Romance and erotica authors are pushing all kinds of boundaries this fall. Gender-bending erotic stories, a gay romance set in 19th-century Texas, forbidden love between a Saxon and a Viking, and Victorian adventurers in Tibet will satisfy readers looking for something new and exciting. There’s even a choose-your-own-romance with a multitude of happy endings—something we can always use more of.
Romance & Erotica Top 10
Avelynn
Marissa Campbell. St. Martin’s Griffin, Sept. 8
A forbidden romance between a Saxon pagan and a Viking marauder is at the heart of this splendid historical novel.
Bitter Springs
Laura Stone. Interlude, Dec. 3
Two men fall passionately in love across the lines of gender, race, and class in this unusual take on the western historical romance.
Choose Your Own Love Story: Adventures in Dating, Do Overs, and Finding Your Happily Ever After
Ilyse Mimoun. Running Press, Dec. 22
The only thing better than one happy ending is lots of them! Fans of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books will be delighted by this romantic version.
Cold-Hearted Rake
Lisa Kleypas. Avon, Oct. 27
A massive first print run for Kleypas’s first historical romance since 2010 reflects her enduring popularity, especially when she writes forthright, seductive heroines.
Dirty Heat
Cairo. Strebor, Nov. 10
Adultery and cheating are among the last taboo topics in romantic and erotic fiction—which paradoxically heightens their appeal.
In Search of Scandal
Susanne Lord. Sourcebooks Casablanca, Dec. 1
Victorian romantic protagonists travel from London’s ballrooms to Tibet in this unusual historical, which adds adventure to romance.
Lead Me Not
Ann Gallagher. Riptide, Aug. 24
This story of a preacher who chooses to be gay in order to prove that one can choose not to be—and then falls in love with another man—breaks taboos in every direction.
Me and My Boi: Queer Erotic Stories
Sacchi Green. Cleis, Sept. 15
Acclaimed editor Green compiles a collection of stories that explode conventional definitions of gender and orientation while cranking up the heat.
Stars of Fortune: Book One of the Guardians Trilogy
Nora Roberts. Berkley, Nov. 3
The queen of romantic fiction launches a paranormal romance trilogy with an announced first printing of two million copies—which may actually understate her fans’ devotion.
Tryst
S.L. Jennings. Avon, Sept. 29
Fans of threesomes will be delighted to see a major publisher bringing out this erotic romance about a happily married couple who decide to bring home a lover.
Romance & Erotica Listings
Allen & Unwin
(dist. by IPG)
Emerald Springs by Fleur McDonald (Sept. 1, paper, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-74331-532-3). When suspicions are wrongly aimed at a young woman following the theft of proceeds from the local rodeo, she must work with a skeptical rural detective to clear her name—and that of the man she loves.
Atria
Cam Girl by Leah Raeder (Nov. 3, paper, $15, ISBN 978-1-5011-1499-1). Everything Vada loved is gone. She’s got nothing left to lose. So when she meets a smooth-talking lothario who offers to set her up as a cam girl, she can’t say no. It’s all just kinky fun until a client gets serious.
Atria/Bestler
Don’t Get Me Wrong by Marianne Kavanagh (Aug. 25, paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-4767-5533-5). Londoners Kim and Harry can’t see eye to eye—until tragedy strikes. As they face the possibility of losing the person they both love most, long-buried secrets come to a head in ways that will change both Harry and Kim forever.
Avon
Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas (Oct. 27, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-237181-2). Kleypas makes a long-awaited return to historical romance with this Regency series launch, the sizzling story of the woman daring enough to reform a notoriously wicked rake by beating him at his own game of seduction. 600,000-copy announced first printing.
Forever Your Earl: The Wicked Quills of London by Eva Leigh (Sept. 29, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-235862-2). Leigh makes her Avon debut with this smart and sexy Regency. What more could a scandal writer want than a secret look into the life of a devilishly handsome rake? And what better way for him to distract her than by feeding her the scandal she desperately craves? 100,000-copy announced first printing.
The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean (Dec. 29, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-237941-2). He thinks she’s trying to trick him into marriage. She wouldn’t have him if he were the last man on earth. But carriages bring close quarters, dark secrets, and unbearable temptation in MacLean’s Regency romance, which begins an exciting new series. 250,000-copy announced first printing.
Tryst: A Sexual Education Novel by S.L. Jennings (Sept. 29, paper, $13.99, ISBN 978-0-06-238973-2). From the bestselling author of Taint comes this steamy novel of a happy couple who decide to open their marriage to add spice to their sex life—and end up in a situation that neither expected. 25,000-copy announced first printing.
One Scandalous Kiss: An Accidental Heirs Novel by Christy Carlyle (Sept. 8, e-book, $1.99, ISBN 978-0-06-242799-1). Christy Carlyle’s debut Victorian historical romance delights in the first book of her Accidental Heirs series, in which a suffragist bookshop owner agrees to a devil’s bargain that results in one scandalous kiss.
Bantam
Everything I Left Unsaid by M. O’Keefe (Oct. 13, paper, $15, ISBN 978-1-101-88448-5) opens a gritty and sexy contemporary romance duology in which a phone call from a mysterious stranger is picked up by the wrong woman and ignites a dangerous game of seduction. 25,000-copy announced first printing.
Berkley
Mastered by Maya Banks (Dec. 1, paper, $16, ISBN 978-0-425-28065-2) launches a dark, edgy erotic romance series with BDSM elements, exploring the games men and women play, and the price they’re willing to pay for pleasure. 350,000-copy announced first printing.
Stars of Fortune: Book One of the Guardians Trilogy by Nora Roberts (Nov. 3, paper, $17, ISBN 978-0-425-28010-2). As gifts for a queen, three guardians sent stars into the sky—of fire, ice, and water. Centuries later, the stars are within reach of three women and three men. But a shadow looms over their attempts at trust, unity, and love. 2,000,000-copy announced first printing.
Camel
(dist. by Partners West)
Lover’s Oak by Corinne Scott (Aug. 1, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-60381-280-1). Lilly is a plucky Southern girl humbled by hardship whose survival depends on her holding her head high in a town where she is no longer welcome. And the most difficult person to face is the hunky fiancé she left behind.
Cleis
The Beebo Brinker Omnibus: Ann Bannon’s Pulp Classics by Ann Bannon, foreword by Lily Tomlin (Nov. 10, paper, $28.95, ISBN 978-1-62778-122-0). The “queen of lesbian pulp fiction” defined lesbian fiction for the pre-Stonewall generation. The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, Vol. 1, includes the novels Odd Girl Out, I Am a Woman, and Women in the Shadows.
Me and My Boi: Queer Erotic Stories, edited by Sacchi Green (Sept. 15, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-62778-121-3) celebrates lesbian bois, butches, and screw-the-binary free spirits; cool bois, hot bois, swaggering bois, shy bois, leather bois, flannel bois, butch daddies, and the girls (and other bois) who wouldn’t have them any other way. Gender has no boundaries, and neither does lust.
Hale
(dist. by IPG)
The Lavender House Mob by Annie Crux (Oct. 1, paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-910208-13-7). When widowed novelist Louise Gregory’s life is turned upside down, can she regain her peaceful home and regain her trust in a man she thought she knew?
Head of Zeus
(headofzeus.com)
Christmas for One by Amanda Prowse (Oct. 1, paper, $13.95, ISBN 978-1-78185-656-7). As a child in foster care, Meg always dreamed of her perfect Christmas, and she can finally make it come true for her son. Who cares if there’s no devoted husband? But a chance meeting with a handsome stranger unravels everything she’s planned.
HQN
Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas (Aug. 25, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-373-78844-6) opens an emotionally resonant series set in a remote west Texas town. The lives, loves, and ambitions of four families will converge, set against a landscape as unforgiving as it is beautiful, where passion, property, and pride are worth fighting for.
When Secrets Strike by Marta Perry (Oct. 27, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-373-78856-9). An ominous blaze brings an Amish quilter and a firefighter back together as buried feelings resurface. When a string of horrific incidents tears apart their community and an arsonist’s wrath threatens to destroy them all, will they risk both their hearts and their lives?
Hyde Street
(dist. by IPS)
Beautiful Storm by Barbara Freethy (Oct. 1, paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-0-9906952-7-1). In the first of three connected novels, a lightning strike leads to love, danger, and the unraveling of a family mystery.
Interlude
(interludepress.com)
Bitter Springs by Laura Stone (Dec. 3, paper, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-941530-55-9). In 1870s Texas, Renaldo Valle Santos, the youngest son of a large and traditional family, is sent to learn horse-catching from Henry “Hank” Burnett, a freed slave. Their love story is a sweeping epic that takes themes from traditional Mexican literature and westerns.
Kensington/Dafina
Games Women Play by Zaire Crown (Nov. 24, paper, $9.95, ISBN 978-1-61773-989-7). At 37, Tuesday is eager for a better way of life. Her all-female “business” team has made a fortune using a gentlemen’s club to attract, seduce—and rob—wealthy men. But circumstances force her to choose between the love she’s always wanted, the team she swore loyalty to, and the money she desperately needs to save her own life.
Kensington/Zebra
Down In the Valley by Jane Shoup (Aug. 25, mass market, $6.99, ISBN 978-1-4201-3709-5). Miss Emeline Wright risked everything to escape the man who stole her innocence, and then to win over her scornful neighbors in her little West Virginia hometown. But it will take the quiet strength and unfailing love of a man to show her how to trust again.
Jilting the Duke by Rachael Miles (Jan. 26, mass market, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-4201-4086-6). Aidan Somerville, Duke of Forster, is a rake, a spy, and a soldier, richer than sin and twice as handsome. Now he is also guardian to his deceased best friend’s young son—whose mother is Aidan’s ex-fiancé.
Lyrical
Ever After by Odessa Gillespie Black (Sept. 1, e-book, $3.99, ISBN 978-1-61650-601-8). In order to inherit a millionaire’s fortune, Allie Knowles must survive a month on her property—but the enormous house is haunted by a violent ghost, and Cole Kinsley, the handsome groundskeeper, appeared in Allie’s dreams years before she ever met him.
Here He Comes Again by Melissa Shirley (Aug. 18, e-book, $3.99, ISBN 978-1-61650-770-1). Jocelyn married her high school sweetheart, Keaton Shaw—only to have him break her heart. Years after they divorce and he left their small town, Keaton walks into Jocelyn’s bakery and demands a second chance with the woman he still calls his wife.
Once Beloved by Amara Royce (Nov. 10, e-book, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-60183-321-1). In bustling Victorian London, a desperate woman turns to the last man who would ever want to come to her aid.
Waiting for Ethan by Diane Barnes (Sept. 15, e-book, $3.99, ISBN 978-1-61650-788-6). Gina’s Mr. Right is nowhere in sight—until the day she’s stranded in a snowstorm and rescued by a man she was destined to marry (according to her best friend’s psychic grandmother). Does she dare question destiny and write her own story?
A Wedding in Truhart by Cynthia Tennent (Sept. 29, e-book, $3.99, ISBN 978-1-61650-832-6). Truhart, Mich., population 1,300 and dropping, is the unexpected site of the celebrity wedding of the year. The famous bride’s big sister, Annie, had an embarrassing childhood crush on Nick—who’s now the best man.
Mira
The Lady’s Command by Stephanie Laurens (Dec. 29, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-7783-1861-3). Bestseller Laurens launches a new Regency series featuring the adventures of four seafaring brothers and the women who capture their hearts.
Morrow
Undaunted: Knights in Black Leather by Ronnie Douglas (Sept. 15, paper, $13.99, ISBN 978-0-06-238960-2). This first in a sexy, dark new adult series tells the thrilling story of a young woman who’s drawn to a Southern motorcycle club’s inner circle—and a dangerously hot biker. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Riptide
(riptidepublishing.com)
Lead Me Not by Ann Gallagher
(Aug. 24, e-book, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-62649-277-6). Isaac Morris has devoted his life to preaching against the sin of homosexuality. But in demonstrating that orientation is a choice, everything Isaac knows is called into question. And if he’s been wrong all along, what does that mean for his ministry—and the man he never meant to love?
Running Press
Choose Your Own Love Story: Adventures in Dating, Do Overs, and Finding Your Happily Ever After by Ilyse Mimoun (Dec. 22, paper, $13, ISBN 978-0-7624-5851-6). Choose a different love story each time you open the book, putting you in the driver’s seat and letting you make more than 50 choices, picking from multiple possible endings. 20,000-copy announced first printing.
S&S/Gallery
Denial by Lisa Renee Jones (Nov. 24, paper, $15, ISBN 978-1-5011-2285-9). This sultry tale of possession, ecstasy, wild fantasies, and dangerous secrets is the first in the racy and suspenseful Careless Whispers series.
S&S/Pocket
What Happens Under the Mistletoe by Sabrina Jeffries, Karen Hawkins, Candace Camp, and Meredith Duran (Oct. 27, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4767-8608-7). Four bestselling authors come together for a sizzling historical romance holiday anthology.
Samhain
(samhainpublishing.com)
Lonely Hearts by Heidi Cullinan (Aug. 11, e-book, $6.50, ISBN 978-1-61922-669-2). Until now, Baz’s friends have kept his painful past at bay. But as college ends, his friends are moving on. With loneliness looming, he hooks up with Elijah Prince. When the media hounds drag their pasts into the light, they must fight to keep their love alive.
Severn
Lost in His Eyes: A Novel of Romantic Suspense by Andrew Neiderman (Dec. 1, hardcover, $28.95, ISBN 978-0-7278-8542-5). A California housewife begins an ill-advised affair—with devastating consequences.
Shadow Mountain
(dist. by Baker & Taylor)
My Fair Gentleman by Nancy Campbell Allen (Jan. 5, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-62972-095-1). Jack would rather be at sea, but inheriting his grandfather’s wealth and title means joining the ranks of high society and living with the aristocracy. Luckily, Ivy Carslisle is willing to teach him etiquette—and win his heart. 30,000-copy announced first printing.
Signet
Blood Kiss: Black Dagger Legacy by J.R. Ward (Dec. 1, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-451-47532-9). The legacy of the Black Dagger Brotherhood continues in a spinoff series about new recruits ready to train with the renowned warriors. 250,000-copy announced first printing.
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Brave the Heat by Sara Humphreys (Sept. 1, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4022-9367-2). Old flames rekindle with dangerous consequences in this new contemporary romance from the acclaimed author.
A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas by Kim Redford (Oct. 6, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-2147-8). Misty Reynolds pulls into town just in time to help Trey, a rancher and top volunteer firefighter of Wildcat Bluff, put out a suspicious fire. Misty’s past has left her with terrible memories of fire and of Christmastime. But that’s all about to change.
The Duke’s First Son by Jane Ashford (Jan. 5, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-2156-0). With the newfound freedom of marriage, a refined duke and a chaste duchess can finally explore pleasures of the flesh in this tender Regency romance.
In Search of Scandal by Susanne Lord (Dec. 1, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-2350-2). When an adventurer living in Victorian London is called to join a critical expedition, can he leave his beloved behind? She may just show him that she has an adventurous spirit to rival his own.
Rock Me Two Times by Dawn Ryder (Nov. 3, paper, $13.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-1676-4). Kate’s small custom leather shop is about to get a big boost with a partnership with the ultra hot rock band Toxsin. But she is definitely not prepared to enter into this elite, celebrity world, especially when Syon Braden, leader of Toxsin, starts making moves.
Viking Warrior Rising by Asa Maria Bradley (Nov. 3, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-1884-3). A sexy immortal Viking warrior and a kick-ass heroine collide in this smoking-hot paranormal romance.
St. Martin’s Griffin
Avelynn by Marissa Campbell (Sept. 8, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-06393-9). In the year 869, Avelynn, the beautiful and secretly pagan daughter of the Eadlorman of Somerset, is betrothed to a man who covets her wealth and status. After Viking berserkers land, one of them wins her heart. Can the two be true to their people as well as to each other?
First Touch by Laurelin Paige (Dec. 22, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-250-07519-2). Determined to track down her missing friend, Amber, Emily Wayborn follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis. She must seduce him to learn his secrets and find her friend. But will Emily be able to abandon her desire for Reeve in order to save Amber?
Strebor
Dirty Heat by Cairo (Nov. 10, paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-59309-596-3). one-night stands, weekend flings, lustful online affairs—Cairo serves up six naughty tales of deceit in the sheets. In the scandalous world of infidelity, there is no end to sexual imagination and forbidden lust.
Strebor/Infinite Words
Shifting Time by Kelly Bennett Seiler (Sept. 22, paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-59309-650-2). Meade Peterson has spent 15 years grieving the death of Daniel, her high school sweetheart. Then Tucker walks into her life and she begins to dream of a future with him. When Meade is transported into an alternate universe where she and Daniel built a life together, she’s faced with a difficult choice.
Thomas Nelson
Falling Like Snowflakes by Denise Hunter (Sept. 8, paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-2371-3). Romance novelist Hunter begins a new series about a family of brothers with this Christmastime contemporary, in which one brother struggles to save the family farm—and his heart—from a stranger who shows up with her young son and a past full of secrets.
Virgin
(dist. by Holtzbrinck)
Hotbed by Portia Da Costa (Nov. 1, paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-0-352-34783-1). Sister Natalie and Patti are as opposite as can be. While Patti has been voraciously bedding a whole host of hunks, shy and retiring Natalie can only dream of an illicit liaison. But that changes when she gives in to temptation and initiates a sexy encounter on a train with a complete stranger.
