Dangerous and thrilling, Midnight Ruin showcases Katee Robert’s ability to explore kink and polyamorous partnerships deftly and with care. (The partnerships in question? The triad between Orpheus, Eurydice and Charon!)
Jenny Holiday’s engaging, introspective Canadian Boyfriend is everything a romance novel should be.
Tia Williams broke out in a big way in 2021 with her emotional second-chance romance, Seven Days in June, and her follow-up novel sounds like a intriguing change of pace. A romantic and exuberant tale set around a flower shop in Harlem, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde follows the titular character as she attempts to strike out on her own, away from her wealthy and judgmental Atlanta family, only to encounter a mysterious and charming musician.
Paranormal romance fans will swoon over Ali Hazelwood’s Bride, which follows a marriage of convenience between a vampire and an alpha werewolf.
Tessa Bailey’s grumpy-sunshine golf romance is a total delight: witty, hot and laugh-out-loud funny.
Anita Kelly is one of those authors who gets better with every book, topping their own high standard with each deeply felt new romance. A basketball romance so charming that even benchwarmers will fall head over heels, How You Get the Girl follows high school coach Julie Parker and her new assistant, Elle Cochrane, a former pro player who offers to help Julie practice dating when they’re not on the court.
Kennedy Ryan began her Skyland series with the marvelous Before I Let Go, and will return with another emotional, complex love story. This Could Be Us follows Soledad Barnes as she builds a new life as a single mother after an unexpected divorce, and faces an even more unexpected chance at new love.
After her reality TV show-set debut rom-com (The Charm Offensive), Alison Cochrun surprised readers with the 180-degree turn of Kiss Her Once for Me, a sweet and gently melancholic holiday romance. Her third novel is yet another switch-up in tone, a roadtrip rom-com starring two ex-best friends who reunite to drive their former English teacher and mentor across the country after he reveals he only has a few months to live.
In Abby Jimenez’s superb Just for the Summer, two people cursed a la “Good Luck Chuck” try to break their unlucky streaks by dating each other—only to fall in love.
Felicia Grossman’s Wake Me Most Wickedly is a genderswapped spin on Snow White set in the Jewish community of 1832 London.
Jenny Holiday’s Regency romance Earls Trip may be tongue-in-cheek, but this tale of childhood friends-turned-lovers also has real heart.
Featuring laugh-out-loud banter and flawed but lovable characters, Funny Story is Emily Henry at her best.
Julie Anne Long exquisitely captures sensuous, romantic longing in My Season of Scandal, a love story between an innocent debutante and a notorious politician.
Once upon a time, a vampire and a selkie went after a magical pirate ship and fell in love along the way. If you’re familiar with the work of Katee Robert, you’re already on board (sorry). And if you’re not, trust us when we say that even if you’re not a fantasy or paranormal romance fan, it’s impossible to not have a grand time on the good ship Robert.
A grocery chain heir. A starving artist. A marriage that’s a fraud—until it isn’t. No one writes romance like this bestselling duo.
The outrageously fun Meant to Be series lets powerhouse romance authors put their own contemporary spins on classic Disney princess tales: Julie Murphy did Cinderella, Jasmine Guillory did Beauty and the Beast, Zoraida Córdova did The Little Mermaid and now Christina Lauren will update one of Disney’s more modern but no-less-beloved films, Tangled.
Zen Cho writing a contemporary rom-com with a K-drama-esque plot?! Maybe this is the best timeline after all! For non-SFF fans, Cho is the acclaimed author of Regency fantasies Sorcerer to the Crown and The True Queen, as well as the marvelous modern ghost story Black Water Sister. We’re beyond intrigued to see what Cho’s ever-engaging voice brings to a whole new genre.
Two exes. On the same food and wine tour of Europe. By Casey McQuiston. Is there anything else to say? Fine: McQuiston is one of our finest purveyors of rom-coms working today, capable of delivering pure joy and happy tears alike, and people will be screaming about this book from its release until the end of 2024.
Elizabeth Hoyt’s third Greycourt novel has been a long time coming (her last book, When a Rogue Meets His Match, was published way back in 2020, and four years is an enormous gap in romance), but her fans’ enthusiasm for this series following two rival families in Regency England hasn’t flagged in the slightest.
A romance between a baseball player and a journalist in 1960 New York City, Cat Sebastian’s latest is as enjoyable as it is emotional.
Couldn’t get enough of Challengers, director Luca Guadagnino’s sophisticated and steamy story of a tennis pro love triangle? We’ve got some reading material for you.
Does warmer weather and the approach of summer have you feeling restless? Pick up one of these stories featuring journeys great and small.
Plus, two friends-to-lovers romances charm our columnist.
Sarah Adler’s grumpy-sunshine romance presents a delightful twist on the “sunshine” half: a ruthlessly practical scammer with a heart of gold.
Featuring laugh-out-loud banter and flawed but lovable characters, Funny Story is Emily Henry at her best.
There’s something weirdly engaging about a character who’s down on their luck. Fortunately (or not), their loss is our gain.
This month’s column features second-chance love stories that will warm even the most skeptical of hearts.
How to End a Love Story is a mature, compelling and relatable romance that resists simplifying its characters at every turn.
The writer and director behind the upcoming adaptations of Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation is staking her own claim to romance greatness.
KT Hoffman’s The Prospects is a perfect baseball romance that overflows with love for the sport and its main characters.
In Abby Jimenez’s Just for the Summer, two people cursed a la “Good Luck Chuck” try to break their unlucky streaks by dating each other—only to fall in love.
There’s nothing more heartwarming than watching deeply cynical or understandably wary characters find love in spite of themselves.
