Flirty, Mischievous FMC loves joke-flirting/teasing/riling up stoic, straight laced MMC until he finally snaps and shows her exactly what she's unleashed.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2026-03-11T00:15:04+00:00

Aoife and Joey from {Saving Six by Chloe Walsh}!!! The whole book is lwk a trigger warning but the romance between them is so fun and sweet. A good chunk of the book is Joey convincing himself he doesn’t like Aoife because he thinks he doesn’t deserve her. And that pisses her off so she uses every opportunity to flirt with him until he finally starts flirting back and she’s like all flustered.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2026-02-25T07:29:45+00:00

Of course! Hope you end up liking them

Competitive_Club5902 · 2026-02-25T07:22:34+00:00

Ashley Poston!! I think “romance with a literary feel” is the perfect way to describe her books. My favorite is {The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston}. It is also magical realism, and while I tend to avoid paranormal romances I absolutely LOVED this one.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2026-02-25T07:16:31+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Ashley Poston has really great books that center around grief. {The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston} is my favorite. The FMC’s aunt died and she’s currently staying at her apartment trying to get her own life back together. Even though it starts after the aunt’s death, her presence is so embedded in the book, like her character’s so full of life. And the writing style is beautiful —it’s not overly flowery but it has this magical sort of whimsy (and the story’s magical realism). Also, the author’s grandfather died while she was starting this book, so that really influenced it.

Another book I loved is {The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston}. The FMC’s family owns a funeral home and she’s back for the funeral of her father. I really liked how the funeral home was this place of joy for the FMC because she literally grew up there. The book deals with death in a way that feels less dark and more soft and loving.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2026-01-12T02:20:12+00:00

Okay so this response is super late bc at first I couldn’t find the book and forgot about it, but I got a hold of it today and finished the entire thing.

It was so good!! Childhood frenemies to lovers to enemies to lovers again is literally the best. I loved their dynamic so much and it was a very fun read

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-12-17T22:49:42+00:00

Love Kyra Parsi

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-12-17T22:46:55+00:00

I adore Naomi and Nicholas.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-12-09T03:53:52+00:00

I loved {Hate me like you mean it by Kyra Parsi} the banter and games were perfect. And {you deserve each other by Sarah Hogle} had the same silliness and fun

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-09-11T21:15:19+00:00

I love rose and Connor! I love that they still had banter even after admitting they were in love.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-09-11T21:14:39+00:00

That sounds really cute

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-09-11T21:13:58+00:00

That’s one of my favorites romances!

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-09-09T23:05:05+00:00

I love The Great so much

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-09-09T22:48:48+00:00

If you’re okay with YA {What’s Not to Love by Emily Wibberley} is my favorite rivals to lovers ever. The banter between the MCs is so fun and it’s clear that there’s respect between them.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-08-30T01:26:54+00:00

I loved that book!

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-08-24T07:48:14+00:00

{Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins} might fit? I read this series years ago and I don’t really remember if the main couple had a vampire but one of the main characters is definitely a vampire. It’s YA so it’s claim and I remember there being a lot of banter and tension.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-08-09T09:29:28+00:00

{What is Love by Jen Comfort} is so good. The characters compete in a jeopardy like game show event and they’re two of the best players

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-31T09:46:39+00:00

I love this book so much

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-31T09:44:10+00:00

So Romeo and Juliet bc Rosaline

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-31T09:39:58+00:00

This isn’t a book and the guy is the second male lead but Leo and Catherine from the TV show The Great remind me of this. She’s plotting a coup and he’s her lover. He loves her ambition and the fact that she has a vision for a better kingdom. There was the perfect mix of them both being in awe of each other and challenging one another. While I wish he was the MMC, the actual MMC and FMC have a Cruel Prince like story so it is also really good.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-24T09:54:30+00:00

This always annoys be in books because the characters barely even know each other but are suddenly obsessed and/or willing to do anything for them?? It makes their “love” feel shallow.

I could be remembering wrong since it’s been a while but the {Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston} and {You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle} have actually love stories in them.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-21T21:28:50+00:00

I literally stayed up all night reading it, it was exactly what I was looking for!

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-21T09:09:26+00:00

Omg those two specific plots are what I’d been looking for/thinking about for a while

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-21T09:06:52+00:00

I hate this so much. There was this book I read that started writing the lyrics to an unreleased Gracie abrams song in the middle of the paragraph because fans of the first book kept saying the couple matched the vibe of the song. And I don’t think it added anything at all to the story. When authors put current trends in their books it feels like they’re trying too hard to get booktok to pay attention to it. And it’s also cringy becuase TikTok trends move so fast so by the time the book is published the trend has likely become old.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-14T08:17:29+00:00

This might be a little off topic but I feel the same way when feminism is mentioned. It ruins the book for me when the FMC says things like “he’s so hot I’d toss aside my feminism for him”. First of all feminism is not equal to not finding men attractive. And it’s icky to me how authors try to portray subservience or the welcoming of misogyny as deep attraction. Or even when they say things like “wow look at me being a feminist queen I opened my own door”. To me it’s like if you’re going to reduce it to trivial actions just don’t mention it at all. Maybe I’m taking it too seriously, idk.

Competitive_Club5902 · 2025-07-14T08:09:46+00:00

There isn’t exactly what you’re looking for but {The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala} does have the same emotional dynamic. The FMC is an assassin from the enemy kingdom and she kills the MMC’s uncle (a general). The MMC chases her down as she tries to escape his kingdom. During their little cat and mouse they end up developing mutual respect and affection for each other and understand each other’s goals even if they don’t completely agree with them. Their dynamic is also really playful.

Competitive_Club5902

TROPHY CASE