**Summer is such a great time to read. It always feels like there’s more time and the books you read are more investing. It’s such a great time for romance books and any type of love story as well. I dust off my romance shelf and think of my favorite love stories. That leads me to browsing the rest of my collection to see what other forms of love I can find, like a great story about friendship. As I look, I decorate the shelves with flowers from the garden, choosing a few shelves here and there for little planters and vases where I can fill them with bright, blossoming flowers.**

My initial idea was to do two posts: Best romances in books and best non-romantic relationships. But as I was thinking through my favorites, I decided to condense it into just best relationships in books. Because while there are so many amazing romances, there are also amazing relationships that are not romantic that may be in the form of a family relationship, friendship, or found family. So let’s take a look at some of my favorite bookish relationships.

We’re going to start off on the romantic relationship side of things with Wes and Liz from Better Than the Movies. These two have such great chemistry. I love their little rivalry and the alliance they form. These two characters have some great scenes together with so many funny moments. There are also some great quotes that came out of this relationship that were just too sweet.

Next on my favorites list is Harper and Rhen from A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. Harper and Rhen are some of my favorite characters and one of my favorite literary couples. I love the way they started off not liking each other and eventually built their relationship even though there were so many challenges in the way. I love the glimpses we see of them in Forging Silver Into Stars as well.

Another Brigid Kemmerer, we have Tessa and Corrick in Defy the Night. They have a scene in book 2 that just lives in my head when they play spin the bottle and Corrick thinks about what to ask Tessa for. It’s so sweet and I love seeing their relationship, especially from Corrick’s perspective through the entire series.

Next is Audrey-Rose and Thomas from Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. Thomas has that sarcasm that makes the relationship so great. Both characters were so fun to read about and I loved seeing their relationship as well.

That finishes the romantic love, so let’s move onto family, starting with The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. One of my favorite parts of this series is watching the Hawthorne brothers interact. One of my favorites is the bonus content in The Final Gambit where three of the brothers punish Grayson. It was great and we can really see that brotherly bond throughout the series, which I love.

My other favorite family relationship is with Andie and her dad in The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. I always felt like this book had such a wonderful balance of romance, family, and friendship that I rarely get to see in books. We watch as Andie and her dad try to reconnect since her dad is at the house and not busy with work. We see the awkwardness in the beginning grow into a great father-daughter dynamic. One scene where they talk about Andie’s mom gets me every time. Morgan Matson does such a great job with family dynamics, especially in this one and Save the Date which is a larger family.

Moving onto my favorite friendships/found families, we can start with Rev and Declan from Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer. As I read this book, I realized two things: First, I don’t think I have ever read a friendship about two male characters before, probably because most books I read in are in a female characters perspective, but I feel like their friendship was written so well. Second is that I don’t see nearly enough friendships in books. I feel like the friend is either nonexistent or gets pushed to the side once the love interest is introduced. This friendship, from what I remember, was prevalent through the whole story. It was such a well-written one too.

And finally, we have the kids from The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, consisting of Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Zu. These four have such a great found family dynamic, and dare I say my favorite? I love watching these four drive around in their van and I always get so nostalgic for this series for some reason. I really need to watch the movie.

Sometimes you just read a book and realize that the relationship, be it a romantic one, family one, or friendship, is just written way too well and is something that just sticks with you. It really makes you feel something and you realize how well the author did in bringing the characters together.

What are your favorite relationships in books?

xoxo,

Just another reader