In our first Exploring Romance Tropes Collection we brought you book recommendations containing the searing heat of the enemies-to-lovers trope. In this second instalment we thought we'd have a look at its polar opposite: friends-to-lovers. Whether it's a secret crush that after much torture is revealed and reciprocated or someone looking for love, only to find it right there in front of them all along - sigh.

(Hopefully) unlike the enemies-to-lovers trope, the friends-to-lovers setup is a lot more relatable. Surely at some point everyone has had a crush on a friend and daydreamed about that fairy-tale rom-com ending? If not, that declaration could be a bit awkward for me...

Moving on, I liked using a classic example to begin proceedings in the last Collection and so we'll use the same format here. Emma, another of Jane Austen's protagonists considers herself to be an excellent matchmaker although she is determined to never marry herself. In her escapades to try and find a match for her friend Harriet she frequently clashes with her treasured friend and brother-in-law Mr Knightley. After Emma's interfering goes completely awry, she realises that she is in fact in love with Knightley and the tangled web of affections is unravelled.

Sticking with the classical theme, Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles is an original and astounding retelling of the Trojan War. This book! I read this for the first time a few years ago and honestly I'm still devastated. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it and quite frankly I've welled up at anything I've read / seen to do with the Trojan War since. So beautifully-written, it's quite rightly prize-winning and featured in Bloomsbury's Modern Classics series. Whether you're interested in Greek Mythology or not it's a breathtaking read and tantalising tale of gods and kings, expectations and the human heart. 

"If you spend your time fantasising about doing up a dilapidated country manor with your crush and getting chickens named after Twilight characters, prepare to have your dreams come true" when you read Wild Things by Laura Kay. In a year of stepping out of her comfort zone an opportunity arises for El and her friends that is too good to pass up. But living with your best friend and crush isn't easy. As our reviewer Lily Lindon commented "heady, giddy, and outrageously flirty, Wild Things is the perfect escapist queer rom-com for anyone longing to move to the country with their best friends (and hopeless crush)".

If moving in with your crush is a step too far, why not take a vacation with them instead? In Emily Henry's You and Me on Vacation Poppy and Alex became firm friends and decided to go on one vacation together every year. Eleven years later and it's time for one last trip that could determine the rest of their lives. The back and forth between the past and 'This Summer' keep you on the edge of your seat as you wait to find out how it all went wrong and what will happen by the end of this final vacation. 

Thank You For Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz is a multi-faceted debut that sees the paths of childhood friend to enemies Daniel Rosenberg and Liyah Cohen-Jackson crossing years later. Facing their past during the forced proximity of working on a big new exhibition project, what comes next is "a story of romance and reconciliation but explores much deeper themes of gender bias, being Jewish and multiracial, and recovery from sexual assault". A delightfully well-rounded read that offers a friendship group you'll long to be a part of and a perfect reconciliation and romance to swoon over.

Explore the Collection below to find your next friends-to-lovers romance. You can also leave us a comment at the bottom of the page to let us know what you favourite friends-to-lovers recommendations are and what tropes you think we should cover in this series.

Also, if you want love to be in the air, dive into our Valentine's Day Collection, perfect for February 14th and every day of the year.