From forbidden love affairs to steamy office romances, the dynamics of professional settings provide a fertile ground for captivating storytelling. In this carefully curated list, we present 22 office romance books that explore the complexities of relationships, the thrill of forbidden desires, and the irresistible pull of love amidst deadlines and boardroom meetings.
Whether you’re drawn to the slow burn of colleagues turned lovers, the high-stakes drama of workplace rivalries, or the forbidden allure of boss-employee dynamics, there’s something for every romance lover in these pages. Join us as we delve into a world where desk-bound dalliances, clandestine encounters, and office politics collide to ignite sparks of passion and desire.
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Office Romance Books List
From contemporary office romances set in bustling corporate environments to historical tales of love blossoming amidst typewriters and filing cabinets, these books offer a diverse array of settings, characters, and plotlines. So, grab your coffee, settle into your ergonomic chair, and prepare to be swept away by the irresistible allure of love in the workplace.
Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.
Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative–completely infuriating–creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules–or outright smash them–if it means he can have her. All over the office.
As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.
Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.
By a Thread by Lucy Score
I got her fired. Okay, so I’d had a bad day and took it out on a bystander in a pizza shop. But there’s nothing innocent about Ally Morales. She proves that her first day of her new job… in my office… after being hired by my mother.
So maybe her colorful, annoying, inexplicably alluring personality brightens up the magazine’s offices that have felt like a prison for the past year. Maybe I like that she argues with me in front of the editorial staff. And maybe my after-hours fantasies are haunted by those brown eyes and that sharp tongue.
But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to be the next Russo man to take advantage of his position. I might be a second-generation asshole, but I am not my father.
She’s working herself to death at half a dozen dead-end jobs for some secret reason she doesn’t feel like sharing with me. And I’m going to fix it all. Don’t accuse me of caring. She’s nothing more than a puzzle to be solved. If I can get her to quit, I can finally peel away all those layers. Then I can go back to salvaging the family name and forget all about the dancing, beer-slinging brunette.
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—will be there and eager to meet him.
She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic and aid in her deception. New York to Spain is no short flight and her raucous family won’t be easy to fool.
Enter Aaron Blackford—her tall, handsome, condescending colleague—who surprisingly offers to step in. She’d rather refuse; never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man.
But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding draws nearer, Aaron looks like her best option. And she begins to realize he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office.
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.
And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favour she can’t refuse.
But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding draws nearer, Aaron looks like her best option. And she begins to realize he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office.
Bossman by Vi Keeland
The first time I met Chase Parker, I didn’t exactly make a good impression. I was hiding in the bathroom hallway of a restaurant, leaving a message for my best friend to save me from my awful date.
He overheard and told me I was a bitch, then proceeded to offer me some dating advice. So I told him to mind his own damn business―his own tall, gorgeous, full-of-himself damn business―and went back to my miserable date.
When he walked by my table, he smirked, and I watched his arrogant, sexy ass walk back to his date. I couldn’t help but sneak hidden glances at the condescending jerk on the other side of the room. Of course, he caught me on more than one occasion, and winked.
When the gorgeous stranger and his equally hot date suddenly appeared at our table, I thought he was going to rat me out. But instead, he pretended we knew each other and joined us―telling elaborate, embarrassing stories about our fake childhood.
Tangled by Emma Chase
When rich, handsome, and arrogant meets beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious, things are bound to get tangled…
Drew Evans makes multimillion-dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? He’ll tell you he has the flu, but we all know that’s not really true.
When Katherine Brooks is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.
How can one woman turn a smooth-talking player into a broken, desperate man? By making the one thing he never wanted in life the only thing he can’t live without.
Rush by Maya Banks
When Gabe Hamilton saw Mia Crestwell walk into the ballroom for his hotel’s grand opening, he knew he was going to hell for what he had planned. After all, Mia is his best friend’s little sister. Except she’s not so little anymore. And Gabe has waited a long time to act on his desires.
Gabe has starred in Mia’s fantasies more than once. So what if he’s fourteen years older? Mia knows he’s way out of her league, but her attraction has only grown stronger with time. She’s an adult now, and there’s no reason not to act on her most secret desires.
As Gabe pulls her into his provocative world, she realizes there’s a lot she doesn’t know about him or how exacting his demands can be. Their relationship is intense and obsessive, but as they cross the line from secret sexual odyssey to something deeper, their affair runs the risk of being exposed—and vulnerable to a betrayal far more intimate than either expected.
Hero by Samantha Young
Alexa Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that her mother and she weren’t his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.
Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.
Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they’re on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again….
Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Egomaniac by Vi Keeland
The night I met Drew Jagger, he’d just broken into my new Park Avenue office.
I dialed 9-1-1 before proceeding to attack him with my fancy new Krav Maga skills.
He quickly restrained me, then chuckled, finding my attempted assault amusing.
Of course, my intruder had to be arrogant.
Only, turned out, he wasn’t an intruder at all.
Drew was the rightful occupant of my new office. He’d been on vacation while his posh space was renovated.
Which was how a scammer got away with leasing me office space that wasn’t really available for rent.
I was swindled out of ten grand.
The next day, after hours at the police station, Drew took pity on me and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. In exchange for answering his phones while his secretary was out, he’d let me stay until I found a new place.
I probably should have acted grateful and kept my mouth shut when I overheard the advice he was spewing to his clients. But I couldn’t help giving him a piece of my mind.
I never expected my body to react every time we argued. Especially when that was all we seemed to be able to do.
Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid
After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can’t help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan—aka Sir McHotpants—witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can’t afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn to make her an offer she can’t refuse.
Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets:
Secrets from her boyfriend: I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.
Secrets from her mother: I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.
Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.
Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger. . . .
Maybe Later by Claudia Burgoa
Jackson Spearman is impatient, demanding, and private.
He’s practically a recluse.
When his assistant goes on maternity leave, Amy Walker virtual assistant extraordinaire arrives to save the day.
Or does she?
Amy is inquisitive and far too optimistic.
She isn’t impressed with Jackson at all.
Is she even real?
They can’t stand each other.
Unfortunately, they can’t seem to resist each other, either.
Soon, their work relationship starts to feel like something more…
Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren
Despite the odds against them from an embarrassing meet-awkward at a mutual friend’s Halloween party, Carter and Evie immediately hit it off. Even the realization that they’re both high-powered agents at competing firms in Hollywood isn’t enough to squash the fire.
But when their two agencies merge—causing the pair to vie for the same position—all bets are off. What could have been a beautiful, blossoming romance turns into an all-out war of sabotage. Carter and Evie are both thirtysomething professionals—so why can’t they act like it?
Can Carter stop trying to please everyone and see how their mutual boss is really playing the game? Can Evie put aside her competitive nature long enough to figure out what she really wants in life? Can their actor clients just be something close to human? Whether these two Hollywood love/hatebirds get the storybook Hollywood ending, or just a dramedy of epic proportions, you get to enjoy Christina Lauren’s heartfelt, hilarious story of romance in the modern world.
Bared to You by Sylvia Day
He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…
Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private worlds…and desires.
The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…
This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas
Young interior designer Ava O’Shea has no idea what awaits her at the Manor. A run-of-the-mill consultation with a stodgy country gent seems likely, but what Ava finds instead is Jesse Ward–a devastatingly handsome, utterly confident, pleasure-seeking playboy who knows no boundaries. Ava doesn’t want to be attracted to this man, and yet she can’t control the overwhelming desire that he stirs in her. She knows that her heart will never survive him and her instinct is telling her to run, but Jesse is not willing to let her go. He wants her and is determined to have her.
Tapping the Billionaire by Max Monroe
Georgia Cummings has zero luck with dating, and the era of the internet is not her friend.
In what alternate universe have men decided d*ck pics are a replacement for small talk and getting to know a girl? Seriously. One more crotch selfie and she might write men off for good.
Except her billionaire boss, Kline Brooks, might just be hot enough to make her reconsider. Dark hair, muscles for days, and a panty-dropping smile make him the quintessential bad boy. Only—he isn’t.
As an actual nice guy with a list of ethics a mile long, he knows a boss hooking up with his employee is never a good idea.
Boss Man Bridegroom by Meghan Quinn
How did I go from being insulted by Charlee Cox to hiring her to be my assistant? How is it that she’s chaos in color – making me crazy and my life better at the same time?
I never thought I would be staring down at her bright blue eyes begging me to go along with this ridiculous scheme I suggested.
Yes, I suggested. Like the idiot I am, I thought hey, why not start an HR nightmare and have my assistant ask me to marry her?
Confused? Don’t worry, so am I.
But try to follow along, because this is how I became Boss Man Bridegroom.
King of Wall Street by Louise Bay
At work, I’m King of Wall Street. The heaviest hitters in Manhattan come to me to make money. They do whatever I say because I’m always right. I’m shrewd. Exacting. Some say ruthless.
At home, I’m a single dad trying to keep his fourteen year old daughter a kid for as long as possible. If my daughter does what I say, somewhere there’s a snowball surviving in hell. And nothing I say is ever right.
When Harper Jayne starts as a junior researcher at my firm, the barriers between my worlds begin to dissolve. She’s the most infuriating woman I’ve ever worked with.
I don’t like the way she bends over the photocopier—it makes my mouth water.
The Contract by Melanie Moreland
That is the reputation that precedes Richard VanRyan. He lives life the way he wants, no concern for the opinion of others. He cares for no one, is completely unrepentant, and he has no desire to change his ways.
Katharine Elliott works under Richard as his PA. She despises him and his questionable ethics, but endures all the garbage he sends her way, because she needs the job. Her end goal is far more important than the daily abuse and demands she tolerates from her nasty tyrant of a boss. Until the day, he asks her for something she never expected. A new role with a personal contract— fiancée instead of PA.
What happens when two people who loathe each other, have to live together and act as though they are madly in love?
Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen
You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You’d be wrong. For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don’t know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard.
When Rebecca gets hurt, I step in to help. It’s what friends do. But what friends don’t do is rip off each others’ clothes for a single, wild night together.
Now she’s avoiding me. She says we’re too different, and it can never happen again. So why can’t we keep our hands off each other?
Other Genres To Try if you like Office Romance Books
For readers who find themselves captivated by the allure of office romance books, there exists a vast landscape of literary genres waiting to be explored. While the tantalizing dynamics of workplace relationships offer a compelling backdrop, similar themes of love, desire, and human connection can be found across a spectrum of genres. From the witty banter of romantic comedies to the pulse-pounding suspense of romantic thrillers, there’s something to satisfy every reader’s craving for heartfelt romance and compelling storytelling. Let’s embark on a journey beyond the confines of the office as we discover a world of literary genres that promise to ignite passion, stir emotions, and leave us yearning for more.
- Contemporary Romance: This genre offers a wide variety of romantic stories set in modern times, featuring diverse characters and settings beyond the office environment. Readers can explore love stories in various contexts such as small towns, big cities, or even exotic locales.
- Romantic Comedy: If readers enjoy the humor and lightheartedness often found in office romances, they might appreciate romantic comedy novels. These books blend romance with humor, delivering laugh-out-loud moments and heartwarming love stories.
- Erotic Romance: Readers looking for steamy and sensual stories similar to office romances might enjoy erotic romance novels. These books feature explicit love scenes and explore themes of passion, desire, and sexual chemistry.
- Historical Romance: For those interested in exploring love stories set in different time periods, historical romance novels offer a glimpse into the past while delivering captivating tales of romance and adventure.
- Office Manga: This genre seamlessly blends elements of romance with the unique dynamics and challenges of the workplace, offering readers an enthralling exploration of love amidst professional settings. Dive into the world of office manga for a compelling mix of heartfelt romance, workplace drama, and unforgettable characters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines an office romance book?
Office romance books typically center around romantic relationships between coworkers within a workplace setting. They often explore themes of love, attraction, power dynamics, and workplace ethics.
What makes office romance books appealing to readers?
Office romance books offer a captivating blend of professional and personal dynamics. Readers are drawn to the tension and chemistry that can arise between characters navigating the complexities of both their work and romantic lives.
Are office romance books always contemporary?
No, office romance books can span various genres and time periods. While many are contemporary, some may be set in historical settings or even futuristic workplaces.
Do office romance books always involve a boss/subordinate relationship?
Not necessarily. While the boss/subordinate dynamic is a common trope in office romance books, relationships can develop between coworkers at any level within the workplace hierarchy.
s you venture into the world of office romance literature, may you find yourself swept away by the passion, the drama, and the undeniable chemistry that unfolds within the confines of the workplace. So, whether you’re seeking an escape from reality or a reflection of the complexities of modern life, dive into the pages of an office romance book and let yourself be transported into a world where love knows no boundaries.
