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Books featuring love triangles
Romances, dystopian thrillers, and contemporary fiction with complicated (and page-turning) love triangles.
Pubblicato il 06 Settembre 2023
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Jenny HanA love triangle blossoms at a shared beach house that friends Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah visit every summer. Our readers (and BookTokkers everywhere) are continually charmed by this light YA read about childhood friends growing into something more, from the author of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” It even has a Prime Video series adaptation.
Kate in Waiting
Becky Albertalli“Kate in Waiting” is Albertalli’s first solo work outside of the Simonverse (“Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda”), and it’s a smash-hit that puts refreshing spins on queer love story tropes. The titular Kate and her best friend Anderson have a crush on the same boy from theater camp — and nothing goes as you would expect from that fraught premise. This is an uber-cute YA novel about the power of friendship.
Perfect on Paper: A Novel
Sophie GonzalesThis romantic comedy has some of the best bisexual representation we’ve seen yet. Darcy Phillips has a crush on her best friend, Brooke Nguyen, who isn’t on the same wavelength. Darcy doesn’t let that stop her from running a popular, anonymous relationship advice business out of locker 89 at school. It’s a great way to make extra cash, until she gets caught by high school heartthrob Alexander Brougham, who blackmails Darcy into helping him win back his ex. A perfect love triangle setup.
Felix Ever After
Kacen CallenderBlack, queer, and trans, 17-year-old artist Felix Love is having a complicated summer. Targeted by an anonymous transphobic bully, Felix catfishes his suspected tormentor, but his plan for revenge sends him on an adventure of love and self-discovery. With a fantastic (and diverse) cast, this feel-good novel is wonderfully messy, warm, and full of friendship and love.
Bridget Jones's Diary
Helen FieldingBridget Jones’ misadventures while trying to find love, lose weight, and give up cigarettes and alcohol make for one of the most memorable romantic comedies out there. Wanting to ditch her “singleton” status, Bridget pursues both her womanizing boss and a reserved family friend. Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant bring this love triangle to life in the film adaptation.
One True Loves: A Novel
Taylor Jenkins ReidReid (“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”) writes a story of divided love, painful choices, and following one’s heart. After her first husband, Jesse, disappears over the Pacific Ocean, Emma Blair spends years trying to move on. When she’s finally engaged to another man, Jesse is miraculously found — alive. The film adaptation stars Phillipa Soo, who played Eliza Hamilton in Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.”
It Ends with Us: A Novel
Colleen HooverIn many ways, this seems like your stereotypical sexy romance novel: Protagonist Lily Bloom must choose between a hot doctor named Ryle and her first love, Atlas. But the story shines above the rest for its very real and poignant portrayal of cycles of abuse. For this reason and more, “It Ends With Us” consistently tops the bestseller lists.
An American Marriage: A Novel
Tayari JonesAfter Celestial’s husband is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to prison, she must decide whether to stay in the marriage or move on with her life (alongside a new love interest). Celebrated both by traditional critics and by some high-profile reviewers (cough cough, Barack Obama and Oprah), this stirring story is at once an examination of race and the state of the criminal justice system, and a deeply intimate portrait of two people struggling to keep their love alive as external circumstances drive them apart.
Exciting Times: A Novel
Naoise Dolan“Exciting Times” tells the story of Ava, an Irish expat millennial working as an English teacher for rich children in Hong Kong. She quickly becomes entangled in a love triangle with wealthy banker Julian and dynamic attorney Edith (who Ava wants to be like and be with). Fascinating geopolitics and dissections of class make Dolan’s debut relevant to romance fans and beyond.
The Hunger Games
Suzanne CollinsSure, “The Hunger Games” isn’t a romance series. But it does pull off the fake dating and love triangle tropes with aplomb (and with much higher stakes than usual). Katniss and Peeta pretend to be in love to survive a government-mandated, kill-or-be-killed competition. Their shared trauma leads to a very real bond, which forces Katniss to reflect on her feelings for Gale, the strong, protective boy from back home.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. MaasFeyre is a huntress, but when she kills the wrong wolf, she’s taken from her family and into the fae realm to pay the price. Complete with curses, wicked rulers, dangerous bargains, monsters, and a complex love triangle, Maas’ wildly addictive series takes themes from “Beauty and the Beast'' and twists them into something entirely new and unexpected.
Shatter Me
Tahereh MafiWith seven action-packed, bestselling books in the “Shatter Me” series, it’s a mainstay of the dystopian YA genre (and a BookTok favorite). Juliette can kill with a simple touch of her hand, which makes her an ideal weapon. Then she meets not one, but two young men who are immune to her powers. Will she choose the nice guy or the antihero? Mafi’s debut is an ambitious page-turner.
The Love Interest
Cale DietrichNice-guy Caden and bad-boy Dylan are competing for Juliet’s affections, but they aren’t simply love-struck teens: They’re spies for the Love Interest Company, and they extract secrets from their targets through romance. There’s also the fact that the loser will die — which makes Caden and Dylan’s unexpected connection all the more complicated. This is a parody of the love triangle trope that provides a wholly fresh take, and spy caper thrills heighten the tension on every page.
The Selection
Kiera Cass“The Hunger Games” meets “Cinderella” in this opener for Cass’ “Selection” series. In a dystopian future, lottery winners from every caste must compete for the prince’s hand. For America Singer, this means choosing between her true love back home and a secure future in the Capital. And as it turns out, the prince is the personification of charming.
The Vincent Boys
Abbi GlinesAshton and Sawyer seem like a match made in heaven, even if Ash feels she can’t measure up to the church-going star quarterback. When Sawyer leaves on a summer holiday, Ash is drawn to his cousin Beau. Sure, he’s the town bad boy, but he also makes Ash feel like she can finally be herself. Glines, the author of the “Sea Breeze” and “Rosemary Beach” series, delivers steam, forbidden love, and heartfelt emotion in this love triangle romance.
Thoughtless
S.C. StephensKiera is torn between her longtime boyfriend, Denny, and Denny’s roommate, a free-spirited rockstar named Kellan. The sparks between Kiera and Kellan skyrocket when Denny makes a life-altering decision without consulting Kiera. Stephens’ “Thoughtless” series packs plenty of sexual tension and painful emotions as Kiera contends with the fallout of her choices.
Sense and Sensibility
Jane AustenThe Dashwood sisters lose their father, their home, and their stability. When the glimmering hope of new love emerges, followed by devastating heartbreaks, Elinor and Marianne navigate their emotions in dramatically different ways. Austen’s classic includes two love triangles and tests our emotional resolve before delivering the ending the Dashwoods undoubtedly deserve.
The Tale of Genji
Murasaki ShikibuThis classic work of Japanese literature, originally written in the 11th century, is now modernized and translated into English. It’s a rich epic that follows Hikaru Genji, a disgraced emperor’s son, whose sprawling romantic escapades include several love triangles, heartbreaks, and life-changing realizations.