I am a huge romance and rom-com fan, and it seems like I add a new book to my TBR every single week (day?). Here are some romances and rom-coms that I’m looking forward to checking out. Note that the descriptions are from Amazon.
Ruling the Princess by Christi Barth
Available now
I’m thrilled that my first trip back to my homeland, after years in exile, is for an assignment from the prime minister. Even better, the job’s to put Princess Genevieve in her place…by cutting off her cash flow. Spoiled royals—even drop-dead gorgeous ones—don’t do anything to deserve their wealth and status. Hell, they don’t do anything. She’s fighting me tooth and nail, of course. The only way to stop her arguing is, well, to kiss her.
And I can’t seem to stay away from her. Now, I see a whole different side to the princess—and not just because I’ve gotten her clothes off. But I was put on this assignment for a reason… There are those outside the castle who want to see the princess discredited and push their own agenda, and I may have just given them all the ammunition they need.
Each book in the Sexy Misadventures of Royals series is STANDALONE:
* The Princess Problem
* Ruling the Princess
My thoughts: I love royal-themed romances, and this one sounds really fun.
Beach Read
by Emily Henry
Available now
“Original, sparkling bright, and layered with feeling…” -Sally Thorne, author of The Hating Game
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
My thoughts: A rom-com about writers falling in love? Yes, please!
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
Available now
When their foster-turned-adoptive mother suddenly dies, four brothers struggle to keep open the doors of her beloved Harlem knitting shop.
Jesse Strong is known for two things: his devotion to his adoptive mom, Mama Joy, and his reputation for breaking hearts. When Mama Joy unexpectedly passes away, he and his brothers have different plans for what to do with Strong Knits, their neighborhood knitting store. Jesse wants to keep the store open. His brothers want to tie off loose ends and close shop….
Part-time shop employee Kerry Fuller has kept her crush on Jesse a secret. When she overhears his impassioned plea to his brothers to keep the knitting shop open, she volunteers to help. Unlike Jesse, Kerry knows the “knitty-gritty” of the business, and together they make plans to reinvent Strong Knits for a new generation.
But the more time they spend together, the stronger the chemistry builds between them. Kerry, knowing Jesse’s history, doesn’t believe their relationship can last longer than she can knit one, purl two. But Jesse is determined to prove to her that he can be the man for her forever and always. After all, real men knit.
My thoughts: I love the role-reversal of the guys owning the knitting shop. This book sounds really fun.
Royal Bastard by Avery Flynn
June 8
Brooke Chapman-Powell takes her position as the Earl of Englefield’s personal secretary very seriously. This job is what keeps her sister in her university for the deaf and the town from completely shutting down. But the earl’s dying, and they have only one hope. An American. From some place called Salvation, Virginia.
Now she’ll have to teach the in-all-likelihood-uncouth-and-lazy half American how to be a proper earl if they hope to save the village. God help them all.
Nick Vane has about two gazillion things that land higher on his to-do list than becoming an English earl. Things like naps. Hosting poker nights. Oh, and raking in the profits from his latest invention. Accepting the title his grandfather has denied him since birth? Doesn’t. Even. Register. But Miss Prim and Proper won’t give up, and before he knows what’s what, he’s on a plane to London.
He’s got too much pride to go down easily, and she’s got too much propriety to ever break the rules. They are as different as a cocktail fork and a bread knife…and the clash between them lands these two in the most unexpected positions.
My thoughts: Have I mentioned how much I love royal-themed romances? LOL.
The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon
June 9
In this witty rom-com celebrating the “unique joys of strong female friendships,” three young women bond when the live Tweeting of a disastrous date leads them to discover they’ve all been duped by the same man. (Jasmine Guillory, author of The Wedding Date)
Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men and no dating.
For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?
*O, The Oprah Magazine: Most Anticipated Romances of 2020
*Bookpage: Most Anticipated Romance of 2020
*SheReads: Most Anticipated Reads of Summer 2020
My thoughts: The friendship between the female characters sounds great.
June 23
One of Oprah Magazine’s 21 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020
USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral…
Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.
When big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and former rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Suddenly, half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?
Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf is secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his… um, thighs.
The easy lay Dani dreamed of is now more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?
“Talia Hibbert is a rockstar! Her writing is smart, funny, and sexy…” – Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Little Bridge Island and Princess Diaries series
My thoughts: I love books that feature fake dating/relationships.
Sept. 22
Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.
Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it’s been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she’ll even find The One.
When Stacey imagined “The One,” it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she’s not sure what to make of it.
Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey’s shock, it isn’t Dex—she’s been falling in love with a man she barely knows.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed
Well Met, the first book in this series. Plus, the renaissance faire setting is a lot of fun.
What about you all? What romance books are you looking forward to reading?
The Beauty of Being a Beast short story — October 2020
