Brothers of the Vine
Forever Evermore
Women of W.A.R.
1989 might be Taylor Swift’s most iconic era. Originally released in 2014 the album contains elite Taylor tracks like ‘Shake It Off’, ‘Out of the Woods’ and ‘Blank Space’. I would argue (vehemently) that it’s a no-skip album with even the deep cuts being absolute FIRE.
1989 tells the story of a young woman moving to the big city, finding friendship, fun and passion. It’s an album about the mess of growing up, the first foray into adulthood, and it’s chock-full of roms-com tropes! In fact… it basically sounds like a rom-com book come to life.
Taylor is set to release her version of 1989 in October 2023, and ahead of the release we’ve matched every song to a rom-com read.
“Welcome to New York”
Welcome to New York
It’s been waiting for you
This one is a no-brainer. Of course the anthemic New York banger should be paired with a classic New York set rom-com!
New York Actually by Sarah Morgan
One man. One woman. Two dogs.
Meet Molly–New York’s most famous advice columnist, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they’re other people’s.
Still bruised from her last breakup, Molly is in no rush to find happily–ever–after–the only love of her life is her dalmatian, Valentine.
Meet Daniel–A cynical divorce lawyer, he’s hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don’t get involved, no one can get hurt.
Until he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning…
Molly and Daniel both think they know everything about relationships. But as they try–and fail–to resist their undeniable chemistry, they’ll soon discover they just might have a lot left to learn…
“Blank Space”
But I’ve got a blank space, baby
And I’ll write your name
While the song ‘Blank Space’ is an extended metaphor about how Taylor was portrayed by the media during the 1989 era (as a man-hungry crazy ex-girlfriend), the line about the ‘blank space’ to ‘write your name’ made me think straight away of a fake dating trope!
The Love Contract by Steph Vizard
Can she (pretend to) love her neighbour? An award-winning modern rom-com for all fans of fake dating, enemies-to-lovers stories.
I didn’t know the guy next door. And given he was now my daughter’s manny and my fake boyfriend, I needed to find out.
Single mum Zoe had the parenting thing all figured out with little Hazel until a childcare drought derailed her plans to return to work. Enter Will, Zoe’s nemesis and frustratingly handsome neighbour. When Will’s boss mistakenly assumes Will is Hazel’s father and insists he take parental leave, it seems like a simple white lie could get Zoe out of a jam and help Will to make partner at his law firm.
But life with an adorable toddler – and a growing attraction between Will and Zoe – is never as tidy as their agreement’s bullet points and dry clauses suggest. As they get deeper into the lie, the lines between truth and fiction blur. But Zoe’s hiding a secret and when it comes out, the consequences for all of them could be devastating.
“Style”
You got that James Dean day dream look in your eye
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
Jasmine and Ashton truly embody the ‘James Dean day dream’ and ‘red lip classic’ and that’s why Alexis Daria’s You Had Me At Hola is the perfect accompaniment to ‘Style’ – it’s about two actors in the limelight who fall in love, but have to keep their romance private from the world.
You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria
Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.
Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.
After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.
With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.
“Out of the Woods”
We were built to fall apart
Then fall back together (back together)
Count Your Lucky Stars is a rom-com about two ex-best friends who had an illicit summer fling… then never spoke again. They’re thrust back together unexpectedly a decade later and sparks fly! It’s so ‘Out of the Woods’ coded!
Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Margot Cooper doesn’t do relationships. She tried and it blew up in her face, so she’ll stick with casual hookups, thank you very much. But now her entire crew has found “the one” and she’s beginning to feel like a fifth wheel. And then fate (the heartless bitch) intervenes. While touring a wedding venue with her engaged friends, Margot comes face-to-face with Olivia Grant—her childhood friend, her first love, her first… well, everything. It’s been ten years, but the moment they lock eyes, Margot’s cold, dead heart thumps in her chest.
Olivia must be hallucinating. In the decade since she last saw Margot, her life hasn’t gone exactly as planned. At almost thirty, she’s been married… and divorced. However, a wedding planner job in Seattle means a fresh start and a chance to follow her dreams. Never in a million years did she expect her important new client’s Best Woman would be the one that got away.
When a series of unfortunate events leaves Olivia without a place to stay, Margot offers up her spare room because she’s a Very Good Person. Obviously. It has nothing to do with the fact that Olivia is as beautiful as ever and the sparks between them still make Margot tingle. As they spend time in close quarters, Margot starts to question her no-strings stance. Olivia is everything she’s ever wanted, but Margot let her in once and it ended in disaster. Will history repeat itself or should she count her lucky stars that she gets a second chance with her first love
“All You Had to Do Was Stay”
Hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand
Then, why’d you have to go and lock me out when I let you in
In The Witch is Back Emma was left at the altar by her best friend and super crush Bastain, and has tried to leave her tattered ego and heartbreak behind her… until he turns up at her bar seven years later! Truly… all he had to do was STAY!
The Witch Is Back by Sophie H. Morgan
Love is a hex of a thing.
Bewitched, bothered and…betrothed? THE WITCH IS BACK is a charming, witchy romantic comedy packed full of secrets, unexpected reunions, and high society scheming!
There’s nothing wrong with being a wallflower. Not to Emmaline Bluewater, anyway. Emma may have been born into witch society, but her days of trying to fit in where she doesn’t belong are over — they ended seven years ago, when the man she’d hoped to marry left town without a word. She’s much happier now, living a delightfully mundane human life in Chicago and running her bar, Toil and Trouble.
Until Bastian Truenote walks through the door and announces that he wants her back.
Bastian had his reasons for leaving — even if he can’t tell Emma what they are. Now, to win Emma’s heart, he’s got to face down an adorably goofy dog familiar, a best friend who’s all too eager to hit him with a carefully aimed hex, and a woman who’s far from the meek witch he remembers.
Magical contracts aren’t easily broken, but as far as Emma’s concerned, not even a marriage of convenience will have her falling under Bastian’s spell again…
“Shake It Off”
I stay out too late
Got nothing in my brain
That’s what people say
Tessa Bailey’s heroine Piper embodies ‘Shake It Off’ so perfectly it’s like the song was written about her. She’s seen as an airhead socialite, and lives up to that reputation, until she’s cut off and forced to run a dive bar for the summer.
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington.
Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.
Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.
“I Wish You Would”
I wish you would come back
Wish I’d never hung up the phone like I did
Looking for a rom-com about two exes learning to love again? Stefanie London has you covered!
Pets of Park Avenue by Stefanie London
What do you do when The One is also the one who broke your heart?
Self-proclaimed hot mess Scout Myers is determined to prove she’s finally got her act together. Raised by grandparents who saw her as her wayward mother’s wayward daughter, Scout’s used to being written off. So when the opportunity for a promotion arises at Paws in the City, the talent agency where she works, Scout is desperate to rise to the occasion. With shared custody of her little sister also on the line, Scout can’t afford a single mistake…like suddenly needing a canine stand-in for an important photoshoot. Luckily (or not) she knows the owner of the perfect pup replacement: the estranged husband she walked out on years ago.
On the surface, it appears Lane Halliday’s life has been blissfully drama free without Scout, but she suspects her handsome-as-ever not-quite-ex-husband doth protest too much. Working together even feels like old times — except for all that lingering, unresolved tension. But Scout’s not sure she’s ready to confront the reasons she left Lane, and when their plans to finalise the divorce become very real, Scout starts to wonder whether second chances might be worth a little hot mess.
“Bad Blood”
Cause baby, now we got bad blood
The Worst Best Man follows a wedding planner having to work with her worst enemy – the man who convinced her fiance to leave her at the altar! Truly ‘Bad Blood’ energy.
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
A wedding planner left at the altar Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.
Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.
If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own.
Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again…
“Wildest Dreams”
You’ll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night
Burn it down
Someday when you leave me I bet these memories follow you around
Is there anything more devastatingly romantic than a love story you know has to end? In Ashley Poston’s The Seven Year Slip the main character falls in love with a man who lives seven years in the past. Impossible. Devastating. So many feelings.
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
Six months ago, Clementine West had the worst day of her life. So, she came up with a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, take no risks. And it’s been working.
That is until one day she finds a strange man standing in her kitchen. A man with kind eyes, a crooked smile, and a recipe for the perfect lemon meringue pie. The kind of man that, before everything, she could have fallen for . . .
He’s perfect but for one thing: he lives in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact.
This should be impossible, but Clementine used to love impossible things. And maybe, just maybe, she will again. After all, love is never a matter of time – but a matter of timing.
“How You Get the Girl”
I want you for worse or for better
I would wait for ever and ever
Broke your heart, I’ll put it back together
Never Never follows a recently broken up couple as they lose and regain their memories over and over again… trying to piece together how they fell apart in the first place, and how they can fall back again. It’s the perfect accompaniment to ‘How You get The Girl’.
Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
Forgetting is terrifying. Remembering is worse…
Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished.
Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.
The Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives for a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.
“This Love”
This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
A teenage summer love triangle? Huge Summer I Turned Pretty vibes.
Seoulmates by Susan Lee
Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama?
Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out — the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.
But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do — he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.
But someone who does know K-dramas — so well that he’s actually starring in one — is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.
“I Know Places”
You stand with your hand on my waistline
It’s a scene and we’re out here in plain sight
‘I Know Places’ is the perfect soundtrack to this fauxmance rom-com! Especially as in The Boyfriend Candidate their fake relationship is born out of an illicit paparazzi shot!
The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead
As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek-in bed!-she decides she needs to change. And what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand?
Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Audacious and filterless, Logan is Alexis’s opposite-and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm. In their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly-and shockingly-flees.
Alexis is bewildered until suddenly pictures of her and Logan escaping the fire are all over the internet. Turns out Logan is none other than Logan Arthur, the hotshot candidate challenging the Texas governor’s seat. The salacious scandal is poised to sink his career-and jeopardize Alexis’s job-until a solution is proposed: he and Alexis could pretend to be in a relationship until election day…in two months. What could possibly go wrong?
“Clean”
Rain came pouring down when I was drowning
That’s when I could finally breathe
‘Clean’ is the soundtrack to getting over a relationship – perfect for this rom-com about a woman determined to get revenge on her ex (and learning a lot about herself along the way)!
Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins
Falling in love is the ultimate payback in this delightful, breezy romcom about an interior designer who teams up with an enigmatic architect at her firm to get revenge on her ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door.
They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiance’s house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their Realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House.
That plan quickly becomes complicated when Dani is forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, the handsome, haughty architect at her firm, and the only person available to draw up blueprints. Wyatt is terse and stern, the kind of man who eats his sandwich with a knife and fork. But as they spend time together on – and off – site, Dani glimpses something deeper beneath that hard veneer, something surprising, vulnerable, and real. And the closer she gets to her goal, the more she wonders if winning revenge could mean losing something infinitely sweeter…
“Wonderland”
We found wonderland
You and I got lost in it
‘Wonderland’ has big ‘holiday fling’ vibes – a hot and passionate, but doomed to be brief, affair…
All’s Fair in Love and Tequila by Gabriella Margo
Salty air. Flowing margaritas. Beach sunsets … and one annoying holiday crasher.
Luisa Edmonds doesn’t have time for bad dates and guys who don’t take life seriously. And she certainly has no time for men like Ed Garcia, a womanising divorcé who parties too hard.
When Luisa is sent to a lavish, all-inclusive resort in Mexico on a marketing project, she’s ecstatic — until she finds out that Ed is the award-winning photographer who has been hand-picked to go with her.
But when she leaves the icy Melbourne winter behind, it’s not just her extremities that begin to thaw. Here, among the golden sands, tropical waters and salty air of Playa del Carmen, Luisa starts to get to know the real Ed — a sweet, animal-loving environmentalist who’s kept his crush on her a secret for years.
And in all honesty, he is damn sexy without a shirt on.
Unfortunately, their relationship would be bad news back in Australia, and Ed is a no-go for Luisa. But as his secrets are slowly uncovered, Luisa finds it harder and harder to ignore her feelings, and she is faced with an ultimatum. Will she jeopardise her future for a steamy, beach holiday fling?
“You Are In Love”
One night he wakes
Strange look on his face
Pauses, then says
You’re my best friend
I need literally everyone to read this marriage of convenience rom-com about two best friends who agree to a fake marriage (while trying to hide their true feelings for one another).
Would You Rather by Allison Ashley
Would you rather play it safe in the friend zone, or risk it all with a modern marriage of convenience?
Noah and Mia have always been best friends. Life is going great for Noah and he’s up for a promotion in a job he loves. But Mia’s life is on hold as she awaits a kidney transplant. She’s stuck in a dead-end job and, never wanting to be a burden, has sworn off all romance. So when the chance of a lifetime comes to go back to school and pursue her dream, it’s especially painful to pass up. She can’t quit her job or she’ll lose the medical insurance she so desperately needs.
To support her, Noah suggests they get married – in name only – so she can study full-time and still keep the insurance. It’s a risk to both of them, with jobs, health and hearts on the line, and they’ll need to convince suspicious coworkers and nosy roommates that they’re the real deal. But if they can let go of all the baggage holding them back, they might realise that they would rather be together forever.
“New Romantics”
Baby we’re the new romantics
Com on, come along with me
Heart break is the national anthem
We sing it proudly
‘New Romantics’ is about loving love. Loving the highs and lows of romance, the drama, the suspense, the passion. It’s about falling in and out of relationships with aplomb. The perfect read to accompany it? One about a romance author who doesn’t believe in love after a break up… falling in love with a ghost!
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Florence Day is a ghost-writer with one big problem. She’s supposed to be penning swoon-worthy novels for a famous romance author but, after a bad break-up, Florence no longer believes in love. And when her strict (but undeniably hot) new editor, Benji Andor, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye.
Although when tragedy strikes and Florence has to head home, the last thing she expects to see is a ghost at her front door. Not just any ghost, however, but the stern form of her still very hot – yet now unquestionably dead – new editor.
As sparks start to fly between them, Florence tells herself she can’t be falling for a ghost – even an infuriatingly sexy one. But can Benji help Florence to realise love isn’t dead, after all?
If you fell in love with Beach Read, The Love Hypothesis and The Hating Game, this laugh-out-loud romance packed with sizzling chemistry will give you all the feels!