If You're A Fan Of K-Dramas, These Romance Books Will Hit The Spot

Korean dramas are just superior in everything!

1. If you watched Romance Is a Bonus Book, try reading A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria

tvN/Netflix, William Morrow Paperbacks

Why you should read it: Estranged best friends is such a good trope, and it always delivers. In Romance Is a Bonus Book, Kang Dan-i and Cha Eun-ho were the best of friends, but then she married and they slowly grew apart. But now, Kang Dan-i is divorced and unemployed, and when Cha Eun-ho finds out, he obviously wants to help. There is some forced proximity, pining for years, and a roommates trope in the mix.

Now, A Lot Like Adios has a similar vibe because Gabe and Michelle were once best friends in high school, but then he ran off, leaving her behind. Years later, Gabe asks Michelle for help for the marketing campaign of his new celebrity gym. It won't be easy for them to shoo away those unresolved feelings.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

2. If you watched Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, try reading Chasing Mr. Prefect by Katt Briones

MBC, Anvil Publishing, Inc.

Why you should read it: If you want a hate/annoyed-to-best friends-to-lovers romance, these two are perfect to find that trope. Weightlifting Fairy is mainly about Kim Bok Joo, a young woman chasing her dreams of becoming the best weightlifting athlete. These two titles paint college life perfectly! The ups, the downs, the hard parts, you know? But you also find your community there — the people who will always stay.

Another thing that you find in Chasing Mr. Prefect is the undeniable love the hero has for the main character. You see it; everyone sees it — except the heroine. Until finally, he's like, "I've loved you for a while now! Everyone knows except you," and you feel your heart grow three sizes because of it.

Get it from Amazon.

3. If you watched It's Okay Not To Be Okay, try reading Books Lovers by Emily Henry

tvN/Netflix, Berkley

Release date: May 3, 2022

Why you should read it: It's an Emily Henry book! OK, but truly, this book is a perfect companion for this show. Why? One, it's about books. In the show, Ko Moon-young, our heroine, is a famous children's book author. Her books tend to be dark and creepy, but there's a reason behind that. In Book Lovers, the two protagonists, Nora and Charlie, both work in the publishing industry; Nora is a literary agent, and Charlie is a book editor. Two, there's a bit of hate-to-love romance (and misunderstandings!), but when they finally get to know each other, you see that there is no one else for them except the other person.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

4. If you watched Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, try reading It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

tvN/Netflix, Avon

Why you should read it: There are various titles that can also work for this show, because the city-girl-going-to-a-small-town trope is very well known and well loved. It Happened One Summer is a good book to pick up after watching the show if you love the proximity to the ocean part of the small town, a local guy who annoys you endlessly, a city girl who has expensive taste (and isn't shy to let everyone know), and a community that will be there for you even if the world is against you.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

5. If you watched What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, try reading The Favor by Suzanne Wright

tvN, Suzanne Wright

Why you should read it: The Favor is definitely the book you want to read if you love What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, but you also can pick up Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey for an extra punch so you can have the perfect trifeca of content. In this show, you get a CEO who falls for his personal assistant (and Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young, aka the rom-com royalty!). The Favor can provide you a similar vibe as well. Read it if you want a marriage of convenience, a hero who has been in love with his love interest for years, workplace romance, and lots of fun bantering moments between the main characters.

Get it from Bookshop or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

6. If you watched Shut Up Flower Boy Band, try reading Songs to Get Over You by Jay E. Tria

tvN, Jay E. Tria

Why you should read it: Mainly recommending the whole Playlist series for Shut Up Flower Boy Band! Songs to Get Over You is the second book in the series, but every single one can be read as a standalone. This romance series is about popular indie band Trainman and its members. Don't you love that when you read a romance series, you get one happily ever after for each character? It's glorious!

In this book, Miki, guitarist in the band, can't seem to ever get the girl. He made the mistake of falling for his best friend, but he watched her get her happily ever after with another guy. Will he ever find someone who can finally see him?

Get it from Bookshop or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

7. If you watched Vincenzo, try reading The Enforcer by Katrina Jackson

tvN/Netflix, Katrina Jackson

Why you should read it: I couldn't leave out Vincenzo, one of the greatest mafia stories I've ever watched, from this list. It not only gives you action-packed scenes and bloody fights, but it also gives you friendship, found family, laugh-out-loud moments, and a morally gray main character.

The Family series by Katrina Jackson is similar in that way. In The Enforcer, expect more romance than what you get in Vincenzo. Zoe goes to Naples with her cousin Shae after a fight with her boyfriend. There she meets Alfonso, the bodyguard of a Mafia boss.

Get it from Bookshop or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

8. If you watched Heartstrings, try reading XOXO by Axie Oh

MBC, HarperTeen

Why you should read it: Set in South Korea, Heartstrings and XOXO bring art and music to life in their stories. In XOXO, you'll find cello prodigy Jenny relocating to South Korea to take care of her grandmother. She enrolls in an elite arts academy, where she reunites with the cute guy she met at her uncle's karaoke bar back in LA. If you are searching for a romance featuring a famous person, you better pick this up because you'll become obsessed from the very first chapter.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

9. If you watched Touch Your Heart, try reading Marriage for One by Ella Maise

tvN, Ella Maise

Why you should read it: A grump and a sunshine meet in both of these beautiful stories. In Touch Your Heart, a popular actor who was involved in a big scandal is searching for a way to come back to the entertainment world. She finds out about a drama she wants to be part of, but first she needs to become the new secretary to a grumpy lawyer in order to get the role.

Marriage for One adds a new layer to the grumpy/sunshine trope. Not only does it have this specific trope, it also has a marriage of convenience. He's a very wealthy CEO, and her dream is to own a coffee shop. An agreement is made, and they get married. The slow burn of their romance is superb, and you won't be able to stop swooning every time they touch hands.

Get it from Bookshop or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

10. If you watched Because This Is My First Life, try reading The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

tvN, Flatiron Books

Why you should read it: "And they were roommates!" Yes, indeed they were. The Flatshare tells the story of Tiffy and Leon and how becoming roommates literally changed their lives. They thought they wouldn't interact because Tiffy works in the mornings while Leon works at nights, so they think they'll never see each other. But circumstances force them to meet face-to-face, and from then on, nothing is the same ever again.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

11. If you watched W: Two Worlds, try reading And They Lived Happily Ever After by Therese Beharrie

MBC, Zebra Books

Why you should read it: Imagine dreaming about a hot guy, but the guy can also dream with you. This is what happens for successful romance author Gaia. Everything she dreams about is magically written into her bestselling novels. But when Jacob, her best friend's younger brother, appears in one dream, complications arise. Because he's not only a figment of her imagination, he's actually there...and he's not following what's happening!

In W: Two Worlds, main character Kang Chul is a comic book character who doesn't know he's a comic book character. One day, the comic book's illustrator's daughter accidentally enters the comic world, and their lives are forever intertwined.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

12. If you watched Oh My Venus, try reading The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams

KBS Media, Berkley Romance

Why you should read it: Britta, a lifestyle journalist, decides to try a body-positive fitness app. Wes, one of the company's CEOs, gets assigned as her personal trainer. At first, everything is remote, but when they start to work out in person, their attraction is hard to ignore.

Oh My Venus introduces Kim Young-ho, aka John Kim, who is a very famous personal trainer in Hollywood. He's also a secret chaebol! One thing leads to another, and he ends up coaching Kang Joo-eun. Forced proximity will bring them closer together.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

13. If you watched My Love From the Star, try reading Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne

SBS, Headline Eternal

Why you should read it: I tried my hardest to find you a fantasy romance that could fit this show, but sadly I don't know any. Still, I truly do think Walk of Shame is a perfect companion if you love the show. We have neighbors in the same apartment building! We have grumpy/sunshine trope! The heroines have a lot of similarities — famous, rich girls who feel lonely inside a big apartment. Funny situations and swoony moments will carry you to the end, and, before you know it, you'll be turning to the last page.

Get it from Bookshop or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

14. If you watched Something in the Rain, try reading F*ck Around and Find Out by Nicole Falls

JTBC, Nicole Falls

Why you should read it: Noona romances are so very popular in Korean TV shows. If you don't know this trope, it's when they pair up a younger man with an older woman in a relationship. Something in the Rain explores the relationship between Jin-ah and her best friend's younger brother, Joon-hee, when they reconnect one day. And F*ck Around and Find Out also gives us an older woman/younger man romance when Ebonée falls for her younger brother's best friend, Floyd. Nicole Falls' story delivers in all aspects, especially on the steam, the romance, and the swoons.

Get it from Amazon or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

15. If you watched Fight for My Way, try reading A Flick Between Friends by Shae Sanders

KBS, Shae Sanders

Why you should read it: If you want a best friends-to-lovers trope, you've arrived to the right place. These two don't have a lot in common — unless you count the friends-to-lovers romance between the leads, but the fun and romantic aspects of both will make your life so much better just by watching/reading them.

A Flick Between Friends is about two best friends who get laid off. Star doesn't have enough money saved for her grandma's place, so she has to quickly find a way to make more. She ultimately decides on creating a porn film, focusing on Black women and what they enjoy. And she asks Lennox, her best friend, to co-star in it.

Get it from Amazon.

16. If you watched Her Private Life, try reading The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

tvN, Berkley Books

Why you should read it: Match made in heaven! If you like one, you'll like the other. It's that simple. Her Private Life is about Sung Deok-mi, an art curator, but she also is a fanatic fangirl of White Ocean, an idol group, especially of Cha Shi-an. The new Art Director at the museum she works at is very standoffish and hates caffeine, but when rumors start spreading that she's dating Cha Shi-an, Ryan suggests they fake date to ward off Cha Shi-an's fans.

If you're not familiar with The Love Hypothesis, you have to have a one-on-one. Get close and personal, you know? This book will give you butterflies. Fake dating, academic life, grumpy/sunshine — you got it!

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

17. If you watched Oh My Ladylord, try reading Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

MBC, Avon Books

Release date: February 1, 2022

Why you should read it: For romantic comedy fans, you can never go wrong with an Alexandria Bellefleur novel. Laugh-out-loud funny with the sweetest romantic scenes, this book will welcome you with open arms.

Oh My Ladylord is about a thriller drama screenwriter and a popular actor who end up becoming roommates. More specifically, owner and tenant. Count Your Lucky Stars also has a bit of this. When Olivia finds herself without a place to stay, it creates the perfect opportunity for Margot to offer up her spare room.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or through your local bookstore via Indiebound here.