By Alice Grace

Huge thank you to everyone joining us for our Rom Com Recognition awards tonight! Our categories for romantic comedy books cover three different areas, and we’ve tallied the votes from readers’ reviews across the internet. We’re celebrating these groups tonight with entries from some really amazing authors, so it’s a great honor to be here announcing the best in Sweet, Spicy, and Extra Spicy rom com books!

Without further ado, our first category: Sweet Rom Com Books!

The winners in this category are our closed-door entrants. These rom-com books exemplify the steamy, offer slow burn with style, and have an underlying humor that has us kicking our feet and squealing.


This first winner is from our 2025 entrants! Though not a debut, this book was just released by one of our sweet romance queens, Courtney Walsh.

The Cupid Chronicles by Courtney Walsh

Spice Rating - 1 (🌶️)

Iris planned to be cool, calm, and collected when she moved for her new job after her last relationship was the straw that broke the camel’s back. However, even the best-laid plans don’t always go the way they should. Fate intervenes when she meets her grumpy neighbor, Matteo. 


Of course, all Mateo wants is to be left alone. As an unwilling matchmaker, though, this could be his only chance at finally getting rid of Cupid’s bow and arrow. With love and magic in the air, will Matteo and Iris successfully matchmake their way to their own destinies? 


Lovers of holiday romance books are in for even more of a sweet treat with Courtney Walsh! Her other books are perfect for cozying up with for Christmas, savoring summer, and celebrating the softest St. Patrick’s or Valentine’s Day. No matter where you start, though, readers agree all her books could place in the Sweet category of our awards tonight! 

2024 saw this book (and series) sprinting to the top of these awards and its own super fans! When it comes to hockey romance, the Appies series is slow-burn at its sweetest, and every book delivers deliciously. 

Runaway Bride and Prejudice by Emma St. Clair

Spice Rating - 1 (🌶️)

The number one rule of hockey? Don’t date the coach’s daughter. 


After Van catches the coach’s daughter’s soon-to-be husband cheating, he knows the groom needs to come clean. What he didn’t expect was his own involvement in the fallout. 


Now, he’s trying to fulfill his end of a bargain with the coach without catching feelings… or letting Amelia find out there’s more to their trip to Florida than she knew. Will knowing the rules help Van break them, or will they break his heart instead?


This popular rom com is the fifth book in the Appies series and definitely one fans have been waiting for! Reading these in order is recommended, but not exactly necessary, because there aren’t many detailed spoilers for events in the other books. 


We live for a girl boss determined not to gaslight or gatekeep, so we also thank and recognize Emma St. Clair as theperfect introduction to hockey romance! While the game played throughout this series may not be the most true-to-life experience, it’s a great way to learn some of the terms and elements that the genre is known for without any prior knowledge

And our final winner of the category for tonight shows that love always holds up against the sands of time!

Betting on the Boy Next Door by Melanie Jacobson

Spice Rating - 1 (🌶️)

One stupid bet has some serious repercussions when it comes to real love for Sami. As a retirement nurse with an alter ego, she really doesn’t have time for relationships, and workaholic Josh feels the same.


However, when Sami bets that her roomie’s matchmaking skills aren’t everything they promised, she’s on the hook and risks losing the perfect parking spot. All bets are off, though, when Josh finds out there’s more to Sami than meets the eye, and maybe more to their relationship, too.


Melanie Jacobson is our character queen! She doesn’t shy away from creating well-developed characters and focusing on their chemistry in every book, but in ways that still make each one feel like your favorite chick flicks.

While Courtney Walsh, Emma St. Clair, and Melanie Jacobson were called out specifically in our sweet category, we've seen so many amazing authors coming out and showing up with gorgeous aesthetics and absolutely heartwarming plots. We are so grateful to all sweet rom com authors for their contributions to the genre so far and are looking forward to everything else to come!

Our next category adds something extra to our favorite tropes and stories.

You’ve likely guessed, we’re recognizing: Spicy Rom Com Books!

These books are full of the love and humor we want when we hear romantic comedy with some extra zest. Our 2025 winner is well-known and well-loved:

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

Spice Rating - 2 (🌶️🌶️)

Sometimes, one moment is all it takes—whether it is ruining a first impression or falling in love.


For Samantha, Xavier was the perfect man… until he opened his mouth…


Now, she’s determined to prove him wrong. Only after he admits to his mistake does Samantha realize this date is the most wonderful part of her life, which means it’s absolutely not meant to be. 


Time and distance haven’t burned out the something magical they’ve shared, so their only solution is to keep working at making a love full of moments even better than that one perfect one.


This category 100% wouldn’t be complete without fan favorite Abby Jimenez! She goes the extra mile and adds a little extra oomph to every emotion in her books. It’s absolutely safe to say one shouldn’t start reading this book without expecting to laugh and cry alongside her characters. These books are for readers who enjoy feeling connected and exploring more complex topics or rom com books that lean a little more toward chick lit

Another fan favorite, published in 2024. Emily Henry wows with a book that truly embodies the phrase: “It’s a funny story.”

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Spice Rating - 2 (🌶️🌶️)

Daphne and Peter’s love story starts on a blustery day over a lost hat and ends when he realizes he’s actually in love with his childhood friend, Petra. Now, Daphne is trying to start a new story: working as a children’s librarian in Waning Bay and looking for a roommate. Her best option? Petra’s own ex, Miles. 


Set on staying purely roommates, everything seemed to be working fine if no one looks too closely at recent events. Events that lead to drowning their sorrows over the situation one night and eventually discovering the perfect solution: posting some misleading photos together. This is the best plan because there’s absolutely no way they could fall for each other, right?


Emily Henry burst onto the scene with an absolute hit and hasn’t lost stride. Another author who straddles the line between rom com and chick lit, she’s definitely the queen of consistency with a justifiably loyal fanbase and truly something for everyone in her backlog. Recognizing her in this category is as easy as her books are bingeable. 

Last but certainly not least, for our spicy selections is the best of a well-loved series so far:

Play Along by Liz Tomforde

Spice Rating - 3 (🌶️🌶️🌶️)

Kennedy is almost free of her terrible job with the Windy City Warriors. All she has to do is keep a low profile, which turns out to be harder than expected, especially after a Sin City run-in with a certain bad-boy shortstop. Isaiah is, unfortunately, the one thing that happened in Vegas that won’t be staying there. 


Isaiah’s new goal in life, however? Prove to Kennedy he’s marriage material, and now he has just one season to do it. 


Fans are understandably feral over the Windy City series, so there’s no way we could leave Liz Tomforde unrecognized! This is the best series when it comes to men who were obviously written by a woman, and her specialty is absolutely the perfect blend of soft and strong. 


These books are perfect for readers who like to see their male main characters a little more vulnerable, their relationships a little healthier, and their female main characters able to kick a little butt on their own. 

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of spice, and there are so many authors who never miss! You really can’t go wrong with a spicy rom com, so we appreciate everyone making an effort and publishing books that feel just like some of our favorite movies.


Now, our last category means your meet-cute may be a little morbid.

Dark romantic comedies hit the scene and made sure they left their mark in our Extra-Spicy category!

We love a little look into the wilder side of love, and the award for the book that does this best in our 2025 category goes to:

Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver

Spice Rating - 4 (🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️)

Third in the Ruinous Love trilogy, Scythe & Sparrow is the story of Dr. Fionn Kane and Rose Evans. One is running from a disastrous relationship and a derailed medical career, and the other is a circus performer with a dark hobby. When that hobby results in an injury that brings the two together, they learn the real question they need to answer is, can a broken heart be sewn back together?


Spooky, scary skeletons abound in these characters’ closets in all the best ways. Brynne Weaver gives readers everything they didn’t know they needed with serial killer romances that, though they may ruin a few favorite foods for readers, have left everyone asking for more. This is a fantastic series for readers seeking a fresh perspective on their favorite tropes.

Taking the cake for 2024, this spicy rom com not only puts the dark in dark romance but also in humor! This BookTok sensation and OwlCrate community blog winner is:

Lights Out by Navessa Allen

Spice Rating - 5 (🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️)

Aly knows she’s in charge of her own algorithm, but if she doesn’t admit it, then it doesn’t really exist, right? Scrolling through masked, heavily tattooed men is really her own dirty little secret, and no one has to know. Until a drunk text reveals a little more than she wants to admit, and those dark dreams become her reality. 


Navessa Allen successfully embodies the “get you a girl that does both” meme with a book that doesn’t take itself super seriously while accomplishing everything it sets out to do in the dark romance genre. This is the perfect first step for your (or your bestie’s) dark romance journey because it’s the right blend of dark but funny for your average romance girlie.

Of course, we can’t forget the true beauty of a retelling, even if it’s not as dark as the rest in this category! Our timeless winner is:

A Long Time Coming by Meghan Quinn

Spice Rating - 3 (🌶️🌶️🌶️)

Breaker Cane is going to be the best man-in-waiting/man-of-honor ever. Whether that means handling his best friend’s monster mother-in-law or comforting the bride-to-be, he’s going to do it. 


However, as the date draws nearer, so does Breaker’s romantic epiphany. He’s not into the girl he’s dating; he’s into his best friend and the bride-to-be, Lia. Deciding to use his role as man-in-waiting to prove to Lia he’s the better choice, Breaker’s hoping to win her over before the wedding, no matter what, or who, gets in his way. 


Rom com retellings are perfect for exploring our favorite stories from a different perspective! Meghan Quinn is a wizard when it comes to spinning our favorite elements into something entirely new and extra spicy.

Thank you to everyone for joining us! It was an honor and a delight to spend time celebrating some of the best books by amazing authors. I’m certainly excited to see what comes next as more people contribute to such a fun genre! Hope you had a great time at the Rom Com Awards and, as always, happy reading! 

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