a children’s librarian after her husband leaves her for his childhood best friend, Petra. With her life in a pickle, she decides to move in with the one person in the world who understands her predicament: Petra’s ex-boyfriend, Miles Nowak. The two are polar opposites of one another. Despite this, one alcohol-fuelled evening, they conjure up a devilish scheme together. It’s naturally all for show. There’s no way Daphne could ever fall for her ex-fiance’s new fiancee’s ex. If you loved Funny Story, join us today at What We Reading for the best fake relationship, roommates-to-romance and forced proximity romance reads just like it!
Happy Place – Emily Henry
First up on our list of books like Funny Story is another one of the best Emily Henry books, 2023’s Happy Place. This Goodreads Choice Award winner follows Harriet and Wyn, the perfect couple who have been together since their days in college. Except, now, they aren’t. The pair broke up six months ago. A fact that they’ve failed to mention to their friends. Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest room at the Maine cottage they and their friends rent each year, enjoying a week-long rest bite full of cheese, wine and seafood.
Harriet and Wyn are committed to lying through their teeth for the duration of the trip, all whilst attempting to ignore how much they both still want each other. It should be a foolproof plan. After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for a single week; even if the performance is for those who know them best?
Lease On Love – Falon Ballard
After being skipped over for a long overdue and well-deserved promotion, Sadie Green is in dire need of three precise things: a stiff drink, a place to live, and a one-night stand. When one drink turns into too many, Sadie makes the mistake of mixing up a dating app with a roommate-finding app and finds herself in front of the gorgeous brownstone building owned by Jack Thomas.
Jack is still grieving the unexpected deaths of his parents and has found comfort in playing video games and having movie marathons with his friends. So, whilst he doesn’t quite get the viciously verbose Sadie, he’s prepared to let her stay. She’s even free to pursue her floristry side hustle. Like in Funny Story, these two are polar opposites. But, as they spend more time together, they start to realise that they may have both stumbled upon the deal of a lifetime.
Summer Romance – Annabel Monaghan
Ali Morris’ life is a mess. Her mother died two years ago, her husband then left her and she hasn’t worn trousers with a zipper for longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organiser whose pantry is now a disgrace.
So no one is more surprised than Ali when, the very first time she gets properly dressed and takes off her wedding ring, she meets someone. Rather, her dog meets someone in the same way he claims a tree: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali in a way she hasn’t seen for years like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life any messier than it already is; but, when has there ever been any harm in a summer romance?
Not In Love – Ali Hazelwood
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough to be content: a few friends who are as dependable as she needs, the financial stability she has always aspired for and a promising career as a biotech engineer at one of the most exciting start-ups in the world of food science. Her whole life is stable, solid and hard-fought. That is until a hostile takeover by an offensively attractive man threatens to send it all crashing down.
Eli Killgore has his reasons for pushing the deal through, and he is a man who is used to getting what he wants. The one exception to this appears to be Rue, the woman he cannot stop thinking about. Similar to Funny Story, an undeniable connection leads to Eli and Rue throwing caution out of the lab in an intense and passionate relationship with a distinct deadline: whenever one of their companies prevails.
Check Out The Best Ali Hazelwood Books In Order
Happily Never After – Lynn Painter
When Sophie finds out immediately before getting married that she is being cheated on again, it’s time for drastic action. Instead of calling the wedding off, she enlists the help of a handsome stranger, Max, to interrupt the proceedings midway through and confront her betrothed. It’s not exactly the wedding she had in her mind, but she enjoys taking revenge.
When Max asks if she’ll work with him to help other people expose their unfaithful partners, Sophie agrees. When the pair are hired by a man who is marrying a woman who once broke Max’s heart, Sophie expects him to revel in the operation. She’s therefore surprised when he appears conflicted, and by how jealous she’s feeling about that. Like Funny Story, Lynn Painter’s Happily Never After is a friends-to-love romance novel all about the messy dynamics that can come from our pasts.
Count Your Lucky Stars (Written In The Stars #3) – Alexandria Bellefleur
Margot Cooper doesn’t do relationships. She tried in the past and, seeing as how they never worked, is happy sticking to casual hookups. But, now that all of her friends have found their ‘one’, Margot has begun to feel like a fifth wheel. Then, whilst touring a wedding venue, she encounters Olivia Grant, her childhood friend, her first love and the girl she hasn’t seen for a decade.
When a series of unfortunate events leaves Olivia without a place to stay, Margot offers up her spare room, purely because she is a good person. It has nothing to do with the sparks between them that still make her heart flutter. The more time they spend together, the more Margot begins to question her no-strings-attached policy. Olivia is everything she has ever wanted. But, having let her in once and seen it end in disaster, will history repeat itself, or will she be counting her lucky stars a second chance has come around?
The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary
Another one of the best roommate-to-romance books like Funny Story comes from Beth O’Leary in The Flatshare. Tiffy Moore is in need of a cheap place to live. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their close friends think that they are both crazy, but they believe they’ve stumbled upon the perfect solution: Leon occupies the flat during the day, and Tiffy has free reign of the place whenever he is working.
Yet, with obsessive ex-partners, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, naturally, the small fact that they are still yet to actually meet one another, both Tiffy and Leon soon discover that in order to build the perfect home, the rulebook sometimes needs to be thrown out of the window.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Flatshare
Role Playing – Cathay Yardley
Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old recluse. However, when her college-aged son presents a deal where he will be more sociable if she agrees to do the same, she is unable to refuse. She joins a new gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. To avoid any confusion, she names herself Bogwitch.
Otter’s real-life persona is fifty-year-old Aiden, a serial optimist who uses the guild as an emotional outlet from the dramas that come with caring for his ageing mother. Bogwitch and Otter soon become close virtual friends. When they meet each other for the first time, the pair grow tentatively closer. Yet, both Aiden and Maggie have complicated pasts that soon mean that maintaining a virtual relationship could be easier than having one in the real world. One of the best romance books from 2023, Cathay Yardley’s Role Playing is the perfect follow-up to Funny Story for any readers looking for another great grumpy/sunshine tale.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
