From swoon-worthy enemies-to-lovers tales to hilarious fake dating romances, these new novels are a must-read for any rom-com lover.

Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao

In this hilarious and whip-smart novel, Zoe Zeng trades in haute couture for HTML when she quits her fancy job at a fashion magazine to work at a better-paying tech start-up. But she quickly realises that surviving in the cutthroat Silicon Valley tech world is not as easy as it seems.

Love, Me by Jessica Saunders

Jessica Saunders’ debut novel is all about love, marriage and second chances. Rachel Miller’s seemingly perfect life turns upside down when decades-old photos of her and a now-famous actor get leaked in the media. With the glaring spotlight now on her, she gets a chance to evaluate her life and answer her life’s biggest what-ifs.

Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend by Emma Alban

This decadent queer Victorian romance is a must-read for Bridgerton fans. Two debutantes, Beth and Gwen, want anything but to seek husbands during the season. While trying to distract themselves from the ritual, the two end up hatching a scheme to set up their widowed parents together What they didn’t account for was unexpectedly falling for each other.

Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker

In this delightful enemies-to-lovers romance, neighbours Gillian and Noah clash about everything under the sun. Their ongoing feud gets heightened when they both enter a gardening contest that both are determined to win by beating the other at any cost. But you know what they say about love and hate, right?

Not Bad For A Girl by Anastasia Ryan

We’ve all had terrible bosses and have struggled with toxic workplaces so it’s safe to say that Anastasia Ryan’s hilarious workplace comedy of errors will resonate with most of us. In the novel, programmer Indiana ‘Ana’ Aaron goes along with her new boss’ misconception that she’s a man to avoid getting thrown out of her remote IT job. The mounting lies and Ana’s budding office romance makes this one unputdownable.

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

This unexpectedly poignant romance focuses on mental health and has a strong emotional core. It follows Aurora, a retired ballerina who is now a dance teacher. To get people off her back about her (non-existent) love life, she invents a Canadian boyfriend based on a handsome hockey player she had met years ago. Her real and pretend life collide when she discovers that the hockey player is the father of one of her students.

Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar

Meghna is faced with the impossible task of planning her best friend and crush’s wedding as his “best man” without letting her feelings show. Grumpy and handsome engineer Karthik wants to put an end to his mother’s relentless matchmaking efforts. Fate leads the two to meet and they decide to get fake engaged to solve each other’s problems. But as is the case in any romance story worth its salt, the line between fake and real gets blurry pretty rapidly.

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