I’m a sucker for a romance novel with wry humor, snark, high-quality banter, or the fun kind of bickering. Every single book on this list made me laugh out loud multiple times. So take a look, and hopefully you’ll find something new and fun to read! (Disclosure: Amazon links are affiliate links.)
Any book on this list I loved at the time I read it, whether I had a chance to write a long review or not. Obviously a re-read years later might reveal a problematic aspect I didn’t pick up on back then. Please let me know via my contact form if you find something yikes in a book I recommend.
Sweet on the Greek by Talia Hibbert (Amazon / Goodreads)
Note: This book has been retitled “The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco” on Amazon, but not on all other retailers, and libraries likely have the older title.
I had SUCH a good time with this M/F romance between a just-retired bi Greek footballer (soccer, to us Americans) and a black plus-size British tattoo artist. Nik Christou falls in love with stunning Aria Granger at first sight, but he has literally zero game for actually dating anyone. So he comes up with a seriously terrible plan: paying Aria to pose as his girlfriend at a week-long house party vacation with his former teammates. Why would he need a fake girlfriend? Um… to keep other people out of his bed? It seems bizarre that Aria falls for it, if you haven’t met Nik, but omg this guy is so lovably clueless that it’s a believable cover story. Antics ensue, but Aria has serious trust issues, and Nik is legit in love with her but lying to her… yeah, that’s going to end well. It’s hilarious to watch Nik stumble around like a dork, Aria is amazing, and I was – as always – deeply grateful to Hibbert for how she writes care and consent in sexual relationships.
If you like this, you should also check out Hibbert’s book The Princess Trap (Amazon / Goodreads). It was often very funny as well, though it ended up in much deeper and more emotional waters as it went on. I really enjoyed it, and BONUS – both the hero and heroine are bi.
Something Like Love by Christina C. Jones (Amazon / Goodreads)
I wish I could figure how to send cupcakes through Twitter, because I would send one to the gal who recommended this to me. (I’ve already said thank you, but it doesn’t feel like enough!)
It’s an M/F opposites-attract Black romance where both leads are bi, so for this bi gal who loves to read more diversely, this checked so many boxes! And it was freakin’ hilarious.
Eddie is a tattoo artist who prefers his partners corporate slick. Astrid is a smoothie-drinking yoga instructor and graphic designer who’s convinced Eddie wants to sleep with her. Eddie thinks Astrid is imagining things. But he’s also getting a strange feeling that it’s time to break out of his comfort zone a little in life, so he takes a step into Astrid’s world, and then another… and two people who swear up and down they don’t want a relationship suddenly realize what they’re doing looks an awful lot like one.
Totally fun and amusing without sacrificing emotional depth between the two main characters. Superb handling of stereotypes about bisexuals. And I think I pulled a muscle laughing during Eddie’s battle of insults in the barber shop, and again when his mother read him the riot act about keeping his sister’s secrets. Love Eddie and Astrid together, especially when they snark at each other.
Content warnings: explicit biphobia from a date, community members, and from multiple family members.
The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho (Amazon / Goodreads)
Set in 1920s London, this sex-positive novella isn’t quite a romance, but it’s a love story with plot beats and an HEA that will please romance readers. Jade Yeo is a Malaysian writer who came to London seeking adventure, but hasn’t yet found it when our story begins. It’s told through entries from her diary, which are scathingly funny at times, especially when she’s messing with her rich Aunt Iris. Jade’s friend Ravi, a magazine editor, offers to pay her for a cutting review of the new book by literary darling Sebastian Hardie. Jade and Hardie meet and end up sleeping together with Hardie’s wife’s blessing, which is the kind of educational adventure Jade was hoping for from her London experience… except that Jade finds she’s more concerned than she predicted about Ravi’s feelings about it.
After our heroine faces great peril (or at least oppressive boredom), female friendship saves the day, and all ends as it should. Great fun to read.
The Pursuit Of… by Courtney Milan (Amazon / Goodreads)
Milan says this delightful novella is “about a love affair between two men and the Declaration of Independence.” John, a Black American soldier who leaves the army after being injured at Yorktown, and Henry, a white British aristocrat officer who went AWOL, go on a road trip to find out the fate of John’s sister and her husband back in Rhode Island.
I don’t understand how Milan packed so much into such a short space: John unabashedly challenging Henry’s ignorance and privilege, unpacking the impact on Henry of his undiagnosed ADD (my best guess) and his family’s horrible treatment of him because of it, a tender falling-in-love story, and amazingly funny conversations about terrible cheese. Actual cheese, which Henry carries around in his pack. It’s like a master class in combining banter with real emotion, politics with comedy, and building characters who learn and grow. Loved it.
A Pint of Beer, A Bag of Chips, and Thou by JL Merrow (Amazon / Goodreads)
One of my comfort re-reads.
“What’s the best gift a young, single man could receive for Christmas? Mohawked punk Liam wouldn’t have picked the hideous collection of homemade knitwear he’s presented with by his well-meaning mum and aunties. He’d much rather have the gorgeous older man he sees every day while busking at King’s Cross station. Liam’s been doing his best to seduce the guy with his saxophone playing — the trouble is, he’s beginning to despair of his message getting through. But with a little Christmas magic in the air, maybe those garish garments will be just the thing for attracting the attention of a silver fox…”
And that’s the list!