If you’re looking for love in all the wrong places, then you clearly haven’t been looking on Netflix. Ok, the world’s biggest streaming platform may not be able help you find a romantic partner, but it does have a ton of romantic comedies. And if you’re willing to commit to a longer binge relationship, there are also a lot of romance shows on Netflix to choose from.
Network TV romance favorites including Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, and Jane the Virgin are all enjoying a digital afterlife on Netflix. And there are even new romance shows to watch, including One Day and the upcoming third season of Young Royals. This month, we’re also throwing the spotlight on Wanderlust, a British series that premiered on Netflix in 2018. For the scoop on that series and more, check out our roundup of the best romance shows on Netflix right now.
-
One Day2024 -
Young Royals2021
-
Wanderlust2018
One Day (2024) new
It’s a rare thing to get a second chance at love with the same person. In One Day, college graduates Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (The White Lotus star Leo Woodall) seemingly missed their moment together despite forming a deep connection. And yet Emma and Dexter remain in each other’s orbit, which means that the hope of romance isn’t completely gone yet.
Over the course of 14 episodes, Dexter and Emma’s lives intersect even when they’re dating other people. But it’s up to these lovebirds to write their own ending. Nobody else is going to do it for them.
Young Royals (2021) new
Without Netflix, shows like Young Royals would not have found an international audience. This Swedish teen romance follows Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding), a member of Sweden’s royal family who is sent to an elite boarding school after some very public fights at his previous school. Wilhelm soon meets and falls for Simon Eriksson (Omar Rudberg), which leads to a scandal for the royal family when a video of the two is leaked online.
The third and final season of Young Royals is premiering on March 11, and it finds Wilhelm finally admitting publicly that it was him in the video. Wilhelm and Simon have also reconciled after a period of estrangement, but can they make their love last? Or will Wilhelm’s royal responsibilities keep them apart?
Wanderlust (2018) new
Toni Collette stars in Wanderlust as Joy Richards, a relationship therapist whose own marriage to Alan Richards (Steven Mackintosh) is on the rocks. And both Joy and Alan seem to be incapable of being faithful to each other.
After Joy is injured in a car accident, she takes the opportunity to reassess what she wants in life. Rather than ending her union with Alan, she suggests that they try having an open marriage and begin dating other people. Although Alan and Joy mutually agreed to that, they aren’t fully prepared for the way it will place an even greater strain on their relationship.
My Life with the Walter Boys (2023)
Before Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) can find love, she has to experience a heartbreaking tragedy in My Life with the Walter Boys. Following the death of her family in a car accident, Jackie is moved cross-country by her guardians, George (Marc Blucas) and Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty).
As Jackie struggles with the culture shock of moving from the big city to the country, she also feels strong (and potentially romantic) connections to three of the Walter family’s sons: Cole (Noah LaLonde), Alex (Ashby Gentry), and Danny Walter (Connor Stanhope). But can even the Walter brothers fill the hole in Jackie’s heart?
Eva Lasting (2023)
Eva Lasting is a teenage romantic drama that takes place in Columbia during the mid-’70s. Francisca Estévez stars in the series as Eva Samper, the only girl who has ever been admitted to an all-boys high school. Naturally, Eva’s presence causes quite a reaction at the school, especially for Camilo (Emmanuel Restrepo), one of the first boys to befriend Eva.
Despite Camilo’s obvious romantic interest in her, Eva keeps him at a distance while downplaying questions about her family and her background. Everyone has secrets, but the skeletons in Eva’s closet could doom her connection with Camilo before it even begins.
Zero Chill (2021)
We already have the term bromance, but what’s an easy way to describe a growing bond between two young women? Zero Chill features Grace Beedie as Kayla MacBentley, a figure skater whose life and ambitions have taken a back seat to those of her brother, “Mac” MacBentley (Dakota Benjamin Taylor), after he gets an opportunity to play hockey in England.
With her whole life uprooted in the move from Canada, Kayla can’t even maintain her connection with her skating partner. Kayla does find a kindred spirit in Sky Tyler (Jade Ma), an ice skater who was forced to give up skating while battling leukemia. Sky and Kayla turn out to be a good pair on the ice. But Sky is also romantically interested in Mac, which could torpedo her new friendship with Kayla.
Tooth Pari: When Love Bites (2023)
Although it arrived on Netflix earlier this year, Tooth Pari: When Love Bites is very appropriate for Halloween. This Indian love story follows Dr. Bikram Roy (Shantanu Maheshwari), a dentist who treats Rumi (Tanya Maniktala) after she breaks a tooth. Romantic sparks fly between them — even though Rumi is a vampire.
Rumi’s kind are kept hidden by their ally, Adi Deb (Adil Hussain), to protect them from their enemies, who are led by Luna Lika (Revathi). But having made a connection with Birkram, Rumi risks everything to pursue a romance — even though she can’t tell him who or what she really is.
Surviving Summer (2022)
You may get Fresh Prince of Bel-Air flashbacks from the way that Summer Torres (Sky Katz) is shipped off to Australia in the teen romance series Surviving Summer. Summer gets in a lot of trouble in the U.S., so her mother, Margot (Kate Beahan), needs someone to look after her while she’s on an international assignment. Margot turns to her friend, Abbie (Adrienne Pickering), whom she hasn’t seen since Abbie moved to Australia 10 years earlier.
Although Summer wants to ditch Australia right away, she makes an instant connection with Margot’s son, Ari Gibson (Kai Lewins), and his circle of friends starts to become hers as well. This trip was only supposed to be for the summer, but Summer may have found where she belongs.
Glamorous (2023)
Wondering what Kim Cattrall is up to when she isn’t making 30-second cameos on And Just Like That? Cattrall has her own Netflix comedy series, Glamorous, in which she plays an aging fashion mogul, Madolyn Addison, who still rules the industry with her company, Glamorous.
Cattrall may get top billing, but the focus of the show is more on her new assistant, Marco Mejia (Miss Benny), a makeup enthusiast who is deeply fascinated by the world of fashion. Marco is also experiencing some questions of sexual identity, which are only magnified in this new environment.
A Perfect Story (2023)
A Perfect Story is a Spanish romance series that follows an heiress, Margot (Anna Castillo), and a working-class guy, David (Álvaro Mel). Margot’s hard work isn’t taken seriously by her family and she feels trapped by her engagement to Filippo (Mario Ermito). As for David, he’s got three jobs just to make his ends meet.
When Margot flees her own wedding, she ends up in a bar where David is working as a bartender. From there, a friendship begins to bloom, but can they find love and move on together?
Heartstopper (2022)
Heartstopper season 1 was a slow-burn romance between gay teenager Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and his best friend in school, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). In season 2, Charlie and Nick are in a real romantic relationship, but Nick is having some real trouble finding a way to come out to his friends and teammates on the rugby team.
While Charlie and Nick are on solid ground with each other, there are still obstacles ahead that are getting in the way of their happiness, especially Charlie’s ex-boyfriend, Ben Hope (Sebastian Croft).
If Only (2022)
Time-travel stories are often built around regret and an attempt to change something that went wrong. In If Only, everything went wrong for Emma (Megan Montaner), and it’s not just one thing she would change. It’s everything, but especially her failing marriage with Nando (Miquel Fernández).
Inexplicably, Emma finds herself reliving the past decade of her life. And this time she doesn’t have to commit to a dead-end relationship with Nando. She can find someone new to love. But just because Emma has lived through her life one time doesn’t mean that she’ll get everything right the second time.
Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Most shows aren’t built to run for nearly two decades, but Grey’s Anatomy is a rare breed. And Ellen Pompeo’s Dr. Meredith Grey has been there since the beginning. This month, Netflix is adding Grey’s Anatomy season 19, which finds Meredith finally ready to move on from Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital while sorting out her romantic relationship with Dr. Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman).
Because of Meredith’s reduced role this season, five young doctors were added to the mix: Dr. Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd), Dr. Benson “Blue” Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.), Dr. Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane), Dr. Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis), and Dr. Lucas Adams (Niko Terho). Their intersecting career ambitions and romantic pursuits breathe new life into the show. And who’s to say how many more seasons it can run?
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)
On Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) is so self-assured and in control that it’s a little disconcerting to see the young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) decades earlier in the prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Early in this show, young Charlotte becomes the queen when she marries King George III (Corey Mylchreest).
Unfortunately for Charlotte, love and marriage isn’t as easy as marrying into the royal family. George’s penchant for secrecy and his growing mental illness threaten his reign even as he and Charlotte struggle to make their marriage into a true union.
XO, Kitty (2023)
Spinoffs are always tricky because it’s hard to make a supporting character into a lead. XO, Kitty largely avoids that problem by taking Anna Cathcart’s Kitty Song Covey out of the familiar confines of the To All the Boys trilogy. Kitty thinks she knows everything she needs to know about love, but she’s in for a rude awakening.
Much to the surprise of Kitty’s long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-young), Kitty uproots her life and moves to South Korea just in the hope of finally finding the true love that has eluded her. Kitty has a lot to learn, and she might get her heart broken along the way.
Valeria (2020)
Do you think that Sex and the City is racy? Then you haven’t seen Valeria, the Spanish romantic comedy/drama series that is ending its three-season run on Netflix. Much like HBO’s iconic series, Valeria follows four female friends, Valeria (Diana Gómez), Carmen (Paula Malia), Lola (Silma López), and Nerea (Teresa Riott). Together, they navigate their late ‘20s as they search for love and fulfillment in their lives.
Season 3 picks up with Carmen heading to the altar while Valeria’s romance with Victor (Maxi Iglesias) hits the skids. Fortunately, it’s not long before Valeria sparks a new love connection with Bruno (Federico Aguado), a writer who shares many of her passions. But Valeria and her friends will have to face some serious questions before they can find the happiness they are looking for.
Sex/Life (2021)
Sometimes, romance means intense passion, and that’s just what Billie (Sarah Shahi) realizes she was missing in Sex/Life. While suffering a midlife crisis, the former psychology Ph.D. candidate, mother, and housewife can’t seem to stop thinking about her ex-boyfriend Brad (Adam Demos).
He lives a fast-paced, exciting life that’s very different from Billie’s life with her strait-laced investment banker husband. While her husband Cooper (Mike Vogel) tries to make her feel as sexually satisfied as she once did with Brad, their twisted, emotional states create a messy situation. Sex/Life isn’t your traditional romance, but it’s provocative, steamy, and erotic.
Love Is Blind (2020)
It’s difficult to believe that Netflix’s cheesy, weird, trashy social experiment is already on its fourth season. Thirty singles from a different state in America join each season to “meet” other singles, talking to them from separate enclosed pods without ever seeing one another. After courting multiple people, they decide who they made connections with and talk more.
If they ultimately decide this person is “the one” and want to propose marriage (and it’s accepted), the two finally get to meet in person. From there, they go on vacation together, live together, meet one another’s families, and discover if it is truly meant to be, all while planning their weddings. The concept is completely backward, but there are enough raw, romantic moments intertwined with the juicy drama to keep you hooked the entire way through.
Little Things (2016)
Emily in Paris (2020)
The Empress (2022)
Jane the Virgin (2014)
Outlander (2014)
Love (2016)
Grace and Frankie (2015)
Gilmore Girls (2000)
Bridgerton (2020)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015)
Lucifer (2016)
Sex Education (2019)
Virgin River (2019)
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016)
Easy (2016)
Love Alarm (2019)
Editors' Recommendations
- The 50 best shows on Netflix in April 2024
- The best horror movies on Amazon Prime right now
- The best hidden gems on Netflix right now
- The best stand-up comedy on Amazon Prime right now
- The best horror movies on Hulu right now
