The American West and Midwest continue to be popular settings for contemporary and historical romance novels. Some exciting Regency and Georgian romances are also on the horizon.
Top 10
All That Makes Life Bright: The Life and Love of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Josi S. Kilpack. Shadow Mountain, Sept. 5
In this novelization of the early years of Harriet Beecher’s marriage to Calvin Stowe, Kilpack’s depiction of the challenges of juggling household management, childcare, and writing is convincing and touching.
Charming the Vicar
Jenny Frame. Bold Strokes, Jan. 16
When stage magician and atheist Finn Kane seeks refuge in an English village after a spiritual crisis, local vicar Bridget Claremont attempts to restore her faith in life and love.
The Christmas Room
Catherine Anderson. Berkley, Sept. 26
This standalone contemporary romance full of homespun holiday cheer is set in a small Montana town and features older protagonists with adult children.
Deadly Rumors
Cheris Hodges. Kensington/Dafina, Oct. 31
A private investigator gets intimately involved with her friend at the FBI when he hires her in hopes of protecting her from those who want her dead.
The Duchess Deal
Tessa Dare. Avon, Aug. 22
A duke who’s a traumatized war veteran recklessly marries a commoner, thinking she’ll be easily cowed—but she has plans that go far beyond producing his heir.
Fool Me Once
Catherine Bybee. Amazon/Montlake Romance, Sept. 19
A divorced divorce lawyer gets an unexpected second chance for love, but her charming seducer is secretly a PI hired by a disgruntled client.
Liza’s Second Chance
Molly Jebber. Kensington/Zebra, Jan. 30
Jebber opens an Amish romance series in 1912 Ohio, where a bakery brings people together for sweet treats, wise advice, and romantic connections.
One Summer Night
Caridad Piñeiro. Sourcebooks Casablanca, Oct. 3
The Sinclair and Pierce families have been feuding for nearly 30 years. That hasn’t stopped Jax Pierce from noticing Maggie Sinclair, but getting involved in her failing family business means risking everything he cares about.
Wilde in Love
Eloisa James. Avon, Oct. 31
A duke’s adventurous son with a dramatic public life falls for a bookish woman who craves privacy.
You Say It First
Susan Mallery. HQN, Aug. 22
This fun novel opens the Happily Inc. contemporary series, set at a theme wedding venue where a wedding planner and a carpenter fall head over heels.
Romance & Erotica Listings
Amazon/Montlake Romance
Fool Me Once by Catherine Bybee (Sept. 19, trade paper, $12.95, ISBN 978-1-61218-507-1). A divorced divorce lawyer gets an unexpected second chance for love, but her charming seducer is secretly a PI hired by a disgruntled client.
Amazon/Skyscape
Fraternize by Rachel Van Dyken (Sept. 12, trade paper, $9.99, ISBN 978-1-4778-0920-4). A plus-size pro cheerleader falls into a love triangle with two sexy football players.
Avon
A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe (Oct. 31, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-267889-8). Set in New York City’s Gilded Age, Shupe’s first book for Avon introduces an English beauty with a scheme to win the man she loves, and the American scoundrel who ruins her plans. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare (Aug. 22, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-234906-4). A duke who’s a traumatized war veteran recklessly marries a commoner, thinking she’ll be easily cowed—but she has plans that go far beyond producing his heir. 150,000-copy announced first printing.
The Sea King by C.L. Wilson (Oct. 31, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-201898-4) is the first Mystral fantasy romance since 2014’s The Winter King. A princess and a seafarer find unexpected love in the aftermath of war. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
Wilde in Love by Eloisa James (Oct. 31, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-06-238947-3) launches a Georgian-era series. A duke’s adventurous son with a dramatic public life falls for a bookish woman who craves privacy. 400,000-copy announced first printing.
Ballantine
Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber (Oct. 3, hardcover, $20, ISBN 978-0-399-18122-1). Love blooms in unexpected places in this contemporary Christmas novel of compassion, second chances, and hope.
Berkley
The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson (Sept. 26, hardcover, $19, ISBN 978-0-399-58631-6) is a standalone contemporary romance full of homespun holiday cheer, set in a small Montana town and featuring older protagonists with adult children.
Going Dark by Monica McCarty (Sept. 5, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-399-58770-2). The members of a top secret SEAL team can’t keep their passion under wraps in this contemporary romantic suspense series kickoff.
Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz (Jan. 2, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-0-399-58527-2). A broken promise reveals a terrifying legacy and brings two children of cultists together in this follow-up to When All the Girls Have Gone.
Black & White
Chasing Charlie by Linda McLaughlan (Nov. 1, trade paper, $12.95, ISBN 978-1-78530-013-4). When unlucky-in-love Sam bumps into her first boyfriend, the charming but roguish Charlie, she falls for him all over again.
Bold Strokes
Captain’s Choice by V.K. Powell (Dec. 12, trade paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-62639-997-6). Architect Kerstin Anthony’s life is going as planned until Bennett Carlyle, the first girl she ever kissed, is assigned to her latest and most important project.
Charming the Vicar by Jenny Frame (Jan. 16, trade paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-63555-029-0). When stage magician and atheist Finn Kane seeks refuge in an English village after a spiritual crisis, local vicar Bridget Claremont attempts to restore her faith in life and love.
Boutique of Quality Books
The Leftover by Brooke Williams (Sept. 1, trade paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-945448-04-1). A reserved wallflower discovers that reality TV is the perfect way to develop her confidence, and falls in love with the show’s medic, in this lighthearted romantic novel.
Central Avenue
Until Tomorrow by Abbie Williams (Jan. 1, trade paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-77168-126-1). A young woman trying to help her sister find the cause of a devastating fire is unexpectedly swept into love with an old friend.
City Owl
Forget Me Not by Em Shotwell (Aug. 8, trade paper, $9.99, ISBN 978-1-944728-39-7). In this paranormal historical, a young man with little magic is matched up with a powerful mage, but just as they hit it off, he’s drafted to fight in Vietnam.
Cleis
Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 3, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Dec. 12, trade paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-62778-224-1), contains daring, bold, and surprising tales of women who pursue their passions anywhere and everywhere.
Forever
Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown (Sept. 26, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4555-9747-5) returns to Happy, Tex., for a holiday romance between a widow (whose three rambunctious kids play matchmaker) and a hermit cowboy. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
Forge
Starlight Curse by Stacey Kade (Jan. 9, trade paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-7653-8043-2). Two former teen actors—who played siblings—reunite as adults and find that sparks fly.
Grand Central
Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt (Oct. 17, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4555-3914-7). Hoyt concludes her long-running Maiden Lane Regency romance series with a suspenseful novel that puts two passionate lovers in danger. 175,000-copy announced first printing.
HQN
Christmastime Cowboy by Maisey Yates (Oct. 24, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-335-01331-6) launches the Copper Ridge contemporary series. As a teen, Liam fell for his boss’s daughter, and his boss bribed him to dump her. Thirteen years later, Christmas reunites them. 400,000-copy announced first printing.
Sugar Pine Trail by RaeAnne Thayne (Sept. 26, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-373-80368-2). An unlikely attraction between an ambitious librarian and a playboy military pilot leads to Christmastime romance. 700,000-copy announced first printing.
You Say It First by Susan Mallery (Aug. 22, mass market, $8.99, ISBN 978-0-373-79933-6) opens the Happily Inc. contemporary series, set at a theme wedding venue, with a wedding planner and a carpenter falling head over heels for each other. 800,000-copy announced first printing.
Harlequin/Mira
Right Where We Belong by Brenda Novak (Oct. 17, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-7783-3038-7) returns to Silver Springs for a moving story about rebuilding your life when you’ve got nothing left to lose. 300,000-copy announced first printing.
Interlude
Absolutely, Almost, Perfect by Lissa Reed (Aug. 3, trade paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-945053-26-9). Craig Oliver and Alex Scheff are a year into what seems to be a perfect relationship, but a family wedding brings up all sorts of tensions and complications.
Kensington
Texas Fierce by Janet Dailey (Aug. 29, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-1-4967-0957-8). An heiress is shocked to fall in love with her fiancé’s enemy in this suspenseful western romance.
Kensington/Dafina
Deadly Rumors by Cheris Hodges (Oct. 31, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4967-0928-8). A private investigator gets intimately involved with her friend at the FBI when he hires her in hopes of protecting her from those who want her dead.
Kensington/Lyrical
Dreaming of Manderley by Leah Marie Brown (Dec. 26, mass market, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-5161-0113-9). An American in present-day France, struggling to care for her sisters after their family fortune is lost, is swept off her feet by a widower who won’t talk about what happened to his first wife.
Kensington/Zebra
Liza’s Second Chance by Molly Jebber (Jan. 30, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4201-4483-3) opens an Amish romance series in 1912 Ohio, where a bakery brings people together for sweet treats, wise advice, and romantic connections.
Pretend You’re Safe by Alexandra Ivy (Aug. 29, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4201-4377-5). When a serial killer sets his sights on the victim he’s always wanted, she must turn to an arrogant sheriff who never believed her stories of being stalked.
Kensington/Zebra/Shout
His Perfect Partner by Priscilla Oliveras (Sept. 26, mass market, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-4201-4428-4). Divorced ad executive Tomás Garcia shouldn’t even be thinking about his daughter’s alluring dance teacher, Yazmine Fernandez, but Yaz’s generous spirit and caring concern are sparking a desire Tomás can’t resist.
Morrow
The Woman Left Behind by Linda Howard (Nov. 7, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-241901-9). A battle-hardened black ops soldier risks himself to help the woman he loves—his communications expert—escape from deadly enemies. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
Riptide
Foxglove Copse by Alex Beecroft (Sept. 4, trade paper, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-62649-547-0). A burned-out London executive finds a mutilated sheep in Cornwall and is suspected of killing it. Only a handsome young shepherd believes his innocence—and wants to win his heart.
Shadow Mountain
All That Makes Life Bright: The Life and Love of Harriet Beecher Stowe by Josi S. Kilpack (Sept. 5, trade paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-62972-341-9) looks at the early years of Harriet Beecher’s marriage to Calvin Stowe. Kilpack’s depiction of the challenges of juggling household management, childcare, and writing is convincing and touching. 17,000-copy announced first printing.
Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright (Nov. 7, trade paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-62972-342-6). An Austen fan is hurt when a man in possession of a good fortune tells her he wants a hookup rather than a wife, and surprised when she falls hard for his brother. 12,000-copy announced first printing.
Simon & Schuster/Gallery
Roomies by Christina Lauren (Oct. 10, trade paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-5011-6583-2). Two Broadway actors impulsively embark on a visa marriage, only to find that living together turns their besotted newlywed act into the real thing.
The Spring Girls by Anna Todd (Jan. 2, trade paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-5011-3071-7) is a modern-day retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
S&S/Pocket
Caught by the Scot by Karen Hawkins (Sept. 26, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4767-8603-2). A dashing Scottish privateer looks for a wife who won’t mind his many mistresses, but the woman he wants to marry refuses to be an afterthought.
S&S/Pocket Star
Breaching the Contract by Chantal Fernando (Sept. 18, e-book, $2.99, ISBN 978-1-5011-7235-9) opens a contemporary series about a brigade of lawyers who always end up just barely on the right side of the law and love.
Sourcebooks Casablanca
All I Want for Halloween by Marie Harte (Oct. 1, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-5653-1) is a sweet, funny standalone tale of masked strangers finding love on Halloween.
Cowboy SEAL Homecoming by Nicole Helm (Jan. 1, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-2130-0). Navy SEAL Alex McGuire inherits half his childhood ranch. The other half is left to a woman he barely knows—and she has an idea for turning the ranch into a haven for wounded soldiers.
Highland Dragon Warrior by Isabel Cooper (Sept. 5, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-3203-0) begins a prequel series, set in 1305 Scotland and featuring dragon shape-shifters, that explains the origins of Cooper’s Highland Dragons.
One Summer Night by Caridad Piñeiro (Oct. 3, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-4964-9). The Sinclair and Pierce families have been feuding for nearly 30 years. That hasn’t stopped Jax Pierce from noticing Maggie Sinclair, but getting involved in her failing family business means risking everything he cares about.
Third Son’s a Charm by Shana Galen (Nov. 7, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4926-5703-3). In the first book of a Regency romance series featuring the sons of nobility, a duke’s daughter resents her new bodyguard until he saves her from a kidnapping attempt.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Christmas at Two Love Lane by Kieran Kramer (Oct. 3, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-250-11104-3). Stubbornly single Southern belle Macy Frost co-owns Two Love Lane, the premier matchmaking agency in Charleston, S.C. She doesn’t expect that the Christmastime match she finds for a confirmed bachelor will be herself.
Maybe I Do: A Whiskey and Weddings Novel by Nicole McLaughlin (Aug. 29, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-250-13998-6). Wedding photographer Charlotte Linley loves her work, even though she was left at the altar. And she especially enjoys working with a fellow antimarriage cynic whose boutique distillery has become Kansas City’s hottest wedding venue.
The Road to Enchantment by Kaya McLaren (Dec. 5, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-250-14508-6). A woman who escaped smalltown New Mexico for Los Angeles comes back—pregnant, single, and grieving her mother’s death—to find a warm welcome from her long-ago best friend.
