“You can’t make people love you. But you can give the love you long for out to the world. You can be the love you wish you had. That’s the way to be okay.”
Whilst it can be found across any genre in the world of fiction, forced proximity is still a trope we most closely associate with romance books. Rather than stories of coincidences and fate where characters just so happen to bump into each other over and over again, forced proximity stories are where love interests are forced to spend time together, whether they want to or not. The reasons for these can vary from having to do a project or job together, booking a hotel room with just one bed to one of the characters being sick or injured and needs taking care of. These types of stories specialise in slow-building tension and the cutesy, often awkward, stumbling blocks of navigating feelings for one another. If you love all things to do with the trope, join us today at What We Reading for our favourite forced proximity books!
The Unhoneymooners (Unhoneymooners #1) – Christina Lauren
Kicking off our list of forced proximity books is Christina Lauren’s acclaimed 2019 story, The Unhoneymooners. Olive has always been unlucky in life. Her identical twin, Ami, on the other hand, has always been the total opposite. She has just snagged a free wedding by winning a series of internet competitions; worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, the best man.
But, when the entire wedding party comes down with food poisoning except for Olive and Ethan, an unexpected opportunity arises. An all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii is up for grabs. The pair put aside their hatred for the sake of a free holiday. But, when a run-in with her new boss results in a white lie, Olive ropes Ethan into a fake relationship scheme that involves them acting like happy newlyweds. But then something even stranger happens. Olive doesn’t feel like her luck is worse than ever. In fact, she begins to feel kind of… lucky.
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The Roommate (The Shameless Series #1) – Rosie Danan
The Wheatons are infamous among the East Coast elite for their lack of impulse control. The exception to this is their daughter, Clara. She is the consummate socialite, over-achieving, well-mannered and predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness, and Clara’s comes when her childhood crush invites her to move cross-country. But, after a bait-and-switch, she finds herself sharing a lease not with her crush, but rather with a charming, handsome stranger named Josh.
Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realises that living with him might make for the Wheatons’ biggest scandal yet. They might not agree on much, but both Josh and Clara agree that women deserve better when it comes to the bedroom. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives and, if they’re both lucky, help everyone else get lucky too.
Unbound – Cara McKenna
Another one of the best forced proximity books is Cara McKenna’s spicy read, Unbound. Merry has lost a lot recently – first her mother, then close to a hundred pounds. In an effort to find herself again, she sets off on a three-week hike through the Scottish Highlands. But, when disaster strikes, she is forced to seek shelter in a remote home belonging to a brooding, handsome stranger.
Rob exiled himself to the Highlands years ago, desperate to escape his own self-destruction. He does his utmost to avoid all human contact. Yet, when Merry turns up injured, he can’t very well turn her away. And, as he nurses her back to health, he finds it harder and harder to resist her sweet demeanour and flirtatious advances. The undeniable connection between them rouses something within Rob that he has tried to keep hidden, but Merry craves nothing more than to help him surrender to his desires.
The Spanish Love Deception (Spanish Love Deception #1) – Elena Armas
Catalina Martin desperately needs a date for her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about having an American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Everyone she knows – including her ex – will be at the wedding, expecting and eager to meet him. She only has four weeks to find someone willing to endure the flight across the Atlantic. But, New York to Spain is no short trip. Her family will be hard to fool.
Enter Aaron Blackford. To Catalina’s surprise, her tall, handsome and condescending colleague volunteers to step in. There’s never been a more aggravating, insufferable man, but Catalina is desperate so reluctantly accepts. But, she soon begins to realise that Aaron might not be as terrible in the real world as he is in the office.
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Twisted (Twisted #1) – Anna Huang
Another one of the best spicy forced proximity books featuring a possessive MMC, Anna Huang introduces readers to Alex Volkov in her 2021 story, Twisted. Blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape, Alex is driven by a tragedy that has defined most of his life. His relentless pursuit of success, perfection and vengeance leaves little time for matters of the heart.
Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t remember. But, despite her broken past, she has never stopped seeing the beauty in the world. And this beauty includes the heart beneath the cool exterior of the man she shouldn’t want.
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Hook, Line And Sinker (Bellinger Sister #2) – Tessa Bailey
Crab fisherman Fox Thornton has built a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows that he’s a guaranteed good time, and that is exactly how he likes it. Until he encounters Hannah Bellinger, the first woman who appears to be immune to his charm and looks. Despite this, she does seem interested in his personality. Wanting to be friends is a new one for him, but platonic friends is what Fox is happy to go along with.
Now Hannah’s in town for work, crashing in Fox’s spare bedroom. She has a hopeless crush on one of her colleagues, so who better to enlist help from than Westport’s resident Casanova? Armed with a few tips, she sets out to catch her crush’s eye. Yet, the more time she spends with Fox, the more she begins to want him instead. Tessa Bailey’s Hook, Line and Sinker is a fun forced-proximity romance read about a former player who accidentally falls hard for his best friend while trying to help her land another man.
Mile High (Windy City #1) – Liz Tomforde
Liz Tomforde’s forced-proximity romance series Windy City kicks off with Mile High and the story of Zanders and Stevie. Zanders is Chicago hockey’s resident bad boy – the player everyone loves to hate. It’s a role he’s happy to play, spending the majority of games in the penalty box and leaving the arena with a new girl each night. What he doesn’t like is the new flight attendant on the team’s private plane. But, as he keeps pushing the call attendant button, he can’t work out whether it’s to push her buttons, or something more than that.
Stevie has been a flight attendant for years. But, when her new job lands her working onboard for the most obnoxious and egotistical diva in the NHL, she begins to second guess everything. Including her promise to never hook up with an athlete again, no matter how infuriatingly tempting they may be.
Happy Place – Emily Henry
Happy Place is the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards-winning forced-proximity book by serial bestselling author Emily Henry. Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple ever since they met in college. Except, now, they don’t. They broke up six months ago, but are still yet to tell their friends.
Which is how the pair find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend’s yearly getaway spot for the past decade. This is the one time where they can all escape their hectic lives, and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who know them best. Only, this year, Harriet and Wyn will be lying through their teeth whilst desperately trying to ignore how much they still want each other. After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake things in front of those who know them so well?
The Bodyguard – Katherine Center
Hannah Brooks looks more like a preschool teacher than someone who could kill someone with their bare hands. But, the truth is that she is an elite bodyguard who has just been hired to protect a superstar from his stalker. Jack Stapleton is a Hollywood heartthrob, captured by paparazzi on beaches across the world in clingy board shorts and glistening like a Greek deity.
When Jack’s mother falls ill, he returns home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. There’s just one catch: he doesn’t want any of his family to find out about his stalker. Or about having a bodyguard. So, against her will, Hannah finds herself covering as his girlfriend. Protecting Jack should be easy. But, in Katherine Center’s forced-proximity book The Bodyguard, Hannah soon learns that protecting her own heart may be the hardest thing she has ever done.
The Nanny – Lana Ferguson
Another steamy contemporary forced-proximity romance read comes from Lana Ferguson in her 2023 story, The Nanny. After losing her job, Cassie Evans finds herself with two options: get a new job, or fire up her OnlyFans account. Just when all hope seems to evaporate, however, an ad for a live-in nanny position appears to be everything she has been looking for. Until she meets her employer.
Aiden Reid is far from the stuffy single dad Cassie was expecting. He tells her she is by far the most qualified candidate he has interviewed, practically begging her to take the job and stay with him and his adorable daughter, Sophie. Only it turns out that Aiden is more familiar with Cassie than even he remembers. As their relationship intensifies, she struggles to tell him the truth and risk losing the best chance at happiness she has ever had.
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).
