Single Parent Romance books are a subgenre of romance novels that focus on protagonists who are parents, typically raising their children alone. Single-parent protagonists come with a depth of character, juggling personal desires with parental responsibilities. This duality allows for a richer character exploration.
Many of you said you would prefer to date a single parent for many reasons. Maybe you are a single parent, and you think that another single parent is the only person who could understand what you’re going through. Or perhaps you are not a parent, but you’re looking for a single parent because you think that experience will give somebody a higher level of understanding.
Don’t assume that because someone’s a single parent, they have qualities that make them a better partner. It’s not true. Someone who’s a great partner can be childless, and somebody who’s a parent can be a crappy partner. The only reason you should be dating a single parent is that you can love them and their children. There is no other meaning to be put on a person being a parent.
Single dad/mom romances deal with themes of loss, trust, second chances, and healing. The emotional growth and resilience showcased can be deeply moving. These stories underscore the importance of family—both blood-related and found. They highlight blended families’ beauty and how love can expand and redefine familial boundaries.
10 Single Parent Romance Books
Like any romance category, single-parent romance offers a wide range of tones—from light-hearted and comedic to intense and dramatic. There’s something especially heartwarming about watching a child or children bond with the new person in their parent’s life. These moments can be touching, funny, and memorable.
The only reason to date somebody who’s a single parent is because you want to get to know them and you want to get to know their kids. That’s everything. If you can love them, you can love their kids. That is the exact right reason to date a single parent. I am going to discuss 10 single-parent romance books for you. They showcase characters overcoming past heartbreak or trauma, providing narratives of hope, growth, and healing. Let’s go!
| Name | Storyline | Tropes |
|---|---|---|
| Ghosted by J. M. Darhower | Former Hollywood stars reunite after one mysteriously disappeared from the limelight. | Second chance romance, Hollywood setting, mystery, childhood sweethearts, fame and its consequences. |
| Down Too Deep by J. Daniels | Two single parents with heavy pasts find solace and unexpected love while navigating parenthood. | Slow-burn romance, overcoming grief, second chances, small-town setting. |
| A Nordic King by Karina Halle | A widowed king requires a nanny for his children, but neither expects the intense attraction that sparks between them. | Royalty romance, employer-employee relationship, forbidden romance, single dad, age gap. |
| Show Me the Way by A.L. Jackson | Single dad with a tormented past finds hope and love with the mysterious new woman next door. | Single dad, tortured hero, neighbors-to-lovers, secrets and revelations, emotional baggage. |
| The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros | A soldier’s last letter sends his best friend on a mission to comfort and protect the deceased’s sister and her child. | Military romance, grief and loss, single parent, friends-to-lovers, emotional healing. |
| The Gravity of Us by Brittainy Cherry | Two emotionally scarred individuals find healing and unexpected love in each other amidst their personal tragedies. | Opposites attract, emotional baggage, slow burn romance, small-town setting, overcoming adversity. |
| Let Me Love You by Alexandria House | A successful woman starts a no-strings-attached fling with her younger brother’s best friend, leading to unexpected feelings. | Age gap, brother’s best friend, forbidden romance, contemporary romance, fling-to-relationship. |
| Look the Part by Jewel E. Ann | A therapist moves into the office space of a grumpy lawyer, and their worlds collide in a mix of grief, music, and unexpected attraction. | Opposites attract, widower hero, workplace romance, healing through love, music as therapy. |
| Inevitable Conclusions by Christina C. Jones | Friends with undeniable chemistry navigate their feelings while wrestling with their past traumas and current challenges. | Friends-to-lovers, black romance, overcoming trauma, contemporary romance, emotional baggage. |
| One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle | A grieving author escapes to Italy for inspiration and encounters a passionate romance with a forbidden Italian man. | Forbidden romance, grief and healing, travel romance, single parent, artist and muse dynamic. |
1. Ghosted
This is a second chance of single-parent romance. So, this follows Kennedy and Jonathan. They used to be each other’s everything. They were very much in love when they were younger, and now they hardly know each other. So, this book is told in a dual timeline.
You’re getting flashbacks of the past and what Jonathan did because he messed things up. Then you’re getting the present where Jonathan desperately tries to reconcile things with Kennedy. Also, he wants to get to know his daughter, so he leaves Kennedy with his daughter.
In the present day, Jonathan is a huge, popular actor. Jonathan wants to get to know his daughter. You can see how sorry he is and how he wants to improve things. Kennedy was so strong that Jonathan had been gone living out his dreams this whole time. She was back home taking care of their daughter, and she was an amazing mother. So, it is the most emotional and sexy single-parent romance I have ever read.
Author: J. M. Darhower
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Contemporary Romance
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
2. Down Too Deep (Dirty Deeds)
In this one, both main characters are single parents. So our hero, Nathan, has lost his wife, and he is now the sole guardian of their daughter. He’s a workaholic. He owns and manages this restaurant, so he works twenty-four-seven. So he and his daughter don’t have a relationship. He is very content to let his parents raise his daughter. At the beginning of this book, his mom comes to him and says, no more. You need to figure this out. So because he’s a workaholic and owns his own business, he runs that business.
Nathan desperately needs someone to help him. Then Jenna is a single mom to twins. It’s a boy and a girl. So there’s Oliver and Olive. It is pretty perfect because Jenna comes into the restaurant and sees that her mate is struggling with Marley, and she works from home.
So she offers to help take care of her, and with the help of Jenna, Nathan can form a connection with his daughter and not only a connection with his daughter but a connection with Jenna’s twins. So they formed this cute little family, and this single mom romance book is adorable. Jenna and Nathan have a hard past, and they deserve each other.
Author: J. Daniels
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Romantic Comedy, Fiction Sagas
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
3. A Nordic King (Nordic Royals)
This book follows Aurora, a young nanny looking for a new job. She never dreamt that she would ever get the chance to be a nanny to two princesses in Denmark. But on her first day, she meets their father, Aksel. Aksel is cold and moody. He’s very much a jerk, but he has had a rough time, especially in the present. When Aurora and Aksel meet, they go head to head like she does not back down from him. Over time, they form a connection full of passion and tension, and it’s so intense, but it’s also forbidden.
Aurora has a past that could potentially tear them apart. This book is a slow burn. It’s so full of love, the relationship that Aurora develops with his daughters, and over time, you see him become more involved in their lives, too. It was so sweet in the way that he was able to forgive Aurora for her past. Then, he was able to forgive himself for his past.
Author: Karina Halle
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Contemporary Romance
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
4. Show Me the Way (Fight for Me)
This follows Rex, a single father to a daughter, to whom he devotes all of his free time. Then you have our heroine, Raynna. She moved away from her small town. She could not get out of there quickly enough. But after her grandmother’s death, she moves back to her hometown, and she and Rex become neighbors.
At first, Rex wants nothing to do with Raynna, but that doesn’t stop Raynna. She’s very persistent, and she digs deeper under his skin. So when Rex sees Raynna and how she is with his daughter, his heart slowly melts for her. Moreover, he realizes he doesn’t have to go out alone and that not every woman he meets will screw him over.
So you see Rex go from this grumpy, standoffish hero to someone finally willing to admit his feelings and open his heart to love again. There’s also an element of suspense in this one.
Author: A.L. Jackson
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Romantic Suspense
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
5. The Last Letter
This is an emotional, tragic ride, so be prepared to cry in this one. Beckett serves in the military. In addition, he is serving alongside his best friend, Ryan. Beckett and our heroine, Ella, meet through her brother, Ryan. So Beckett doesn’t have any family. He doesn’t have anyone that writes to him.
Ella takes it upon herself to write to him, becoming pen pals. At the beginning of this book, Beckett and Ryan go on a mission, and Ryan doesn’t return. But in his last letter, hence the book title, Ryan writes to Beckett and says, Please take care of Ella like she needs someone.
So then there’s Ella, and Ella is a single mom to twins, a boy and a girl. She has not had a very easy life. The parents of the twin’s dad, didn’t want anything to do with them. So, she has raised these two kids on her own, and she has fought for everything in her life. Also, her fight continues because her daughter has been diagnosed with cancer.
Ella is very independent, and she is reluctant to take his help when Beckett shows up. But Beckett is persistent, and he will not let his friend down. This book is emotional and it is full of tragedy.
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Contemporary Fantasy Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
6. The Gravity of Us (Elements)
Graham Russell is a single parent, and he is struggling with it. So, our heroine comes and helps him, and they fall in love in the process. He’s very damaged and brooding, and she’s a happy, sunshine character. She owns a flower shop. So this one is such an emotional trigger warning for the death of a loved one here.
Then we have Eleanor Grey, which is a second-chance romance. They were together when they were younger, and she gets a babysitting job, and it’s with Grey. He is such a different person than he was before. Again, we have a damaged hero who is very hardened and closed off and needs a nanny for his kids. So she’s the nanny for his kids, then they end up falling in love again. Brittany Cherry is great at emotions.
Author: Brittainy Cherry
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: New Adult & College Romance
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | MP3 CD
7. Let Me Love You (McClain Brothers)
It is about two single parent’s romance. McClain is a rap star, Jo Walker works for a jeweler, and they both have kids. Also, they both end up falling for each other. McClain decides he wants her, and they meet, but they don’t hit it off very well. Walker hates him and thinks he’s a womanizer. He’s got someone in bed next to him because she’s delivering jewelry, and he accuses her of being her boss.
The second book (Let Me Hold You) of this series is about Kimberly, the mother of a basketball star. So she’s thirty-five, and her son is 20. She had a very young, and he’s an NBA player. Further, he meets her at this center for youth, and they put on little programs for kids to come in and do things.
So there was a basketball program, and our hero came, and they liked each other. There are trigger warnings for abuse, though she’s been in many abusive relationships, and her son has had to see that. So he’s super overprotective of her. She has to hide her new relationship from her son.
Author: Alexandria House
Average Rating: 4.8/5
Category: Black & African American Romance Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
8. Look the Part
Flint Hopkins is a lawyer. He lost his wife, and he feels it’s his fault, and he has an autistic son who is amazing. He is renting out a place in his building. The woman who rents it out is a music therapist. He didn’t understand music therapy; it was noisy, and he hated it.
So, he keeps on trying to kick her out. Then, his son starts learning the guitar from her and takes a shine to her. You will love the single-parent love story of this; the kid was such a great part of the plot and so authentic.
Author: Jewel E. Ann
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Romantic Comedy
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
9. Inevitable Conclusions (Inevitable)
Our heroine, Kora, had a daughter, and she’s a grown adult. Kora is in her late thirties, and this is a second-chance romance between her and someone who’s her best friend. Tariq is pretty much an uncle figure to her daughter. They had a fling when they were in their early twenties. But they were too jealous, too young, and it didn’t work.
They haven’t gotten back together until they give it a second chance. Kora works at the theater, a choreographer, producer, director, and her daughter’s in theater. We got her daughter’s in book three in the series.
Author: Christina C. Jones
Average Rating: 4.8/5
Category: Erotic Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
10. One Hot Italian Summer
Our heroine loses her writing partner, and she’s writing by herself for the first time and can’t. She doesn’t have confidence in herself, and she’s still grieving over her best friend. Her publicist agent sends her off to a villa in Italy to write her romances and get inspired a little. Someone’s staying at that villa, a man and his son. Also, it’s her romance with that man. She’s living with them because he doesn’t decide to kick her out.
It’s forbidden because there is a connection between the man staying there and her agent. If you love a holiday romance something about a writer, you will enjoy this single-parent romance.
Author: Karina Halle
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Family Life Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
5 Age Gap Single Parent Romance Books
Age gap and single-parent tropes enrich romance novels’ emotional texture, exploring challenges, preconceptions, and passionate connections. Here are five novels:
Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas: Pike and Jordan share an unexpected connection. When Jordan starts dating Pike’s son, things become complicated, especially when she is drawn to the older man. Penelope Douglas masterfully shows the emotional intricacies of their forbidden relationship, heightened by the dynamics of family ties and societal judgments.
Scandalous by L.J. Shen: Trent Rexroth is a single dad with no time for distractions, especially not from Edie, a much younger woman. As they face their intense attraction, Shen offers a narrative filled with angst, passion, and the complexities of modern family life. The age gap between the protagonists adds a layer of tension and desire.
Reckless by Raine Miller: Caleb Blackstone is wealthy, older, and accustomed to getting what he wants. When he meets Brooke, a young single mother, their worlds collide in an explosive romance. Raine Miller captures the challenges and rewards of their relationship, balancing the intensity of their age gap with the responsibilities and joys of parenthood.
Look the Part by Jewel E. Ann: Flint Hopkins is a single father struggling with his past and the challenges of raising a son. Ellen, a younger music therapist, enters their lives and challenges Flint’s preconceptions. Jewel E. Ann represents a heartfelt story of love, healing, and the power of music, all while exploring the age gap dynamic in depth.
Misadventures with a Manny by Toni Aleo: Vera Woods, a single mother of three boys, is attracted to her much younger manny, Lincoln. Their burgeoning romance is both sweet and steamy, with the age difference adding a layer of complexity. Toni Aleo portrays the modern challenges of balancing work, parenthood, and romance with a refreshing twist on the age-gap romance trope.
Each of these novels covers the dynamics of age differences combined with the challenges and rewards of single parenthood, resulting in engaging narratives that touch on love, trust, and personal growth.
5 Single Parent Romance Books Kindle Unlimited
Here are five single-parent romance novels available on Kindle Unlimited that have garnered attention:
The Coppersmith Farmhouse by Devney Perry: Jess Cleary, a single mom, moves to a small town and clashes with the local sheriff, Gigi. Perry’s narrative is a heartwarming journey of two people finding love and trust amidst challenges. The rustic setting and tight-knit community backdrop make it a comforting read.
Wait for Me by K.L. Grayson: Grayson weaves a touching tale of a single father and a woman with a traumatic past. Their unexpected relationship blossoms amidst trials and shared healing. The portrayal of family, trust, and overcoming personal demons adds depth to the romance.
Protecting What’s Mine by Lucy Score: Firefighter Bennett and single mom Linc share a palpable connection. Score delivers a delightful romance spiced up with humor and intense chemistry. The story’s focus on family bonds and navigating the complexities of parenthood makes it relatable and heartwarming.
Arrogant Devil by R.S. Grey: Meredith, running from her past, ends up in Texas and crosses paths with Jack, an arrogant ranch owner and a single parent. Their love-hate relationship unfolds beautifully, providing humor, emotional moments, and a good dose of Southern charm.
Hostage by Skye Warren & Annika Martin: A darker romance tale, this book delves into the life of a single mother kidnapped by a mysterious man. Warren and Martin present a suspense-filled narrative intertwined with deep passion and emotional struggles. It’s a gripping romance for those looking for intensity and intrigue.
These novels, available on Kindle Unlimited, each offer unique takes on single-parent romance, ranging from sweet and humorous tales to darker, more intense narratives. They provide heartfelt stories of love, resilience, and the joys and challenges of parenthood.
These books provide emotions and situations, blending the highs and lows of love and parenthood. Whether you’re a parent or not, these stories offer an opportunity to explore love stories with added depth and realness.
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