One scowls, one shines: romances where a grump meets the ray of light who melts them
In short
The best grumpy sunshine romance books include Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata and Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. Each pairs a gruff, guarded lead with a warm, determined one.
Every book on this list is a published romance in the EIKNA catalog built around a grumpy-sunshine dynamic between the leads. We selected titles using catalog data and editorial review, favoring well-loved books with a happy ending and a mix of settings and heat levels. Books are listed in editor's order, not ranked.
by Lucy Score · 2022
Best for: Small-town grump
Sunny runaway bride Naomi lands in a small Virginia town and runs straight into Knox, a grumpy, tattooed barber who wants nothing to do with her. Watching him soften is pure joy. A small-town favorite.
by Talia Hibbert · 2019
Best for: Witty and tender
After a brush with death, chronically ill Chloe writes a list to 'get a life', and recruits Red, her moody, tattooed building superintendent, to help. Funny, tender and steamy.
by Ali Hazelwood · 2021
Best for: STEM rom-com
Bubbly PhD student Olive fake-dates Adam, the department's famously cold professor, and discovers the grump has a soft heart reserved just for her. The STEM grumpy sunshine hit.
by Tessa Dare · 2017
Best for: Regency grump
Cheerful seamstress Emma accepts a marriage of convenience with a scarred, reclusive duke who barks at everyone, and slowly coaxes out the man underneath. Funny and big-hearted Regency.
by Mariana Zapata · 2023
Best for: Slow-thaw hero
Patient, sunny Vanessa spent years as assistant to Aiden, the taciturn football star known as the Wall of Winnipeg, before he asks her to marry him for a green card. A very slow, very rewarding thaw.
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer · 2023
Best for: Fantasy workplace
Optimistic Evie takes a job as assistant to the kingdom's most feared villain, whose growly exterior hides a surprising soft spot for her. A cozy, funny fantasy workplace romance.
This is an editor-reviewed reading list. Bibliographic details (title, author, cover, publication year, genre) come from reliable catalog metadata. Editorial claims (heat, trope, mood, reader-fit) are shown only when a book has human-approved intelligence; where absent, only catalog metadata is presented.
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