Compared to the endless romantic comedies on Netflix, there aren’t nearly as many romantic TV shows to choose from. Netflix does have some very high-profile romance shows like Grey’s Anatomy, and homegrown hits like Virgin River. But Netflix is also reliant on shows from around the world to fill in the gaps in its original programing, including two of our selections this month: Eva Lasting from Columbia and Zero Chill, which originally ran in Britain.
Occasionally, something unexpected breaks out like My Life With the Walter Boys, a new YA sensation that is already one of the most popular shows on Netflix. It’s also one of our top picks this month for the best romance shows on Netflix right now. And unlike some of the other series on this list, second seasons have already been lined up for My Life With the Walter Boys and Eva Lasting.
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Eva Lasting2023
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Zero Chill2021
My Life with the Walter Boys (2023) new
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) new
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) new
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)
Love on the Spectrum U.S. (2022)
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
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