Grumpy heroes are my jam most of the time, but sometimes I’m in the mood for opposites attract romance done a little differently – and that’s where golden retriever meets black cat energy kicks in. One of my favorite rom com movies growing up was 10 Things I Hate About You, and it’s got the same energy as this newish romance trope. It’s not quite grumpy/sunshine (or reverse grumpy/sunshine, which is a term that’s gone out of favor), but it’s got the same kind of vibes. In this case, the guys are the sweethearts, and the ladies are… well, a little more difficult to win over. Think of a golden retriever – a loving, loyal, kind creature who is sweet with most people. And then a black cat, who is more resistant to making connections, tougher to befriend, and wary of anyone trying to get close. While some interpret the golden retriever hero as one who is high energy and happy go lucky, I think of it more as a good guy who is gentle and genuine, with an open and easygoing personality. Black cat heroines, on the other hand, have their reasons for keeping their distance, and they can be a challenge, in one way or another. They’re not always grumpy, necessarily, but they’re definitely hesitant to move forward. It’s an energy, a vibe – not an exact science.
With that interpretation in mind, the books on this list are all opposites attract romances featuring commitment-phobic heroines, grumpy heroines, or heroines determined not to fall… even when they see a great guy standing in front of them. Not all of these ladies are complete black cats – maybe they just give off that vibe on occasion – but the heroes are all the kind of guys who are as rare in romance as they are in real life. Which made this list pretty tough to put together! Each of these contemporary romance novels was a 4 or 5-star read for me. I’ve included the blurbs, links to my book reviews when available, and links to Amazon for easy addition to your collection. Happy reading!
Always Only You by Chloe Liese
Get ready for an emotional ride filled with laughter, longing, and a sweet slow-burn in this sports romance about love’s power not in spite of difference, but because of it.
Ren
The moment I met her, I knew Frankie Zeferino was someone worth waiting for. Deadpan delivery, secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes my knees weak, Frankie has been forbidden since the day she and I became coworkers, meaning waiting has been the name of my game—besides, hockey, that is.
I’m a player on the team, she’s on staff, and as long as we work together, dating is off-limits. But patience has always been my virtue. Frankie won’t be here forever—she’s headed for bigger, better things. I just hope that when she leaves the team and I tell her how I feel, she won’t want to leave me behind, too.
Frankie
I’ve had a problem at work since the day Ren Bergman joined the team: a six foot three hunk of happy with a sunshine smile. I’m a grumbly grump and his ridiculously good nature drives me nuts, but even I can’t entirely ignore that hot tamale of a ginger with icy eyes, the perfect playoff beard, and a body built for sin that he’s annoyingly modest about.
Before I got wise, I would have tripped over myself to get a guy like Ren, but with my diagnosis, I’ve learned what I am to most people in my life—a problem, not a person. Now, opening my heart to anyone, no matter how sweet, is the last thing I’m prepared to do.
Always Only You is an opposites-attract, forbidden love sports romance about a nerdy, late-blooming hockey star, and his tough cookie coworker who keeps both her soft side and her autism diagnosis to herself. Complete with a meddling secretary, tantric yoga torture, and a scorching slow burn, this standalone is the second in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.
Read the retro review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3k5Yb7W
Next to You by Hannah Bonam-Young
Two friends (who are totally not in love) work together to renovate a school bus into a home.
Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is leading nowhere, and simply put, she’s not happy. So after a night out celebrating (drinking) on her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase. A giant yellow forty-eight passenger school bus that she intends to make a home.
With little-to-no renovation experience but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matt—a mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature.
While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt’s a total family guy with “settle down with me” tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment-averse.
So when Matt offers to help her with the bus and in the bedroom with no strings attached, Lane’s feelings evolve faster than you can say “just good friends.” But she soon discovers that in order to build something new, she has to first heal her past.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DkEEau
Our Ride to Forever by Julie Olivia
Sometimes, the best rides are unexpected.
Orson Mackenzie didn’t want a relationship. Perfect. Neither did I.
But what started as a fun ride with no commitment turned into hitching our cars to the same train. Orson needed my insurance. I needed his tax break. So we signed a piece of paper to make me his not-so blushing bride.
Forever was never the destination. Until Orson unexpectedly changed course, and we found ourselves on different tracks.
Now, it’s seven months later, I’ve lost my apartment and, luckily for me, my husband still has a heart of gold. And a spare bedroom.
I can move in with my fake husband, right? How hard can it be?
Except I’m having a hard time overlooking how his eyes undress me and the way his voice rasps when he calls me sweetheart. And the more time we spend together, the more I see through his happy-go-lucky exterior. He needs someone in his corner, and for once, maybe I need someone in mine too.
I shouldn’t fall in love with my husband. But my heart might be thumping to the bumpy tune of forever.
Our Ride To Forever is a romantic comedy featuring a secret marriage of convenience and lots of roommate shenanigans in a house with only one shower and very, very thin walls. Enjoy the comforts of a small town theme park, filled with lots of love and even more steamy, sizzling spice!
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3voOx2b
Spare Me by Tara Sivec
Ryan Hutton has spent his entire life being the shy, nerdy, rule-following nice guy on Summersweet Island. He’s the high school bowling coach and algebra teacher who’s always predictable, and he’s always been fine with that… until a sexy, nut job of a stranger gives him the best kiss of his life in his favorite pizza place, and he suddenly doesn’t like being the quiet, obedient nice guy anymore.
When Danica Brewster first set foot on this beautiful island a few days ago, she just wanted a place to call home, far, far away from her family. A place where she could be wild and free without their judgment. When she finds out her new roommate is the stranger she kissed for free pizza, Danica knows this is a complication she definitely doesn’t need in her life right now.
But the memory of that kiss is making them both act out of character. Ryan and Danny soon realize you can’t ignore your problems and hope they’ll go away. Those problems will just come back with a vengeance, tossing everything into the gutter.
It doesn’t make sense for a nerd to fall in love with a nut job, but with the magic of Summersweet Island, anything is possible… especially if you have enough balls.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PP9XNV
Sweet Talk by Cara Bastone
It’s officially booty o’clock, I’m alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake…and I’m pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on.
I’ve been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman’s dimples for two months, and even though I’m sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn’t mean it’s not an opportunity on mine.
It’s the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back.
And then somehow we keep talking . . . ALL NIGHT. We’re both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night. And talking about nothing soon turns into talking about something. And here we go from in-depth analysis of reality TV to my relationship with my family, to his amazing artwork. There’s no topic we don’t cover . . .
Except for who I really am.
It’s the only question of his I won’t answer.
As my crush turns into an avalanche of Eliot, I think of him all the time now. But if he knew who I was, the entire house of cards we’ve built this relationship on would come toppling down.
I want him to be mine, but we might never be more than just a sweet dream . . .
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3lzhSm8
The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort
An out-of-this-world romantic comedy featuring an astronaut tasked with training a Hollywood actor for a space flick.
Astronaut Regina “Reggie” Hayes wants to be the first woman on the moon—it’s all she’s ever dreamed of. But after a PR disaster, Reggie is off the list for a lunar mission. To rehabilitate her reputation with NASA, she agrees to a different kind of assignment: astronaut “training” with a Hollywood action hero.
Jon Leo is a charmer. With credits that include an underperforming sitcom and a campy action flick called Space Dude, his upcoming role in a prestigious movie could prove he’s a star. But Jon isn’t just big muscles and an otherworldly smile—he’s also a total space nerd. He’s pumped about his own personal space camp…until he meets ice-cold Reggie.
Although Reggie and Jon are polar opposites, their mutual attraction is undeniable, and it only takes a few weeks in close quarters for them to give in to its magnetic force. Jon is set on convincing Reggie this is a match made in the heavens, but her future is in space, and his is among stars of the Hollywood kind. The odds of successfully launching a real relationship outside the confines of the training base are anything but optimal.
Reggie, content with keeping things casual, is forced by a sudden turn of events to confront the possibility of losing Jon forever. Now, she’ll do whatever it takes to win both the man and the moon.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Gy2Dl7
Golden Hour of You and Me by K Jamila
Sheyanne Shaw hates nothing more than she hates her hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona.
Except maybe being forced to return to it. After escaping her estranged relationship with her father, leaving behind her brother and her best friends, she returns after four years away. All to help her father in sorting out the house and the stables she grew up on. But she is not just greeted by him and the demons she tried so hard to leave behind.
Liam Landon never thought he’d step foot in such a small town.
Raised in the city of Vegas, the small town was not what he expected. Hired to help Mr. Shaw manage his finances, he can’t turn down the opportunity to help out his grandparents and start building a life for himself. While traveling for the job isn’t unheard of as a freelancer, it’s a bit different to be expected to stay for three months. Liam is open to it—only to be met with the absolute spitfire of his boss’s daughter.
Sheyanne is forced to confront her demons and her past relationships that have faded into nothing in the years she’s been gone. And she is forced to confront Liam. A man here on limited time, who seems to see straight through her defenses. He is cool, calm, and collected, and there for her every step of the way.
When faced with her worst fear and her own thoughts, will Sheyanne decide to leave like before?
Or will she stay?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FOLJAg
Attachment Theory by Kayley Loring
An actor, a model, and a younger man walk into a therapist’s office… They’re all Dylan Brodie. It’s only funny if you aren’t the single mom therapist he can’t stop flirting with.
Dear Mr. Brodie,
I hope this email finds you well.
Your well-being and personal growth are of the utmost importance to me, as a therapist.
As such, I have decided it is in your best interest to continue individual therapy with another practitioner.
This is due to the potential for boundaries being crossed between us.
Attached is a list of colleagues I would recommend for you.
Sincerely,
Scarlett Shepard, MS, MFT
Dear Scarlett,
Cool.
Consider our sessions terminated.
Now I can tell you how beautiful you are and how attracted I am to you.
Let’s start crossing boundaries over dinner tonight.
You’ll say it would be unethical, and I’ll point out that we’ve only had a few sessions.
You’ll cite the age difference, and I’ll tell you how hot it is that you’re six years older than me.
You’ll say you’re a mom, and I’ll remind you that I think your son is awesome.
We don’t have to discuss my former attachments to former co-stars ever again.
This is due to the fact that clearly my only personality issue is that I’m irresistible.
Yours in well-being and personal growth,
Dylan Brodie, W.M.H.T.A.T.Y.E.H. (Way More Handsome and Talented Actor Than Your Ex-Husband)
***This is a 74,000 word standalone novel with crossover characters from Funny Business as well as Sleeper and Charmer***
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uBc2Uo
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.
When big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and former rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Suddenly, half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?
Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf is secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his… um, thighs.
The easy lay Dani dreamed of is now more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2V9DJDd
Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
Can these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?
House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.
The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.
As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/35UHm8i
Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley
A reality star and a cupcake-baking football player pretend to be a couple in order to save his bakery in this sweet and sexy romance from Jamie Wesley, Fake It Till You Bake It.
Jada Townsend-Matthews is the most reviled woman in America after turning down a proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes home to lick her wounds, Jada finds herself working at San Diego’s newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, alongside the uptight owner and professional football player Donovan Dell.
When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage to help the struggling bakery and rehabilitate Jada’s image. Faking a relationship should be simple, but sometimes love is the most unexpected ingredient.
Fake it Till You Bake It is a sweet confection of a novel, the perfect story to curl up with and enjoy with a cupcake on the side.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bbr1yK
The Runaround by Sylvie Stewart
Men are good for two things: orgasms and reaching the wine glasses on the top shelf.
ARI: I’ve always said boyfriends are like martinis; they’re lots of fun at first, but the longer you indulge the bigger headache they’ll give you. With career goals to crush and more than a few balls in the air, there’s no place in my life for the messy complications of love. Jax Crosby thinks he can tempt me to lose control and he’s using his daughter to reel me in. He’d be dangerously easy to fall for, but there are more important things in life than love, aren’t there?
JAX: I like to stay two steps ahead; that way, I’m never surprised. But even I didn’t see this one coming. Congratulations to me—I’m a freakin’ dad. Now I’ve got a teenage daughter who hates me, an ex who wants to cut things off my body I’m not ready to part with, and an attraction to a curvy songbird that couldn’t have come at a worse time. But I’ve never met a situation I couldn’t handle, and I’ve never let a female get the best of me. So why do I have the feeling Ariana Amante might be one more thing I never saw coming?
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3hIXJX2
Blow Me Away by Christina Hovland
It’s all fun and games until somebody falls in love…
Jase Dvornakov has always loved women, 80’s hair band music, and things that go boom. He used to disarm bombs in the Navy, but he’s back in Denver after a mission overseas went sideways and destroyed his future, including his marriage. Now he arranges flowers in his family’s floral business because flowers don’t explode.
Cookie-baker extraordinaire, Heather Reese, has had one too many rounds of heartache, so she’s sworn off men and prefers to spend her evenings binge-watching game shows. Plus her no-men rule gives her time to focus on her dream come true–Heather’s Cookie Co.–her very own bake shop with an underground following for naughty shaped treats. She refuses to be interested in the hot-shot florist across the street. He is trouble with a capital T. Sexy trouble, but still, a hook-up with Jase is a hard nope.
Desperate to avoid his family’s incessant matchmaking, a fake breakup with the beautiful Heather is just what the florist ordered. If his family believes Heather decimated his heart, they’ll leave him alone. Heather isn’t so keen on the idea, but Jase is determined to make it worth her while. When a pretend breakup becomes the real romance neither was expecting, together they’ll have to decide if it’s finally time to light the fuse on love…
Blow Me Away is the second book in the Mile High Matched Series. Each book stands alone and can be read in any order. If you love friends to lovers with a dash of steam, this is the book for you! Buy Blow Me Away for a laugh out loud romantic comedy!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3XZMYU8
Cream and Punishment by Susannah Nix
She’s not just my ex-girlfriend. She’s my new coworker.
I knew Lucy Dillard was The One the first time I met her. Yes, I’m enough of a sap to believe in love at first sight. When I fell for Lucy, I fell hard. Everything was great between us—until the moment she dumped me.
Now I just want to forget about her. Instead, I’m stuck staring at her face all day. But I need this job, so I’ll find a way to be civil and professional.
There’s just one small problem: I’m nowhere close to being over her.
First, we were lovers. Then enemies. Now we’re trying to work together.
I didn’t set out to break Tanner King’s heart, but you know what they say about the road to hell.
I’ve got too many responsibilities and no room in my life for love. I can deal with Tanner’s resentment until he starts working at the desk directly across from mine. Obviously, a truce of some kind is required. We’re both grownups. We can handle this situation like professionals.
There’s only one thing threatening this fragile peace we’ve negotiated: all these inconvenient feelings I apparently still have for him.
Cream and Punishment is book #2 in the King Family series set in the small town of Crowder, Texas, home of the King’s Creamery ice cream company. Each book is a standalone, full-length contemporary romance that follows one of the six King siblings as they find and fight for love.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3quNsEN
All the Feels by Olivia Dade
Following Spoiler Alert, Olivia Dade returns with another utterly charming romantic comedy about a devil-may-care actor—who actually cares more than anyone knows—and the no-nonsense woman hired to keep him in line.
“An absolutely witty, swoon worthy behind the scenes romp! Delightful from beginning to end!”–Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’
Alexander Woodroe has it all. Charm. Sex appeal. Wealth. Fame. A starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, Gods of the Gates. But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he’s dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, the tabloids and public agree: his star is falling.
Enter Lauren Clegg, the former ER therapist hired to keep him in line. Compared to her previous work, watching over handsome but impulsive Alex shouldn’t be especially difficult. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness…not to mention his Cupid fanfiction habit.
When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants—her. But he’s determined to keep his improbably short, impossibly stubborn, and extremely endearing minder in his life any way he can. And on a road trip up the California coast together, he intends to show her exactly what a falling star will do to catch the woman he loves: anything at all.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3De2XVh
Want more romance recommendations? Check out some of my other lists!
15 Grumpy Boss Romantic Comedy Books
15 Spicy Sports Romance Books
15 Great Women’s Fiction / Romance Crossover Books
15 Sexy Roommate Romance Novels
15 Marvelous Marriage of Convenience Romance Books
15 Sexy Fake Relationship Romance Books
15 Playboy/Manwhore Tamed Romance Novels
15 Fantastic Forced Proximity Romance Novels
15 Sexy Office Rival Romance Books
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