There’s something truly special about a great single-mom romance, from the achingly sweet chemistry between leads to getting to know the rambunctious kid (or kids) in the picture. Single-mom romances have all the flirtation and charm that traditional romance novels offer, with an extra scoop of wit, warmth, and lovable side characters that will keep you hooked!
Don’t overlook this exciting and trendy romance trope — get started with the following list of romances that you’ll find yourself falling for again and again.
Final Offer by Lauren Asher
Lauren Asher’s wildly popular romance Final Offer is the third and most talked-about installation in her steamy Dreamland Billionaires collection.
Callahan Kane and Lana Castillo have a tempestuous history that’s riddled with heartbreak — and now they’re being pushed back together by an inheritance. Cal returns to his hometown intent on selling his grandfather’s lake house only to find that his first and only love, Lana Castillo, inherited one-half of the property, along with her six-year-old daughter. Can Lana and Cal find their way back to each other with so much troubled history behind them?
You can buy Final Offer here, and make sure to check out Lauren Asher’s The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions for more character-driven billionaire romance reads.
The Suite Spot by Trish Doller
Trish Doller’s The Suite Spot is excellent contemporary fiction featuring a lovable slow-burn romance and a whole lot of heart.
Set on a remote island in Lake Erie, The Suite Spot introduces struggling single-mom Rachel Beck, her daughter Maisie, and her employer, Mason Brown. Mason is withdrawn and moody, but Rachel is determined to make the most of her job… even when the aloofness of her boss might just be loneliness, and Rachel could be just what he’s looking for.
Jenny Proctor writes hilarious, wholesome romances with characters you’ll love to love, and How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss is no exception.
Lila might have a crush on her boss Perry, but she refuses to let that crush become anything more. She has her son Jack to think about, and she’s not sure that Perry is ready for a new relationship after his recent divorce. But when Perry changes Lila’s position from virtual to in-person, she learns that staying away from Perry is going to be much harder than she had gambled for.
It Starts With Us by the infamous Colleen Hoover is the sequel to her wildly popular novel It Ends With Us — but it can be enjoyed as an impactful and gripping stand-alone romance, too.
In this touching tale of love and loss, the protagonist Lily has settled into a comfortable co-parenting rhythm with her ex-husband Ryle. Lily unexpectedly bumps into her first love, Atlas, and the hope of a second chance at romance with him is just what she needs. But Lily’s ex-husband doesn’t want Atlas around his daughter, and Lily has to try and navigate the impossible to build a life she loves.
No Ordinary Hate by Whitney Dineen & Melanie Summers
Written by the delightful and ditzy co-author duo of Whitney Dineen and Melanie Summers, No Ordinary Hate is a laugh-out-loud contemporary romance that you won’t want to miss.
Meet Harper Kennedy: she’s the face of the media’s “perfect relationship” with her husband Brett until he cheats, again, and she and her kids flee to remote Alaska in the hopes of avoiding the media frenzy.
Newly separated and trying to help her children adjust to small-town living, Harper has more than enough on her plate without having to worry about how local lodge owner Digger McKenzie feels about her. But when his feelings start to transform into more than gruff dislike, will either of them be able to sort through the messy parts of their lives and find true happiness?
Emotions run high in Brittainy Cherry’s The Mixtape, a rockstar romance that’s deeply moving and full of heart.
The Mixtape follows the poignant love story between hard-working single mom Emery and the rockstar Oliver, who is grieving the loss of his twin brother. The two immediately bond over shared struggles and the hardships of life, but sometimes it takes more than hope to make things work in the world’s chaos.
Ilsa Madden-Mills’s beloved sports romance Beauty and the Baller has been topping charts and charming readers since its initial publication in early 2022.
One fateful night of passion between former NFL quarterback Ronan and a mysterious party guest named Nova is rekindled when the two surprisingly become next-door neighbors. Nova is taking care of her younger sister after their mother passed, and Ronan accepted a job as the new football coach in town. To keep the press off his back, he proposes a fake dating scheme to Nova, but it isn’t long before they both realize that the feelings between them are very, very real.
Jen DeLuca’s Well Met trilogy is a series of funny and swoon-worthy romance reads set during a Renaissance Faire, and Well Matched is widely considered the fan-favorite out of the three.
The fake dating trope strikes again, this time between single mom April Parker and her friend Mitch Malone, a frequenter of the local Renaissance Faire who’s known to be the life of every party. Months after their flirtatious fake relationship, April and Mitch meet again at the summer Renaissance Faire, and they begin to hope for the chance for something real.
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
If you’re looking for lyrical writing with a steamy, sapphic romance at its center, then look no further than Ashley Herring Blake’s delightful rom-com Delilah Green Doesn’t Care.
Meet Delilah Green: she has sworn off her hometown for years until her stepsister Astrid guilts her back to the small town that she escapes from. Delilah couldn’t be more miserable until she runs into Claire Sutherland — one of Astrid’s friends — and starts to think that might be something worth fighting for in this godforsaken town. But with Claire’s eleven-year-old daughter in the picture, and a plot to cancel a doomed wedding in the works, life is determined to get in the way of Delilah and Claire’s connection.
Nobody writes complex, sexy romances quite like Lilian T. James, and her gripping novel Meet Me Halfway is unanimously considered one of her finest works.
Impregnated at sixteen by a boy who broke her heart, and coerced into a painful union soon after, Madison learned the hard way how to survive on her own and, most importantly, to trust no one. Now she’s twenty-five, and balancing three jobs, single parenthood, and online courses — she certainly has no time for the mysterious, brooding neighbor who keeps leaving notes on her door. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to stop trying.
Kwana Jackson’s heartwarming romance Knot Again is a short and sweet read that’s as character-driven as it is well-written.
Lucas Strong is a fireman who seeks solace away from his local celebrity status at the nearby laundromat, but what he didn’t expect to find is a perky young girl whose mother just so happens to be his old-school crush. Single mother Sydney Harris has spent years putting her daughter first, and she isn’t going to stop now — but when she runs into an old flame at her place of work, the hope for a second chance at love is enough to make her dream again.
You can buy Knot Again here, and check out its predecessor Real Men Knit for another charming, community-based romance.
Sleepover by Serena Bell
Sparkling chemistry and a sprinkle of spice leaps off the pages of Serena Bell’s hilarious and touching romance, Sleepover.
Elle and Sawyer have one thing in common — they’re both single parents — but that’s just about where the similarities end. When the two of them become next-door neighbors, Sawyer can’t seem to avoid Elle’s bubbly self, and maybe he doesn’t want to. But is he ready to take another chance at love after the tragic passing of his first wife?
You can purchase Sleepover here, and prepare to be enthusiastically rooting for Elle and Sawyer’s romance from the very minute they meet.
Sprinkled in the Stars by Violet Morley
Violet Morley’s debut novel Sprinkled in the Stars is a touching romantic tale of life, love, and sacrifice.
Sprinkled in the Stars follows the romance between paramedic AJ Beckett and actress Melanie Cooper. AJ is working hard to protect her seven-year-old autistic daughter, Parker, from the hazards of life — but when she and Melanie keep meeting by chance, can AJ protect her heart, too?
If you’re looking for a rousing small-town, multicultural romance, then look no further than the lighthearted Love’s Recipe by self-published novelist Mila Nicks.
Set in charming small-town Louisiana, Love’s Recipe introduces single mom Rosalie Underwood, who lands a job at a local restaurant, run by Nicholas Fontaine. What Rosalie doesn’t know is that her new job is teetering on the brink of closure, and she can’t afford to let that happen. She enters the restaurant in a food competition hoping to generate media coverage and revenue, and she and Nicholas must work together to get the restaurant competition ready — regardless of the feelings that are brewing between them.
Mariana Zapata is the queen of the slow-burn romance, and Wait For It is her gripping, magical writing at its best.
Meet Diana Casillas: she’s raising her two nephews, working hard at a job that she loves, and making it by one day at a time. She hardly has any space for romance in her life, but when her nephew’s baseball coach, Dallas, keeps popping up more and more, she finds herself wondering what life could be like if she took a chance on her future.
Julia Keanini’s The Quarterback is a hilarious and heartfelt series debut, being the first in Keanini’s four-book Fairy Tale Second Chances series.
The Quarterback is a Cinderella-inspired love story, set during the modern day with a football star replacing the classic story’s starry-eyed prince. Ella is a single mom, and she’s completely moved on from Drake — the infamous football player who left her for her conniving stepsister, Karla. But when Drake returns home with plans to marry Karla, Ella’s old feelings come rushing back. They both know that Karla is wrong for him, but how can they change what’s already written in the stars?
Bestselling author Emma Chase captivates readers again with Sustained, a sweet and sexy love story that you won’t want to miss!
No romantic duo is quite as dynamic (and unexpected) as that of Chelsea McQuaid, the legal guardian of six of her nieces and nephews, and the cold and callous defense attorney Jake Becker. Jake isn’t one for chaos or complexity, and Chelsea is exactly that — but as he gets to know her and her kids, it dawns on him that they could use some defending, too.
You can buy Sustained here, and make sure to check out the other two installments in the sizzling Legal Briefs series.
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
The Soulmate Equation is the powerhouse writing duo of Christina Lauren at their best: snappy dialogue, a captivating plotline, and characters you’re destined to fall for.
Smart and capable single mom Jess Davis is all about numbers, and love is not in the cards for her — that is until she hears about a buzzy new app called GeneticAlly, which matches partners using science and DNA. Jess signs up for the app, only to be gravely disappointed when she is matched with somebody she already knows: Dr. River Peña, a man who she absolutely can’t stand. And he just so happens to be the app’s founder.
Teagan Hunter’s brilliant four-book Roommate Romps collection is comedic, trope-driven romance at its finest, and Crave Thy Neighbor is the series’s most steamy installment.
Maya isn’t looking for love, she’s looking for a place to stay, and Nolan can provide just that for her and her pre-teen soon. Maya and Nolan’s temporary roommate situation is working out just fine — they both want very different things in life — but the simmering attraction between them threatens to become too much to ignore.
Alexa Martin’s Fumbled is a sweet and spicy romance that will have you laughing, crying, and swooning right alongside the well-written characters.
Poppy Patterson is a single mom who has it all together — that is, as much as any hard-working adult really can. When T.K. Moore, her long-lost high school sweetheart who just so happens to be a football star, reappears in her life, Poppy realizes that she never really moved on from him like she thought she had. T.K. feels the same way, but with years of history between them and behind them, will this second-chance romance ever come to be?
You can purchase Fumbled here, and brace yourself for a deliciously readable contemporary romance that will have you turning pages late into the night.
Romance Book FAQs
What are the best books with the “single mom” romance trope?
The above list of twenty books includes some of the best, brightest, and most romantic books that feature a single mom.
What is the “single mom” romance trope?
The single mom romance trope encompasses books where one of the main love interests is also a single mother.
What defines a romance book?
A book can be considered a romance book when the love story between two characters is a central part of the plot.
What does trope mean in romance?
A romance trope is a recognizable plot device, theme, or type of character that propels the plot in a direction that readers expect or enjoy.
What are some good romance authors?
The above authors of the aforementioned twenty romance books are a great place to start in the romance genre.
Layla Hughes is a professional writer who grew up on the Central Coast of California, and later studied English at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Her love for reading started when she was young, as she has been an avid reader ever since she mastered her ABC’s. She loves the classics, YA fiction, and loves keeping up with current reading and writing trends. She is currently traveling full-time in a converted camper van around the US, Mexico and Canada, enjoying living out a story of her own creation. find Layla on Instagram @laylabeth
