Finished She Gets the Girl and looking for something to read next? You’re not alone. This YA rom-com combines witty banter, romantic tension, and the messy excitement of falling for someone unexpected. If you’re looking for LGBTQ romance books with similar emotional energy, these 12 reads are worth adding to your list.
So here’s the shelf of books that actually earned their spot on this list. Not padding, not “technically similar.” Twelve books, plus a couple extras if you’re still not satisfied by the end.
What do they all have in common? Sharp dialogue, mostly. Characters who can’t stand each other before they very much can. And that specific chaos of falling for someone you swore, out loud, to a friend, you wouldn’t.
Why the Original Worked
Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick didn’t reinvent the wheel here. Two girls, mutual hatred, slow unraveling into something else entirely. Simple premise. The execution is what sold it; the banter never feels like it’s trying too hard, which honestly is rarer in YA romantic comedy than it should be.
It’s friends-to-lovers dressed up as enemies-to-lovers. Readers clocked that difference immediately.
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I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
There’s a small-town mystery buried in here that is not only made to work with the humor and emotion, but manages to balance out perfectly without either aspect destroying the other, which would sound simple on the page but can be really difficult to pull off in execution. More subplots and misdirections than the original, but the central romance is never forgotten amid it all.
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Something To Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Wilsner goes in the opposite direction. A Hollywood assistant, her boss, and a slow burn that actually earns its slowness instead of just stalling for page count. Start here if banter was never really the appeal for you and what you actually wanted was more longing.
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Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
A tired “opposites attract” trope you could see coming a dozen times already gets reworked here by setting it against wedding planning in a small town. That move alone makes this one stand out from the vast majority of campus and high school sapphic stories. It’s also decidedly more mature.
For Something Slower
Not every good young adult queer romance needs to be funny to work.
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The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
First love gets tangled up with family expectations and cultural identity. It stays quiet without ever going flat, closer in spirit to literary fiction than a beach read, honestly.
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Anything For Her by B.R. Lukey
Instead of leaning on comedy, Anything For Her follows Lydia as she adjusts to a new place and develops unexpected feelings for her neighbor, Brooke. Their connection explores young love, family struggles, hidden feelings, and the uncertainty that comes with growing up.
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We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
Grief and local scandal blend with young love here, and neither theme feels secondary to the other. Balancing both is far more challenging than many writers make it look.
The next few picks explore different backgrounds and story styles while still offering the kind of sapphic books for young adults that readers of She Gets the Girl may enjoy.
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Camp by L.C. Rosen
Theatrical, often exaggerated, and set at a summer camp purposely designed for queer teenagers, yet Rosen never lets this heightened tone overshadow the truth behind it.
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You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Prom-queen politics run straight into an unexpected romance here. Johnson manages to say something real about class and popularity buried underneath all the drama.
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The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
Structured like the rom-com movies it’s referencing—there’s literally a checklist the main character works through—but Smyth writes it smarter than most of the films it’s winking at.
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Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Bisexual discovery takes center stage here, set against a summer fling between characters who didn’t know what they were getting themselves into at the beginning.
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Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake
The fake dating trope gets done well enough here that it never once feels boring—even for readers who think they’ve seen every version of this setup already.
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Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa
Want a break from prose entirely? This graphic novel still lands the same emotional beats as everything else on this list.
Where to Go From Here
Building your list of best LGBTQ romance reads? These twelve are a solid start. And if you want to know what separates a memorable sapphic romance from one you’ll forget by next week, read What Makes a Great Sapphic Romance? 5 Things Readers Love
Wrapping It Up
Twelve books. A few different moods. One shared thread running through all of them—characters who mess it up before they get it right.
Whether you’re chasing more of that chaotic banter or something quieter that lingers longer, something on this list was built for exactly that mood.
FAQ
Q1: What should I read next after She Gets the Girl?
Loved the witty back-and-forth in this one? I Kissed Shara Wheeler carries that same energy. Want something slower and more intense instead—same emotional core, different pace? Anything For Her by B.R. Lukey is the one to pick up next.
Q2: Are there more YA sapphic romance books with humor like this one?
Yes—Camp, The Falling in Love Montage, and Delilah Green Doesn’t Care all lean into humor while still delivering genuine emotional stakes, similar to what made the original book so popular with readers.
Q3: What makes a sapphic romance from other YA romance books ?
Sapphic romance focuses on romantic relationships between women or girls. Strong sapphic stories also give their characters emotional depth, personal goals, and relationships that feel natural rather than reducing LGBTQ identity to a plot device.
