1 week Ago By Anna Bonet
Emily Henry has become the undisputed queen of the modern romcom. With bestselling novels like Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers, she has won over millions of readers with her whip-smart characters and emotionally rich love stories.Her books consistently top charts and dominate BookTok, cementing her place as one of the most beloved voices in contemporary romance.
But which romantic comedies does the romcom queen herself turn to for inspiration, comfort, and joy? Here, Henry shares her five favourites.if(window.adverts) { window.
adverts.addToArray({"pos": "inread-hb-ros-inews"}); }The Hating Game by Sally Thorne “I love that so many new romance readers discover their obsession for the genre via this brilliant book. It’s about Josh and Lucy, two coworkers who hate each other, competing for the same promotion (and sharing an office in the meantime).
I found it so playful, bright, and clever.“Reading Thorne’s books always gives me the feeling of walking into a nicely air-conditioned sweet shop on a sweltering summer day. There are borderline slapstick paragraphs right alongside heart-swelling, tears-in-your-eyes sentences, and I’m honestly not sure which she does better.
This feels like one of the classic romantic comedies and it’s one to read and re-read.”Piatkus, £9.99Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan “This is a delightfully meta, heart-squeezing, face-heating love story about two audiobook narrators paired together to record a famous romance novelist’s final book.
It’s ridiculously romantic, with fully drawn characters and charming shades of You’ve Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner, while also feeling like something that’s never been done before.if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }“It’s sexy, funny, and moving all at once. I read it three or four years ago and still think about it all the time.
The best part is that Whelan herself narrates the audiobook version, which is a total treat. It was definitely one of my favourite books of that year.”Avon, £9.
99A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams “This is a book that is funny, sexy and breathtakingly romantic, all while being a magical ode to New York. It is centred on Ricki Wilde, an artist in a family of businesspeople, none of whom understand her desire to succeed on her own terms or her passion for crafting bespoke floral arrangements.“When an opportunity to open a flower shop in Harlem arises, Ricki pounces on the chance.
As she falls in love with her new life and home, she keeps crossing paths with a mysterious man: a musician she feels an inexplicable pull to, despite all of his secrets and idiosyncrasies. I adored this sensual, passionate genre-bender of a love story and know it’ll stay with me forever.”Quercus, £9.
99Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane “Mhairi McFarlane’s ability to encapsulate complicated friendships and relationships is incredible. She’s an astute of observer of human nature who has a distinct and singular viewpoint that makes every book she writes unputdownable for me. In Last Night, we follow Eve, who has always been in love with her friend Ed, another member of an inseparable foursome of friends.
She thinks, wonders and hopes that maybe he’s in love with her too.“Before she has a chance to find out, though, tragedy strikes and everything she thought she knew—about Ed, about her friends, about herself—is thrown into question. As she’s dealing with the fallout, someone surprising from her past reenters the picture, and her initial impressions of him might’ve been just as far off as impressions of her friend group.
McFarlane’s writing is at turns poignantly heartbreaking and, at others, genuinely hilarious.”if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }HarperFiction, £7.99Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan “Truly, one of the most poignant love stories I’ve read over the past few years, and a book full of healing as well as delightfully swoony, steamy moments.
It’s a second-chance romance between recently divorced (and co-parenting) Yasmen and Josiah.“The writing itself is evocative and lyrical, and the characters of Yas and Si are so fully realized, their hurts and their joys palpable. Ryan’s books always feel like a dose of real life on the page: the most painful parts pressed up next to the wonderful times that make everything worth it.
If you’re looking for stories full of yearning, start here.”Piatkus, £9.99Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry is published by Viking, £20.
