Jones’s winning second Game, Set, and Match romance (after Clean Point) finds tennis pro Dylan Bailey ready to retire after a string of devastating losses. To dissuade her from this notion, her friend and fellow tennis player Oliver Anderson hops aboard her 12-hour flight to Australia, intent on convincing her to let him be her coach. She agrees and the pair set about training for the Australian Open. Living and working in close quarters comes with complications, especially when their mutual attraction becomes too much to ignore and they agree to spend one steamy night together. But will just one night be enough? There are emotional conflicts, too, as Oliver frets that Dylan might injure herself on the court and Dylan worries about what will happen to their relationship when the tournament is over. Jones crafts a stark portrait of the cutthroat professional tennis circuit, highlighting the mental focus required by the sport and the pressures of media scrutiny on professional athletes. Add in plenty of sexual tension, and this is sure to delight sports romance fans. Agent: Helen Edwards, Helen Edwards Rights Agency. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

Two writers vie to adapt a late author’s classic novel for a modern audience in this charming contemporary from Wayland (The Butterfly Effect, writing as Rachel Mans McKenny). Midwesterner Maureen “Mo” Denton came to New York to write but makes her money as a cater waiter; well-to-do Manhattanite Wesley “Wes” Spencer is a successful literary agent and the privileged son of wealthy parents. Both dream of winning the rights to E.J. Morgan’s feminist masterpiece, The Proud and the Lost. After reading their competing proposals, the late author’s elderly daughter invites both of them to her home in Greenwich, Conn., for a weekend to make their cases. As they compete, Mo and Wes find themselves fighting—and then giving into—a powerful attraction. But will their relationship survive when one of them wins and the other loses? Wayland skillfully executes the eponymous trope with plenty of tension between her sparring leads. Readers will have no trouble rooting for these two. Agent: Michelle Richter, Fuse Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

O’Malley (Wild Scottish Gold) launches a new series with this cute and cozy paranormal romance. The deeply magical Scottish town of Briarhaven is about to welcome home four people it had hoped not to see again: the MacGregor sisters—Lyra, Nova, and Sloane—and their grandmother Broca. In 1713, young witch Bonelle MacGregor was cursed by a romantic rival that any place her clan lived would be plagued with misfortunes. In the present day, Sloane is about to turn 25 and come into her own magic powers, and Broca insists Briarhaven is the place to be when it happens. During the eight years the family has been away, the town has reinvented itself as a witchy tourist destination, carefully hiding how much of the magic is real—so the enormous snowstorm that blows into town with the MacGregors, putting a damper on sightseeing, isn’t any more welcome than they are. The town’s handsome young provost, Knox Douglas, wants the women gone. What might buy them a little time? Knox has been crushing on Sloane since they were teenagers, and his duty to his town aside, when she returns his interest, he quickly realizes he’d like her to stay. To make a relationship work, they’ll have to find a way to break the MacGregor curse. O’Malley inflects familiar tropes with humor, heart, heat, and heaps of Highland charm. The result should please new readers and loyal fans alike. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

In Peterson’s red hot second Lucky River Ranch cowboy romance (after Cash), longtime best friends give in to their long-repressed desires. Growing up together in tiny Hartsville, Tex., Sally Powell and Wyatt Rivers were inseparable. Then Sally went off to college and Wyatt stayed behind. Shortly thereafter, Wyatt’s parents died and when Sally showed up for the funeral, he realized for the first time that he loved her. Not wanting to hold her back, he kept his feelings to himself, content to watch from a proud distance as she achieved her dream of becoming a veterinary surgeon. Now Sally, who is secretly just as hung up on Wyatt, is home for the holidays before starting a prestigious job in New York. She doesn’t think Wyatt will ever love her back and she’s determined to have a hot hookup with a cowboy before she heads east, so she turns to him for lessons in seduction. Peterson skillfully ratchets up the sexual tension page by page, culminating in some very steamy love scenes. Sally’s struggle to choose between her home and her ambitions feels authentic and Wyatt’s deep love for her rings true. Series fans will be especially pleased to check in on Wyatt’s irrepressible brothers and a tantalizing cliff-hanger will leave them clamoring for more. This keeps the series going strong. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

Golden (A Reign of Rose) pairs a sensitive Irish superstar with his new backup singer in this irresistible celebrity romance. Waitress Clementine Clark works long shifts at the Happy Tortilla in her tiny hometown of Cherry Grove, Tex., to support herself and her chronically ill mother—but she secretly dreams of being a musician. So she’s thrilled when her best friend, Everly, who works as a backup vocalist, gets Clementine a spot on pop star Thomas Patrick Halloran’s U.S. tour. Clementine drops everything to seize her chance—never expecting to fall in love with her new boss. Golden makes Halloran drop-dead dreamy (“He looks like a handsome, mournful druid. His eyes are endless”) and adds juicy conflict to his budding relationship with Clementine via the machinations of his tour manager, who is determined to sabotage their happiness. A stellar supporting cast—especially Clementine’s new coworkers Molly and Indy—adds to the fun and Golden skillfully captures the whirlwind of the eight-week tour. The result is a smart, sexy rock ’n’ roll tale that delivers both heat and heart. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

Love grows in the vegetable patch in Popp’s delightful debut. Prickly textile artist Sadie Fox is single and struggling in Los Angeles when her father implores her to return to small-town Pea Blossom, Ind. He needs Sadie’s help to preserve his reputation as the area’s premier pumpkin grower at the upcoming Seasonal Produce of Indiana Celebration and Exposition, or SPICE, while he heads to Florida to care for his injured brother. But he fails to warn her about his new neighbor: the entirely too friendly Josh Thatcher, a burned-out tech bro attempting to reinvent himself as a gentleman farmer. With a proprietary new breed of squash, Josh presents fierce competition for the SPICE Pumpkin Weigh-off. Worse, Sadie discovers her father’s prized pumpkins trampled by hogs. She’s incensed—but when Josh steps in to help her resolve the issue (incidentally caused by Sadie’s high school boyfriend and his burgeoning hog business), opposites attract, sparking a spicy physical relationship. As their connection deepens, both toy with the idea of a full-fledged relationship—until a tornado blows everything off course. The small-town setting charms and lovers of the grumpy/sunshine trope will easily fall in love with Sadie and Josh. Popp should win plenty of fans with this. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

A haunted house designer meets a man who has been plagued by ghosts since childhood in this endearingly wholesome queer contemporary from Parrish (The Holiday Trap). New Orleans local Edgar Lovejoy, a perpetually anxious and undeniably adorable part-time delivery person and cat café worker, wishes to lead a peaceful life free from frightening phantoms. Unfortunately, due to his second sight, the best way to avoid interacting with unwanted spirits is to leave his house as little as possible. When the confident Jaime Wendon-Dale, a transmasculine burlesque performer whose day job involves designing highly detailed scare mazes, flirts with Edgar on a rare night out, he is instantly captivated and risks leaving his self-imposed isolation to get to know them. But when their first date is interrupted by a ghost, Edgar wonders if he will ever feel comfortable enough to explain why he appears constantly preoccupied and distraught. Through alternating chapters from Edgar and Jaime, Parrish develops a satisfying slow-burn romance and skillfully balances humor with poignant moments and thoughtful discussions of mental health struggles. The result is a delightful romance celebrating the courage required to fully embrace one’s true self. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/13/2025 | Details & Permalink

Fairbanks (Morbidly Yours) impresses with this emotional second chance romance. American Cielo “Lo” Valdez beat leukemia and is heading toward a bright future as a doctor, even as her overprotective mother worries over her every cold. She has no time for boys who break her heart, not even dashing Irish musician Aidan O’Toole, who chose his career over their relationship two years before the start of the book and is now a global superstar. Unfortunately, as Lo finishes med school in County Galway, Ireland, memories of Aidan lurk around every corner. When they’re thrown back together at the wedding of mutual friends, Lo’s resolve crumbles in the face of Aidan’s charm and contrition, and they quickly fall back into old habits. (“Kissing her again after two years apart feels more vivid than I remembered, like a digital remaster of an old demo,” Aidan thinks.) But when Lo is faced with the possible return of her cancer and Aidan’s demanding label pushes for a fictional romance between him and an English actress, their rekindled relationship is subject to a high-pressure reckoning. Readers will easily root for brave Lo and devoted Aidan and cheer when they show up for each other. The Irish backdrop is lovely, and Lo and Aidan’s quirky friend group is charming enough to support future books. Contemporary romance readers won’t want to miss this. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/13/2025 | Details & Permalink

Eddings (Late Bloomer) takes clear inspiration from Chicken Shop Date in this witty contemporary. Sharp-tongued Eva Kitt, 27, aspires to be a serious journalist. For now, however, she’s the host of Sausage Talk, a social media video series in which she interviews lesser-known celebrities while eating and opining about hot dog preferences. Meanwhile, her college ex Rylie Cooper, a frat bro who ghosted her, has made a name for himself as a well-respected podcaster focused on unlearning toxic masculinity. When Eva makes a drunken post detailing their history and calling out his hypocrisy, her rant goes viral and her boss forces her to bring Rylie onto the show. During the interview, ever-charming Rylie gets Eva to agree to go on six dates with him so he can prove he has changed. This project gets off to a bumpy start, but even as awkward and tense moments abound, Eva can’t shake her attraction to Rylie—especially when he opens up to her about the traumatic reason why he stopped answering her calls. Eddings’s unflinching depiction of toxic social media comments adds authenticity and depth to the proceedings. The setup is clever and the eventual love scenes are sensuous. The author’s fans will not be disappointed. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/13/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this adorable romp from Hayward (The Memory Book, written as Rowan Coleman), a woman learns valuable life lessons from man’s best friend. For Genie’s 30th birthday, her fortune-telling grandmother offers to grant a single wish. Nonbeliever Genie doesn’t take this present seriously. Instead, she tipsily wishes that her golden retriever, Rory, were human so their chats and cuddles would be less one-sided and her family would stop worrying about her being lonely. The next morning, a shaggy-haired blond guy is asleep in the dog bed and Genie knows instantly that she’s made a big mistake, especially given how unhappy Rory is to be a human. Genie seeks help turning Rory back from her best friend and next-door neighbor, Miles, despite Rory’s fear of Miles’s “murder cat.” Rory knows right away that Miles’s and Genie’s scents go well together, but Hayward still manages to draw out the will-they-won’t-they between these clueless humans. In the meantime, there’s fun to be had watching exuberant Rory help Genie rediscover her carefree side and sense of play. Dog lovers will be especially charmed. (July)

Reviewed on 06/13/2025 | Details & Permalink