Book recommendations for lovers of romantic comedies

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Puma

Summer is here, and with recent movies like Hit Man and Fall Guy, the conversation about Hollywood needing to invest in romantic comedies is back. While Hollywood is lagging behind in producing and releasing romantic comedies, the book industry is thriving.

Here are a few books that should be on every endless list of book recommendations:

“People We Meet on Holiday” by Emily Henry

Poppy and Alex, best friends who had vacationed together every summer since they first met during their freshman year at UChicago ten years ago, hadn’t spoken in two years.

Poppy has the career of her dreams and is hitting the jackpot as a travel journalist, but she feels lost. When Poppy is asked when the last time she was happy was, she knows without a doubt that it was the last time she saw her best friend.

Poppy somehow manages to convince Alex to go on one more trip together, giving her a week to mend their relationship and one last chance to fall in love.

Although the novel is set in the present day, readers will visit Alex and Poppy during their vacation in chapters from the past. This book about friends who become lovers strikes a perfect balance between Poppy’s story and a love story.

“Dating Dr. Dil” by Nisha Sharma

Kareena Mann is a hopeless romantic and homebody who dreams of a marriage like her parents’ but would rather work on her car than date someone. Dr. Prem Verma is afraid of love and is the host of The Dr. Dil Show, where he plays a heart health expert to raise money to build a community center.

When a fight between Prem and Kareena about love goes viral, Prem falls short and receives an unusual offer from Kareena’s pushy aunts: convince Kareena that he is her soulmate, and they will fund his clinic. As a condition of buying the family home from her father, Kareena has four months to get engaged, and Prem is keen to open his community clinic.

Despite their different views on love and arranged marriages, Prem and Kareena form a mutually beneficial alliance and may discover that fate often begins with hatred.

Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” this is the first book in the interconnected “If Shakespeare were an aunt“ series. This book offers its readers an honest, hilarious and heartwarming story.

Sharma writes two strong protagonists and a hilarious and diverse supporting cast that readers can’t get enough of. This is the ideal book for lovers of Shakespeare and romantic comedy.

“Delilah Green Doesn’t Matter” by Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah Green vowed never to return to her hometown. But when her estranged stepsister Astrid uses a generous helping of guilt and a five-figure check to convince Delilah to photograph her wedding, Delilah reluctantly finds herself back in Bright Falls—a place she once fled.

When Delilah meets Claire Sutherland, an old, snooty friend of Astrid’s, she begins to think that her return might not be so bad after all – full of fun and a chance for revenge.

This is a funny, honest and clever lesbian love story about accepting love with all its difficulties. This book is ideal for romantics who like stories about taking risks and wedding day shenanigans.

“Better than the Movie” by Lynn Painter

Liz Buxbaum and Wes Bennett have been lifelong frenemies, fighting over car spots. When Liz’s childhood sweetheart Michael returns to her high school, the hopeless romantic is determined to take him to prom – even if it means she has to go out with Wes.

This young adult novel is the ultimate romantic comedy about romantic comedies. Full of tropes, friendship, and love, this novel is perfect for lovers of romantic comedies.

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