The Best Book Boyfriends of 2022: Romance Heroes to Fall For This Year
Collecting new book boyfriends is one of the best parts of reading romance books. If you’re wondering who the star book boyfriends are of 2022, then check out this list and find out!
In it, I share my top 10 best book boyfriends of 2022.
*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I always say, married or not, you can never have too many book boyfriends! 😊
I love reading romance books for many reasons and discovering new book boyfriends is just one of them.
What is a Book Boyfriend?
Book boyfriends are the heroes in romance books who display characteristics and qualities that would make them ideal boyfriends in real life.
These ideal men may be fictional, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t idolize them for the men that they are and for their displays of love and affection within the pages.
Here at She Reads Romance Books, it’s my goal to help romance book lovers find the best romance books worth reading as well as the best book boyfriends to fall for.
Every year I create my annual list of favorite book boyfriends so you don’t miss a single one, but you can find all things related to the boys we love to call our own on my Book Boyfriend page, or check out my list of best book boyfriends from 2021.
And if you haven’t yet taken my quiz to find your ideal book boyfriend, get on that!
In this book list you’ll find my favorite book boyfriends from new romance book releases of 2022.
This year’s top 10 book boyfriends list are all contemporary romance heroes but they range from silver foxes to young rock stars and everything in between.
It’s also no surprise that many are from my list of best romance novels of 2022.
Ready to check them out? Read on and then share YOUR favorite book boyfriends of 2022 in the comments below.
My Favorite Book Boyfriends of 2022
Matt from Next to You
by Hannah Bonam-Young
Matt may be the most perfect book boyfriend – thank you Bonam-Young! That’s why he captured the award for best book boyfriend in my list of best romance novels of 2022.
For a man of his size, he is quite the cinnamon roll when it comes to how he approached and later took care of Lane. He took things at her pace and loved her for who she was, anxiety and all.
He was also quite the lover in the bedroom, but he showed such sensitivity, kindness, and patience when it was needed. The emotional intelligence of this man is off the charts.
But what truly won me over were his words…OMG this man! His words made my heart go aflutter time and time again.
When it comes to book boyfriends, you are looking for the entire package and Matt is just that and then some. Check out my review of Next to You.
Book Synopsis:
Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is leading nowhere, and simply put, she’s not happy.
So after a night out celebrating (drinking) on her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase. A giant yellow forty-eight passenger school bus that she intends to make a home.
With little-to-no renovation experience but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matt—a mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature.
While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them.
Matt’s a total family guy with “settle down with me” tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment-averse.
So when Matt offers to help her with the bus and in the bedroom with no strings attached, Lane’s feelings evolve faster than you can say “just good friends.”
But she soon discovers that in order to build something new, she has to first heal her past.
Atlas from It Starts With Us
by Colleen Hoover
Atlas is seriously a god as Alyssa would characterize him. His patience and control knew no bounds and his love for Lily took my breath away.
I definitely fell for him as a young 18-year-old in It Ends With Us, but fell for him just as hard as an adult in It Starts With Us.
Not only was he the opposite of Ryle in all the ways that matter, but he proved to be a rock for Lily each and every time she needed him.
He also proved to be there for another person and that car scene – man, I bawled my eyes out. Atlas is the real deal and definitely worthy as one of the best book boyfriends. Check out my review of It Starts With Us.
Book Synopsis:
Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil co-parenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again.
After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.
But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life, and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to the It Ends With Us Series
Easton from Reverse
by Kate Stewart
Now Stewart has already given me so many amazing book boyfriends to fall for (Tobias, Sean, Dom, Reid, Lance, Eli, Theo) so I shouldn’t be surprised that she made me fall for yet ANOTHER man! Easton f-ing Crowne!
The thing about Easton is that I loved this man like something fierce and yet at times I also wanted to throttle him so hard. UGH!!
I love book boyfriends who fall fast and fall hard and man did Easton fall for the wrong girl. Yet even with so many “forbidden” warnings flashing, he knew that he found the one and didn’t want to let her go.
Not going to lie, the fact that he is a talented musician and rock star totally upped the ante on this book boyfriend.
Oh, to be able to hear him sing or to even have him dedicate an encore song to me- it would be epic!
Easton definitely gives Matt a run for his money as best book boyfriend of the year. Hands down. Check out my review of Reverse.
Book Synopsis:
Thirty years ago, my father became the other half of a broken love story. A relationship he’s kept hidden for decades.
Haunted by my father’s love story, and in my quest for answers, I never imagined I would discover a love of my own.
Or that my love for Easton Crowne would be key in discovering the reason behind what split our parents up.
Doomed from the start and knowing the havoc our relationship would inevitably wreak on our families, I could never have prepared for the toll it would take or the cost of the truth.
But in order to find our ending, we had to go back to their beginning.
Spider from Brutal Vows
by J.T. Geissinger
Geissinger is another author that never disappoints in delivering the best book boyfriends and she did so this year with Spider.
Oh, how I love this man and wouldn’t mind going a round or two with the Irish man.
Irish accent aside, I adored his inner romantic side, and the banter between him and Reyna had me glued to the pages.
He is a man all about communication and wouldn’t let Reyna get away with keeping anything to herself.
This man was H-O-T hot and should probably terrify me a bit and yet I would never turn him away. He can call me viper anytime 😊. Check out my review of Brutal Vows.
Book Synopsis:
Reyna won’t allow her innocent niece to suffer the same way she did.
So, if the arrogant Irish mobster her brother sold her niece to thinks she’s going to play nice over their arranged marriage contract, he should think again.
Spider is supposed to marry sweet, beautiful Lili. So why can’t he stop thinking about her swamp witch of an aunt?
Reyna who hates him. Reyna who challenges him.
Nothing good can come of what he’s feeling for a woman who’s not the one in the wedding contract he signed.
A woman he wants so much, he’ll have to burn the whole world down to get. If she doesn’t end him first.
Byron from 10 Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend
by Penny Reid
It’s often the quiet ones that sneak their way into my heart and Byron is definitely one of those book boyfriends who grabbed me from the word go.
It’s so hard to peg why I love him so much because he’s just the full package.
He’s a silent alpha male who definitely comes across as arrogant and righteous and yet he’s also so vulnerable and honest.
I LOVED everything about this man, faults and struggles and all, and found him to be not only fascinating but the perfect book boyfriend. Check out my review of 10 Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend.
Book Synopsis:
Winnifred Gobaldi and Byron Visser are not best friends. Yes, they’ve known each other for years, but they’re not even friendly. The truth is, they have nothing in common.
She’s a public school science teacher with stars in her eyes, and he’s a pretentious, joyless double PhD turned world-famous bestselling fiction author.
She’s looking for a side hustle to help pay down a mountain of student debt, and his financial portfolio is the stuff of fiduciary wet dreams.
So why are they faking a #bestfriend relationship for millions of online spectators?
When a simple case of tit-for-tat trends between nonfriends leads to a wholly unexpected kind of pretend, nothing is simple.
Sometimes, it takes a public audience to reveal the truth of private feelings, and rarely—very rarely—you should believe what you see online.
Zack from Tempt
by Melanie Harlow
Thank you, Melanie Harlow, for giving me a book boyfriend who may be older but is definitely a hottie!
We really don’t get enough of the silver fox book boyfriends in romance but Zack should set the mold for them.
I adored their meet-cute moment and the man basically worshipped Millie’s body during their hot one-night stand.
The fact that he was totally smitten with her despite their age gap and the forbidden nature of their romance is what had me head over heels for this man.
Book Synopsis:
I didn’t realize who the gruff, gorgeous older man was the night he rescued me from a creep in a Manhattan hotel.
All I knew was that a hot, bearded stranger with a protective streak showed up right when I needed a reminder that real gentlemen still exist.
Although he left his manners behind after asking me up to his room. It was the hottest night of my life, but I never thought I’d see the former Navy SEAL again.
Imagine my surprise at the rehearsal dinner one week later, when my handsome stranger is introduced as the father of the groom. Even more surprising? What we felt in New York was no fluke.
In public, we pretend there’s nothing between us. In private, we can’t keep our hands off each other.
The situation is beyond complicated. Zach never even knew he’d fathered a child until recently, and he wants to earn his son’s trust and respect.
As for me, I’m looking for a man who wants to start a family, and Zach has made it clear he’s not that man. He’s older, newly divorced, and he lives across the country.
But no matter how many times we draw the line, we keep crossing it.
Ford from Final Proposal
by K. Bromberg
What’s not to love about a billionaire who is so nice and so hot and so capable that there really isn’t anything “not” to love about him?
And then to find out he has a spicy side too…OMG that’s prime book boyfriend material right there.
Though it was his support of Ellery and his acknowledgment of her skills and intelligence that honestly makes him the best partner and book boyfriend. Check out my review of Final Proposal.
Book Synopsis:
One stormy night. One hotel bar full of stranded travelers. One available chair next to a charming, mysterious man.
When our paths crossed again, I never expected the stranger to be Fordham Sharpe who I’d just become partners with in a hotel transformation that dreams were made of.
To him, I was off limits. But we had one thing in common—we were both hiding. From our pasts. From unresolved family conflicts. From what really mattered—our hearts.
But as each day passed, our mutual attraction became harder to resist.
We agreed to the partnership to prove our worth to our families, but perhaps we’d only prove our need for something else. Each other.
Hayes from In a New York Minute
by Kate Spencer
I dare anyone not to fall for Hayes who definitely saves Franny’s day, preventing her from flashing her rear to everyone in NYC.
They seriously had the best meet cute but it was their continued run-ins and his awkwardness that made me fall for this man.
Sometimes you just crave a sweet, adorable man as a book boyfriend and Hayes is it.
Book Synopsis:
Franny Doyle is having the worst day. She’s been laid off from her job, the subway doors ripped her favorite silk dress to ruins, and now she’s flashed her unmentionables to half of lower Manhattan.
On the plus side, a dashing stranger came to her rescue with his suit jacket.
Now Franny and her knight-in-couture, Hayes Montgomery III, are the newest social media sensation despite being a disastrous match.
Only the more they keep running into each other, the more they like each other’s company.
Beck from Protective Heart
by Brighton Walsh
Holy hotness! Who knew that Beck was a grade A, hot dirty talker under all that grumpiness??!!
And did I mention that the man reads romance books and takes notes of the things that turn his friend on? Oh yeah, he does!
He may claim to only be Everly’s friend but the man goes out of his way to take care of her in every way making him the perfect book boyfriend.
But honestly, it’s his mouth that totally makes him a winner in my book! 😊
Book Synopsis:
Everly Bowman and I don’t make sense. She’s sunshine personified, and I hate everyone. Well, everyone but her.
easy to pretend like she isn’t my whole world. Or it was until she needs a place to stay, and my apartment is her only option.
Suddenly, she’s everywhere I turn. Even her scent is branded into my sheets. And thanks to our unofficial romance book club, I’ve also amassed an encyclopedia titled Everly’s Pleasure Buttons.
Each week, it gets harder to ignore how much I want to make her fantasies come true. Especially when we crawl into my bed every night.
But I won’t jeopardize what we have for anything, so I’m fine lying to myself and pretending like I don’t dream of calling her mine.
At least, I was until I see her with him.
Hank from Folk Around and Find Out
by Penny Reid
Hank’s actions toward others earned his status as one of my favorite book boyfriends.
He totally takes care of his ladies at the strip club but his protectiveness extended toward Charlotte and her kids even though he and Charlotte were like oil and water to start.
Hank seems like a man who “what you see is what you get” and yet there are so many layers to him that I loved.
For a single man about town, he sure knew how to take care of kids and his care for Charlotte’s kids just made my heart swoon.
But not going to lie, his moves with Charlotte were also swoon-worthy and sold him as one of my favorite book boyfriends of the year! Check out my review of Folk Around and Find Out.
Book Synopsis:
Hank Weller doesn’t help people. So he certainly doesn’t want to hire Charlotte Mitchell to be an exotic dancer at his club, The Pink Pony.
But after Charlotte’s messy, public divorce made Hank’s club out to be the culprit—and made her the single mother of four kids—he doesn’t need or want any additional bad press courtesy of Charlotte Mitchell.
Too bad she doesn’t understand the word no.
Looking For More Book Boyfriends?
Don’t miss my Book Boyfriends page for all things book boyfriends including links to more lists like this one.
Related Lists:
- Best Romance Novels of 2022
- Best Book Boyfriends of 2021
- The Best Alpha Males in Romance
- The Best Dirty Talkers in Romance Books
- Romance Heroes with Wounded Souls You’ll Love
- My 2022 Reading List
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