🏷️ Grumpy Sunshine
53 entries tagged with this trope
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros · 2023
Violet Sorrengail was supposed to be a scribe. Instead she's thrown into dragon rider training where the weak die and the ruthless thrive. Then there's Xaden Riorson — her enemy in every way that matters.
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood · 2021
Olive panic-kisses a hot, grumpy professor to prove a point. He agrees to fake-date her. Started as Reylo fanfic and you can FEEL it. The 'he's only soft for her' energy is off the charts.
The House in the Cerulean Sea
TJ Klune · 2020
A caseworker visits an orphanage for magical children. One of them might be the Antichrist. It's the coziest, most wholesome book you'll ever read.
The Hating Game
Sally Thorne · 2016
Josh and Lucy are executive assistants who HATE each other. They share an office, they compete for everything, and the sexual tension could cut glass. Then they play a game that changes everything.
Book Lovers
Emily Henry · 2022
Nora is a cutthroat NYC literary agent. Charlie is a grumpy small-town editor. She's supposed to be having a Hallmark movie summer in his town. Instead she keeps running into him. The meta-romance for people who love books about books.
Funny Story
Emily Henry · 2024
Daphne's fiancé left her for his best friend. Miles's girlfriend left him for Daphne's ex. So they become roommates and pretend to date to make their exes jealous. What could possibly go wrong.
The Spanish Love Deception
Elena Armas · 2021
Catalina needs a date to her sister's wedding in Spain. Aaron Blackford — the most infuriating man alive — volunteers. He's tall, gorgeous, and she can't stand him. Obviously they fall in love in Spain.
The Deal
Elle Kennedy · 2015
Hannah needs help with her grades. Garrett needs a fake girlfriend. They make a deal. He's cocky, she's unimpressed, and the banter is elite. THE new adult romance that started a whole subgenre.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
Mariana Zapata · 2016
Vanessa quit her job as an NFL player's assistant. Aiden crawls back and asks her to marry him — for a green card. The slowest of slow burns. 600 pages of tension before a single kiss. Worth every page.
Kulti
Mariana Zapata · 2015
Sal's childhood soccer hero becomes her team's new coach. He's washed up, arrogant, and rude to everyone. Except slowly, painfully slowly, he starts being less rude to her. Zapata's signature glacier-pace slow burn.
Things We Never Got Over
Lucy Score · 2022
Naomi gets stranded in a small town after her twin sister steals her car and abandons a kid. Knox is the grumpy bearded bar owner who reluctantly helps. He's mean to everyone. Except her. EXCEPT HER.
Things We Hide from the Light
Lucy Score · 2023
Nash Morgan got shot. He's the police chief dealing with PTSD and he does NOT need Lina — a gorgeous, stubborn woman hiding her own secrets — crashing into his recovery.
The Simple Wild
K.A. Tucker · 2018
City girl Calla goes to Alaska to reconnect with her dying father. His pilot, Jonah, is gruff, lives off the grid, and thinks she's a spoiled princess. Alaska changes her. He changes her more.
The Flatshare
Beth O'Leary · 2019
Tiffy and Leon share an apartment but never meet — she has it at night, he has it during the day. They communicate through Post-it notes. The notes get flirtier. The yearning is UNREAL.
It Happened One Summer
Tessa Bailey · 2021
Socialite Piper gets exiled to a small fishing town. Brendan is the grumpy sea captain who thinks she's ridiculous. He's a WALL of restraint until he's not. Tessa Bailey writes the best 'he wants her so bad it's killing him' scenes in the game.
The Kiss Quotient
Helen Hoang · 2018
Stella is autistic and hires an escort to practice intimacy. Michael is Vietnamese-Swedish and way too good at his job. What starts as lessons turns into the realest thing either has ever felt.
The Bride Test
Helen Hoang · 2019
Khai is autistic and convinced he can't love. His mom brings Esme from Vietnam to change his mind. She's determined, he's oblivious, and the cultural details are gorgeous.
Act Your Age, Eve Brown
Talia Hibbert · 2021
Eve accidentally hits Jacob with her car, then accidentally gets hired at his B&B. He's autistic, prickly, and furious. She's chaotic, warm, and exactly what he didn't know he needed.
Twice Shy
Sarah Hogle · 2021
Maybell inherits half a house from a dead woman she barely knew. Wesley inherits the other half. He's anxious and guarded. She's anxious and hopeful. Two anxious introverts learning to let someone in.
Icebreaker
Hannah Grace · 2022
Figure skater Anastasia has to share ice time with hockey captain Nate. He's golden retriever energy in a hockey player's body. She's focused and driven. He's so soft for her it's embarrassing and we love it.
Terms and Conditions
Lauren Asher · 2022
Declan proposes a fake marriage to his assistant to secure his inheritance. He's cold to everyone. EVERYONE. Except slowly, painfully, her. The contract-to-love pipeline hits different.
Love on the Brain
Ali Hazelwood · 2022
Bee is a neuroscientist heading a NASA project. Levi is the engineer she's convinced hates her. He does not hate her. He has never hated her. The gap between what she thinks and what's actually happening is comedy gold.
Assistant to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer · 2023
Evie gets a job as the assistant to the kingdom's most feared villain. He's dark, brooding, and murderous. She brings him coffee and organizes his evil lair. It's cozy villain romance and it's DELIGHTFUL.
A Man Called Ove
Fredrik Backman · 2012
Ove is the grumpiest man alive. His neighbors keep bothering him. He keeps accidentally saving their lives. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll want to hug every grumpy old person you meet.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
Mariana Zapata · 2016
Van quits as personal assistant to NFL player Aiden Graves. He shows up at her door asking her to marry him — for a green card. The QUEEN of slow burn wrote her masterpiece. 600 pages of delicious tension.
The Goal
Elle Kennedy · 2016
Tucker and Sabrina. He's a hockey player. She's a single mom-to-be. The most emotionally mature Off-Campus book. Tucker is the kind of book boyfriend that ruins you for real men.
The Score
Elle Kennedy · 2016
Dean Di Laurentis doesn't do relationships. Allie Hayes doesn't do hookups. They do each other anyway. The funniest Off-Campus book — Dean's internal monologue is comedy gold.
The Mistake
Elle Kennedy · 2015
Logan screwed up. Grace isn't giving him a second chance easily. His grovel game is STRONG though. The redemption arc romance of the Off-Campus series.
The Duke and I
Julia Quinn · 2000
Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings fake a courtship. You know how this goes. The book that launched a Netflix empire. Lighter than the show in some ways, spicier in others.
The Viscount Who Loved Me
Julia Quinn · 2000
Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sheffield. The verbal sparring. The Pall Mall scene. Most fans agree this is the best Bridgerton book. The enemies-to-lovers tension is immaculate.
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love
isthisselfcare · 2021
Eighth year. Draco is lazy, dangerous, and trying very hard not to be in love with Hermione Granger. Features hyper-competent fiery Hermione and a Draco who's too smart for his own good. The title is the whole mood — and the fandom abbreviation (DMATMOOBIL) has become legendary.
An Offer from a Gentleman
Julia Quinn · 2001
Benedict Bridgerton meets a mystery woman at a masquerade ball. She vanishes. A Cinderella retelling with class dynamics that feel real and a love interest who earns his happy ending.
The Duchess Deal
Tessa Dare · 2017
A scarred duke needs an heir. Emma is the seamstress who altered his ex-fiancée's wedding dress. He proposes. She accepts on her terms. Tessa Dare writes the funniest historical romance — this hero is peak grumpy.
A Week to Be Wicked
Tessa Dare · 2012
Minerva needs to get to Edinburgh for a geology conference. Colin needs to escape a scandal. Fake engagement + road trip in Regency England. Widely considered the best Tessa Dare book and one of the best historical romances ever written.
Twisted Games
Ana Huang · 2022
Rhys is a bodyguard. Bridget is a princess. It's forbidden. It's inevitable. The most romantic Twisted book — Rhys would burn the world for her and that's not an exaggeration.
King of Wrath
Ana Huang · 2022
Dante Russo is forced into an arranged marriage with Vivian Lau. He's furious. She's unimpressed. The start of Ana Huang's Kings of Sin series — billionaire romance with actual plot.
King of Pride
Ana Huang · 2023
Kai Young is the heir to a media empire with a perfect reputation. Isabella is a bartender and aspiring writer. Their worlds shouldn't mix. Kai's slow fall is everything.
The Fine Print
Lauren Asher · 2021
Rowan inherits a theme park and has to work with Zahra, a creative director who hates everything he stands for. Disney-adjacent romance with a billionaire who slowly becomes human. The first Dreamland Billionaires book.
The Love of My Afterlife
Kirsty Greenwood · 2024
Delphie dies and meets her soulmate in the afterlife. Then she's sent back to Earth with 10 days to find him — alive. Bridget Jones meets It's a Wonderful Life. Pure joy on every page.
Just for the Summer
Abby Jimenez · 2024
Justin and Emma have a curse: everyone they date finds their soulmate right after. They team up to break it by dating each other. The premise is pure rom-com but Jimenez sneaks in real emotional depth.
Part of Your World
Abby Jimenez · 2022
An ER doctor from a wealthy family falls for a small-town carpenter 10 years younger. The class and age gap tensions feel real. Daniel is the softest hero — he builds her a coffee table. Reader, she melted.
Yours Truly
Abby Jimenez · 2023
Dr. Briana Ortiz needs a fake boyfriend. Dr. Jacob Maddox needs a kidney donor for his brother. They write letters. It's the most epistolary-romance thing since You've Got Mail and it works perfectly.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Sangu Mandanna · 2022
Mika is a witch who's never met another. Then she's hired to tutor three young witches at a crumbling estate. The grumpy librarian next door is not impressed. THE cozy witch book. Pure autumn comfort.
It Happened One Autumn
Lisa Kleypas · 2005
Lillian is an American heiress who refuses to play by English society's rules. Lord Westcliff is the most proper man in England. They clash instantly. The verbal sparring alone is worth the read.
Tools of Engagement
Tessa Bailey · 2020
Bethany is a house flipper. Wes is the out-of-towner who challenges her on a renovation competition. She's competent. He's in awe. The competence-is-sexy trope has never been done better.
Secretly Yours
Tessa Bailey · 2023
Hallie has been secretly writing love letters to Julian, her grumpy professor neighbor. When she becomes his gardener, keeping her crush hidden becomes impossible. Sunshine heroine meets curmudgeon hero.
The American Roommate Experiment
Elena Armas · 2022
Rosie's apartment floods and she crashes at her friend's empty apartment. Except it's not empty — Lucas, a hot Spanish man, is staying there too. One bed energy but make it an entire apartment.
The Graham Effect
Elle Kennedy · 2023
Gigi Graham is hockey royalty. Luke Ryder is the brooding new player who wants nothing to do with her. Elle Kennedy returns to college hockey with a new generation and the same addictive formula.
Mile High
Liz Tomforde · 2022
Zanders is Chicago's most hated hockey villain. Stevie is a flight attendant who doesn't care about his fame. Forced to share planes all season. He's secretly soft. She sees through him immediately.
The Right Move
Liz Tomforde · 2023
Ryan is a basketball player recovering from a public breakup. Indy needs a place to stay. He offers his spare room. Roommate romance with a hero who redefines green flag energy.
The House in the Cerulean Sea
TJ Klune · 2020
Linus is a case worker assigned to evaluate an orphanage for magical children run by the enigmatic Arthur. A found family story about love, acceptance, and choosing kindness. Will make you cry happy tears.
Under the Whispering Door
TJ Klune · 2021
Wallace dies and ends up at a tea shop run by Hugo, a ferryman who helps ghosts cross over. Wallace has one week before he must go. A love story about letting go and holding on.
Remain Nameless
HeyJude19 · 2020
Post-war. Ministry coworkers. Draco is trying to be better. Hermione doesn't trust him yet. The banter in this fic is *chef's kiss*. Fluffy with just enough angst to keep you hooked.