Happy Valentine’s Day everybody! The most cursed day of the year is upon us once again, but instead of being a miserable grump about it, I’ve decided to do a bookish roundup. I figured that most of us have a favourite rom-com (if you say you don’t, stop lying), so I decided to go hunting through the shelves to find book recommendations to go with some of the classics.
Are you a sucker for a good rom-com and looking for your next great read? Then this is the list for you – read on!
When Harry Met Sally
Read: Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
Of course I’m going to kick off this list with my favourite movie of all time: When Harry Met Sally. Harry and Sally are my gold standard for movie couples and I could literally talk for hours about how much I love this movie. (Nora Ephron, please rise from the grave and write my life so I can know true joy.) So, my pick for this movie is Christina Lauren’s Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, a novel about two friends who are definitely not dating and definitely not into each other. Sound familiar?
Buy it here
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Read: Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern
This is technically cheating, since Jules and Michael aren’t a couple, but I love this film so it’s going on the list. Julia Roberts is killer in My Best Friend’s Wedding, where she plays a food critic named Jules who tries to break up the wedding of her best friend and former boyfriend Michael to his girlfriend Kimberly (“Chocolate-covered Kimmy!”). Where Rainbows End, Cecelia Ahern’s will-they-won’t-they novel about two friends who are maybe meant to be together, is a surefire charmer.
Buy it here
Top End Wedding
Read: Top End Girl by Miranda Tapsell
Last year’s delightful rom-com Top End Wedding, in which a young Larrakia woman named Lauren flies home to Darwin to marry her boyfriend Ned and ends up scouring the Northern Territory to find her mother, was co-written, produced and acted by Miranda Tapsell … all while she planned a wedding of her very own! In her upcoming memoir, Top End Girl, Miranda shares her experience of creating a film about life, love and her connection to country while she lived it in real time.
Buy it here
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Read: How (Not) to Ask a Boy to Prom by S. J. Goslee
Honestly, I would probably die for Lara Jean and Peter from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. They’re SO damn cute and I can’t quite bring myself to watch the recently-released sequel in case they break up. We all know the movie is based on Jenny Han’s novel of the same name, but I’ve found another book that sounds just as adorable and involves a similar deal of sister shenanigans in order to get the romance ball rolling: How (Not) to Ask a Boy to Prom by S. J. Goslee.
Buy it here
The Proposal
Read: If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane
It isn’t my favourite movie, I’ll admit, but the plot of The Proposal is something of a beloved fanfiction trope (fake wedding!) and it’s a lot of fun both on the screen and on the page, as proven by Mhairi McFarlane’s novel If I Never Met You. In it, recently dumped Laurie and her handsome colleague Jamie decide to stage the perfect fake romance in order to get some sweet, sweet revenge. You can guess what happens next …
Buy it here
Imagine Me and You
Read: When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
Falling in love with the woman arranging the flowers on your wedding day wasn’t really in Rachel’s life plan, but it’s the kick-off point for the gorgeous rom-com Imagine Me and You, starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey. Fans of this movie should check out Camille Perri’s When Katie Met Cassidy, which features a similar woman on a path of self-discovery and sexual awakening.
Buy it here
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Read: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
Is My Big Fat Greek Wedding the most quotable rom-com of all time? Quite possibly. It gave us so many great lines and nobody who sees it can look at a plate of lamb without hearing Aunt Voula screech “What do you mean you don’t EAT no MEAT???” in their head. A fabulous movie about cultures clashing in the name of love deserves an equally fabulous novel, and Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (a Muslim retelling of Pride and Prejudice) is a nice choice.
Buy it here
Amelie
Read: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Oh Amelie, the cause of many of my worst haircuts.
This sweetly optimistic movie, which follows a quixotic young woman named Amelie who becomes an anonymous do-gooder and falls for fellow oddball Nino, still delights me every time I watch it and I’ll always be fond of it. I think that Muriel Barbery’s bestselling novel about the quiet life of a French woman with a secret passion for literature matches up with Amelie quite nicely.
Buy it here
The Wedding Date
Read: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
What happens when you hire a male escort to pretend to be your boyfriend? As it turns out, quite a lot and it all makes for excellent rom-com fodder. Debra Messing’s 2005 film The Wedding Date and Helen Hoang’s novel The Kiss Quotient both share this plot feature, with the novel delving a bit deeper into its heroine’s experiences of having Asperger syndrome. The Kiss Quotient has been a hit across the world, and if you haven’t read it yet, then you must!
Buy it here
The Holiday
Read: Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters
The Holiday is the Christmas movie to out-cringe them all, but it does it all with style, charm, and a bit of old Hollywood glamour and I can’t fault it for that. Which is why the perfect book choice is Rachel Winters’ Would Like to Meet, in which beleaguered assistant Evie must help screenwriter Ezra write his next great rom-com hit by proving that people really do fall in love like they do in the movies.
Buy it here
Tell us your favourite rom-com (book or movie) in the comments below!
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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