“You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t.”
Romance provides the ultimate escapist experience. Through the stories authors deal out every year, we get away from everyday life’s stresses, anxieties and insecurities and be plunged into a world filled with perfectly compatible couples, cutesy gestures, snark-filled escapades and perfect happily ever afters. Which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would take a look at some of the best new romance books from 2024. Whether you’re currently pining after a crush, happily paired up, attempting to mend a broken heart or navigating the choppy waters of the dating world, these love stories are sure to provide the heartfelt experience you’re looking for.
Funny Story – Emily Henry
First up on our list of new romance books from 2024 is the latest release from serial global bestseller, Emily Henry. Funny Story follows Daphne, a struggling children’s librarian who has just moved back into her lakeside hometown following her fiance, Peter, leaving her for his childhood best friend, Petra. Stranded and strapped for cash, she turns to the only person who can understand her plight, Petra’s ex Miles, and proposes that they should move in together.
Scruffy and chaotic, Miles is the exact opposite of the buttoned-up and practical Daphne. The pair largely steer clear of one another, until one drunken-filled evening leads to them devising a cunning plan. If said plan involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer romp together, who could blame them? Of course, all of it is for show. There’s no way Daphne could fall in love with her ex-fiance’s new fiance’s ex, right?
Just For The Summer (Part Of Your World #3) – Abby Jimenez
Justin has a curse and, thanks to Reddit, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he goes on a date with manages to find their soul mate, the second they break up with him. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, the two hatch a plan: they’ll date each other, break up, and cancel the curse out. It’s an insane plan, and it might just work.
Emma hadn’t planned for her next assignment as a travelling nurse would be in an adorable cottage on a private island in Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. But she and her best friend agree that dating Justin would be too good of an opportunity to pass up. What was supposed to be a quick fling is upended when Emma’s mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings. Suddenly, the pair are navigating much more and catching more and more feelings in Abby Jimenez’s new romance book, Just for the Summer.
The Rule Book (The Cheat Sheet #2) – Sarah Adams
Sarah Adams’ The Rule Book is the 2024 companion novel to the viral BookTok sensation, The Cheat Sheet. Nora Mackenzie’s whole career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end, Derek Pender, who also just so happens to be her college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things smoothly, and her past returns to haunt her when Derek arrives with a chip on his shoulder as her first official client as a sports agent.
Derek has his sights set on some friendly comeuppance for the first girl to ever break his heart. His plan is to make her life miserable. But, knowing the girl from college as he does, he knows this won’t be easy. Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But, a wild night in Vegas leads to the pair waking up the next morning married. With the rule book is tossed out the window, might this new relationship save their respective careers and kickstart a romance for the ages?
Check Out The Best Books Like The Cheat Sheet
Bride – Ali Hazelwood
Bride is the 2024 paranormal romance book by Ali Hazelwood, bestselling author of Love, Theoretically. Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest is an outcast – again. Her days of living amongst the Humans are over: she has been summoned to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their sworn enemies, the Weres. Seeing no other option, she surrenders herself.
Weres are ruthless and unpredictable. Their alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with unquestionable authority. It’s clear from the way in which he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was. Misery has her own reasons for giving in to the marriage. She is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what is hers, even if it means a life alone with the wolves.
Check Out The Best Ali Hazelwood Books
The Rom-Commers – Katherine Center
Emma Wheeler desperately wants to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over and writing romantic comedies. But she has also been the sole guardian and caretaker for her kind-hearted father. When she has the opportunity to re-write a script for the legendary Charlie Yates, it appears too good to be true. Her younger sister steps in with the caretaking duties, and Emma moves to Los Angeles for six weeks of what promises to be the writing gig of a lifetime. But, they do say never meet your heroes.
Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone. The rom-com he has written is so bad it might actually bring about the apocalypse. And he staunchly believes that love is an emotional Ponzi scheme. But Emma isn’t about to go down without a fight. She is prepared to stand up for herself, for rom-coms and for love itself, no matter what it takes. Katherine Center’s 2024 romance book The Rom-Commers is a homage to all things rom-com and the perfect new enemies-to-lovers romance story.
It’s Complicated – Camilla Isley
Lori has been in love with her best friend, Aiden, ever since college. Now the handsome All-American dream doctor is getting married, and Lori needs a date for the wedding. To avoid having to face the worst day of her life alone, she asks the tall brooding best man, Jace, to pretend their platonic friendship is something more.
Fake dating one best friend to move on from another should be easy. Plot twist: it isn’t. When Jace begins to act like the most loving, most doting boyfriend on the planet, Lori begins to wonder whether she has been viewing him the wrong way all this time. The trio have been inseparable for years, but now everything is changing in Camilla Isley’s fake-relationship 2024 romance book, It’s Complicated.
Fangirl Down (Big Shots #1) – Tessa Bailey
New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey delivers one of the best new sports romance stories in her 2024 book, Fangirl Down. Wells Whittaker was once the hottest rising star in the world of golf. Now, all he has to show for his career is a killer hangover and a collection of broken clubs. Yet, no matter how bad he plays, his beautiful sunny redhead superfan is always on the sidelines.
Josephine Doyle believed in this gorgeous grumpy golfer even when he didn’t believe in himself. So, when he suddenly rocks up at her door proposing she be his new caddy, help him get back to the top of his game and split the money he wins, she can hardly refuse. As the pair travel together, spending their days on the gree and their nights in hotels, Wells’ game improves and they find themselves inseparable from one another. But as he is technically her boss, an athlete truly falling for his fangirl would be ridiculous, right?
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).
