Set in the town bookstore (!!!), this friends-to-lovers romance is an emotional, dramatic ride. If you are inclined to agree that the phrase "baby fox coffee" is a loving term of endearment, this is the contemporary series you should read next. Read in or out of series order - spoilers don't detract from the wit and heart of this series.
The best night of Gavin's life? When he hit a grand slam for the Nashville League. His worst night? That evening, when he learns his wife had been faking orgasms. In the aftermath, Gavin's best friend Del promises to help - as long as he courts Thea and saves his marriage using a romance novel for inspiration. All the ballplayers in their secret book club swear by the historicals so, lo and behold, he woos Thea and she doesn't completely hate his guts.
A second-chance trope romance that is witty, woke, and fun. Make it a book club of your own: read it and pass it on to your S.O.! Are you really gonna say no to a bunch of fit, sexy MLB players reading steamy romance novels to better understand women?
I loved this clever twist on 80's movie tropes - I spotted The Breakfast Club, Can't Buy Me Love, and Pretty in Pink - and a fake date, friends to lovers Regency romance.
Seb is a bluestocking anthropologist and member of the Union of the Rakes, a group of five Eton men who bonded over mischief and a long day of penance. Lady Grace is a herpetologist and scholar who's been on the shelf, crushing on a rakish colleague named Mason Fredericks who is oblivious to her availability. Seb volunteers to help his friend attract Mason's attention but here's the catch: he has terrible, debilitating social anxiety. With the aid of a fellow Union member and society elite, Seb transforms himself into a charming rake who publicly pursues Grace. Their plan begins to work but their hearts have other ideas...
Eva Leigh delivers a sexy, ambitious happily ever after that's sealed by a very dramatic, filmworthy grand gesture. I can't wait for book two!
Heartwarming and brilliant! A wintry historical romance perfect for fans of Sarah MacLean and Olivia Waite. Realistic stakes paired with rigid class boundaries set the stage for a bluestocking women's suffragist and a noble Tory political strategist to fall hopelessly in love.
Cameron Bright is pretty and popular, but brutally honest. Her crappy home life is no excuse for failure so Cameron works hard and chases her goals: date crush Andrew, get an internship at her father's office, and get into the Wharton School at UPenn. But when Andrew calls her a bitch, her normal teflon-tough exterior chips. Like Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, does she need to be tamed?
A millenial teen retelling of the film 10 Things I Hate About You that draws heavily from Shakespeare, If I'm Being Honest is crafted with thoughtful, real-world stakes. Cameron's a ringer for Blair Waldorf - and yet she genuinely learns from her mistakes and works to become a better person. Her social circle is rooted in relatable struggles like making new friends, keeping old friendships alive, being supportive, and managing conflict. She's flawed and *almost* unlikeable but the more I learned about her family dynamics, the more I rooted for her to make better choices and follow a path of her own making.
This paranormal romance series hooked me to the Romance genre once and for all. The Darkest London series follows three sisters and their various supernatural acquaintances in Victorian England. There's adventure, there's horrible deeds, there's heroes lurking in the dark - all framed by a magical investigative organization that's as old as it is secret. It's like Gail Carriger's Soulless series but with more fabled creatures and very steamy couplings.
This runaway bride, second-chance-at-love romance was unexpected and totally swoonworthy. The narrative builds steadily until the final chapters when all hell breaks loose and the story peaks in classic Western fashion. If you like character-driven stories, here's all you need to know: there's a contemplative Native American hero, a Boston society wife with a spine of steel, an abusive bastard of a wealthy husband, and a band of misfit outlaws hidden in a valley of the idyllic Rocky Mountains. Great fun as a standalone or to read out of series order.
I recommend sinking into The Starless Sea and luxuriating there. This is not a book to rush. The scope is enormous, the plot is stranger and intricate. This book will take you may places and you'll have to trust it but you should you're in very good hands. I found it delicious and rewarding.
GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN is a hate-to-love romantic comedy with more depth than the adorable cover suggests. Strong, smart-mouthed Chloe challenges herself to live more fully after a near-death experience breaks the monotony of managing severe fibromyalgia. She has made a list, of course, but struggles to check off more than the first item: move out of parent's house. Enter Red, her new (rather grouchy) apartment caretaker. They strike a deal to help Chloe with items on her list in exchange for an artist website. Adventures commence: motorbike rides, a drunken night out, camping in the woods. Not on the list? Falling in love.
A hilarious and charming romance with wickedly sexy scenes and believable emotional stakes grounded in familiar anxieties and traumas.
Absolutely delightful! A steamy, second-chance romance between childhood sweethearts who are kept apart by family rivalry and corporate espionage. Fans of The Kiss Quotient will enjoy the premise: a Japanese-American neurodivergent tattoo artist home temporarily to care for her injured mother tries (and fails) to avoid run-ins with her clean cut ex-boyfriend, Nico, Caustic wit abounds, as well as lightly kinky encounters conducted in modest secrecy around town. Alisha Rai's brand of heroine means women with badass exteriors and marshmallow interiors... and the head-over-heels men who can't help themselves. Bonus points for the cannoli to clinch the HEA!
