Verdict: A sex-positive, tension-heavy college romance with a pansexual narrator and a genuinely clever abstinence-pact hook, held back by a thinly drawn love interest and a contrived late breakup. Best for: New adult readers who want an out, unapologetic queer heroine, a bad-girl/good-girl pairing built on slow-burning tension, and a short, fast campus romance. Heat … Read more
Verdict: A warm, funny slice-of-life romance: autistic librarian Adrienne Stecher, who spends weekends with her beloved grandfather, is waging war on the neighbourhood peacocks when she accidentally soaks Casey Knight, a neighbour who adores the birds and is torn about her future. Readers praise the representation, the support system and the humour; a few felt … Read more
Verdict: A sweet, low-angst new adult spin-off that gives Gold’s young side characters their own best-friends-to-lovers story. Fans enjoyed revisiting the family; many felt the teenage leads were less compelling than Gold’s couple and wished the story had been set years later. Best for: Readers who loved Gold and want a gentle coming-of-age romance. Heat … Read more
Verdict: A sweet, spicy and emotionally grounded sequel that many readers prefer to Tip In. GJ and Leah’s casual arrangement grows into something real without a third-act breakup, and the family and mental-health threads give it weight; a few found it too drama-free. Best for: Readers who want a no-strings-to-serious college romance with healthy communication. … Read more
Verdict: A cute, pining college basketball romance that sold readers on its yearning and its WNBA-bound heroine. It is also one of the more divisive books on our list: critics call the characters flat, the writing heavy on telling, and the late conflict avoidable. Best for: Readers who want sapphic college sports, a charming masc … Read more
Verdict: A spicy, funny and surprisingly emotional new-adult rivals-to-lovers romance set on a university women’s football team. Readers love grumpy captain Maya and sunshine transfer Jamie, the heat and the family storyline; a minority found it preachy, cringey in places or short on drama. Best for: Readers who want grumpy/sunshine, sports and a lot of … Read more
Verdict: A long, funny, slow-burn college hockey romance between a reckless team captain and the student coach whose rheumatoid arthritis ended her own career — beloved for its chronic illness representation and its rivals-to-lovers banter, and dragged down for some readers by its length, its huge cast and one very unwashed heroine. Best for: Readers … Read more
Updated on October 8, 2026 Verdict: A sapphic why-choose with a strong revenge premise — a sorority of women who go after men who hurt women — and far more sex than romance, held back by rough editing, a heroine who is aroused on almost every page and a cliffhanger that leaves most of its … Read more
Updated on October 8, 2026 Verdict: A slow-burn sapphic why-choose that runs on banter, found family and one ferocious enemies-to-lovers thread, set at a “mafia-run” British university where the mafia barely matters — warm and addictive for most readers, and very much half a story. Best for: Readers who want a “straight girl” awakening, butch … Read more
Updated on October 9, 2026 Verdict: A sweet, sexy new-adult novella about two young Black women, a shy college freshman and the stripper she cannot stop thinking about, with warm sex-positive representation and explicit heat, held back by a length that leaves most readers wanting more and writing that a minority finds choppy. Best for: … Read more