2025 has been a great year for romance on television, proving once again that love never goes out of style. From the sweet first sparks of young crushes to the thrilling tension of “will they, won’t they” storylines, romance comes in endless forms.But love isn’t all butterflies and sunsets.
Underneath the lingering smiles and stolen glances, love is also messy, complicated, and full of moments that test the heart. If there’s anything the past year has taught viewers, it’s that love comes with its own highs, lows, and unforgettable moments. Without further ado, here are the most romantic TV shows of 2025, ranked.
10
‘XO, Kitty’ Season 2 (2023–)
Kitty (Anna Cathcart) returns to KISS hoping for a low-drama year after everything with Min-ho (Sang Heon Lee) and Yuri (Gia Kim). That plan quickly falls apart when she rooms with Yuri and Julianna (Regan Aliyah), and digs into her mom’s past in South Korea. Amidst her teen crisis, she still has to deal with tensions from friends, especially Dae (Choi Min-young).
XO, Kitty Season 2 has fun nodding to To All the Boys by recreating Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter’s (Noah Centineo) iconic track and hot tub scenes with Kitty and Min-ho. Kitty fakes a faint to delay a race, and later escapes to a hot tub after Yuri’s drama. Instead of kissing, Min-ho shows up as a supportive friend, keeping things sweet and playful.
9
‘Heated Rivalry’ (2025–)
Heated Rivalry follows Shane (Hudson Williams), a sweet Canadian hockey prodigy, and Ilya (Connor Storrie), a guarded Russian star, who meet at the 2008 World Junior Championships. After clashing as rivals and going first and second at the NHL Draft, they keep crossing paths at games and events, secretly hooking up in hotels as competition turns into complicated emotions.
Underneath the bravado of the sport, audiences witness Shane’s first real experience, not just with a man, but with intimacy. Although Ilya’s got a rough way with his words, he’s careful not to bend Shane too much. Their eight-year emotional buildup, plus the secrecy, long separations, and the risk of ruining their reputations, is the fire that brings the heat to the rink.
8
‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 (2022–2025)
Belly (Lola Tung), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), and Conrad (Christopher Briney) are all grown up in Season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Now in their college years, Belly and Jeremiah are a happy couple spending almost every day together. But when Jeremiah’s secret is exposed, the trust they’ve built is immediately shattered. Across the country, Conrad still can’t help but think about Belly.
Times change, people change — and so do feelings. Although much of the show keeps circling back to the trio’s “what if, what if they don’t” romances, it also shows that feelings aren’t supposed to be static.Sometimes, people only fall in love with a version from a certain period. It’ll only be later in life that we’ll realize that they might not be the person we’d want to spend forever with.
7
‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 2 (2024–)
In Season 2 of Nobody Wants This, Noah (Adam Brody) loses his chance to become a senior rabbi when Joanne (Kristen Bell) hesitates about converting, forcing him to question love versus faith. Meanwhile, Joanna faces pressure from Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), and her own desire for stability. In between career disappointment and religious differences, Noah and Joanne’s relationshipis stuck in a limbo.
Far from their meet-cute dates, Season 2 treats love as a real choice with consequences. Just because two people are madly in love with each other, that doesn’t automatically seal the deal. Their commitment is tested by community pressure, family expectations, and doubts about their beliefs. Welcome to the real world of relationships.
6
‘Too Much’ (2025)
Too Much follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), a heartbroken New Yorker who spirals after a seven-year breakup. Instead of moving on, she copes through confessional videos aimed at her ex’s influencer girlfriend (Emily Ratajkowski). A work trip to London leads her to Felix (Will Sharpe), an indie musician with his own baggage — and not the kind you bring onto planes.
Jessica chases an idealized love reminiscent of the novels of Jane Austen. Instead, she meets Felix in an unglamorous pub bathroom, blossoming into late nights watching movies, sharing beds, and confessing insecurities. Although each step pulls them closer, they’re also the things that challenge them to learn about what they truly want as a person, all while trying to let go of their past.
5
‘Home for Christmas’ Season 3 (2019–2025)
Picking up five years after Season 3, things are different in Season 3 of Home for Christmas. Johanne (Ida Elise Broch) is 35, and still reeling months after her breakup with Jonas (Felix Sandman). Single and trying to feel lonely, she stays busy with work, family, and caring for her dad. When she starts dating again, everything feels off, forcing her to wonder whether dating has changed, or if she has.
Love shows up in the most unexpected moments. Johanne is just trying to survive her life. She’s tired, a little guarded, dealing with work drama and family stuff. But Johanne isn’t cynical. She still keeps dating, hosts Christmas anyways, and lets people get close. Romance is meant to be effortless, and part of her charm is just her choosing to keep hoping.
4
‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ (2025)
The Narrow Road to the Deep Northfollows Dorrigo (Jacob Elordi), a former military doctor, who is interviewed before a book launch. Revisiting his memories, audiences are pulled into Dorrigo’s days before deployment, where he was engaged to Ella (Olivia DeJonge) but began an affair with his uncle’s wife, Amy (Odessa Young). Sent to war, Dorrigo is captured as a POW under Japanese captivity.
Though some may argue that affairs are theoretically wrong, Dorrigo’s connection with Amy is the light that permeates through the rubble of war.With Amy, Dorrigo is fully open and emotionally alive. Their relationship then becomes a chilling juxtaposition to his lived reality later on. Their time spent in bar meetings and on the beach contrasts with the cold brutality of the POW camp.
3
‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ (2025–)
Set in 18th-century Scotland, Outlander: Blood of My Blood follows two epic romances stretching across years. Ellen MacKenzie (HarrietSlater) goes against clan politics to pursue a forbidden love with Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy). During World War I, soldier Henry Beuchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and censor Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) fall in love through letters, marry, and are torn apart after a time-shifting accident.
The point of this Outlander installment is the idea of longing. The show keeps circling back to Ellen and Brian sneaking around when everyone is trying to control her future. It hangs on the looks, the pauses, the moments in ruined castles where they can’t touch but clearly want to. The art of yearning has never been this painful.
2
‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 (2022–)
Season 3 of The Gilded Age sees Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) pushing Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) toward the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb) while George (Morgan Spector) is away, and her sister (Merritt Wever) returns. Larry (Harry Richardson) and Marian (Louisa Jacobson) count quietly as press leaks loom, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) attracts Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica).
Despite its darkest moments, Season 3 also offers light through its unabashed romance. Marian and Larry finally make up and share a quiet, hopeful dance. But the big romantic win is Peggy and Dr. Kirkland, whose rocky season of breakups, secrets, and social pressure ends with an outlandish, very public proposal, giving viewers their most satisfying endgame yet.
1
‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ (2025)
Soft, wistful, and luminous, When Life Gives You Tangerines is a coming-of-age story that drifts like a fleeting memory. On 1950s Jeju Island, spirited Ae-sun (IU) and gentle farmhand Gwan-sik (Park Bo-Gum) find solace in each other amid the slow pace of rural life and the weight of tradition. Amidst the hard reality of war on mainland Korea, Jeju is a world of its own.
Along windswept beaches and beneath tangerine trees, Ae-sun and Gwan-sik seek solace in each other despite societal expectations. Unfortunately, joy alone cannot shelter them from the eventual heartbreak of grief. Against all odds, their love grows like tangerines ripening in sunlight.
