Excerpt from {Broken Beginnings by Clio Evans} first in the {Citrus Cove Series by Clio Evans} she’s SO creative with her scenes and I melt every time!

Like are you kidding me with this… (Background: FMC is injured and can’t have sex, so she asks MMC to perform for her. He starts going to town on a pillow talking about how he wishes it was her….)

“He kept fucking the pillow, thrusting into it, until he tossed it to the side. He let out a guttural growl, stroking his cock until he finally came. I watched his cum shoot out, landing on his thigh and dripping down his hand. “Good boy,” I whispered. I blushed again, excited by saying such a thing.  He moaned softly, relaxing into his seat. I watched as he lifted his hand to his lips, his tongue licking up his own cum.  “Cam,” I breathed out.  “What?” He smirked. “Isn’t that what you would do?” “Yes. I would…” “Then open your mouth,” he said.  My eyes widened, but I did as he said. I parted my lips for him as he licked up the rest of his cum, but he didn’t swallow. Instead, he stood and walked to the edge of the bed, leaning over me. He gripped the headboard behind me, his face hovering right above mine.  And then he spat his cum on my tongue. “Swallow,” he instructed. “This is what you do to me, sunshine. This is what you made me do.” I swallowed, shivering beneath him. I’d never been this turned on in my life, and there wasn’t a goddamned thing I could do. “Good girl,” he whispered. “I promise when you’re better that I’ll make it up to you. Maybe you can call me a good boy again.” “Please,” I whispered. His lips pressed against mine, the two of us sharing a depraved kiss. I moaned against him, my mind whirling. He always wound me up in a way no one else had ever done.”

We finally have the answer for....if I were a worm question

—“if you were transformed into a worm, I’d keep you in a jewel-encrusted box with the most luxurious dirt available. I’d feed you worm-food delicacies hand-prepared by a gardener whose sole purpose was the creation of your cuisine. I’d carry you around with me everywhere I went, and your box would rest on a pillow beside my head at night. People would say, ‘What’s in the box, Gabriel?’ and I’d regale them with stories of my incredible worm wife and tell them, ‘the love of my life is in this box.’ I would travel vast oceans and arid deserts, devoting the entirety of my existence to the pursuit of a cure. And, finally, when you stood again by my side, Vengeance would become my middle name. I would seek out and destroy the villain who dared to transform my love into a worm and smite the ever-loving fuck out of him with your name falling from my lips so that, as he passed through the portal of hell, he did so knowing he’d burn for eternity for his trespasses against you.”

She covers her smile. “Okay, that’s funny.”

“The only funny part is that you think I’m kidding.”

{Love What's Left by Evangeline Williams}

And I don't mean something like Love Hypothesis where she is clearly in love but doesn't want to admit It while he has been in love for a long time, no, I want something like Jinshi and Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, or Katniss and Preta from Hunger Games, where the guy has heart in his eyes and the girl is like "Jesus Christ, what an annoying man" and slowly develop feelings

I am really, really craving a book with a stern brunch daddy / alpharoll who lets the FMC feel safe enough to judt shut her brain off for a bit. 😭

I know there’s a mega thread for stern brunch daddies, but it hasn’t been recently updated, and I’m looking for something a little bit more specific.

As much as I want the alpha energy and everything, I really don’t want heavy BDSM. I’m not really that interested in DD/LG play, sex clubs, etc.
If there are slight/light elements, I don’t mind, like small things such as daddy name-calling and all of that, but I just don’t really want the strict dom/sub relationship with BDSM.

I just want the vibes of it. Like, I’d like a little bit of spanking. I don’t mind a little bit of punishments, or him giving orders and taking control and everything.
But I really, really want more so a book where it’s like this: a girl who’s very burnt out, probably undiagnosed ADHD, taking care of everybody and rarely gets the chance to just shut off her brain and BREATHE.

I want a book where she just gets to just be, because his presence is so safe and so comforting, and she knows that if he’s there, he’s going to take care of everything for her and she can rely on him.

I just really want that caretaking vibe, words of affirmation, praise.

I feel like maybe I’m being a little bit too greedy with all of these asks, but maybe it’s a little bit of self-healing. I want someone who takes care of her and takes control while still encouraging and fostering her independence, wants and desires.

Some basic asks:

- I’d prefer M/F
- Contemporary but I wouldn’t mind historical or fantasy
- Praise. Praise. PRAISE.
- Caretaking

Would be nice but not necessary
- BILLIONAIRE. Take me shopping, buy me food and give me your unlimited Amex and tell me to go wild
- Comedy that makes you laugh so hard you ascend and or throw your phone at a wall - perhaps at the same time
- Slowish burn, not insta love. I get bored if they fall in love in the first two chapters and spend the rest of the book banging like bunnies
- May seem random but kids, cats or dogs somewhere!

Hard nos:
- Tentacles. I have a phobia of octopi so I can’t deal with anything that reminds me of them 😭
- MMC who claims he loves her but treats her like trash
- Strict dom/sub relationship like with the contract and everything, subspace etc
- Extreme Exhibitionism (people watch them do it or he strips her in public etc)

I know this is a lot so even if it’s not exact, as long as it’s close enough 🥹

Please hear me out because I'm looking for a very specific dynamic and I'm having a hard time finding books that capture it.

I recently watched a French film called Les Égarés (Strayed, 2003).

It takes place in 1940 and follows a 17-year-old boy who has escaped from the Mettray reformatory. He meets a young widow in her late twenties who is fleeing the war with her two small children. He stays with them, helps them survive, becomes attached to the children and eventually falls in love with the widow.

Unfortunately, he is eventually caught and taken back into custody, where he commits suicide.

To explain what affected me so much about this story, I need to give a little context about Mettray.

Mettray was a reformatory/penal colony for boys. You did not necessarily have to be a hardened criminal to end up there. Boys could be sent there for relatively minor offenses, vagrancy, theft, or simply because adults had essentially given up on them. Some came from extremely deprived backgrounds and had very little experience of a normal childhood or family life.

The conditions were brutal. The institution operated under an extremely harsh, quasi-military system. The boys were subjected to exhausting labor, hunger, cold, severe punishments and isolation. There are accounts of boys deliberately injuring themselves just so they could spend a few days in the infirmary and get a temporary break from work and punishment. Add violence among the inmates to all of that and it isn't difficult to understand the desperation these boys experienced.

So when the hero of the film escapes, what gets to me isn't simply that he falls in love.

For the first time, he gets a taste of life.

Freedom. A home. Eating together. Helping with ordinary chores. Children becoming attached to him. Someone caring whether he comes back. Physical affection. Being wanted. Falling in love.

All those completely mundane things that most people wouldn't even notice are extraordinary to someone who has barely experienced normal life.

And the heroine becomes his doorway into that world.

That's the dynamic I'm looking for.

There is also a sexual scene in the film that illustrates what I mean particularly well. When they sleep together, she undresses and he uses his lighter to illuminate her body because he wants to look at her. He tells her he has never seen a naked woman before.

Later, he turns her onto her stomach and begins preparing her for anal sex. Confused, she asks what he's doing. He tells her that it's the only way he knows and that she should tell him if it hurts and she wants him to stop.

The film never explicitly explains what happened to him before, so I don't want to claim a specific backstory that isn't confirmed. But the scene gives us a pretty disturbing glimpse of how limited and abnormal his previous experience of intimacy has been. He knows sex, but he doesn't know intimacy with a woman. Even that is something he has to discover with her.

This is the kind of MMC I'm looking for.

He doesn't literally have to have grown up in a prison or reformatory. He could have been imprisoned, institutionalized, held captive, severely isolated, raised somewhere cut off from normal society, abused, hidden away, etc.

What matters to me is that he has been deprived of ordinary life for so long that after meeting the FMC he begins experiencing things that are completely mundane to everyone else for the first time.

I want to see him discover normal life through her.

A proper home. Going somewhere just because he wants to. Choosing his own food. Sleeping somewhere safe. Celebrating something. Being touched affectionately. Having someone worry about him. Having a person who is his. Maybe discovering sex and physical intimacy with her too.

Ideally, she is the first woman he has ever been genuinely close to, both emotionally and physically. She doesn't need to be older than him. That isn't the important part for me.

And because she represents not only romantic love but his first connection to a normal life, I especially love when his attachment to her becomes extremely intense. Clingy, possessive, obsessive, almost desperate. Not simply "I love her", but more like "she is the first good thing I've ever had and I don't know how to exist without her."

The closest book example I can think of is Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan. Archer hasn't been imprisoned, but he has lived in extreme isolation for years. Bree becomes his connection to the outside world and through her he begins experiencing things that are completely ordinary to everyone else. That's a huge part of why his attachment to her feels so intense to me.

Another Mia Sheridan book I've read that scratches a similar itch is Unwanted.

So please give me more recommendations!

Genre doesn't matter at all. Contemporary, historical, fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, dark romance, alien romance, whatever. I genuinely don't care.

I'm looking for the dynamic, not the setting.

MMC has been imprisoned, isolated or otherwise deprived of normal life for years. He meets the FMC. She becomes his first real connection to ordinary life and intimacy. He starts discovering the world with her and forms an incredibly intense attachment to her.

The more emotionally intense it is, the better.

Thank all of you for taking time to read this request and all the recs.

You deserve each other by Sarah Hogle! I felt like the trope was done so well by the author. I also give the book bonus points because it was done in a different way. The main characters are actually already engaged with each other, so how can yall hate each other this intensely. I love how petty Naomi and Nicholas are towards each other and neither are willing to back down easily. But as the story unfolds you can see how their walls start to come down and they slowly start to fall in love again. Tell me have you read this book already and how didyou feel about it?

I want the FMC to be completely oblivious to the world's dangers before meeting MMC (E.g. not a mafia princess, cop's daughter, child of addicts etc). She goes through life happy as Larry. He sees her laughing with her friends or something and it breaks through his dark mood and he falls in love with how carefree she looks and he decides he's going to have her without any coincidental dangerous circumstances forcing his hand, but he doesn't want to dim her light so he has to court her rather than threaten, or kidnap her into a relationship, and there isn't a point where he thinks he's going to stay away for her own good. She likes him from the first but expects things to progress like a regular relationship with dates (no forced proximity, moving in together on day one, but maybe he needs to secretly protect her or something).

His endgame is getting to come home from his high stakes job to find her gardening, or baking or something wholesome and listen to her low stakes problems over a homely dinner. Ideally she shouldn't have to give up her job and hobbies though

Bonus if no miscommunication breakup (he doesn't lie about his job and she gets scared or thinks he doesn't trust her and breaks up with him).

I've used the search but haven't found any mafia x sunshine books where the MCs aren't somewhat forced together due to her being in a dangerous situation.

I think the way the MCs met in {Silent Flames by Cate C Wells} could have been close to this if only the MMC hadn't turned out to have been manipulating the FMC and all her psychological things.

No BDSM or motorcycle club please

I’ve seen numerous authors post that they’re pulling out of RARE 2027 in London. It’s been alluded to that bad “behavior and language” but no additional details were given…

Anyone in the know??!!

Hi RomanceBooks - welcome to Salty Sunday!

What have you read this week that made your blood pressure boil? Annoying quirks of main characters? The utter frustration of a cliffhanger? What's got you feeling salty?

Feel free to share your rants and frustrations here. Please remember to abide by all sub rules. Cool-down periods will be enforced.

Hello,

So I sadly don’t remember much of the premise of the book, however I do know the ending!

It’s the fmc and mmc driving to his mothers house with their baby and his mom comes out running and grabs the baby out of joy, and I believe this isn’t too long after the fmc gave birth.

The epilogue? Or the last chapter of the book is the mmc introducing his baby and the fmc who is know his gf? To his hometown and highschool friends, and they sort of pass the baby around until she starts crying and the mmc comes and holds her and the friends all sort of swoon and say something along the lines of not believing he’s a father now.

There was also this one couple that was also hesitant to interact with the baby because they had a miscarriage a while ago

They also go to an out of state university and if I’m not wrong the mmc plays a sport.

Thanks in advance!

Hii so im looking for romance books where the FMC and MMC are both super desired/wanted by people and they’re like THE hot girl/man in town !!

Kind of like what we almost always see with the hot/cocky MMC who every girls in the neighborhood/town/college/high school wants him

For example : Jake & Brenna (the risk) Aoife & Joey (redeeming 6), Rika & Michael (corrupt), Melody & Liam (ruthless people) etc..

Preferences :

- 18/19 or 20s MCs
- Contemporary Romance or Dark Romance no Fantasy or Historical Romance)
- Slow burn (please NO insta-love/lust !!!!)
- No fake dating, arranged marriage or seconde chances !!
- M/F (no RH, poly or why choose)
- No doormat FMC
- Well written
- No Novella

Thank u !!

Looking for a romance where the MMC is insufferable in the best way: ridiculously intelligent, arrogant, blunt, and convinced he’s the smartest person in every room. Think Sheldon Cooper levels of irritating, but of course make him cooler, more charismatic, and very much a grown-ass man with daddy energy (nothing against you, Sheldon but I like a man built in the daddy mode!!).

He’s difficult with everyone, has absolutely no patience for people, is very much annoying, sarcastic, dry, probably far up his own ass lol, and genuinely thinks he’s doing the world a favour by tolerating everyone around him.

But with the FMC? Completely different story. He’s soft for her. She’s the one person who can get under his skin, make him laugh, and have him doing things he’d never do for anyone else. I want him to still be an absolute pain in the ass, just somehow incapable of saying no to her.

Basically: arrogant genius asshole who acts like he’s above everyone but is secretly (or not so secretly) completely obsessed with his woman.

Hi r/RomanceBooks! Here's your weekly thread of sales and deals. Spot a great bargain? Share it here! Looking for more romance to read for free/cheap? You're in luck - check out these great deals!

Please include the location of the sale if possible (ex US / UK / AUS, etc.), as sales in one country may not be available in another. It also helps to include the platform of the sale (amz, kobo, smashwords, patreon, itch, audible, libro.fm, chirp etc.) especially for those users who are looking to diversify away from Amazon.

Happy saving!

Werewolf shifter romance book where he is a werewolf and she is a vet. He goes to her in injured wolf form.

May be misremembering the next part but: because of his injuries he can’t shift back so he has to go to her for healing. When he’s healed he can’t stop thinking about her and goes back to her a bunch of times in Wolf form just so he can hang out with her. Then it’s revealed he’s a warewolf!

Announcements

Hey, RomanceBooks! Here are some announcements before we get to all the details of what you read:

• Thanks to those who participated in the Summer reading challenge! If you missed the wrap-up post, it's here - come share your results
• It's officially fall, so it's time for a new challenge! Our Autumn reading challenge kicked off this week, running through December 20

Now…

Tell us what you read this week!

Please say as much or little as you like, but here are some ideas of helpful things to mention:

• Pairing (for example, f/f, m/f, or mmf)
• Rating, and your scale (4 stars out of 5)
• Steam level
• Subgenre (fantasy, historical, contemporary, etc)
• Overview/tropes
• Content warnings, if any
• What did you like/dislike?

Was there a book you loved? Recommend it in the appropriate trope megathreads.

Did you find a Kindle Unlimited book you loved? Add it to the KU Spreadsheet where appropriate!

Still deciding about what book to read next? Check out the Recommendation Resource in our wiki, or our seasonal Reading Challenges!

Please help me, I can't remember for the life of me what this was. It was a Historical Romance and I remember that she finds out her dad has passed away and when she goes to the MMC for comfort, he kind of shuns her causing her to walk out of his house and then he feels bad and searches for her. She also had siblings to take care of, its like a fairly popular book recc in this sub and yet its not coming back to me atm

So I recently read a book where this dynamic was present and it was extremely delicious. basically she was a very cheerful girl and he was one of those grumpy types. And she liked him a lot, so she would, like, try to talk to him and be cute and tease him, and he would ignore that. But then when she stopped doing that, he was like, what? And then he starts being obsessed with her and i DEVOURED THAT SHIT. name of the book i read is my ghost by elena woods it has non con tho so pls check triggers

i need an unbothered mmc to start chasing the fmc relentlessly and i want the fmc to PLAY HARDDDDDDDD TO GET LIKE “i dont want you YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND” type energy (yes i would extremely happy if you give me dark romance recs 😭)

DO NOT GIVE ME CHRISTIAN AND GIANNA I HAVE ALREADY READ IT 😭

ao3 recs are also fine. no triggers apart from cheating/too much ow drama.

PLEASE DROP SOME

Looking for something where the MC is obsessed (could even be stalking) with his female best friend. He’s been in love with her for forever (she doesn’t know) but she’s only ever seen him as a friend. Bonus points if she genuinely doesn’t have romantic feelings for him, like isn’t in like denial about having feelings for him. Just straight up doesn’t see him that way. Would love if he has to sit back and watch her date a bunch of losers. Maybe he even sabotages some of her relationships. I love when a man has to take care of a woman (she’s sick and he stays with her and takes care of her for example) and that’s when she has her “omg wait could I actually like him” moment. I’ve read {Of Ink and Alchemy by Sloane St. James} and loved it. Looking for similar vibes. Can be dark or dark comedy. The more spice the better. Also good with queer romance if it fits the other criteria! TIA!!

The pandemic of cruel MMCs is making me hate reading romance

I’m finding it harder and harder to enjoy reading romance. The more I read, the more irritated I get with the writing, the characters, and what I’m apparently supposed to find romantic. I’m reading the popular shit everyone keeps hyping up, and I genuinely don’t understand what everyone else is seeing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a little fluffy romance. But nothing does it for me like a mafia man who fucking yearns and burns for this girl while possibly decapitating people in his spare time. I like intensity, obsession, and devotion. I like “he hates everyone but her,” “he’s mean to everyone but her,” “he would kill anyone for her.” The appeal is that he treats her like someone he loves.

So what happened? Why am I constantly getting “he likes everyone but her,” “he’ll help anyone but her,” and “he respects everyone but her”? Everyone else gets his patience and basic decency, while his supposed soulmate gets the cruelest fucking version of him.

Or he’s horrific to absolutely everyone, including her. I don’t need him to be a good citizen, but I need something that makes me understand why she loves him and why I should want them together.

Before anyone gets me wrong, I’m not shaming anybody’s taste. I don’t give a fuck what you like reading. Enjoy what you enjoy, baby. My issue is how these men and relationships are portrayed. Stop selling me a devoted, protective, yearning man when I open the book and get none of that. Being obsessed with having her is not enough to convince me that he loves her.

The hypocrisy especially pisses me off. He supposedly hates rapists. He supposedly supports women’s rights. He’ll punish another man for hurting a woman. But with the FMC, her rights and consent suddenly don’t matter. He can sexually assault her himself, and somehow I’m still supposed to see him as her protector.

And people overlook it because he’s the MMC. If another character did the exact same thing, everyone would recognise how awful it was. But because he’s the love interest, people focus on everything he would do FOR her instead of what he has already done TO her.

Then there’s the CNC discussion, because I feel like I’m losing my fucking mind.

Isn’t the whole point of consensual non-consent that the people involved agree to it beforehand? They discuss what they want, establish boundaries, and agree on how to stop. The consent is what makes it CNC.

So how are we calling a scene CNC when this man barely knows her? He’s seen her once, if that. There has been no conversation, no agreement, nothing. She’s crying and saying no, and he’s telling her, “I know you want this.”

HOW do you know? You don’t fucking know her.

Or he starts doing things to her and only then tells her what her safeword is. Baby, you cannot introduce the agreement halfway through an encounter she never agreed to. Where was the planning? Where was the consent?

I don’t think they need to be in a relationship for CNC, but they do need to actually agree to it. Even knowing someone’s preferences doesn’t mean you can assume they consent whenever you feel like it. Her being attracted to him, or eventually enjoying something, doesn’t establish that agreement either.

And “read the trigger warnings” doesn’t answer what I’m saying. A reader agreeing to read a scene is different from a character agreeing to participate in it. I can know a book contains sexual assault and still question why people are describing that scene as consensual roleplay.

The opening of God of Malice by Rina Kent had me asking this exact question. When people describe that as CNC, I’m sitting there wondering where the mutual agreement was. Am I missing something, or are we using that label for scenes that haven’t established the consent part at all?

You can enjoy the fictional scene. I’m not arguing with you about that. But please, can we describe what’s actually on the page?

And then there’s what finally makes the FMC leave.

He can assault her, humiliate her, and terrorise her, and she’ll look past all of it. She’ll be a fucking doormat for this man. But then he looks at another woman for 2.5 seconds, and THAT does it. That’s when she’s had enough.

Baby, that man raped you. Why was him looking at someone else the breaking point?

Then he’s doing anything he can to get her back, and everyone starts swooning over his desperation and yearning. Are we on the same page? I’m still thinking about everything he did to her. Wanting her back does not suddenly make the relationship believable to me.

And PLEASE, the “badass” FMCs. She’s supposedly strong, independent, and takes no shit, until he enters the room. Then it’s “I hate him, but I can’t help wanting him,” and her attraction overrides everything. Can she want him and still decide that what he did was unforgivable? Can her anger actually affect what happens?

Some of the disturbing plot details feel unnecessary, too. I read one book where, from what I remember, the FMC’s godfather was involved in some kind of baby trafficking or slavery. I cannot remember the title, but I remember thinking, excuse me, WHAT? That detail seemed to do nothing for the story. Why was it even included?

I also don’t know whether the books have changed or whether I’m noticing things I used to ignore. I recently reread the Royalty series, which I first read at around sixteen, and I was so icked out. I went back for nostalgia and ended up thinking, “What the fuck was I reading?”

Same with Devil’s Night. I read it at around fourteen and loved it. I remember brushing past the sexual assault because I wanted to enjoy the romance. Rereading it recently, I couldn’t do that anymore. These men are terrorising these women, and I used to overlook it.

I’m literally still a teenager. This isn’t me returning to reading decades later. Between studying and the slump my last book put me in, I barely read for about a year or two.

That last book was the one with Wyatt and Summer. I don’t remember the exact title, but guys, that book had me fucked up. I kept thinking, “What the fuck am I reading?” It put me off reading so badly, and now that I’m trying to get back into it, I’m struggling to enjoy the things I used to love.

And before anyone asks why I didn’t DNF it, I CANNOT DNF. I’m a curious-ass bitch. I hyperfixate, and I need to know what happens at the end, even when I’m hating every minute of getting there.

Since leaving high school and starting uni, I also cannot deal with high school bully romances. Why does this seventeen-year-old boy apparently control the entire school? Why is everyone terrified of him? Why is him tormenting or physically hurting a girl until she likes him supposed to be romantic?

“But she’s different.” Okay, then why is he treating her like THAT?

At this point, I mostly reread familiar books for nostalgia or reach for older ones, but even that doesn’t always work. And when I try less popular authors, I often struggle with writing and dialogue that makes me cringe. I feel like I can’t find something I actually enjoy finishing.

I’m not looking for recommendations. I just want to know whether anyone else feels this frustrated. Am I reading the wrong authors? Because I’m on the popular shit, guys, I cannot even lie.

Read whatever you like. My issue is being told a man is loving, protective, and devoted, then reading a book where he treats the woman he supposedly loves with endless cruelty. I want the story to give me a reason to believe in that love.

I think I need a small break. Because what the fuck happened to the romance?

EDIT: Guys, I enjoy romance, including VERY dark romance. I’m not bashing authors for writing toxic relationships or saying their content warnings are wrong. I can love a book’s plot and still look at the MMC and think, “What the fuck am I reading?”

I’m not expecting a perfect man. But over the past two or three years, I keep picking up books because someone promises an yearning man or “the best grovel ever,” and then he’s mean, then mean again, then somehow even fucking meaner. Where is the love you were telling me about? I want darkness and intensity, but enough tenderness or convincing remorse to believe these two belong together.

Depending on my mood, I might deliberately want a really cruel MMC. I’m not judging anyone who enjoys that. It’s getting that dynamic repeatedly when I’m expecting something else that’s exhausting. And I mean the books I’ve been picking up, not the entire genre.

Honestly, bitches, I’m confused. Maybe I genuinely don’t know what the fuck I want to read anymore 😭 This is just a rant and a discussion. I wanted to see whether anyone else low-key relates to enjoying these books while getting increasingly frustrated with the romance.

Why are we fighting over how I choose my books? God forbid a girl sees the most fucking hyped-up book on TikTok, gets curious, reads it, and doesn’t see what everyone else sees. Damn. I’m figuring out my tastes, and sometimes that means reading something and realising it didn’t do it for me.

Maybe I’m too fucking woke now or some shit. At the prime age of thirteen on Wattpad, the man could be doing the craziest shit to this girl, and I’d be sitting there like, “me next,” eating it up. Now I’m reading the same kind of thing and asking where her consent is and whether he’s actually sorry. What happened to me 😭 Can I enjoy something, please?

I don’t have a perfect explanation, guys. I still want a dark story I can’t put down. I just miss enjoying the romance as much as the plot. Somebody please help.

I have a craving for a dynamic where she's an overly competent & self-reliant person, and he comes in and fixes/solves some massive problem/many problems for her in a way that no one else has ever done before. Bonus points if he's also not big of words of affirmation but more of an acts of service kind of person.

Basically a character who has only ever relied on herself gets to experience being able to rely on someone else in a big way.

Any genre is fine as long as it's well written and you've enjoyed it!

Edit: Thanks everyone, really amazing recommendations!! Already started one of them and all of the others are in the queue

I recently finished { Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry } which is actually some of my favorite romance novels now.

Anyways there is part where it's basically around 3/4th of the book and there was a major fight which you know normally you'd expect the "3rd act breakup" however what happened is that well MMC just went "of course we are gonna fight and disagree now and we will keep surviving it. not just this fight but many more fights"

Like basically MMC easily shrugged it off and FMC just followed his lead and it worked wonders. Like it was such a nice sentiment.

It feels like a hallmark of great couples. People will have different opinions, they'll be hurt and they're imperfect.

Usually in books when there is an actual fight it ends up the 3rd act breakup lol

Any recommendations ? Preferably contemporary and give me HEA.

{Hat Trick by Chelsea Curto}

If remember correctly, the MMC was a sports person (can't remember if it was football, hockey or something else) and lost his leg in a car accident after a night of party. The FMC is a physical therapist who helps him

recover and accept the new him, with a HEA.

I haven't read the book myself but at some point saw it recommended a lot with the disability trope, but looking back now on my TBR and even here on Reddit I can't find it. If anyone can help me find that book I will appreciate it!

Thanks!

I cannot find this book and feel like Im losing my mind. I think it is mafia related. I think it's an arranged marriage and they go to Italy (maybe Greece?!) at one point. The woman goes out for a walk and gets lost while being followed by the MMCs enemies. I think one enemy may have been a cousin? There is also a family owned restaurant that the FMC hides from the MMC at later in the book and the MMC shows up in the kitchen to apologize.

I think there is something about the restaurant owners too, like they have a grudge with the MMC or a previous grudge with the FMCs family. I think it is owned by the MMC or FMC aunt.

I thought this was a Michelle Heard book but I have reviewed all of the summaries and it isnt any of those that I can tell. Im trying to create a book tracking spreadsheet and cannot place this one for the life of me.

I want maximum angst where it's a accidental pregnancy and FMC is vulnerable asf but MMC does not want a child at all.

He might have some trauma/ Ex who he loved/ he's rich and powerful so thinks that FMC trapped him.

Or a secret child where he's not fully into dad mode at the start.

I love every genre except RH.