I would like to introduce my friend to the Shoujosei genres, but she's looking for something rather specific in terms of story structure: she wants a true twist romance. This is a step beyond the "second male lead wins" sort of affair, she wants the FL/ML1 ship to be going strong before ML2 swoops in out of seemingly nowhere for the steal. It can be any gender pairing (I used FL/ML1 for convenience), any setting, etc. but she really wants to experience that specific story structure.
Additionally, I learned after trying to pitch Daytime Shooting Star that she DOES NOT want any age gaps/power imbalances. She will not compromise on this.
Anything that fits that bill would be appreciated, and even if something doesn't 100% fit that story structure she has said "the closer, the better" in regards to that. I am counting on y'all here because I am out of ideas, and thanks in advance for any help!
I suppose Paradise Kiss could fit into this category, although the FL's relationship with the second/winning ML isn't deeply explored.
Hotaru's Way sort of has something like this, too: it's a 15 volume series and the FL doesn't realize her feelings for the second ML until like vol. 13. This one does technically have an age gap, but all of the characters are working adults (I believe the FL is 27).