We'd Like Movie Adaptations of These 21 Romance Books Now, Please and Thank You

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Is there anything better than a good romantic comedy? Absolutely not! More and more, Hollywood is starting to wake up to the fact that there are tons of romance books that are perfect for adaptation into movies, and we think it's about time. Romance authors have been turning out sweet, funny, angsty, passionate, and emotional stories for a long time, and we can definitely imagine plenty of them being turned into lovable movies.

Ahead, we've picked out just a handful of romance books that we think would make particularly great movies. Keep reading to see if you agree with our picks — go ahead and dreamcast in your head as you go along!

01
Beach Read by Emily Henry
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Beach Read by Emily Henry

Enemies to lovers is the beating heart of so many great romance movies, and Beach Read by Emily Henry hits every beat. Neighbors for the summer, authors January and Gus agree to try to get out of their comfort zones and write something in each other's genre. As they struggle to figure out the other's perspectives, they also have to confront the painful parts of their own pasts. Don't be fooled by the cartoony cover: it's not a dark and twisty drama, but it's not a pure-fluff rom-com either!

02
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Casey McQuiston's beloved bestseller Red, White & Royal Blue has reportedly already been optioned for a movie deal, and we can't wait! Alex, the biracial son of America's first female president, has a chip on his shoulder about Prince Henry, the youngest of the British royal family. After a media incident, they're forced to fake a friendship to mutually improve their publicity, despite the fact that they loathe each other. All that forced proximity, though, leads to opening up to each other, and, eventually, embarking on a romance that could change both their countries forever. It's the kind of swoony love story that seems tailor-made for the big screen.

03
The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel
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The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel

The "disastrous date setup" trope is the basis of so many love stories, both on the page and on the screen, and Sajni Patel's The Trouble with Hating You is a fantastic entry in the genre. Liya, an independent-minded engineer, is furious when she finds out that her family's dinner party is an excuse to try to set her up with Jay, the man they want her to marry. When Jay shows up at her office, she finds out they're stuck with each other: he's the lawyer hired to turn her company around. Liya and Jay have to learn to open up and overcome their pasts (and presents) on their way to real love.

04
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
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Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

Meryl Wilsner's Something to Talk About puts a queer spin on the classic Hollywood love story. After superstar showrunner Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on a red carpet, the tabloids are abuzz with rumors calling them a couple. With both their professional lives on the line, they do their best to stamp out the rumors — but it gets harder to do the more time they spend with each other. Hollywood loves a good story about Hollywood, so wouldn't this make a perfect movie?

05
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Talia Hibbert's Get a Life, Chloe Brown is just the kind of bestseller that would turn into a hilarious and heartfelt modern romance movie. After dealing with chronic illness and overall geekiness, Chloe makes a "get a life" list of things she wants to do. She enlists the help of her mysterious neighbor, Red, to help her achieve her long-awaited rebellion, but quickly becomes more interested in handyman-slash-artist Red than on anything written out on her meticulously-made list.

06
Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
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Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho

Lauren Ho's delicious and hilarious Last Tang Standing shares some of the best parts of Hollywood's favorite rom-coms: the family pressures of Crazy Rich Asians, the work-and-love triangle of Bridget Jones's Diary, and the witty banter of a great Nora Ephron flick. Successful lawyer Andrea wants her meddling family stop to bugging her about being the last unmarried member of her generation, but when she meets a handsome, rich entrepreneur, she considers giving love a chance. Now, if only her infuriating office rival would stop throwing a wrench into everything...

07
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
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The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Enemies-to-lovers + a tropical vacation = the perfect setup for a blockbuster rom-com! Christina Lauren's The Unhoneymooners follows Olive and Ethan, the only members of a bridal party not to fall victim to a particularly horrible bout of food poisoning. As a result, the bride and groom insist they take the honeymoon trip so that at least someone gets to enjoy it. The only problem, of course, is that Olive and Ethan hate each other — at least at first.

08
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
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An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Hollywood loves a historical drama, and Alyssa Cole's An Extraordinary Union combines a fraught period in history with an epic love story. Former slave Elle uses her eidetic memory to return to the South and spy for the Union. While there, she meets Malcolm, a detective infiltrating a rebel group, and the two join forces to pool information and help each other's missions. As the war worsens and their missions grow more crucial, Malcolm and Elle are torn between their love for each other and their duty to their country.

09
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
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Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Take You've Got Mail, add a pinch of Dash & Lily, and you've got Emma Lord's adorable YA romance Tweet Cute. Its story of teenagers from rival restaurant families who become anonymous digital pen pals while hating each other in real life is nothing short of pure movie magic! YA rom-coms are hitting something of a golden age right now, and a movie version of this book would be a perfect addition to the growing genre.

10
The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
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The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

For everyone who still misses Downton Abbey, Daisy Goodwin's The Fortune Hunter captures that same sweeping historical setting crossed with complicated romance. Heiress Charlotte is something of an oddball: a photographer who's more interested in her camera than in the suitors her brother and loathsome sister-in-law try to force her towards. When she meets Bay, a handsome but financially unstable officer, she thinks she may have found the one man who understands her. The only complication is that another woman feels the same way about Bay — Empress Elisabeth, the famed "Sisi" known as the most beautiful woman in the world.

11
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern isn't just a romance book, but it's that very blend of genres (and its incredible worldbuilding) that would make it such an amazing movie. At its heart, it's about the decades-spanning relationship between two magicians: Celia and Marco, raised from birth to do battle to the death in a proxy war between two ancient rivals. The venue for their years-long competition is a magical circus, filled with oddball people and beautiful but dangerous acts of magic. As they draw closer to the end of their deadly game, Celia and Marco's feelings for each other force them to try to find another way out, or else be separated forever.

12
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
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Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

Some of the best classic rom-com movies are love letters to a specific city as much as they are love stories between two people. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn fits right into that tradition. After calligrapher Meg correctly predicts the failure of uptight Reid's wedding, he's determined to find out how she knew before he did. She agrees to talk with him, but only if he'll help her find the inspiration she's lacking. As they bounce ideas about love, life, and work off each other, they spend their days exploring New York City, discovering all the secret spots and beautiful moments that just might lead them to love.

13
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
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Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

Mary H.K. Choi's Emergency Contact is the kind of cute, young-adult story that's actually about young adults rather than high school students, making it a great choice for a potential movie. Penny and Sam are both in college, studying to be writers, but the similarities (at least on the surface) end there. Still, when they have a meet-awkward, they decide to stay in touch, becoming each other's text buddies — and learning to lean on each other in the process.

14
The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George
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The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George

The Gilded Age glamour of Harper St. George's The Heiress Gets a Duke would definitely turn into a gorgeous, resplendent movie. August, the heiress to an American iron working fortune, wants to take over the company, not be married off to a man who can advance her family's standing. When her younger sister is pressured to marry an impoverished duke, August won't hear of it — but her outspokenness lands her in the duke's eyes instead, leading to a clash between two strong-willed, practical people who will deny they're falling in love even as it's happening.

15
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
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The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang has the kind of catchy premise that seems tailor-made for a movie trailer. Stella is a successful professional and a bit of a math genius, but between her constant workload and her Asperger's diagnosis, she feels a bit behind in the romance department. In order to figure things out, she hires Michael, an escort who agrees to help her "practice." Along the way, Stella starts to realize that there are some things that even she can't create an algorithm for.

16
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria
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You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

It's easy to imagine a movie version of Alexis Daria's You Had Me at Hola tapping into the same telenovela-adjacent, romance-loving audiences that made Ugly Betty and Jane the Virgin into big TV hits. Jasmine, a soap actress trying to get past a very public breakup, and Ashton, a telenovela star looking to broaden his appeal, are cast opposite each other in a bilingual romantic comedy series. What starts out as practicing to get their onscreen chemistry right turns into real sparks, but they've both got secrets that could ruin their relationship and their careers if they're found out.

17
A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett
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A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett

Historical romance meets pioneering science in A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett. Lady Violet not only has founded a secret and scandalous society for female scientists in Victorian England, but she's also been recruited by the Crown to use her talents for a secret mission. To keep her safe, she's assigned a protection officer, Arthur, who slowly comes to respect Violet and her eccentric group, especially when the threat they've all been waiting for finally arrives.

18
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
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The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Rachel Lynn Solomon's The Ex Talk is already one of 2021's buzziest romance books, and it's easy to see how it could translate to the big screen too! Shay and Dominic, coworkers at a Seattle radio station, clash over pretty much everything — so you know what has to happen next. The duo are asked to pretend to be exes to cohost a dating talk show, which neither of them are thrilled about, but the listener numbers don't lie. The longer they pretend to be exes, though, the more they start to realize that the idea of romance doesn't actually repulse them they way they'd thought.

19
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
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Well Met by Jen DeLuca

The quirky Ren Faire setting of Well Met by Jen DeLuca seems tailor-made for a fun, bright rom-com movie. When Emily temporarily moves to a small Maryland town to help her injured sister, she gets roped into signing up as a tavern wench at the town's Renaissance Faire. She befriends some of the locals, but clashes with Simon, the uptight English teacher who runs the faire. In character, though, it's a very different story, as Simon's pirate captain flirts with Emily's tavern wench, and that flirtation soon blurs the line between acting and reality.

20
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
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The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Okay, so there's already a movie rom-com with the same title, but we think that Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date is more than worth the doubling up! Mayoral chief of staff Alexa meets pediatric surgeon Drew when they briefly get stuck in an elevator, but that's only the beginning. Drew needs a last-minute date to a wedding, and when Alexa impulsively agrees to go with him, it kicks off a series of white lies, fake stories, and real feelings. Who doesn't love a good fake dating romance, anyway?

21
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
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Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

Even the title of Kerry Winfrey's Waiting for Tom Hanks is crying out to be part of the movie world! Aspiring screenwriter Annie desperately wants her life to turn out like a Nora Ephron rom-com, but it's just not working out that way. When her uncle helps her get a job on a movie set filming in her neighborhood, she has an awkward first meeting with Drew, the movie's arrogant prankster of a leading man. Drew is nothing like the rom-com man of Annie's dreams, but he just might be the leading man of her real life — if he doesn't leave town in a few days.