Thriller writer Goldstein pivots to romance (after The Wayside, written as Caroline Wolff) with this moving and memorable tale of unexpected second chances. It kicks off in 1993, when college student Lili is eagerly anticipating seeing rising star Jeff Buckley in concert in New York City’s East Village. While waiting for the show to begin, she locks eyes with Reid, an aspiring filmmaker who, dressed in a suit, looks out of place in the crowd. A brief conversation leads to a passionate weeklong affair before Reid returns to California for an exciting job opportunity. Thirty years later, the pair happen to meet again at a Jeff Buckley tribute concert, both there with their teenage daughters. Goldstein makes their reunion feel both fated and grounded, explicating the realistic burdens and life experiences that have shaped the characters’ choices. Nineties nostalgia and great use of the New York setting add to the fun, as do Lili’s and Reid’s children, who take it upon themselves to play matchmaker. Readers will find this heartfelt and achingly romantic. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Easton, the pen name for writing duo Madeline Palmieri and Katherine Murtha, set their diverting debut on the Love Island–esque U.K. reality show Summer of Love. When Oliver Wright, a ballet dancer mourning a recent breakup, and Declan King, a closeted gay boxer, both sign up for the program, they find themselves unexpectedly attracted to each other. But the eight-week dating competition, which takes place in a villa in Mallorca, expects the men to pair up with women. While Oliver and Declan are pushed by the producers into a love triangle with fellow contestant Zoë, they also initiate an on-screen “bromance” that gets more serious off-camera. The reality show drama is good fun, and Easton uses the setting to allow the men a chance to process their feelings, especially as Oliver comes to terms with his sexuality, but readers in it strictly for the romance may be frustrated that the Summer of Love hijinks often keep the characters apart. Still, what stolen moments the men do claim are swoonworthy, including a romantic hike and a night spent sharing a bed. Meanwhile, the threat of the producers discovering and manipulating their love story raises the stakes. This affectionate contemporary will appeal to fans of Alison Cochrun’s The Charm Offensive. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Television costars Simon Devereaux and Charlie Blake find love and acceptance in this endearing if tonally muddled first contemporary from historical romance author Sebastian (We Could Be So Good). Simon suffers from undermanaged anxiety, OCD, and migraines and feels unfulfilled by his role on the sci-fi series Out There and frustrated by his strained, seven-year working relationship with Charlie. The pair unexpectedly bond, however, after Simon announces he’s leaving the show: first, during a dual-purpose road trip to generate good press for Simon’s final season and check on Charlie’s ex-boss/father figure, Dave, and later over text, chatting about fantasy novels and a watch-along of Out There. Sebastian peppers their gentle, slow-burning romance with plenty of adorable moments, including a feud over blueberry muffins and the hijinks of Simon’s pet dog, and infuses the tale with a palpable love for genre television. Unfortunately, heavier topics, including familial neglect, Charlie’s history of addiction, and harassment on set, feel somewhat short-changed by Simon’s snarky narration and Sebastian’s commitment to keeping the vibe cozy. For the most part, however, this low-stakes, trope-filled contemporary is good fun. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Kennedy spins off her bestselling Off Campus series with this steamy contemporary focused on the children of some fan favorite characters. College student Blake Logan leaves Boston heartbroken after seeing a sex tape of her boyfriend cheating on her. She heads to the Lake Tahoe home her family co-owns with her dad’s longtime friend and pro-hockey teammate Garret Graham to lick her wounds for the summer. The Grahams and the Logans have spent holidays together at the lake house for years, including one memorable Christmas when Blake and Garrett’s son, Wyatt, were teenagers and they shared a kiss. Now Blake arrives at the house to find singer-songwriter Wyatt already in residence, taking a break from the Nashville music scene in search of inspiration for new songs. In such close quarters, the pair’s ever-present sexual tension becomes impossible to ignore so they agree to a fling that will end once summer is over. Keeping feelings out of their relationship proves difficult, however, and tensions rise even further when their families learn of their romance. Kennedy makes sex the focus of this sizzling story, with the erotic scenes sometimes overpowering the romantic tension. Still, Off Campus fans seeking more spicy stories set in the same universe will be well pleased. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Jessen (Yin Yang Love Song) offers up a charming mix of romance and philosophy in this well-crafted contemporary. Perpetually unlucky data analyst Hazel Yen is having an awful day: her apartment building’s pipes burst, she’s laid off, and her divorce is finalized. She impulsively heads to a fortune teller, hoping for reassurance about things to come—only to have the reading interrupted by a drenched man in tie-dye walking a cat on a leash. He’s Logan Wells, a perpetually lucky carpenter, and he offers Hazel half of what turns out to be a winning Powerball ticket as an apology for barging in. Their unexpected win causes their fortunes to flip, with Hazel experiencing a run of good luck and Logan bad, setting them on a quest to understand the very nature of luck—and each other. Though their initial meet-cute feels a bit contrived, the central couple is easy to root for: Logan is a golden retriever of a hero who gradually learns from overly honest Hazel how to work through the negative instead of ignoring it; meanwhile, Hazel learns to set boundaries with her gambling addict father and wannabe-influencer brother. Readers will be well-pleased with this insightful romance between two people who, in discovering more about each other, discover a lot about themselves. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Torloff debuts with a poignant if slightly overwrought romantic fantasy pairing an immortal woman and a time-traveling man. In 1505, Beatrix, long suspected of being a changeling because her eyes are two different colors, is dying in childbirth—until a malignant faerie offers her the chance to live, a choice Beatrix soon regrets when she realizes she has been doomed to never die. It’s a lonely existence until, in 1605, she encounters a strange man, Oliver, during a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Beatrix almost forgets the encounter, but then the pair meet again more than 100 years later and Oliver reveals that he’s a dying time traveler from the 23rd century, able to visit the past for half a day at a time. Their romance builds slowly over centuries, with each of their encounters centered on one of Oliver’s historical fascinations, and culminates in an emotional meeting at his Massachusetts home in 2202. Torloff piles colorful historical lore into each of the lovers’ visits, but the plot itself feels somewhat belabored, and her characters, especially the unpleasant faerie and the hesitant Oliver, are somewhat underdeveloped. Still, it’s a clever premise, and romance devotees are sure to savor the slow-burning, impossible love story at its core. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Balancing playful banter and steamy moments, Waldorf’s cute, tropey debut follows Hallie Woods, a reporter who dreams of being Sophisticate Magazine’s food critic but is stuck writing a fluffy “Overheard in NYC” column instead. A chance to impress her boss and potentially score that promotion comes when she’s assigned a new column about her experiences attempting to date “the most eligible bachelors on Wall Street.” The problem is that she’s never had a thing for finance guys, who, in her opinion, are all spoiled, shallow, and pretentious. Enter James Rossi, a Wall Street wunderkind who is still heartbroken and reeling from having been taken in by a gold digger. When the pair meet at a bar, they agree to help each other: James will go on five dates with Hallie in exchange for her writing up his family’s Brooklyn pizzeria. Along the way, Hallie learns not to judge a book by its cover, and James begins to reopen his heart. The result is a flirty rom-com with a fun if somewhat familiar plot that makes good use of its glamorous Manhattan backdrop. It’s a solid start. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Wright (The Secrets We Create) launches her Batchelor Life series with a juicy and melodramatic contemporary. When Joyce Batchelor, “CEO of one of the biggest Black media companies in the world,” declares that all of her grandchildren must marry or lose their inheritance, she’s not kidding around. She’s particularly focused on her grandson Wes, whose romantic escapades have recently been splashed across the internet by social media influencer Miss Tea, a Gossip Girl–esque figure focused on Black Detroit elites. Joyce reaches out to Wes’s first love, Albany Keyes, now a private investigator, to uncover Miss Tea’s identity and put a stop to her reportage. Reeling from a divorce that left her financially unstable, Albany has no choice but to take the job despite her lingering bitterness about her and Wes’s abrupt and devastating breakup as teenagers. Sparks soon fly between the reunited exes as Wes, with his grandmother’s ultimatum in mind, works to win Albany back. The result is a fast-paced and soapy second-chance romance with plenty of angst. Wright surrounds her leads with a robust supporting cast, many of whom will surely get star turns in future installments. This series has legs. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

An enticing blend of espionage, romance, and rebellion animates Otto’s debut and Myths of the Empyrieos series launch. The Palace of Sorrows fell when its princess, Aella, was a child. She has since been raised in the Aviary, a covert network that transforms orphans and outcasts into spies known as songbirds. When she’s chosen for the Aviary’s elite Alpha Flight team, led by her former lover, stoic and duty-bound Raven, Aella must navigate both rekindled feelings and a mission that forces her to reclaim her royal identity. Undercover as a potential bride competing in a tournament for the hand of the prince of neighboring kingdom Eretria, Aella uncovers secrets that pit loyalty against conscience and love against survival. With rich sensory descriptions, Otto crafts an immersive world of coded messages and whispered betrayals. The pacing occasionally feels too quick, rushing through some of the bride trials and romantic beats. Still, Aella’s growth from an obedient agent of the Aviary to a self-possessed leader anchors the story. Fans of Carissa Broadbent’s The Serpent and the Wings of Night will want to check this out. Agent: Christabel McKinley, David Higham Assoc. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

The long-standing feud between two Baltimore meteorologists comes to a head in the midst of a winter storm in this sweet and sassy enemies-to-lovers rom-com from bestseller Borison (First-Time Caller). Delilah Stewart loves her job as a television weather reporter despite often-demeaning assignments, including her boss forcing her to wear a turtle costume during a broadcast. Her past encounters with radio meteorologist Jackson Clark have often ended in bickering, like the time he left passive aggressive Post-its on her car about her sloppy parking job. When a historic snowstorm hits Western Maryland, however, teaming up with Jackson may be Delilah’s best chance at being taken seriously. Broadcasting together from a snowbound mountain lodge, their chemistry ignites and draws in viewers—especially after a hot mic catches them kissing. The opposites-attract pair balance each other well, with spontaneous Delilah bringing out regimented Jackson’s fun side, and as their barbed banter becomes more flirtatious, it serves as a delightful prelude to scintillating romance. This charms. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink