Everyone loves a light-hearted romance with their flirty moments and slightly outlandish meet-cutes, gushy feels. But sometimes, we want to go another layer deeper. Sure, we still want our MC’s to end up together, but we also want to see them grapple with their profession, content with their mental health and deal with the polarity of grief and new love. This list dives into a corner of rom-coms where they still deliver on the humorous moments brought to you by love, but also are striving to say more about life and identity while we watch the two characters grow towards one another.

Bad Words by Ríoghnach Robinson

Parker Navarro was hoping for a career defining moment with his debut novel, but that was all ruined by Selina Chan’s appalling review that turned it into a flop. Four years later, Parker has a chance at redemption with his new book. However, as a professional, Selina can’t pass up the opportunity to review him again. Both of their lives quickly shift when Selina lands, yet again, another bad review. But while the literary community is obsessing over their public bickering, something private begins to bubble–something that will challenge everything they previously knew about success, honesty, and each other.

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The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren

Scientist Emery Finch did something completely unlike herself three years ago: she got married. Luca–an incredibly charming landscaper–succeeded in making her laugh and dance and feel. But now Emery is overtaken with her research, causing her to miss dinners and anniversaries while she convinces herself Luca will understand once her discoveries fall into place. Until something horrible happens: a fatal accident takes Luca. Using her classified technology, Emery bends every rule in a desperate attempt to bring him back to life. But there’s a problem: Luca can’t seem to remember her. At all. Now Emery has a shot at a second chance, and this time, she won’t take it for granted.

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How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

Still coping with the tragic accident, Helen Zhang and Grant Shepard haven’t seen each other in thirteen years. Now that she’s a bestselling author, Helen puts her all into her career, especially since her popular YA novels are being made into a TV adaptation. As long as she can overcome her imposter syndrome and writer’s block, Helen believes everything will be alright. Being in LA is just what she needs. She doesn’t know anyone there except for… Grant. Grant, who has moved on from the past the best he knows how to, has made a life across the country. He’s done well for himself as an admired screenwriter, but his panic attacks still haven’t quite left him. He knows it’s a bad idea to work on Helen’s show, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. They’re exactly as they remember each other, but working together is complicated yet somehow exhilarating. As secrets are revealed, the two of them must confront their past as well as their love story.

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Passion Project by London Sperry

Bennet Taylor is failing miserably at making her twenties the best years of her life. As a temp worker in New York City, she seems to have no direct path, no future, and no social life. And to top it all off, she’s still grieving the death of her first love. After standing up Henry Adams f0r a first date, she runs into him and makes a booze-infused confession: she can’t date right now. She hasn’t felt passion for something in years anyway, not even pottery or organized sports. Instead of leaving her be, Henry decides to take her out every Saturday to help her find a passion. As friends, obviously. During their “passion project” they do everything from carpentry to rappelling off skyscrapers. And although Bennet can feel her guard drifting away, she still has to decide if she’s genuinely ready to move on.

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Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

With wonderful friends, a loving family, and a flourishing business that puts her in the entertainment industry’s view, Hendrix Barry lives a fantastic life. In fact, she’s living in a real-life vision board. But in the thick of everything, she’s facing a gruesome challenge: taking care of an aging parent. She has no time for romance, and even if she did, she has yet to meet a man on her level–until him. Maverick Bell, a tech mogul, is a walking problem clothed in a beautifully tailored suit and incredible charm. After a stolen glance at a summer party, Hendrix feels that she’s found her man. But she doesn’t fully believe it. Maverick is the last person she can be with, even if he does make her feel seen and wanted. But when he begins deeply pursuing her, Hendrix contemplates on if she can truly let herself have something amazing.

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PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly

Maddie Sanderson’s older brother had a dying wish: scatter his ashes across eight destinations he never had a chance to visit before he died of cancer at twenty-nine. Normally she’d be happy to honor his wish, but in his will, Josh gave her a dreadful partner to help with the journey–Dominic Perry. While Dom was Josh’s best friend, he is also the man who left Maddie heartbroken when she was naïve. But Dom insists they follow Josh’s wishes, and unfortunately, Josh didn’t give Maddie wiggle room to argue. Now the two of them must embark on a trip bridging thousands of miles all while they revisit their complex history along the way. When a shared bed situation occurs because of a snowstorm, Maddie begins to wonder if her brother is matchmaking in his grave. However, she’ll need more than Josh’s ghostly direction to trust Dom again.

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Take Me With You by Steven Rowley

During a thirty-year relationship, Jesse del Ruth witnesses his husband, Norman, rise out of bed one night, walk to the Joshua Tree in their backyard, step into a light beam and then… disappear. Jesse has many questions, but his most profound one is: Will he ever come back? Jesse knew they were going through some complications, but was Norman’s only solution to abandon him? Jesse can’t quite seem to grasp his disappearance, let alone his new reality. When Lally, Norman’s sister, appears on Jesse’s doorstep with a critical request, Norman’s absence becomes even more confusing. With a conspiracy-theorist neighbor, a peculiar man tailing him, and suspicions that he had something to do with Norman’s disappearance, Jesse is beginning to break from pressure. Before he can understand why Norman left everything behind, Jesse must first comprehend what it means to stay.

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Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

Ever since cancer took her best friend from her, Lenny has been in shambles. She avoids her worried parents, the apartment her and her best friend used to share, and the “live again” list of tasks she promised to do to deal with her grief. If she acts like everything is okay, maybe no one will realize she’s falling apart. The only work she can handle right now is short-lived babysitting jobs, and she just landed an amazing one that helps Reese, an overworked single mom, and her daughter Ainsley. But there’s a problem: Miles, Ainsley’s uncle, is always around and is always grumpy. Even worse, he seems to be able to read Lenny like a book. To her surprise, Miles is familiar with grief and offers to help her accomplish everything on her “live again” list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and reconcile with Reese. Lenny is doubtful at first, but she soon realizes that sometimes things must end for new things to begin.

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Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi

Josephine Boateng, or Dr. Jojo, is the intelligent, radiant self-love expert to her thousands of Instagram followers. But when the camera is off, Josephine is struggling with depression and the profound pressures of her career. To make matters worse, her love life is nonexistent because of her unreciprocated crush on Ezra Adelman, her best friend and rom-com dreamboat. When Ezra shows up to his thirtieth birthday party with Josephine’s childhood bully, she realizes it’s finally time to practice what she preaches. Then appears Malcom Waters, the world’s newest literary starlet. However, Malcom would rather stay home than trying to become acquainted with Hollywood. But that’s before he meets Jo, and the two of them immediately recognize their unforgettable chemistry. When Ezra eventually decides he may have deeper feelings for Jo, can the lines of friendship and love between all three of them become real?

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