Thomas’s touching first Someday Valley romance, a spin-off of her Honey Creek series, highlights the endearing residents of a close-knit Texas community. When loner Rusty O’Sullivan crashes his car in Someday Valley, he’s saved from the wreckage by Starri Knight and her aunt, Ona-May. Though he has a long rehab ahead of him, he’s drawn in by alluring Dr. Amber Adams and finds a friend in Starri and a home in Sudden Valley. Then lawyer Jackson Landry, who was hired by wealthy Jamie Ray Morell to track down his long-lost children, identifies Rusty as one of the heirs. Rusty isn’t interested in the inheritance, but he does decide to look for his half siblings, the youngest of whom, teen Zach Holmes, turns up in a local jail after allegedly stealing food. Rusty agrees to take Zach in even as he hopes for a relationship with Amber, whom he believes is way out of his league. Meanwhile, Starri grows closer to Jackson and, in the bustling hospital, nurse Emma Sumers dotes on a coma patient. By interweaving multiple romantic story lines, Thomas easily draws readers into the cozy world she’s created, while rich emotions and authentic characters keep the pages flying. This is small town romance done right. Agent: Gail Fortune, Talbot Fortune Agency. (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

In this adorable contemporary romance, bestseller Foster returns to Cemetery, Ind., (first visited in The Honeymoon Cottage) to pair up two more town residents. At 41, long-divorced Emily Lucretia, owner of the town’s flower shop, believes love has passed her by—though she regularly aims admiring looks at the town’s most eligible bachelor, Saul Culver. Saul owns the local barbecue joint and has long been interested in Emily and eager to connect, but she’s oblivious to her own appeal. After her uncle Sullivan is hospitalized, Emily focuses all of her attention on him and Saul provides support. Meanwhile, the town’s well-meaning residents a start a hashtag, #theflowerlady, intended to move Emily from the background to the foreground. As Emily slowly acclimates to being in the spotlight, she and Saul begin to get serious—until an unexpected arrival adds uncertainty. The author masterfully blends heat and sweet in a fast-paced plot helmed by a charming hero and heroine. The result is exactly the heartwarming happily ever after that Foster’s fans expect. Agent: Maureen Walters, Curtis Brown. (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

The Garden of Hedon, Regency London’s most notorious pleasure palace, blooms a new forbidden fruit in Frampton’s saucy second School for Scoundrels romance (after Her Lessons in Persuasion). Alexandra, the widowed Duchess of Chelmsworth, celebrates the end of her mourning period with an unforgettable night with a stranger at the Garden. Then she meets the man her stepdaughter Harriet is expected to marry and is shocked to learn he’s her own mystery lover. Theo Osborne, 12 years Alexandra’s junior, is part owner of the Garden of Hedon and has enjoyed the company of many women, but none has intrigued him as much as Alexandra. He reneges on plans to marry Harriet, resulting in her brother, who inherited the indebted dukedom, threatening to disown both women. To buy them all time to come up with a plan, Harriet absconds to Paris with Theo’s surrogate brother, Fenton, and on the trip to retrieve them, Alexandra and Theo fall deeply in love. But while Theo wants to marry, Alexandra has vowed never to relinquish her newfound freedom. Frampton serves up both spicy sex scenes and hefty emotions that will leave readers wanting more. This passionate love story keeps the series going strong. Agent: Louise Fury, Bent Agency. (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

Burns’s tender seventh Rescue Me romance (after To Be Loved by You) stars former high school sweethearts Riley Leighton and Levi Duncan alongside a diverting cast of four-legged creatures. Both Riley and Levi have been running from their feelings since their disastrous prom night breakup 12 years prior, Riley moving from “job to job, city to city, guy to guy,” and Levi living out of hotel rooms while working as a commercial diver. When Riley’s mom is diagnosed with cancer, however, Riley returns to her hometown of Webster, Mo., and lands a short-term job at the High Grove Animal Shelter. Meanwhile, Levi suffers a career-ending injury, learns from his best friend that Riley’s in town, and drives back to St. Louis to see her. The lovers reconnect and their chemistry rekindles while their friends urge them to listen to their hearts. Burns avoids overburdening her lovers with angst; instead, older and wiser, they take their time getting to know each other again, recognizing that life has given them a second chance neither wants to miss. Against this quiet backdrop, Arlo, a Great Dane left at the shelter, steals the show. Burns’s fans will enjoy revisiting Webster, and new readers looking for a simple, kindhearted romance will be just as pleased. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

A bet thrusts a lonely spinster into society in this enchanting Victorian London–set mash-up of Pygmalion and “Cinderella” from bestseller Guhrke (the Guilty series). Max Shaw, Duke of Westbourne, drunkenly bets his friends that he can transform “plain, unremarkable” bookstore owner Evie Harlow into a much sought-after beauty. When Evie learns of this wager she is of course appalled—but then a burst boiler displaces her from her home. Not wanting to stay with her condescending cousin, Evie agrees to let Max make her over, a deal that comes with a room at the Savoy hotel, a new wardrobe, and an introduction into society. As Evie worries she’ll embarrass them both, Max grows increasingly intrigued. He likes Evie’s straightforwardness and sees the beauty beneath her matronly hairstyles and adorable overbite. Evie, meanwhile, is taken by Max’s thoughtfulness and flustered by his interest. Evie is opposed to marrying a peer and Max has been burned by a failed marriage, so he plans a slow courtship. When scandal breaks, however, their fragile budding relationship may be doomed. Guhrke makes the pair’s romance utterly believable and easy to root for. Packed with chemistry and fun, this is a fairy tale treat. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marshal Lyon Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

Dailey’s emotionally rich seventh New Americana romance (after Hope Creek) sees Kelly Jenkins, 34, arriving in small town Blue Moon Haven, Ala., to assume managership of the local drive-in movie theater with two small children in tow. Kelly’s been looking after Todd, 10, and Daisy, 6, since their mother, Kelly’s best friend, died from breast cancer, and hopes a fresh start will do them all some good. Unfortunately, she finds the drive-in in disrepair and discovers that the promised “homey living quarters” attached to the job are really an old mobile home. Worse, while chopping down tree limbs blocking the projection screen, Kelly is confronted by an angry neighbor, Seth Morgan, who claims that the tree is part of his orchard. Despite this rough beginning, Kelly and Seth, who is grieving the death of his own daughter years before, become friends after he agrees to let her use his VCR so she can learn more about cinema history. As Kelly, Seth, Todd, and Daisy work together to restore the drive-in, Kelly becomes part of the welcoming community of Blue Haven while helping Seth heal from his sorrow. Their slow-building and strictly PG-13 romance proves heartwarming, and the cute kids only enhance proceedings. This is one to savor. (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

Tyler packs both action and gentle heat into her 14th Special Wolf Alpha Team romantic thriller (after The Wolf Is Mine). At 13, Jenna Malone witnessed her sister Hannah’s kidnaping at the hands of a monster—but no one believed her. Ten years later, Jenna, now a special effects makeup artist, continues hunting for Hannah, even when that search takes her into some of the seedier parts of Los Angeles. After a brief sighting of Hannah in a skid row homeless encampment, Jenna begs her brother Connor, a Dallas SWAT member and (unbeknownst to Jenna) a werewolf, for help—and is turned down. But Connor’s packmate Trevor McCall is willing to step up. Despite Connor’s insistence that Trevor stay away from his baby sister, Trevor’s convinced that Jenna is his fated mate. As he and Jenna investigate, they discover that something supernatural is targeting the unhoused and the danger ramps up. Familiar faces from previous installments add charm while heart-pounding action keeps the pages turning. Tyler’s fans will be easily drawn back into the world of alpha officers and those who love them. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

Oceans 8 meets The Wedding Planner in this dazzling rom-com caper from Desai (The Singles Table). Simi Chopra spends her life rushing from a series of “soul-sucking, mind-numbing entry-level office jobs” to retail side gigs because she has “too much debt to pursue anything interesting, much less find [her] passion.” When her ride-or-die bestie, Chloe, a freelance white hat hacker, gets set up to take the fall for the theft of a $25 million diamond necklace, Simi mounts a rescue that proves both hilarious and thoroughly ineffective, stymied by the presence of another criminal, Jack. Jack, a thief, doesn’t have a last name he’s willing to share with Simi, but he does have a plan. If Simi and her gig worker friends (each of whom has a relevant talent) can get him into the house of Chicago’s best fence, Joseph Angelini, Jack will steal the necklace, clear Chloe’s name, and give each member of the crew enough reward money that they’ll be able to finally focus on their passions. As the danger increases, so does the sizzling attraction between Simi and Jack—but Simi can’t tell if she can trust Jack’s motives in the caper, let alone with her heart. Desai perfectly balances the lighthearted romance with a fun and twisty heist plot enacted by a kooky cast of indebted millennials. Romance lovers will devour this un-put-downable treat, and even readers generally wary of the genre will be swept away. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary (July)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

Alexander’s swoony sequel to Chef’s Kiss follows Luna O’Shea, a trans woman who finds herself suddenly jobless and scrambling to pay rent in New York City. To make ends meet, she accepts a precarious position fake-dating laconic trans man Jean-Pierre Dominique Gabriel Aubert-Treffle, reluctant heir to his grandfather’s culinary fortune. To claim his birthright as a male heir, per his transphobic grandfather’s outrageous list of demands, Jean-Pierre must successfully prepare “The Menu” (the Aubert-Treffle family’s signature dishes) on camera for an audience of millions with a girlfriend at his side. To fill this role, Luna must figure out fast both how to cook and how to feel about the blunt and stubborn but also charming Jean-Pierre. The banter between leads is addictive with Alexander balancing fish-out-of-water linguistic comedy with achingly sincere emotional beats to excellent effect. The plot itself occasionally needs nudging along, but the exploration of the characters’ gender identities makes many well-trod romance beats feel fresh. As long as Jean-Pierre and Luna are on the page together, readers will be delighted by their odd couple dynamic. Agent: Larissa Melo Pienkowski, Jill Grinberg Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 03/24/2023 | Details & Permalink

Sereno revisits the small college town she introduced in Blame It on the Brontës for a witty riff on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Sereno’s take on the classic keeps the spotlight on Amy, chair of the English department at Southern Illinois College, rather than her sister Jo, a Seattle high school teacher, or Meg, who, in this telling, is their mother. (There’s no Beth in sight.) Amy and med school dropout Theo Sinclair, her childhood friend and first crush, had a major falling-out years before the start of the book, but when Amy’s deadbeat boyfriend kicks her out, Amy has nowhere else to turn and she and Theo wind up as roommates. The pair reconcile—and even flirt—but Amy’s convinced that Theo is hung up on Jo and will never think of her the same way. Sereno handles her characters’ transition from friends to lovers with grace and includes just enough echoes of Alcott’s original to enchant Little Women aficionados while keeping them guessing. Cameos from the previous books’ leads are an extra treat for returning readers. Sereno’s fans will be pleased. Agent: Erin Niumata and Rachel Ekstrom, Folio Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink