🏷️ He Falls First
38 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.
Ugly Love
Colleen Hoover · 2014
Miles doesn't do love. Tate doesn't do casual. They try anyway. The dual timeline slowly reveals why Miles is so broken and it will destroy you.
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.
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry · 2021
Alex and Poppy are best friends who take a trip every summer. Two years ago something went wrong and they haven't spoken since. One more trip to fix it. The tension between 'we're just friends' and 'we've never been just friends' is unbearable.
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.
From Lukov with Love
Mariana Zapata · 2018
Jasmine and Ivan have hated each other for years. Now they're forced to be figure skating partners. The insults. The slow thaw. The moment he calls her by her first name. PEAK Zapata.
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.
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.
Hook, Line, and Sinker
Tessa Bailey · 2022
Fox is the charming player everyone underestimates. Hannah is the serious film scorer who sees right through him. He falls so hard, so fast, and he's terrified she'll never see him as more than a friend.
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.
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.
Wildfire
Hannah Grace · 2024
Russ and Aurora are camp counselors who can't stand each other. Stuck in the woods all summer with no escape. The hate-to-love pipeline is STRONG in this one.
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.
Final Offer
Lauren Asher · 2022
Cal and Lana have history — a painful one. Now he's back in her lake house trying to buy it, and she's not selling. Two broken people who never stopped loving each other fighting over a house and their feelings.
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.
Divine Rivals
Rebecca Ross · 2023
Iris and Roman are rival journalists competing for the same column. They don't know they've been writing letters to each other through a magical typewriter. The moment they figure it out? DEVASTATING.
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.
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 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.
Wait and Hope
mightbewriting · 2020
Post-war Dramione. Draco is trying to atone. Hermione is trying to heal. A soft, tender slow burn that lets both characters breathe and grow. Mightbewriting captures the quiet intimacy of two people learning to trust each other after everything fell apart.
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.
Romancing Mister Bridgerton
Julia Quinn · 2002
Penelope Featherington has loved Colin Bridgerton for years. He's never noticed. Then he does. The Lady Whistledown reveal is EVERYTHING. Fan favorite of the series.
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 Thousand Boy Kisses
Tillie Cole · 2016
Rune and Poppy promised each other a thousand kisses. Then Rune left for two years and Poppy stopped answering his calls. What happened? If you want to cry for four hours straight, this is your book.
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.
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.
Seduce Me at Sunrise
Lisa Kleypas · 2008
Win Hathaway has been ill for years. Kev Merripen has loved her silently the entire time. Now she's recovered and he's still holding back. The yearning in this book could power a city.
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 Fallout
everythursday · 2010
Hermione learns about a failed Dumbledore-sanctioned scheme that aimed to create a secondary Order spy from Draco Malfoy. The aftermath of war forces them together in ways neither expected.
Isolation
Bex-chan · 2010
Hermione and Draco are forced to share a dorm during their 8th year. He's an outcast. She's broken from the war. Stuck together with nowhere to go, something shifts. THE classic Dramione fic.
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.