Latest news with #romancenovels
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
10 best romcom BookTok books to read in Australia in 2025
An influential social media creator has slammed critics of romance novels, arguing the backlash against the genre is rooted in sexism. These products are hand-picked by our team to help make shopping easier. We may receive payments from third parties for sharing this content and when you purchase through links in this article. Product prices and offer details are not assured, and should be confirmed independently with the retailer. Learn more If there's one thing Gen Z will do, it's surprise you. While our elders stress about our screen time and how it's rotting our brains, many of us are actually putting technology to good use and turning to something a little more old-fashioned. Enter: #BookTok. The TikTok hashtag has evolved into a global phenomenon with over 370 billion views and over 52 million videos, according to Forbes. In this sizeable corner of the internet, BookTokers spend hours discussing and analysing their favourite books, with romantic-comedy being a particular favourite. While many outside the BookTok community dismiss romance readers, it's clear that this, frankly sexist, criticism is unwarranted. Jack Edwards, the self-titled 'Internet's resident librarian', has over 2.8 million followers combined on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Defending the much-maligned genre, he says: 'It's not just a romance. Love is one of the things we think about our entire lives. 'On your deathbed you will be thinking about the ones that you love. Why shouldn't we make art about it? 'And why shouldn't we give our criticism of art that dignity to think about it as an important form and important medium of self-expression?' It's a sentiment echoed by creators throughout the BookTok community, including Australian BookToker Belle Therese. Below, she reveals her top ten favourite romantic-comedy novels that have gone viral on BookTok. She also explains how she got into BookTok and addresses some of the common misconceptions that still persist. BEST BOOKTOK BOOKS You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle, $17.70 (down from $22.90) An engaged couple who decide to play pranks on each other in order to get their counterpart to call off their wedding. A single mother's quest for love as she joins a reluctant radio show host's late night matchmaking broadcast. The romance between a newly crowned pageant queen and her grumpy bodyguard on a three-month victory tour around the US. A quiet baseball star and his sister's best friend become roommates and 'fake date' in this opposites attract sports romance. A steamy small town romance where a reformed bad boy grapples with feelings for his best friend's little sister. In a small town in Galway, Ireland, a vibrant animator and a gloomy funeral homeowner spark an unlikely friendship that leads Lark to help Callum find a wife. A grumpy single dad hires an untameable redhead to babysit his son over the summer. The rivals to lovers relationship between the First Son of the United States and the Prince of Wales. A one-night stand left unresolved leads to simmering tension when Russ and Aurora are stuck working together at the same summer camp. To Love Jason Thorn by Ella Maise, $26.62 Childhood best friends now turned successful actor and author decide to 'fake-date' when they both become attached to the movie adaptation of Olive's novel. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Below, Belle shares more about her love of reading and BookTok and also addresses some of the common misunderstandings that still persist around the romantic comedy genre. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT BOOKTOK AND ROM-COMS? 'I think there's a misconception about BookTok that we're all recommending the same books, and that generally the books are all overtly 'spicy' and have a lacking plot. But BookTok has so many different creators out there who recommend books that I haven't even seen or heard of before, and those are the people I really gravitate towards! Rom-coms get a lot of flak because there is a select group who will argue that they aren't 'real literature'. Rom-coms are supposed to be silly, with delicious banter and swoon-worthy love interests! They don't take themselves too seriously and that's the beauty of them.' WHAT MADE YOU FIRST GET INTO READING? 'Gosh, I've loved reading since I was quite young, including throughout my teenage years. While back then I was mainly reading young adult/romantic fantasy, I found my love of romance and romcoms in 2022 when I discovered BookTok and got back into reading as an adult! BookTok then became an amazing way to share my love of reading with more people.' WHY DO YOU FOCUS ON ROM-COMS? WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THEM? 'Romance and romcoms are now my primary genre, and one of my favourite things about them is the level of escapism. Some might think you'd need to read a fantasy to experience this. However in a romcom, I can be the beauty pageant queen who travels around the country with her hunky bodyguard, I can dance around in an old kitchen to the 'Summer of 69' with the wind in my hair, I can fake-date my roommate who just happens to be a very famous basketball player. Whether I'm in a small town in Canada, or partying with the prince and the son of a president in a karaoke bar, these books transport me. They're swoon worthy, spicy and overall, leave you with a heart full of warm and fuzzies.' WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ROM-COM THAT YOU'VE DISCOVERED THROUGH BOOKTOK? 'It has to be one that's on this list! I first heard about Passenger Princess by Morgan Elizabeththrough my favourite BookTok creators and fell in love when I read it myself because it was so unexpectedly brilliant. I love the 'princess and her bodyguard' trope, so when I heard someone say it was going to be a beauty pageant queen and the grumpy (hot) bodyguard who was forced to drive her around the country for three months, I knew I had to read it! I've never read anything more 'Barbie-coded' than this. It could see it so vividly in my head, it was just so much fun from beginning to end.' WHAT IS THE MOST UNDERRATED ROM-COM BOOK? 'A romcom that I think is severely underrated is actually Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks. It's the story of Lark, a bubbly animator who moves to Galway in Ireland for a fresh start who unknowing moves in next door to a funeral home, currently being run by gentle-giant, Callum. The two form the sweetest friendship and Lark offers to help him find a wife in order to keep ownership of his business. This book has so many layers. It's cheesy, it's incredibly romantic but also has emotional plot lines on both sides of this pair that will bring tears to your eyes. It's just a really special book.' WHAT IS THE BEST TYPE OF ROM-COM BOOK FOR BEGINNERS? 'I'd say start with something fun! To Love Jason Thorne by Ella Maise a wholesome romance between an actor and an author who happen to have been childhood friends. When Olive's book is adapted for screen and Jason is playing the leading man, they fake-date each other to create hype around the film.' HOW DO I CHOOSE A ROM-COM I WILL ACTUALLY LIKE? 'Definitely look for themes and tropes you would enjoy! Remember that just because a book is popular doesn't mean it's the right fit for you – this is the beauty of it! BookTok is full of so many different reads for every taste, so don't feel pressured to follow the hype. I know it sounds obvious, but reading the blurb is super helpful. Have a little look around. Maybe cowboys interest you, or a romance between a single dad and his hot-headed nanny. You might enjoy the sound of an engaged couple playing pranks on each other to try and call off their wedding, or two college students who are stuck working together at the same summer camp after an unresolved one-night stand. There's something different for everyone on this list, so I hope if you are new to the genre, that something piques your interest to make you fall in love with rom-coms just as much as I did.'
News.com.au
18-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Erotic trend sweeping posh suburbs as spicy fantasy books take over TikTok
Stepping into bookshop Romancing the Novel in Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs, one might think they've walked directly into a fictional world. It's only been nine months since the glass-panelled door swung open on the two-storey bookshop in Paddington, but romance novels have been flying off its painted pink shelves 'like hot-cakes'. Despite a Mills & Boon book being purchased every four seconds across the world, and the 50 Shades trilogy selling over 150m copies, owner Scarlett Hopper recognised an untapped market that was begging for attention. 'I noticed a bit of a hole in the market (over) the last few years,' she told NewsWire. 'America was getting a lot of romance bookstores, but Australia didn't have as many.' Ms Hopper, a self-published author, admitted that she 'eats, sleeps and dreams' of romance novels, but decided to take the plunge and open her own bookshop after growing impatient waiting for one to open nearby. 'I've just been waiting for Sydney to get (its own romance bookstore), and when it never came, I felt like this could be my moment,' she said. 'I just woke up one morning and I was like, 'I'm gonna do this'. And I did, and it's been amazing.' Surrounded by cafes and restaurants in Sydney's swanky inner suburbs, Romancing the Novel doesn't appear like any run-of-the-mill bookshop. With its soft pink walls, flowers adorning the bookshelves, literature references hanging in ornate frames and plush velvet chairs nestled into cosy corners, it's a place where readers can relax and escape the world for a few hours. 'It's like a warm hug, as dumb as that sounds,' Ms Hopper laughed. 'It's a safe space … it's very calm.' The bookshop's welcoming and romantic aesthetic was hand-curated down to a tee, she said, and has ushered in a community of like-minded people who want to explore a world of romance from a mix of traditional and self-published indie authors. 'Indie authors are the backbone of romance novels,' she told NewsWire. 'And the beauty of the indie bookstores, especially the romance ones, is most of the time we're gonna have a huge focus on indie novels.' Skeptics warned Ms Hopper that bookshops were a 'dying breed', but she was determined to prove them wrong with her Paddington store, which opened its doors in September last year. 'I think now more than ever, we can see that is so not true,' she said. Behemoth online retailers like Amazon quickly gobbled up many independent bookshops since launching in Australia, with the number of bookshops dropping from 2,879 in 2013 to 1,457 a decade later, but genre-specific shops like Romancing the Novel remain a staple for the community. 'People want to support small business,' she said. 'Also, with (retailers like) Amazon, there's not a lot of quality control. Whereas in a bookstore, people love to pick out specific books … some readers have already read the book on their Kindle, and they want it for what they call a 'trophy' to have on their shelves.' Some of the best-selling genres in the Paddington bookshop include small-town romance and dark romance, which 'has been having its moment'. That's not to say she hasn't been faced with challenges, with some passers-by making remarks and suggestions her shop 'would be closed in a few months … especially in such an expensive suburb like Paddington', but she predicts more romance-focused bookshops to open across the country. 'The joke's on them because romance is (one of) the top-selling genres of fiction … and I know the store speaks for itself.' Although the love for romance books have been a favourite among majority female readers for centuries, with the first reference to the genre tracing back to Shakespeare's 1596 play A Midsummer Night's Dream, romance novels have experienced a renaissance thanks to apps like TikTok, which is slowly shedding the stigma that once cast a shadow over the genre. 'Back in the day these types of novels were the ones you read behind closed doors, but it's becoming common for women to be open about their tastes, perhaps even feeling confident reading this type of book on a bus,' clinical psychologist Maria Elena Lukeides told NewsWire. 'It feels like social media has given a voice to so many people and highlighted an intense interest this specific niche. Social media has also allowed people to feel as if they are a part of a borderless book club. Inclusive, non-judgemental and highly engaging.' Several misconceptions fuel the flames of romance novel stigma, Dr Lukeides said, including accusations of the books being 'anti-feminist', 'unrealistic' and 'all about sex'. 'The reality is, many of them are quite PG or focus primarily on emotional intimacy and relationship development,' she told NewsWire. 'The idea that romance novels lead to unrealistic expectations is also sort of a myth because many people are able to distinguish fiction from real life.' For Ms Hopper, the stigma stems from 'ignorance' and desire to 'discredit' a genre dominated by women. 'People love to yuck on other people's yum,' she said. 'I think we're kind of over trying to have to make excuses for it. 'We're pretty proud; we're going to stand on our two feet and scream it from the rooftops.'
