Spring’s romances promise far-flung getaways, daring historical adventures, and glimpses into the private lives of celebrities.
Top 10
Act Your Age, Eve Brown
Talia Hibbert. Avon, Mar. 9 ($15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-06-294127-5).
The finale to Hibbert’s Brown Sisters rom-com series sees chaotic Eve Brown hired as a chef at a bed and breakfast, where she finds love with the uptight owner despite a disastrous first meeting.
The Duke Heist
Erica Ridley. Forever, Feb. 9 ($8.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-5387-1952-7)
A con artist accidentally falls for her latest mark while pulling off her most personal crime to date, in the first Regency of Ridley’s Wild Wynchesters series, starred by PW.
An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler
Vanessa Riley. Zebra, Apr. 27 ($15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4201-5225-8)
Riley follows A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby with this Regency about a Jamaican maid who arrives in London with amnesia. Her efforts to uncover her identity lead to unexpected love.
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Xio Axelrod. Sourcebooks Casablanca, Apr. 6 ($14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4926-9876-0)
A Philadelphia indie rocker on the brink of making it big is thrown back together with her ex-boyfriend when she auditions for a new band in this standalone rom-com from Axelrod.
Lizzie & Dante
Mary Bly. Dial, July 20 ($27, ISBN 978-0-593-13482-5)
Historical romance maven Eloisa James makes her contemporary debut, writing as Bly, with this love story between a Shakespearean scholar and an Italian chef who meet on the island of Elba.
Noa and Lilah’s Guide to Surviving B-List Fame
Jennet Alexander. Sourcebooks Casablanca, June 1 ($14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-7282-2270-7)
A scream queen with dreams of transcending her low-budget horror movie fame finds love with the female special effects artist working on her latest project.
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston. Griffin, June 1 ($16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-24449-9)
McQuiston follows her breakout Red, White, and Royal Blue with a Sapphic rom-com infused with magic. August has a crush on a woman she sees every day on the New York City subway—but what happens when she realizes that her fellow commuter is displaced from the 1970s?
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry. Berkley, May 11 ($16 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-9848-0675-8)
Best friends and travel buddies Poppy and Alex are polar opposites, but they don’t mind—until one of their annual summer vacations goes horribly wrong. Two years later, Poppy will do anything to save her relationship with the man she just might love.
The View Was Exhausting
Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta. Grand Central, July 6 ($27, ISBN 978-1-5387-3490-2)
Married duo Clements and Datta’s debut centers on the publicity relationship between an A-list actor of color and a white playboy—and the trip to the French Riviera that could change their relationship.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels
India Holton. Berkley, June 15 ($16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-20016-2)
Holton’s Victorian-era debut introduces a secret sorority of lady thieves, as one among their number finds love with a dashing assassin while she works to take down a dastardly pirate.
Romance & Erotica Listings
Avon
The Duke Goes Down by Sophie Jordan (July 27, $7.99 mass market, ISBN 978-0-06-303563-8) launches the Duke Hunt series with this Regency-set enemies-to-lovers romance between a duke’s son, born out of wedlock, and a
vicar’s daughter who’ve hated each other since childhood.
Scoundrel of My Heart by Lorraine Heath (Apr. 13, $7.99 mass market, ISBN 978-0-06-295196-0). Kicking off the Once upon a Dukedom series, Heath’s latest Regency sees a woman desperately trying to land a duke—but accidentally falling for a title-less scoundrel instead.
Wilde Child: Wildes of Lindow Castle by Eloisa James (Mar. 30, $7.99 mass market, ISBN 978-0-06-287807-6). A straitlaced viscount vows to protect an impulsive female actor from the dangers of the theater world in James’s sixth Wildes of Lindow Castle romance.
Ballantine
How to Save a Life by Eva Carter (May 18, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-15887-6).When med student Kerry Smith’s crush, Joel, goes into cardiac arrest, she and her best friend, Tim, must act fast—and the incident changes each of their lives and relationships for years to come.
Berkley
Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin (Apr. 13, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-33636-6). Rival halal restaurants, family secrets, and the budding romance between a podcaster and one of her listeners feature in Jalaluddin’s sophomore rom-com.
Murder at Sunrise Lake by Christine Feehan (July 6, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-33314-3). Bestseller Feehan delivers a standalone romantic suspense novel with paranormal elements set in the Sierra Nevadas.
Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick (May 25, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-09941-4). When New York City party planner Carter Ogden meets Prince Edgar of England at one of his events, it kicks off an unlikely romance. But can their relationship survive royal pressure and public scrutiny?
While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory (July 13, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-10085-1) turns the focus on Ben Stephens, who Guillory’s fans will recognize from The Wedding Date, for a standalone workplace romance.
BHC
Shh... It’s Our Secret by Lizzie Chantree (May 6, $25.95, ISBN 978-1-64397-201-5) delivers a contemporary romance about the timid proprietor of a small-town café bar whose well-kept secret could change the lives of her regulars.
Bold Strokes
Her Consigliere by Carsen Taite (June 15, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-63555-924-8). A lawyer indebted to a mafia family falls for the undercover FBI agent determined to bring down their empire in this lesbian romantic suspense novel.
Masquerade by Anne Shade (Feb. 9, $18.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-63555-831-9). In 1925, nightclub chorus girl Dinah helps Celine, a recent New Orleans transplant to Harlem, navigate a world of scandal, intrigue, and jazz.
Carina Adores
Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl by Hettie Bell (Mar. 30, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-335-68800-2). Poppy Adams turns to a knitting circle to support her through her unplanned pregnancy and falls in love with Rhiannon, the group’s leader, in this contemporary from Bell.
Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish (Feb. 23, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-335-92480-3) follows Better than People with another contemporary, this time between a lovable grouch and his new handyman.
Central Avenue
The Gentleman’s Daughter by Bianca M. Schwarz (July 6, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77168-240-4) follows The Innkeepers Daughter with another Victorian-era work of romantic suspense, this time between an agent of the crown and an aspiring artist.
City Owl
Pride and Paranormal by Adrienne Blake (June 1, $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-64898-067-1). The struggling Bennet family of witches meet affluent warlock Fitz Darcy in Blake’s supernatural reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Cleis
Club 42: A Choose-Your-Own Erotic Fantasy by Joanna Angel (Feb. 9, $18.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-62778-306-4). Readers assume the role of Naomi and explore the world of a New York City strip club in this choose-your-own-adventure–style work of erotica.
Dafina
The Marriage Pass by Briana Cole (Feb. 23, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4967-2955-2). Cole launches a new series with this story of a couple who open their marriage—and in so doing lock themselves into a cycle of complicated mind games.
Entangled Amara
Hitched to the Gunslinger by Michelle McLean (May 25, $7.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-64937-022-8) combines rom-com and cowboy romance trends into a comic western featuring a dashing but unreliable gunslinger. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
Fairlight
David and Ameena by Ami Rao (May 1, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-912054-27-5). A chance meeting on a New York City subway sparks a romance between an American-Jewish musician and a British-Pakistani artist.
Forever
Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron (Mar. 2, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5387-3498-8). To enter a couples cooking contest, Reena Manji recruits a fake fiancé: her gorgeous next-door neighbor and the same man her parents have been trying to set her up with. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon (July 13, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5387-1667-0) follows The Boyfriend Project with the story of a down-on-her-luck personal trainer who agrees to help a former football star get back in shape for the NFL. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez (Apr. 6, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5387-1566-6). Carefree Vanessa Price’s wanderlust is curtailed when her sister saddles her with taking care of her niece for the foreseeable future. Luckily, help arrives in the form of a handsome, detail-oriented neighbor. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Grand Central
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (June 8, $27, ISBN 978-1-5387-1910-7). In this second-chance romance set in the world of New York’s “Black literati,” an erotica author reconnects with the literary powerhouse she once loved after 20 years apart. 60,000-copy announced first printing.
Graydon House
Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley (May 25, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5258-0643-8). A romance author must face the man who broke her heart when they are both invited to the same wedding—and his renewed presence in her life may be just the inspiration she needs. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Griffin
Float Plan by Trish Doller (Mar. 2, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-76794-3). A grieving woman attempts to take the sea voyage she planned with her late fiancé by herself—but soon realizes she can’t go it alone and hires a professional sailor to help in YA author Doller’s adult debut.
Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon (Feb. 2, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-76199-6). Rival app developers go from enemies to lovers even as they compete for the same investment money in YA author Menon’s adult debut.
Harlequin Intrigue
Cold Case Reopened by Caridad Piñeiro (Feb. 23, $5.75 mass market, ISBN 978-1-335-40162-5). A woman investigating her twin sister’s disappearance falls for the police detective on the case in this second Unsolved Mystery romance.
Harlequin Presents
The Surprise Bollywood Baby by Tara Pammi (Feb. 23, $5.25 mass market, ISBN 978-1-335-40390-2) follows Claiming His Bollywood Cinderella with this story of the publicity relationship between Bollywood superstars—and what happens when a behind-the-scenes hookup leads to an all-too-real pregnancy that complicates their fake romance.
Hodder & Stoughton
Rescue Me by Sarra Manning (June 8, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-5293-3654-2). Strangers Margot and Will fall in love first with the same shelter dog and then with each other as they learn to be doggy co-parents. 25,000-copy announced first printing
Hqn
Follow Your Heart by Brenda Jackson (Apr. 27, $9.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-335-14797-4). Talk-show host Victoria Madaris allows her great-grandmother to set her up with potential suitors in an attempt to resist her feelings for U.S. senator Roman Malone in this small-town contemporary. 150,000-copy announced first printing.
Heartless by Gena Showalter (May 25, $9.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-335-91377-7). A pro gamer receives a heart transplant that grants her mystical powers and leads her to a magical world ruled by a dangerous man who has a history with her heart’s previous owner. 600,000-copy announced first printing.
The Road to Rose Bend by Naima Simone (Apr. 27, $9.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-335-50298-8) launches the Rose Bend series as a wayward daughter of the Massachusetts town returns, newly divorced and pregnant, and hits it off with the town’s grieving mayor. 150,000-copy announced first printing.
Interlude
Prize Money by Celeste Castro (May 11, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-951954-03-1). Toma, a female bullfighter, sweeps Eva, a barrel racer, off her feet in Castro’s rodeo-themed contemporary.
Kensington
Love at First by Kate Clayborn (Feb. 23, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4967-2519-6). Nora Clarke is determined to save her beloved apartment building from being sold by its new owner, Will Sterling, and is willing to sabotage the sale to do so—no matter how much chemistry she and Will share.
Summer in the City by Lori Wilde, Priscilla Oliveras, and Sarah Skilton (May 25, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4967-3267-5). The three connected rom-com novellas in this anthology take place during a New York City power outage as three friends find themselves in unexpected situations with the men of their dreams.
Lyrical
The Virgin Who Vindicated Lord Darlington by Anna Bradley (Feb. 2, $4.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5161-1038-4). Celia Gilchrist goes undercover as a governess to investigate the murder of a Marquess’s wife, but ends up falling for her lead suspect in Bradley’s second Swooning Virgins Society romance.
Mira
It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian (Feb. 23, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7783-3156-8) follows bisexual people-pleaser Noni Blake as, after a painful breakup, she revisits her past relationships on a whirlwind trip through Europe. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Untitled by Robyn Carr (July 20, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7783-3174-2). Carr returns to Half Moon Bay where a recent widow uncovers painful secrets about her husband’s past. 350,000-copy announced first printing.
Montlake
The Wedding Game by Meghan Quinn (Mar. 1, $12.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5420-2519-5) pairs a DIY expert with a cynical divorce lawyer on the set of a wedding-themed reality TV show.
Morrow
Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev (July 6, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-06-305180-5) continues the story of the Raje family with a third Desi-American Jane Austen retelling, this time transposing Sense and Sensibility to the world of California politics.
Putnam
The Layover by Lacie Waldon (June 15, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-32825-5). Waldon debuts with a romantic comedy concerning a flight attendant and her much-hated former pilot, who reconnect in midair and wind up stranded together in a tropical paradise.
The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent (May 25, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-32811-8). Eager to step away from her life, the heroine of Dent’s debut rom-com assumes her best friend’s identity and takes over her gig at a Scottish hotel, leading to lies, love, and mistaken identity.
Rosewind
Moments Like This (From Kona with Love) by Anna Gomez and Kristoffer Polaha (Feb. 2, $14.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64548-045-7). Heartbroken Andie Matthews moves to Hawaii, where she meets and starts a relationship with handsome Warren Yates—but Warren has a secret that threatens their romance.
Shadow Mountain
Isabelle and Alexander by Rebecca Anderson (May 4, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-62972-847-6). An arranged marriage evolves into a love match after a devastating accident forces the couple to grow closer in Anderson’s Victorian-era romance.
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Winner Takes All by Sandra Kitt (Apr. 6, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-7282-1488-7) launches the Millionaire’s Club series, about couples who come into unexpected windfalls, with this interracial romance between a lottery presenter and the latest mega winner.
A Wolf in Duke’s Clothing by Susanna Allen (Apr. 27, $8.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-7282-3036-8). The kick-off of the Shape-Shifters of the Beau Monde paranormal Regency series sees a wolf-shifter duke searching for a mate during the London season.
Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren (Mar. 2, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-7282-2961-4). An aspiring actor agrees to help a New Orleans media personality prepare for her onscreen debut and falls in love along the way in this standalone contemporary from Loren.
St. Martin’s
A Duke in Time by Janna MacGregor (June 29, $7.99 mass market, ISBN 978-1-250-76159-0) launches the Widows Rules series with a steamy romance set in Regency London.
The Little French Bridal Shop by Jennifer Dupee (Mar. 9, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-27152-5). When a heartbroken woman impulsively buys a wedding dress, it leads to a lie that spirals out of control until she’s planning a wedding without a groom.
Zebra
Duchess If You Dare by Anabelle Bryant (Mar. 30, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4201-5269-2). A secret sisterhood of female vigilantes plays Robin Hood in Regency England in this series launch, and one of their number must team up with a straitlaced duke to solve a mystery.
This article has been updated with new bibliographic information for some titles.
