Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Books That Had Me in a Chokehold (2025)
85
items These books owned me in 2025 — no skips, no notes. Think angsty love interests, juicy drama, unhinged plot twists, and main characters who live rent-free in my head. You’ve been warned. 💅📖🔥
Sections
10
January
February
March
April
May
June
January
✨ Opposites Attract | Reverse Age Gap | Small Town Vibes This book is everything. It’s hilarious, heartfelt, and healing. Alexis is a big-city ER doctor with a legacy to uphold, and Daniel is a cinnamon roll carpenter from a small town. Their chemist...
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
✨ Fake Dating | Forbidden Romance | Celebrity Athlete This book is swoony, smart, and so much fun. Emilie is a Type-A event planner with a broken heart, and Zack is a charming NFL player with a secret soft side. When a fake relationship puts them on ...
Your Rule to Break by Rachel LaBerge
✨ Broken Boy x Good Girl | Forbidden Love | Second Chance Romance This book hurts in the best way. He’s the tortured hockey star drowning in secrets. She’s the one girl he was never allowed to love—his GM’s daughter. Years after heartbreak, they coll...
Ruled Out by Ruth Stilling
🌊 Brother’s Best Friend | Summer Fling to Something More | Secret Romance | Second Chances Every summer, Lucy escapes to Prince Edward Island... and every summer, she swears she won’t sleep with Felix — her best friend’s younger brother. But resisti...
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
✨ Second Chance | Forced Proximity | He Bakes Cupcakes What happens when your ex is the only one who can take you in—and he’s somehow even hotter than you remember? Olivia and Sammy’s story is full of tension, banter, and soft moments that sneak up o...
If We Were Perfect by Ana Huang
🎄 Second Chance | Forced Proximity | Holiday Romance Snowed in with your one-night stand from six years ago? Yeah, it’s complicated—especially when he’s British, charming, and your direct competition. This book brings all the festive tension, hilari...
Merry Kissmas by Piper Rayne
💌 Fake Dating | Letter Writing | Forced Proximity Dr. Briana Ortiz and Dr. Jacob Maddox go from workplace enemies to the softest, most emotionally mature couple ever. There’s so much kindness in this book — and the way Jacob communicates? Top-tier b...
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
🎨 Friends-to-Lovers | Second Chance Vibes | Spring Break Romance This book feels like a soft breath of fresh air. Eve’s healing from heartbreak, Hunter’s facing life after hockey, and one spring break road trip brings them back into each other’s orb...
From Now On by C.W. Farnsworth
📚 Enemies to Lovers | Fake Dating | Brother’s Rival Witty, messy, and full of unresolved tension, this book is a whirlwind of sarcasm, slow-burn glances, and academic blackmail turned emotional chaos. Athalia just wants her twin brother’s attention—...
Lessons In Faking by Selina Mae
🏈 Brother’s Best Friend | Roommates | Grumpy x Sunshine Archer Holland is everything Sabrina should avoid—moody, shirtless, off-limits. But when forced proximity turns into stolen glances and late-night rescues, their tension ignites into something ...
Comeback by Rebecca Jenshak
🌻 Opposites Attract | Emotional Healing | Slow Burn Willow is a wildflower, bright and untamed. He’s the guarded anchor, careful to keep his heart locked away. When their worlds collide, walls start to crumble, and what was once a mistake turns into...
The Problem with Falling by Brittainy C. Cherry
☀️ Vacation Romance | Slow burn | Found Family Justin and Emma are both cursed — every person they date finds their soulmate after them. So why not date each other and break the curse? What starts off as a light, summery romance quickly turns emotional and raw. It's Abby ...
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
February
✨ Fake Dating | Sports Romance | Opposites Attract Spiral is a perfect blend of high-stakes hockey drama and graceful ballet dreams. Elias is the intense, spotlight-weary hockey rookie, while Sage is the determined ballerina fighting for her big brea...
Spiral by Bal Khabra
🏒 He Falls First | Fake Dating | Opposites Attract Hannah needs help getting the guy. Garrett needs to pass Ethics. One fake relationship later, the chemistry gets very real. Witty banter, major swoon, and just the right amount of spice. This is the...
The Deal by Elle Kennedy
🏒 He Falls First | Second Chance | Redemption Arc Logan messed up — big time. Now he’s trying to win back Grace, the girl he can’t stop thinking about. This one’s a little more angsty and full of groveling, but still brings the laughs and late-night...
The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
🏒 Bad Boy x Good Girl | Opposites Attract | Friends With Benefits Dean Di Laurentis might seem like a cocky party boy, but he’s about to fall hard. Allie is done with hookups, but Dean isn’t easy to shake. This book is sexy, surprisingly emotional, ...
The Score by Elle Kennedy
🏒 Secret Pregnancy | He Falls First | Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine Sabrina is fiercely independent. Tucker is steady, sweet, and so patient. This one hits different — a bit more serious, but still delivers that signature Off-Campus charm with plenty of...
The Goal by Elle Kennedy
🎓 Bonus Content | Four Epilogues | Feel-Good Closure Catch up with Garrett, Logan, Dean, and Tucker as they navigate life after college. It's the perfect wrap-up — full of laughs, chaos, and the softest happily ever afters. A must-read if you loved ...
The Legacy by Elle Kennedy
🎻 Forbidden Romance | Soon-to-be Stepsiblings | Hockey Player x Harpist | Forced Proximity Sig’s dream girl? Turns out she’s his soon-to-be stepsister. Chloe is a sheltered harp prodigy desperate to escape her controlling mother, and Sig offers her ...
Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey
✨ Fake Dating | Second Chances | High School Sports Romance Catch Me delivers all the feels with Marcela and Theo’s journey from heartbreak to hope. She’s nursing a shattered heart, and he’s hiding his true self behind the pressure of football stardo...
Catch Me by Carlie Jean
✨ Steamy Sports Romance | Single Mom Heroine | Forbidden Doctor/Patient Vibes A sizzling tale of second chances and undeniable attraction. A mistaken-identity one-night stand turns into an intense and complicated doctor-patient relationship, where he...
Quitting the Quarterback by Lisa Suzanne
March
🍰 Grumpy x Sunshine | Small Town | Celebrity x Normal Person Pop star Amelia heads to a small town for a break and ends up on Noah’s front lawn — literally. He’s grumpy, she’s glitter, and somehow it works. Cozy, funny, and so full of heart. A Notti...
When in Rome - Sarah Adams
✨ Fake Dating | Rivalry Turned Romance | NHL & Soccer Stars Perfect Deke serves up all the feels with a slow-burn fake dating romance between a charming rookie hockey player and his teammate’s ex—who also happens to be his college rival. The chem...
Perfect Deke by Ruth Stilling
🌸 Good Girl x Bad Boy | Dating Lessons | Small Town Vibes Sweet, shy Annie wants to break out of her shell, and guarded, tattooed Will is the last guy anyone expects her to choose for dating lessons. But surprise: he’s secretly soft and absolutely o...
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
📝 Rivals to Lovers | Teacher Romance | Secret Writer Emily and Jack are feuding second-grade teachers, next-door neighbors, and total opposites. She’s organized and secretly writing romance novels; he’s chaotic and hiding a bestselling mystery autho...
Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams
📻 Cozy Romance | Radio Love Story | Slow Burn & Sweet First-Time Caller is a warm, heart-tugging modern take on Sleepless in Seattle vibes. Aiden, a cynical romance hotline host, meets Lucie, a woman whose love life is suddenly under the spotlig...
First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
🚔 Brother's Friend | Neighbors to Lovers | Forced Proximity Nash, the town’s police chief, is recovering from trauma and avoiding emotions at all costs. Enter Lina — fearless, flirty, and hiding secrets of her own. Sparks fly, walls come down, and t...
Things We Hide from the Light by Lucy Score
📚 Enemies to Lovers | Longtime Tension | Forbidden Love Lucian and Sloane have been circling each other for years — bickering, burning, and pretending they don’t feel everything. Now the gloves are off and the past is catching up. This one is intens...
Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score
🤺 Sports Romance | Hollywood Glam | Bad Boy x Good Girl On Guard delivers all the heat and heart you want in a slow-burn romance. Dante, the rebellious Olympic fencer, is trying to clean up his act, while Reese, Hollywood’s beloved “girl next door,”...
On Guard by Kels & Denise Stone
April
🏀 Forbidden Romance | Sports Setting | Instant Chemistry This one’s vulnerable, romantic, and full of heart. Brooks is an NBA star recovering from an injury and the emotional fallout of losing the game he loves. Lia is a lifelong fan who never expec...
Your Secret to Keep by Rachel LaBerge
⛸️ Reversed Grumpy x Sunshine | Forced Proximity | Sports Romance Anastasia is a focused figure skater. Nate is the unexpectedly sweet hockey captain. When a rink mishap forces their teams to share space, sparks fly — on and off the ice. Flirty bante...
Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
✨ Grumpy x Sunshine | Found Family | Slow-Burn Highland Romance This book is atmospheric, whimsical, and deeply tender. Katie is a globe-trotting travel writer with no real sense of home—until she walks into a Scottish manor transformed into an Edwar...
Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham
🛠️ Rivals to Lovers | Second Chance Vibes | Forced Proximity Julian and Dahlia have been childhood enemies forever — and neither wants to change that. But when they agree to renovate a historic house together (hello, tension), their buried chemistry...
Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher
✨ Second Chance | Enemies to Lovers | STEM Romance Trapped in an elevator with the ex who broke her heart, Sadie’s ready to burn bridges. But Erik might not be the villain she thought. Sweet, snarky, and full of tension—this novella proves that even ...
Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood
📝 Enemies to Lovers | Forced Proximity | Fake Dating | NYC Aesthetic Screenwriter Elle has writer’s block and one summer to save her career. Her glamorous NYC sublet? Perfect—except for Parker, the billionaire bachelor next door... and her ex-stairw...
Summer in the City by Alex Aster
🤰 One-Night Stand | Unexpected Pregnancy | Friends to Lovers | Disability Rep Win McNulty is fiercely independent, used to navigating life—and her limb difference—on her own terms. But one impulsive night with charming, easygoing Bo changes everythi...
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
❄️ Rivals to Lovers | Forced Proximity | STEMinist Romance | Arctic Rescue NASA engineer Hannah ends up injured and stranded in the Arctic, and the only person crazy enough to save her is her career rival Ian—the same man who once tried to sabotage h...
Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood
🔥 Second Chance | Forced Proximity | Camp Setting Russ and Aurora shared one unforgettable night — and then ghosted each other. Now they’re stuck together as camp counselors, and old feelings are impossible to ignore. Emotional, witty, and vulnerabl...
Wildfire by Hannah Grace
📚 Friends to Lovers | Academic x Athlete | Rulebook Romance Henry’s overwhelmed with hockey captain duties and a class he’s barely surviving. Halle’s a bookish overachiever with a secret dream of becoming a writer. When their worlds collide (acciden...
Daydream by Hannah Grace
📺 Enemies to Lovers | Fitness World | Grumpy x Sunshine | Mental Health Rep Jo De La Cruz is a spin instructor with a cult following—and a serious case of burnout. Silas Anders is a jaded journalist who thinks her job is a scam. When Jo challenges h...
Up Close & Personal by Ana Holguin
🎶 Single Dad | Grumpy x Sunshine | Vacation Romance | Forbidden Feelings Rafael is a guarded billionaire and a devoted single dad. Ellie is his son’s nanny — and his high school crush he’s spent years avoiding. On a two-week vacation, old feelings r...
Love Unwritten by Lauren Asher
May
🏈 Friends to Lovers | Fake Dating | Celebrity Romance | He Falls First Bree is secretly in love with her NFL superstar best friend, Nathan — and accidentally tells the world after one too many tequila shots. Cue a fake dating contract, public appear...
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
⚾ Single Mom | One-Night Stand | Sports Romance | Bookstore Rivalry After one anonymous night, Olivia never expects to see him again—until he turns out to be Flynn Holland, the city’s star pitcher and the face of her rival bookstore. Now, he’s everyw...
Spotlight by Rebecca Jenshak
🏝️ Family Secrets | Isolated Setting | Sibling Rivalry | Twisty Thriller Three cousins. One mysterious grandmother. A summer on an eerie island filled with secrets the Story family has tried to bury for decades. As Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah unravel t...
The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
📸 Small Town | Second Chance Vibes | Quiet Longing | Found Connection Alice returns to the lakeside town that changed her life as a teenager — and finds Charlie Florek, the boy from her past, now all grown up and impossible to ignore. With soft tens...
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
📖 Enemies to Lovers | Second Chance | Vegas Wedding | Sports Romance When Nora is forced to represent her NFL ex, Derek, sparks — and grudges — fly. What starts as revenge and rivalry turns into a chaotic second-chance romance, complete with secret ...
The Rule Book by Sarah Adams
🥎 Fake Dating | Reversed Grumpy x Golden Retriever | Sports Romance Skylar’s focused, fierce, and definitely not impressed by Boston’s newest hockey star. Robbie’s cocky, charming, and secretly dying to prove he’s more than a walking scandal. When h...
Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey
🎤 Second Chance | Rockstar Romance | Enemies to Lovers Two years after their explosive rivalry—and even more explosive chemistry—shattered their bands, Mackenzie Waters and Sam Blaze are back… but not by choice. She's hiding behind a stage name afte...
For the Record by Emma Lord
⚽ Grumpy x Sunshine | Fake Dating | Enemies-to-Lovers Vibes | Celebrity Romance Hollywood starlet Abigail Hunt needs authenticity for her breakout role—what she gets is Luke Wolfe, the gorgeous but infamously grumpy soccer star. Their fake relationsh...
Relationship Goals by Brittany Kelley
🧽 Fake Dating | Class Gap | Forced Proximity | Grumpy x Sunshine Abi just needed a place to crash for a week. Declan needed a fake girlfriend to impress his family. Now the house cleaner and the uptight exec are pretending to be in love — and maybe ...
Maid for Each Other by Lynn Painter
⛵ Enemies to Lovers | Forced Proximity | Grumpy/Sunshine | Healing Journey Josie expects a sibling trip, but instead ends up stuck in a creaky Virginia cottage with Wyatt—the grumpy, injured hockey player she’s sworn to hate (and her brother’s best f...
If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair
⚾ Single Dad | Grumpy x Sunshine | Nanny Romance | Summer Fling Turned Forever Kai’s a major league pitcher with zero time and even less patience — especially for the new nanny his coach forces on him. Miller, a carefree pastry chef on a creative bre...
Caught Up by Liz Tomforde
🎾 Enemies to Lovers | Fake Dating | Sports Romance | Small-Town Vibes Bex is fighting to save her late mother’s racquet club, while Niko—the cocky ex-tennis star—needs a comeback after an injury. A pickleball tournament could change everything, but ...
All's Fair in Love and Pickleball by Kate Spencer
💍 Fake Marriage | Workplace Romance | He Falls First | Vegas Wedding Chaos Kennedy needs to protect her career as the team’s athletic trainer. Isaiah, the team’s charismatic shortstop, has been not-so-secretly obsessed with her for years. After a dr...
Play Along by Liz Tomforde
June
A beautifully wicked twist on fairy tales — Evangeline strikes a dangerous bargain with the charming yet ruthless Prince of Hearts to stop her true love’s wedding. It’s lush, magical, and emotionally charged, with high-stakes twists that made me gasp...
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
After Jacks’s crushing betrayal, Evangeline must join forces with the Prince of Hearts once more to break a deadly curse. Expect a spellbinding mix of dark magic, high emotional stakes, and tension that will leave your heart racing. With enemies-to-l...
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
In the stunning finale to the Once Upon a Broken Heart series, Evangeline has lost her memories — and with them, the truth about her heart, her past, and Jacks, the Prince of Hearts. As secrets unravel and curses collide, she must decide what kind of...
A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber
🎓 Opposites Attract | Rich Boy x Smart Girl | Prep School Drama Ruby is a scholarship student just trying to keep her head down. James is Maxton Hall’s golden boy — charming, arrogant, and way out of her league. When she stumbles upon a secret he’s ...
Save Me by Mona Kasten
💔 Angst | Miscommunication | Emotional Rollercoaster James made a mistake, and Ruby’s trust is shattered. But walking away isn’t easy — not when their connection still lingers in every hallway and glance. This book turns up the emotion, diving deep ...
Save You by Mona Kasten
🌹 Second Chance | Redemption Arc | Satisfying Finale In the powerful conclusion, Ruby and James must decide whether love is worth fighting for — even when the odds (and the elite Maxton Hall society) are stacked against them. Secrets come to light, ...
Save Us by Mona Kasten
⛸️ Childhood Friends to Lovers | Fake Dating | Hockey Town Dani and Alec were childhood best friends — until life pulled them apart. Now they’re teenagers navigating fame, feelings, and faking a relationship in a hockey-obsessed town. She remembers t...
Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
🤖 Academic Rivals | STEM Setting | YA Romance | Empowering Vibes Bel never planned on joining the robotics club—especially not one full of dismissive boys. But when her hidden engineering talent is revealed, she ends up working alongside Mateo Luna,...
My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth
🕵️ Cold Case | True Crime Vibes | Ex-Best Friends When Brynn returns to her hometown and starts interning at a true crime show, she decides to reinvestigate the murder of her favorite teacher — the very case that ended her friendship with Tripp. But...
Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus
🖤 Dark Romance | Psychological Thriller | Morally Grey Everything This book is wild. Verity is a twisted, obsessive, totally addictive story that grabs you from the first page and does not let go. When Lowen is hired to finish the books of injured a...
Verity by Colleen Hoover
July
🤠 Small Town Romance | Brother’s Best Friend | Second Chance Vibes | Slow Burn After a career-ending accident, horse rider Emmy Ryder is back in Meadowlark, the hometown she swore off. The last person she expects to fall for? Luke Brooks—her brother...
Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
💍 Enemies to Lovers | Forced Proximity | Wedding Shenanigans | Slow-Burn Priscilla Cain lives for organization and perfectly executed events—but teaming up with Oliver, her best friend’s infuriatingly charming guy-bestie, was *not* on the checklist....
The Proposal Project by Donna Marchetti
📚 Opposites Attract | Rivals to Lovers | Writer’s Block | Summer Vibes January Andrews writes happily-ever-afters, Augustus Everett kills off his characters—so naturally, they swap genres for the summer. Neighbors, rivals, and total opposites, their...
Beach Read by Emily Henry
🧠 Teen Profilers | Found Family | Criminal Minds Vibes This book is sharp, suspenseful, and seriously smart. Cassie has a gift for profiling people—and the FBI wants in. She's recruited into a secret program training teens to solve cold cases, but w...
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
🌊 Fake Relationship | Summer Cottage Vibes | Second-Chance Romance Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple—at least in everyone else’s eyes. After their breakup, they’re forced to share a Maine cottage bedroom during their friend group’s annual...
Happy Place by Emily Henry
🕰️ Countdown to Death | Rich Girl Secrets | Solve-It-Yourself Suspense Not Quite Dead Yet is dark, addictive, and razor-sharp. Jet has seven days left to live after a brutal Halloween attack—and she’s using every second to solve her own attempted mu...
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
💌 Summer Romance | Family Traditions | Second Chances | Martha’s Vineyard Meredith heads back to Martha’s Vineyard for her cousin’s wedding, still reeling from her sister’s death and a sudden breakup. The family’s annual Assassin game offers distrac...
The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther
💌 Regency Romance | Enemies to Lovers | Second Chances | Witty Banter Emmeline Lockhart has sworn off love after heartbreak—but when Simon Reeves, the man who once broke her heart, needs her help managing his estate and mischievous siblings, she rel...
Sense and Suitability by Pepper Basham
📞 Second Chance | Supernatural Romance | Teen Angst | Heartfelt Seventeen-year-old Julie thought her life had a plan—until Sam, her boyfriend, dies unexpectedly. A mysterious voicemail lets her hear his voice again, giving her a fleeting second chan...
You've Reached Sam
August
🏖️ Second Chance Romance | Nostalgic Summer | Small Town Vibes | Slow Burn Returning to Lakeview Harbor Resort for a family milestone, Jayce and Kelsey unexpectedly reunite after years apart. Ten days of shared memories, old sparks, and unspoken fee...
#Resort Romance by Samantha Chase
🩸 Psychological Thriller | Obsession | Domestic Suspense | Secrets & Lies Working as the Winchesters’ housemaid, I meticulously clean, cook, and care for their home while hiding my true self. Drawn to Andrew’s vulnerability and the life I can on...
The Housemaid - Freida McFadden
💡 Enemies to Lovers | Fake Girlfriend | Academia Romance | STEM Rep Elsie Hannaway juggles grading labs, chasing tenure, and a secret side gig as a professional fake girlfriend—until Jack Smith, the broody experimental physicist who ruined her mento...
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
♟️ Enemies to Lovers | Chessboard Chemistry | Slow Burn Mallory Greenleaf thought she was done with chess—until a charity tournament pits her against the infamous world champion Nolan Sawyer. Sparks fly over the board and off it as Mallory navigates ...
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
🌊 Small Town Romance | Secret Identity | Dating Coach & Kisses-Only | Slow Burn A clumsy meet-cute lands her in Finn Reynolds’ arms—and into a deal: she helps him win over the town, he teaches her how to date. As seaside trial dates and late-nig...
Seas the Dating Coach by Laura Langa
💼 Fake Dating | Small Town | Billionaire | Slow Burn Lorenzo and Lily have a complicated past, but when a fake relationship is the only way to save their futures, they agree to play along. What starts as a calculated arrangement soon sparks real fee...
Love Arranged by Lauren Asher
September
🚗 Brother’s Best Friend | Fake Dating | Road Trip Romance Teagen thought moving away with her boyfriend would be a fresh start—until his surprise proposal sent her running back home with only regrets and a suitcase. When she shows up at her brother’...
On the Road to Ruin by Emily Tudor
🦇 Enemies-to-Lovers | Paranormal Romance | Forbidden Desire When vampire slayer Lazlo loses his memories, the last person he should rely on is Ethel—the vampire he’s hunted for centuries. But with him crashing on her couch and looking at her like sh...
Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood
🎃 Paranormal Romance | Dark Temptation | Halloween Vibes
Cat isn’t supposed to want Brigan—the dangerously magnetic immortal whose powers have bent others to his will for centuries. Yet while everyone else falls under his spell, she’s the only one ...
Falling by Christina Lauren
October
💎 Arranged Marriage | Billionaire Romance | Enemies-to-Lovers | Slow-Burn Desire Vivian Lau enters a marriage of convenience with the controlling and ruthless billionaire Dante Russo, expecting duty but finding desire. What begins as a strategic all...
King of Wrath by Ana Huang
💔 Friends to Lovers | Fake Dating | Second Chances Daniella never expected to fall for her childhood best friend—but when she did, it ended in heartbreak. Four years later, fate throws Levi back into her life with an impossible request: pretend to b...
Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti
🔥 Opposites Attract | Forbidden Romance | Billionaire Heat | Slow-Burn Tension Isabella Valencia is chaos. Kai Young is control. When their worlds collide, temptation ignites, rules are broken, and desire becomes impossible to resist. A sizzling, fo...
King of Pride - Ana Huang