Real world, real heat · 11 books
Spicy contemporary romance
No dragons, no fae bargains, no one getting kidnapped by the mafia. Contemporary romance is the present-day, real-world shelf: rinks, offices, small towns and the people who will not stop arguing in them. Every book here is set in the real world and is not tagged dark romance in our index.
It is still spicy. Most of this list sits at 4/5, and contemporary is where BookTok's hockey and billionaire obsessions live. Nearly all of them follow one couple to an HEA and read on their own, so this is the easiest shelf on the site to start anywhere.
What qualifies Present-day, real-world setting and not tagged dark romance. Sorted by heat.
Priest
Forgive him, Father. He knows exactly what he is doing.
unhingedEnds HEA. Book 1 of Priest, reads standalone.Icebreaker
Why everyone on TikTok suddenly cares about hockey.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 1 of Maple Hills, reads standalone.King of Wrath
Engaged by blackmail. Ruined by choice.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 1 of Kings of Sin, reads standalone.The Pucking Wrong Number
He texted the wrong number. He kept it anyway.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 1 of The Pucking Wrong Series, reads standalone.Twisted Games
He guards the princess. Nobody guards him from her.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 2 of Twisted, reads standalone.Twisted Lies
A gentleman in the suit. A monster underneath.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 4 of Twisted, reads standalone.Twisted Love
Cold heart. Bad idea. Excellent weekend.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 1 of Twisted, reads standalone.Wildfire
One night, one summer, one rule they keep breaking.
spicyEnds HEA. Book 2 of Maple Hills, reads standalone.Behind the Net
The goalie, the assistant, and the dog that started it.
open-doorEnds HEA. Book 1 of Vancouver Storm, reads standalone.Things We Never Got Over
The grump, the runaway bride, and the whole nosy town.
open-doorEnds HEA. Book 1 of Knockemout, reads standalone.
Quick answers
- What is the spiciest contemporary romance on BookTok?
- On our scale: Priest, at 5/5.
- What spicy hockey romance should I read?
- In this list: Icebreaker (4/5), The Pucking Wrong Number (4/5), Wildfire (4/5), and Behind the Net (3/5).
More lists
- Every BookTok book we review, ranked by spiceThe whole shelf, hottest first. One glance tells you where each book sits.
- Dark romance with a happy endingStalkers, mafia, villains. Every one of them still lands the HEA.
- Romantasy, ranked by spiceDragons, fae courts and vampire queens, sorted by how much happens behind the door.
- BookTok books that aren't too spicyMildest first. The yearning is the point; the scenes are a footnote.
- Spicy standalones with no cliffhangerHot, finished, and no next book required. 4/5 heat and up.
- Spicy books whose authors publish content warningsEvery book where the author publishes a content-warning list, linked to the source.
How we build these: heat is our editorial 1 to 5 rating, tropes are our own tags, content warnings come only from the author's published list, and nothing on this page is paid placement. Want your own cut? Use the Spice Finder or read the glossary.