Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

HELLO and welcome to my first Top Ten Tuesday since October of 2019! I used to do these all the time, but I’m a terrible blogger who, at heart, is very lazy. BUT! I got a message saying they were missed (thanks Laura!), so I’m going to try to get back into it. I do love doing TTT lists, and I adore Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl, so here we go!

This week’s topic is Valentine’s Day/Love Freebie, so I’m going for…

I have an entire shelf dedicated to said ships in Goodreads, so finding them is not hard. Cutting them down to ten? That was the hard part. HOW IS ONE TO CHOOSE I still am not certain. But here’s what I settled on anyway.

Mara & Noah from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Yes, Noah comes off as an ass. But from the moment he says “My girl is talented” at a certain scene in front of all their classmates when a bully is trying to mock her art…I get chills just thinking about that part.

Cece & Paul from Have a Little Faith in Me. Fake dating, friends to lovers, summer camp, sex positivity, childhood friends to more. This book has all of it and more and I adore it. Paul is the best friend we all needed in high school. He’s the best friend we all probably still need now, constantly reminding you that the weird feeling you had was that guy’s fault, and how sex should always be good for you, not just him.

Keely & Andrew from The Best Laid Plans. Another childhood best friends to lovers that involves a really hot fully-clothed bathtub scene.
*Special mention goes to Penny & Kai from Heartbreakers and Fakers, the author’s second novel coming out this June! I was able to read an advance copy and it is FANTASTIC.

Vada & Luke from More Than Maybe. These alt-music kids manage to work in a bar while in high school, have an undercurrent of Empire Records running throughout the book, and give us some of the BEST side characters you’ll ever see. The chemistry between Vada and Luke is off the charts though. It’s the way Vada and Luke don’t know they like each other–but we do.
*And speaking of side characters, Vada’s best friend is getting her very own book this September. Get ready to say hello to Meg & Micah in Never Saw You Coming!

Vee & Cam from Love Songs & Other Lies. I’ve read Jessica Perrington’s work in reverse order, and I can say quite honestly that her debut is my favorite. The dual POV, the dual timelines, the rock band tour bus…it all just works, and it’s all just so good.

Anna & Keane from Float Plan. Y’all this one is SO. GOOD. The book is very much a journey through Anna’s grief rather than just a romance, but oh, find me one person who doesn’t like Irish Keane Sullivan, I dare you. This one comes out in a few weeks, and if you preorder from Trish Doller’s hometown indie, you’ll also get some super cute stickers!

Henley & Graeme from Shipped. The love story between these two is an enemies to lovers production ONLY NOT EXACTLY! It’s more like misunderstood coworkers to lovers, and I am Here For It. 

Rowan & Neil from Today Tonight Tomorrow. God I love this book. Enemies to lovers, all in one day, a game of assassins + a scavenger hunt, a girl who loves romance books, and a boy who loves a children’s series. It’s truly lovely, as is everything Rachel Lynn Solomon writes. She writes swoon and tension SO WELL.

Alex & Henry from Red, White, & Royal Blue. It wouldn’t be a list if it didn’t include my boys, though my love for these two is so well documented on here that everyone already knows they belong here. This book is so swoony, so sexy, so goddamn romantic. If you haven’t read it yet, now you can with some semblance of hope for the future.

Reena & Sawyer from How to Love. A list is never complete until Katie Cotugno is on it, and her debut has remained my favorite over the years. I’ve read it countless times, and even though a lot of people don’t like it because of the teen pregnancy plot line or the very, very messy characters, those are precisely what makes me adore it. Cotugno doesn’t ever shy away from leaving her characters in messes of their own making and makes things feel so realistic I can’t even stand it.