The 6 best all-new steamy romance shows coming to Amazon, Apple, HBO, Netflix
It's a good time to watch romance shows
If there's one thing that the age of streaming has proven in recent years, it's that people absolutely love spicy content. Sure, we're all perfectly keen for medical dramas, spy thrillers, family dramas and all the many other genres that seem to perennially do well, but romance has grown and grown.
From titans like Bridgerton to genre affairs like Outlander, there are now a whole host of mega-franchises rumbling on with more and more seasons, spinoffs and legions of fans. If you're looking for something fresh, though, and you're more interested in what's going to be new both this year and in 2027, then I've done a deep dive for you. Here are six projects, some coming very soon and others a little more distant, that promise to upend what we know about romance TV, and offer some steamy new options for those looking to live vicariously through their TVs.
Pride and Prejudice
- Streaming on: Netflix in 2026
Starting out with the big one, there's an absolute titan of the romance genre hoving into view very soon thanks to Netflix, which has made a big-money, big-cast adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice, starring Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy.
Article continues belowSo far all we've had is one look at the Bennet family in a photograph (featuring Olivia Colman in the maternal role, a surefire hit) as well as the brief teaser trailer above, which is a great study in building one's anticipation. Given the amount of love for the book and previous adaptations, this could be a massive romance release, but it'll also have to at least live up to previous versions, which is a tall order. It will arrive sometime this year.
Off Campus
- Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from 13 May
Okay, so maybe Jane Austen isn't the steamiest or raunchiest of authors – leave that to more modern fare, like this imminent show on Prime Video. It aims to capitalise on the Heated Rivalry buzz, but with a more tangential relationship to ice hockey. Off Campus is a classic university love story of a reluctant, studious young woman falling for the campus bad-boy.
Its own teaser trailer has already made it clear that this story will get plenty physical when it arrives, so for those looking for a more explicit look at what young love can be like, this is likely to float your boat. It starts in mid-May, so is a great option for anyone pining for romantic fare right now.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
- Streaming on: Apple TV from 20 May
This one might be raunchy rather than steamy, but it definitely looks like it's going to tackle some parts of the equation around modern love that other stories on-screen are often prone to skimming past. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed stars the excellent Tatiana Maslany as a struggling single mum who can't seem to shake an addiction to adult streams.
She's got much more than just that going on, though, including a growing suspicion that something funny is happening in her local area, and the sense that a criminal conspiracy might be waiting to be uncovered. It might not be a show for those looking for pure sensual lovey-doveyness, but if you want a thriller with some erotic notes, it could be a great new arrival.
Every Year After
- Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video on 10 June
Now we're moving into shows that don't yet have trailers – and are therefore a little more distant right now, albeit they're confirmed and either in production or post-production. First up is Every Year After, which is coming to Prime Video in June and adapts a best-selling novel: Every Summer After.
The show will chart a young couple who have a major romance once summer while working, but steadily start to wonder whether what started as a fling might be more meaningful. In fact, the key question seems to be how you deal with the idea that your first love might just be your soulmate, and all that entails.
Big Swiss
- Streaming on: HBO Max from TBC
This one's probably the most distant project on this list, but Jodie Comer has repeatedly talked about how excited she is to star in an adaptation of the hit novel Big Swiss, which has a really unique idea at its heart. It's about a young-ish woman who finds an odd job helping a sex therapist to transcribe their sessions.
Over the course of these transcription sessions she starts to develop something close to an obsession with one of the clients, who she calls Big Swiss, a woman who she actually decides to meet up with once she does some light stalking. If that makes it sound like a dark comedy, you're probably spot on, and the book had a lot to say about boundaries, unconventional love and complicated people – perfect material for a well-made HBO adaptation, which is in the pipeline.
This Summer Will Be Different
- Streaming on: Netflix from TBC
This is an interesting one. Every Year After, a couple of spots above this, is based on a novel by Carley Fortune, and Netflix clearly felt like that was a smart buy by Amazon – it's also adapting another of Fortune's novels, This Summer Will Be Different. Frankly, they sound impressively similar, too.
This is a more adult drama, though, starring characters in their 20s and revolving mostly around Lucy, who vacations with her best friend on an idyllic island over a few different summers. Across that time she starts to fall for a forbidden fruit, otherwise known as her best friend’s brother. It's a classic framework for a very steamy story, and Netflix has the romance pedigree to suggest this one could be an audience hit. It should be filming this year, so might appear in 2027.
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