Romance Books to Read Based on the 5 Love Languages

Everyone has a love language- the way that they like to receive and or express love, according to author, Gary Chapman and this book list is designed to give you book recommendations that express your favorite of the 5 love languages.

I’ve got the best romance book recommendations for each of the 5 love languages whose characters express their love in these ways:

• Acts of Service
• Words of Affirmation
• Gift Giving
• Quality Time
• Physical Touch

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

To learn more about love languages, check out Gary Chapman’s book and then have fun reading the book recommendations below or listening to the podcast episode…because life is better with a love story!

Episode 30: Romance Books to Read Based on the 5 Love Languages

Romance Books Based on the Love Language, Acts of Service:

If your love language is Acts of Service, then you like to receive and express love by doing things for your partner or when your partner helps you with various acts of service. The characters in these books perform big and small acts of service for the ones they are falling for.

Next to You
by Hannah Bonam-Young

Matt and Lane share a kiss one New Year’s Eve but have only been friends for the last year since that one night. That doesn’t mean that Lane hasn’t lusted for Matt from afar or that Matt hasn’t developed his own feelings.

But Lane struggles with anxiety and PTSD that keeps her from anything resembling commitment – until she ups and buys a bus that she plans to convert into a home with Matt’s help.

Matt became one of my favorite book boyfriends because he 100% spoke Lane’s love language. He never pushed her for more and was always willing to do anything and everything for her. Obviously, his big act of service was putting his mechanic skills to work on helping her with her bus renovation bit every little thing that he did for her was a deliberate act of love at her own pace.

The emotional intelligence on this man is off the charts. He wasn’t too shabby in the words of affirmation department either as his words made my heart go aflutter time and time again. It’s one of my favorite books and one I highly recommend.

Check out my book review of Next to You.

Related: Best Friends to Lovers Books

Protective Heart
by Brighton Walsh

Everly and Beck are like oil and water. She’s the town vet and full of sunshine while he hates everyone but her. When she needs a place to stay and she crashes at Beck’s place, it becomes impossible not to cross the line from only friends to something more.

a house and a vet clinic. She worms her way into friendship with Beck (H) who’s a huge grump and manages a diner for his family’s resort (he cooks!). He makes sure she eats, fixes things in her house, reads romance books with her and makes note of what she likes, 

Beck is a total grump and the opposite to Everly’s sunshine but he is a man who straight up carves his day around various acts of service for her. He leaves her food when she’s too busy to eat, fixes her things in her house, and even reads romance books with her. He especially takes note of the parts of the story that turn her on and store those in his memory bank for later.

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 and a man who is impeccable with his acts of service.

Related: Best Grumpy Sunshine Books

Beard With Me
by Penny Reid

Scarlet St. Claire is a survivor. She’s careful and she’s smart when it comes to her psycho family, but not when it comes to Billy Winston. Billy Winston is a fighter. He’s fearless and a fighter and would do absolutely anything for his family, and apparently anything for Scarlet.

This is Reid’s spin into literary fiction for the orgin story of Scarlet and Billy who get their happy ending in Beard Necessities of her Winston Brothers series. Billy is the optime of a man who lives his life by various acts of service for those he loves. He’s run the town mill, participated in a fake engagement, even donated a kidney all for the sake of others, but his selfless streak for Scarlet that began when they were just teens is the most beautiful thing to read.

He protected Scarlet in the woods, cleaned up her wounds, gave her food, even gave his body up for her protection. The man thoroughly stole my heart in this entire series but completely and totally in Beard with Me.

Check out my book review of Beard With Me.

Related: Best Books About Teenage Romance

Bad Intentions
by Charleigh Rose

Logan, or Lo, is a 21-year-old who’s had to grow up way beyond those 21 years given that her mom is junkie and she has her younger brother, Jess, to support. They’ve just moved to a small town in Northern California to start over where she meets Dare, a tattoo shop owner, who despite keeping his circle small and keeping to himself, can’t help but fall for the girl who needs help.

Both Lo and Dare show the ones they love with acts of service in this book that was so good I couldn’t put it down. Lo puts her own needs to the side for her brother who she’ll do anything for. And Dare is constantly looking out for Lo, defending and protecting her and ultimately loving her in the process.

Every action that this hot tattoo artist took just made me fall harder and harder for him. It is not to be missed!

Romance Books Based on the Love Language, Words of Affirmation:

If your love language is Words of Affirmation, then you feel love or show love in return with words of affirmation. The characters in these books give ample words of affirmation to the ones they are falling for to show how much they love them.

Final Proposal
by K. Bromberg

Ellery and Ford first met on a stormy night when they were stranded at a hotel bar full of strangers. But their paths cross again when they become partners to transform the hotel into one that dreams are made of. Only by becoming business partners, that makes them off limits to other which proves difficult to remember when they’re both living under the same roof.

Both Ellery and Ford have something to prove to their families with this hotel renovation project that they’ve taken on so it was incredibly sweet when Ford would speak her love language with his words of encouragement.

He would continually support her ideas and acknowledge her skills and intelligence throughout their project together and that is exactly what she needed. I loved seeing how Ford and Ellery both worked through their struggles and were able to finally admit their love for one another. I can’t recommend this (and the entire series) enough!

Check out my book review of Final Proposal.

Related: Best Forced Proximity Romance Books

The Charm Offensive
by Alison Cochrun

Dev Deshpande has spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.

Charlie only agrees to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image but his anxiety and dislike of being touched makes him look stiff on camera. As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars.

I found it impossible not to love Charlie and Dev who are two struggling men that don’t believe they are deserving of love. Dev threw himself into his work and was the best coach to Charlie, helping him out and giving him lots of words of encouragement and affirmation.

He saw Charlie for who he truly was, a man struggling with mental health issues, and didn’t try to mask them but help him get through his TV stint while also feeling truly seen by at least one person – him.  

Check out my full book review of The Charm Offensive.

Related: Best Reality TV Romance Books

Blindsided
by Amy Daws

Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorable, freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime.

Freya Cook is a seamstress who’s used to being the invisible woman. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, a loud-mouthed professional footballer, she’s never found it easy to get a man’s attention. But when she announces one night that she’s a virgin, Mac steps up to be her love coach.

Mac earned a forever spot as one of my best book boyfriends because of the way that he used his words to build up Freya’s confidence by just telling her the truth about how amazing she is as her friend and relationship coach. Words of affirmation are definitely his love language and the love language Freya seriously needed in this amazing romance.

He recognizes her body shaming ways and does not agree with her thoughts in the slightest. His pep talks in a dressing room and whispered words of encouragement in a coffee shop are just endearing and I love him for his support of his dear friend.

Check out my book review of Blindsided.

Related: Best Relationship Coach Romance Books

Melt for You
by J.T. Geissinger

Socially awkward Joellen Bixby may be in love with her unattainable CEO of her firm, but she has no idea how to get his attention. Enter her loud, cocky neighbor, Cameron McGregor who offers to teach her everything he knows about inspiring desire. Only it may be too late before Cam realizes that he’s pushing the woman he wants into the arms of another.

This is another of my favorite romance books of all time and favorite relationship coach books because Cam is just so amazing to Joellen.

He realizes that her confidence is sorely lacking so he uses his words of affirmation to tell her the truth and bolster that confidence. His commentary that she should not judge her body against some standard of perfection that doesn’t even really exist was epic!

Romance Books Based on the Love Language, Gift Giving:

If your love language is Gift Giving, then you like to accept or give gifts as an expression of love. The characters in these books give big and small gifts to the ones they love to show how much they care.

The Cheat Sheet
by Sarah Adams

The friend zone is not the end zone for Bree Camden, who is helplessly in love with her longtime best friend and extremely hot NFL legend, Nathan Donelson. The only problem is that she can’t admit her true feelings, because he clearly sees her as a best friend with no romantic potential, and the last thing Bree wants is to ruin their relationship.

But when spills her deepest, darkest secret to a TMZ reporter, the world starts to think Nathan and Bree are the perfect couple and Nathan’s publicist proposes they continue the rouse.

Nathan is the sweetest friend and quite the cinnamon roll hero despite his football prowess, and will do anything for Bree. He will even go as far as buying the building that houses her dance studio when she can no longer afford to pay rent. While he doesn’t limit his love language to just gift giving, I’d say that was quite the gesture!

Related: Best Football Romance Books

Drive Me Wild
by Melanie Harlow

Griffin is a car mechanic in the small town of Bellamy Creek whose night out with friends is interrupted when a beautiful woman, dressed in a debutante gown no less, wrecks her car right in front of them. Not one to leave a stranger in need, he lets her crash at his apartment for one night. Only that one night isn’t enough.

Griffin is the most amazing smalltown stud who literally just opened up his apartment to a stranger. For a guy who steers clear of relationships, he didn’t hesitate to bestow gifts on Blair right from the start. She too loved to bestow gifts on others with her pie making ways!

Check out my book review of Drive Me Wild.

Mating Theory
by Skye Warren

Sutton’s best friend is marrying the woman he loves so the billionaire feels like he’s earned his own self-inflicted pity party. But then an angel finds him, a young girl now working the streets and a connection is made. He’s so lovesick and she’s just trying to survive, but perhaps even in those dire circumstances love can prevail.

Sutton was so completely taken with Ashleigh that he knew he had to take care of her. But he didn’t just stop at feeding her or giving her a place to sleep. His ultimate gift was giving her a choice at the life she wanted and space to take it. His love language truly knew no bounds!

Check out my book review of Mating Theory.

Related: Best Billionaire Romance Novels

Mile High
by Liz Tomforde

Zander is the Chicago hockey player everyone loves to hate on the ice and off the ice for her playboy ways. One look at the new flight attendant for the team’s private plane and he’s ready to push her buttons and show her who’s boss. But their back-and forth only fuels the flames of a connection neither can soon ignore.

There is so much more than meets the eye when it comes to Zander. He may have a reputation and a face he shows the public but deep down he’s a guy who loves his found family fiercely and just wants to be loved in return.

His love language is gift giving to those he cares about. He made sure to buy Stevie clothes that she could keep at his place and he was constantly giving gifts to his “niece” that he’d bring back from every road trip. He’s a book boyfriend not to miss in the amazing Windy City series by Tomforde.

Related: Best Hockey Romance Books

Romance Books Based on the Love Language, Quality Time:

If your love language is Quality Time, then you feel love or show love in return by giving quality time. The characters in these books give quality time to the ones they love to show how much they care.

Wildcat
by Max Monroe

Catherine is the nerdy, book-loving, small-town flight attendant, and Quinn Bailey is the hot, talented, completely unattainable quarterback who just magically ended up on her plane and is in full pursuit of winning her. Though her attraction is instant, she knows that it’s not easy to fall for a superstar, especially with the world watching.

Quinn Bailey is a man who definitely shows he cares with his time. He may be juggling practice, games and publicity requirements but he is all about going after the girl even if that means taking a roundtrip flight with nowhere to go, only to see her.

I loved the lengths that he went to to show Cat that he was all in and it’s what ultimately won her heart!

Related: Football Romances Like Kelce & Swift’s Love Story

Lovelight Farms
by B.K. Borison

Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams. In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, Stella enters a contest with Instagram-famous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, Stella might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes.

There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on her application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only…there is no boyfriend until she convinces her best friend Luka Peters to be her fake boyfriend and now the faking is blurring the line that maybe both of them actually want to cross.

Luka is the best book boyfriend and best friend to Stella because he totally jumped on board with the fake relationship she proposed, no questions asked, and was there for her at every turn, no matter what. Even when things got tough, Luka never left Stella’s side, proving that he would be with her always.

Without even living in the same town, the man devoted his time and his love to his bestie and you soon realize why! This is a fantastic book you must add to your TBR list.

Related: Best Friends to Lovers Romance Books

People We Meet on Vacation
by Emily Henry

Poppy and Alex have nothing in common, and somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
 
When Poppy decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together and lay everything on the table to make it all right, Alex agrees to join her. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship.

Poppy and Alex are everything in this amazing book that is my favorite Emily Henry book! Despite being complete opposites, Alex never hesitated to spend his vacations with Poppy, wherever she wanted to go. Though they are just friends, his gift of time proved that his feelings ran deeper. A must read book!

Related: Romance Books That Inspire Travel

The Takeover
by T.L. Swan

I first met Tristan Miles at a meeting where he was trying to take over my late husband’s company. He was powerful, arrogant, and infuriatingly gorgeous, and I hated him with every cell in my body.  In the shock of the century, he called me three days later and asked me on a date. Hard pass.

Six months later, he was the guest speaker at a conference I attended in France. Still arrogant and infuriating—but this time, surprisingly charming and witty. But I can’t go there. He’s just a player in a hot suit, and I’m just a widow with three unruly sons. Yet everybody knows that Tristan Miles always gets what he wants…and what he wants is me.

Tristan is EVERYTHING in this book. I loved his pursuit of Claire at the conference but really it’s his continued pursuit of her when they return from France that gutted me with this book. He is a billionaire running a successful company but he never hesitated to give his time to Claire or her kids. I loved every interaction he had with her three boys and the fact that he didn’t change his personality for them or Claire. He was a man who slept on her couch for goodness sakes!

He was the real deal and was THERE for them in EXACTLY the way they needed him to be and I loved it so much.

Check out my book review of The Takeover.

Related: The Miles High Series Books in Order

Romance Books Based on the Love Language, Physical Touch:

If your love language is Physical Touch, then you feel love or show love in return through physical touch. Yes, many romance books have some aspect of physical touch in them, but the characters in these books really use their physical touch to show how much they love their partners.

Managed
by Kristin Callihan

Sophie hit the jackpot when she was upgraded to first class on her flight to London that sat her next to Gabriel Scott, the legendary manager of the biggest rock band in the world. He’s cold and arrogant but soon he’s showing her the real man beneath the perfect suits and she can’t help but fall.

Gabriel is a man of few words and a workaholic but he cannot help but make time for the social media manager, Sophie in this epic grumpy sunshine romance.

Turns out the man doesn’t sleep well, but one night in Sophie’s arms and he’s out like a baby. And while they may not know each other well yet, Sophie agrees to share his bed platonically to help the man get the rest he so desperately needs. It’s this act of physical touch that pulls them together and has them falling hard.

Beautiful Stranger
by Christina Lauren

Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon’s moved to New York City and is looking for excitement without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night’s fun.

But the manner–and speed–with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger. Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private.

Sara had been burned by love so she was keen to keep things casual with Max but their hook ups and his physical touch slowly but surely opened her heart to love again. Even though she wasn’t looking for love, he showed her time and time again with his touch just how much he cared for her. It’s one of my all-time favorite romance books!

Heated Rivalry
by Rachel Reid

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are intense rivals on the ice. Publicly they are enemies in the NHL but privately they can’t stop touching each other. The smart thing to do? Walk away, once a few secret hookups turn into a struggle to keep their relationship out of the press. The truth could ruin them both. But for Shane and Ilya, secrecy is soon no longer an option.

This is one of the best enemies to lovers romance books that has heat steamy up every page. Though these two love are complete opposites and love to needle one another, they are drawn to one another and cannot stop their secret hook-ups. So even if they cannot admit their love for one another to each other and definitely no the league or the press, their physical touch says it all.

Related: Best Enemies to Lovers MM Books

American Queen
by Sierra Simone

My name is Greer Galloway, and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States. I knew him as Ash, the soldier I once kissed in a circle of broken glass. I haven’t forgotten his broken promises and forbidden desires. But the country knows him as the leader of the free world.

Desperate to have me, Ash sends his best friend Embry to bring me to him. He doesn’t know about the secrets we also keep. Our own tragedies. Our own cravings. Soon, I find myself caught between past and present, pleasure and pain—and the two men who long for each other as much as they long for me.

Holy hotness, does Simone bring the steaminess to this romance that kicks off a trilogy that you won’t be able to put down. Physical touch is the love language between all three in this polyamorous relationship and how their needs to dominate and submit are expressed. It’s fantastic!

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