If I had to sum up Kerry Winfrey’s new contemporary romance Not Like the Movies in one word, it would be charming.

Chloe Sanderson is an optimistic, klutzy, hopeful ball of positivity, and reading from her perspective is the perfect nightcap to a long, arduous day. The caregiver for her father, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, romantic comedy movies are Chloe’s escape. But her best friend has just written a rom-com that’s inspired by her. On the surface, this seems fun and flattering, but in reality, it sets an untenable expectation for a happily ever after, because the guy in the movie who gets the girl based on Chloe is an obvious fictionalization of Nick Velez, Chloe’s boss at the coffee shop where they work—and in real life, they’re just colleagues who wonder “what if,” but never follow through. The stress of seeing their on-screen HEA is seriously anxiety inducing.

Nick is a quiet introvert who’s sweet and kind, and he’s thoroughly supportive of Chloe. He’s much more serious than Chloe, and less carefree, but fortunately, opposites attract. Unfortunately, Chloe’s life is maxed out with responsibilities and he repeatedly gets swept up in her chaos. When she says life is too risky to take a chance on a relationship, he sticks around and reminds her of why it’s so important to leave her comfort zone.

They say it’s bad to meet your celebrity crush, because the reality never lives up to the fantasy. Chloe and Nick are forced to face their own fantasy in film form, and it’s a scary prospect. But Winfrey has built in all of the charming things that make rom-coms addictive: richly developed characters, a deep pool of supportive friends, awkward situations, goofy reactions, missed opportunities, big misunderstandings and grand gestures. This romance is slow building, but the journey is a delight.

Talia Hibbert is quickly becoming a contemporary romance powerhouse. Her return to the adventures of the Brown siblings with Take A Hint, Dani Brown is an easy contender for best book of the year.

Zafir Ansari and Dani Brown couldn’t be more different. Zaf is a former rugby player turned security guard whose weakness is reading romance and who has a passion for destigmatizing mental illness. Dani is more tightly wound—a Ph.D. student who can barely stop working long enough to eat a decent meal. She certainly doesn’t have time for romance. Friends with benefits? Surely, but nothing that requires careful cultivation and patience navigating emotional bombshells.

After a fire drill goes haywire, Zaf’s gallant rescuing of Dani becomes a viral sensation and both realize they can use the situation to their mutual benefit. Dani can get her friends with benefits scenario with hunky Zaf, and Zaf can get closer to his crush, Dani, while using the exposure to help his sports nonprofit for children, Tackle It. What seems like a win-win scenario quickly becomes messier; in romance, fake dating rarely stays fake for long.

Hibbert knows how to deepen and complicate her characters, meticulously peeling back layer upon layer as the story goes on. Zaf’s past includes a devastating personal tragedy that changed his life and set him on a course to advocate for athletes experiencing mental health issues. Dani’s more than just a flighty commitmentphobe; her passionate studiousness comes from fear, because she’s never known love and career to exist harmoniously.

What makes Take a Hint, Dani Brown a superlative example of the romance genre as a whole, and not just a gem in the contemporary category, is that Hibbert gets to the essence of what a happily-ever-after means. It’s not about love as the antidote to a couple’s problems, but love becoming a foundation on which the couple understand one another better and a soft place to land when times are tough. While they’re quick to tumble into bed, Dani and Zeb are both guarded, but through lovely, stick-to-your-ribs home cooking on Zaf’s part and Dani’s ability to make those around her feel like they can achieve anything, they fall in love little by little. It’s not a romance of grand gestures, but a slow burn made up of small, simple moments.

Fans who loved the first book in the Brown Sisters series, Get a Life, Chloe Brown, may feel that it’s a tough act to follow. Fear not. Take a Hint, Dani Brown possesses the same amount of charm, grit and, certainly, sex appeal as its predecessor. Zaf is the emotionally competent, buff hero of our dreams. Dani is the heroine we all aspire to be: confident, feminist, sex-positive and driven. Read this romance immediately, and then read it again.

When picking up a Christina Lauren (CLo) book, readers can count on a delicious blend of emotional ups and downs, slice-of-life hilarity and happy endings worthy of an ugly cry (or at least a beautiful, artful tear that rolls down your cheek). The queens of romantic comedy celebrate their 25th book with The Honey-Don’t List, in which two employees of married DIY superstars must keep the couple from imploding in public.

Carey Duncan has worked for the Tripps for over a decade; they’re like a second family. Unfortunately, Rusty and Melissa Tripp cannot stand each other. With a new home improvement Netflix show on the horizon, disaster looms as the Tripps and their crew embark on a promotional road trip. Carey’s role as mediator gets a boost in the form of James McCann, an engineering whiz and new addition to the team. While on the road, the two must contend with close quarters, unexpected chemistry and wrangling the Tripps’ marital dramatics.

Carey is the ultimate sweetheart. She’s dedicated to those close to her and earnestly expresses her emotions. There’s a raw quality to her that motivates others to be better and, to her occasional annoyance, brings out the protective nature of her friends and family. Carey lives with a movement disorder that often affects her hands, and while it’s a routine part of her life, she’s also cognizant that others may view it as a defining characteristic of who she is. For frequent readers of Lauren’s work, Carey likely tops many lists of favorite CLo heroines because of her goodness. She’s a genuinely kind person, and sometimes we all need a reminder that those kinds of people exist, fictionality aside.

The Honey-Don’t List’s leading man, James, is just as charming. The pair get off on the wrong foot—James is the new guy with big ideas, whereas Carey is far more experienced in the idiosyncrasies of her bosses. They eventually realize that there is strength in numbers, and with extended time on the road, they’ll need to rely on each other to keep the Tripps’ sham marriage from getting out. The tenderness James exhibits toward Carey is a magnificent reminder that love isn’t about forcing someone to match our ideals, but that it comes from adjustment and widening our hearts to make room for the unexpected.

The comedic beats are sharp and always impeccably timed to temper some of the more serious moments. These moments feel like well-placed reminders that everything is going to be OK. CLo fans will be delighted that their writing is as rock solid as ever, and newcomers should look forward to beginning what will undoubtedly become a life-long love affair with the author duo.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read an interview with Christina Lauren for The Honey-Don’t List.

Audrey Tate has the perfect life. Just ask any of the subscribers to her wildly popular online platform. A professional influencer with a glamorous, successful lifestyle in the most posh parts of Manhattan, Audrey always knows how to look, sound and be just right for any situation. Except when it comes to romance. Her heart was broken a year and a half ago with the reveal that she was one of three women involved with her boyfriend—including his wife. While she and the other women scorned have become devoted friends, she still carries wounds from the ordeal. And it taught her a lesson: Prince Charmings are for other women. Not her. She can have the perfect townhouse, the perfect dress, the perfect smile or quip or hashtag for any situation. But she can’t have the perfect man, unless she’s willing to play along with the perfect lie.

Clarke West, her best friend since childhood, has always been there to love her, tease her, support her, aggravate her and occasionally use her as a shield when his flings get too clingy, or his controlling mother gets too difficult. But when he pretends (yet again) that they’re engaged to dissuade a persistent ex, right when Audrey’s love life takes another embarrassing turn, a plan is formed. Why not keep the fake engagement going? It will aggravate his mother, ward off his ex and restore Audrey’s reputation after vicious attacks from an internet troll. Win, win, win. Except for the part where lines start blurring and staged kisses start to feel a little too real. Audrey and Clarke’s “safe” choice to be together becomes more and more risky when their hearts end up on the line.

This novel concludes the Central Park Pact trilogy, bringing a happy ending to all three of the women burned by the same deceitful ex. Of the three, Audrey’s story might have the most bitterly ironic twist, in that the woman who makes a living putting everything on display was fooled by a man hiding behind his lies. While the story’s high-society setting and rom-com premise embue it with plenty of frothy fun, Audrey’s sadness and self-doubt, along with Clarke’s own insecurities as the child of parents who don’t quite seem to know how to show love to anyone, give it depth. Thankfully, they have each other, and the strength of their friendship helps them heal enough to realize not just that they’ve been in love all along, but that they deserve the happiness they’ve found together. Warm and heartfelt, this story conveys author Lauren Layne’s real affection for her characters as they overcome the past and build a beautifully messy, perfectly imperfect future.