Summer may be over, but the best romance books of September 2024 are still bringing the heat! This month starts bringing in more fall and winter reads. Try a cozy paranormal from Carly Bloom, or get in the super-early holiday spirit with Ally Carter, Falon Ballard, Jenny Bayliss, and more. Plus, we’ve got books featuring home renos, nostalgic TV, impoverished dukes, and more. Here’s what we think are the best romance books of September 2024!
No One Does It Like You by Katie Shepard
Release date: Sept. 3
Read it if: You watch home-reno shows for the personal drama as much as the actual remodels. A divorced couple reconnects to fix up a family inn, with a chance to fix what went wrong in their relationship, too.
Publisher’s synopsis: When’s the best time to tell your ex that you want them back?
Probably not in the middle of a Category 3 hurricane. But when Broadway actor Tom Wilczewski is about to dive into the floodwaters to rescue his co-lead, he calls the ex-wife he hasn’t seen in ten years to swear he still loves her and ask for a chance to make things right.
Two months later, Rose Kelly is tired of seeing pictures of her ex-husband Tom rescuing Hollywood darling Boyd Kellagher. Not that she’s jealous. Of course not. She’s far too busy taking care of her elderly aunt and worrying about the storm damage to the family B&B on Martha’s Vineyard to miss the love of her life. But after belatedly hearing Tom’s voicemail, Rosie asks him to follow through on his promises for once by helping her fix the inn. Thinking this is the perfect way to win her back, Tom agrees.
When they get there, things are…less than ideal. Rosie expected the inn to be in better shape. She expected it to have more beds. And she expected more help from her actual family—not from Tom and the rest of his Broadway cast. But Rosie begins to wonder if maybe the life she expected isn’t the one she really wants. If she and Tom can repair the inn together, can they possibly repair the damage to the relationship they both thought was long gone?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb
Release date: Sept. 3
Read it if: You secretly wished you could live in the world of your favorite ’90s TV shows. A recently-divorced woman gets sucked into an old teen soap, alongside her new roommate.
Publisher’s synopsis: Newly divorced on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Brynn is sick of heartbreak. She thought she had found her happy ending, but now she’s living with a roommate, Josh, to afford her mortgage, and she’s trying to adjust to her new single life. At least she’s got Carson’s Cove to binge, her beloved 2000s teenage soap. The show ended unexpectantly on a cliffhanger after five seasons, and the two main characters, Sloan and Spencer, never got to declare their love for each other. The show is still perfect in Brynn’s eyes; despite all the drama that goes down, things always have a way of working out in Carson’s Cove . . . unlike her own life.
So when a birthday cake surprisingly shows up on her and Josh’s doorstep, Brynn makes a wish for the one thing she’s always wanted (but has failed to achieve herself): a happily-ever-after.
The next morning, she doesn’t wake up in her apartment. She’s in Carson’s Cove . . . and Josh is there too. Everyone seems to know them, except they’re not Brynn and Josh; they’re Sloan, the sweetheart of Carson’s Cove, and Fletch, the town’s bad boy. And to get home, they have to make Brynn’s wish come true by ensuring Sloan and Spencer, the hometown heartthrob, end up together at last. But as they spend more time together, Brynn and Josh realize that Carson’s Cove might not be as perfect as seen on television . . . especially when they start developing feelings for each other in a plot twist no one has expected. Will they stick to the script, or will real love change the story forever?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Hot Hex Boyfriend by Carly Bloom
Release date: Sept. 3
Read it if: You love the cozy-witch vibes of Charmed, Practical Magic, and Halloweentown. A woman accidentally reignites her family’s magical powers, while the hot guy next door tries to help.
Publisher’s synopsis: As a child, Delia Merriweather believed with all her heart that she was a witch. Because all Merriweather women were witches. There was just one problem: they had no magic. As an adult, Delia no longer believes magic even exists. However, when she accidentally breaks a hex and restores her family’s powers, she’s forced to accept a new reality: she is a witch. And maybe that’s why the crushingly handsome guy next door has been looking at her like he’s expecting her to fly off on a broomstick, cackling into the night.
Just when Max thinks he’s done keeping an eye on the bumbling Merriweather women, now he must help his neighbors learn to control their magic before they out witches everywhere. But Delia can’t decide if Max is helping or hexing, and Max can’t tell whether his growing feelings for Delia are real, or if he’s come under the spell of the most powerful—and clueless—witch he’s ever known. And the last thing Max needs is to fall for the one witch who could rule the entire witching world by controlling the hearts of men.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos
Release date: Sept. 3
Read it if: You wish Romeo & Juliet had a HEA and really good food. An aspiring young pastry chef tries to help her family’s bakery stay afloat amidst Instagram-famous competition.
Publisher’s synopsis: Ana Maria Ybarra dreams of becoming a world-famous pastry chef, but dreams have a cost. Her family can barely keep the family business running, let alone pay for culinary school. Ana Maria helps out at the family bakery, Café Y Mas, whenever she can, but they are struggling while the rival Cuban bakery across the street, Morales Bakery, is doing better than ever with their Instagram famous desserts. Ana Maria’s only hope is winning a recipe competition, which has a grand prize big enough to pay for culinary school. But then the ultimate distraction shows up in her small town: Miguel, a boy she spent one magical day with six months ago, and who she never thought she’d see again. Ana Maria thinks maybe fate has brought them together again for a reason– until she learns the horrible truth that Miguel is a Morales.
A Ybarra cannot be associated with a Morales-let alone fall for one. But when Miguel offers to help Ana Maria with the competition, she is so desperate to win she can’t turn him down. All she needs to do is keep Miguel at arm’s length and keep their deal a secret from their families. After all, teaming up with Miguel is just business, nothing more…right?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Sunshine and Spice by Aurora Palit
Release date: Sept. 10
Read it if: You love a good fake-dating scenario and meddling families. An unlikely duo agrees to feign a relationship in exchange for business-building lessons in cultural traditions.
Publisher’s synopsis: Naomi Kelly will do anything to make her new brand consulting business a success. When she lands a career saving contract to rebrand the Mukherjee family’s failing local bazaar, she knows there can be no mistakes. But as the “oops” baby of a free-spirited Bengali mother, Naomi’s lack of connection to her roots represents everything Gia Mukherjee disdains.
Enter, Dev Mukherjee.
Dev knows everything his mother wants…including her wish for him to get married, like, yesterday. When Gia hires a matchmaker (without, you know, asking him), Dev vows to do whatever it takes to avoid ending up in a cold, loveless marriage. When a potential match assumes Naomi is his girlfriend, the solution to both their problems becomes clear: Naomi will pretend to date Dev in order to sabotage his mother’s matchmaking efforts in exchange for lessons in Bengali culture. Flawless plan, right?
But as Naomi and Dev bond over awful dancing at Garba, couples cooking classes, and tackling the rebrand as a team, they start to realize while their relationship may be fake, their feelings for each other are starting to become very real. As the line between reality and rumor blurs, Naomi and Dev must confront what it means to fit the mold, and decide how much they’re willing to risk for love.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Royals Upstairs by Karina Halle
Release date: Sept. 10
Read it if: You like royal-adjacent romance without royalty being the main characters. A bodyguard struggles with his new assignment, especially when the royal nanny turns out to be his ex.
Publisher’s synopsis: James Hunter has made a tactical error. His new role as protection officer to Prince Magnus of Norway was supposed to be an exciting change. Instead he’s marooned on a royal estate in the middle of nowhere charged with chasing after demon children and dodging the machinations of meddling staff. And the crowning jewel in this little drama—the children’s nanny is none other than Laila Bruset. The woman whose heart he broke. The woman who still holds his.
When Laila took the job as a nanny for the Norwegian royal children in order to be closer to her ailing grandmother in Oslo, the last thing she expected was to have her life turned upside down—again. But as much as James gets on her nerves, he’s also getting under her skin, and the tension between them sizzles just as devastatingly as before.
As undeniable sparks turn James and Laila’s battle royal into a more serious game of hearts, nanny and bodyguard will have to decide just how much they’re willing to risk for a second chance at love.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Karaoke Queen by Dominic Lim
Release date: Sept. 17
Read it if: You want a joyous second-chance romance with a glittery drag queen twist. A legal assistant leverages his Internet-famous drag queen persona to try to help his ex save his karaoke bar.
Publisher’s synopsis: For Rex Araneta, his college sweetheart Aaron Berry was always the one who got away. So when he finds out that Aaron is now living in the same town and needs help saving his karaoke bar, it’s Rex to the rescue. Or more like Regina Moon Dee, Rex’s internet-famous drag queen alter ego. Even if no one can know the identity of the man behind the makeup.
As Regina’s popularity grows, Rex’s ruse becomes more difficult to keep under wraps. It even becomes a family affair with his mom and sister helping to keep his secret. It’s dawning on Rex that he’s hidden this side of himself away for far too long . . . and perhaps his real shot at love is to reveal his true self. And be loved for all that he is.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean by Ann Rose
Release date: Sept. 17
Read it if: You’ve daydreamed about how your life might have gone differently or the “ones that got away.” On her wedding day, an artist revisits memories of past loves as she decides her future.
Publisher’s synopsis: Amanda Dean would say she’s an okay artist and a loyal friend, but what she’s best at is falling in love. A self-proclaimed bi disaster who has had her heart broken more times than she cares to count, Amanda can’t help opening herself up. As she gets ready on the day she’s waited a lifetime for, memories of her past loves run through her mind, with one glaring red sign blinking above them—is this “the one”?
Will it be:
the fit water polo player,
the fashionista,
the dependable hedge fund manager,
or the one where the timing was never quite right.
Now, on the day of her wedding—a day where everything already seems to be going wrong—Mandy must decide if she’s willing to risk it all one last time or if she’ll escape while her whole heart is still intact.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: You love Hallmark-Christmas-movie vibes but with more steam. A widowed musician and a screenwriter try to help each other through creative block.
Publisher’s synopsis: Part-time adult film actress/one-time adult film director/makeup artist Sunny Palmer has accidentally sold her very first screenplay to the Hope Channel. That was six months ago. Fast forward to a looming deadline, an uninspired Sunny has returned to the source of her inspiration in Christmas Notch, Vermont, to immerse herself in the local Christmas miracle on which her fever dream of a movie pitch was based.
Isaac Kelly, former boy band heartthrob and the saddest boy in the music biz, is the latest owner of the town’s historic mansion. After his years of heartbreak following his young wife’s death, Isaac’s record label is done waiting for new music. What better place to attempt his first holiday album than a snow-covered mansion where he can become a hermit in peace?
But after their best friends’ wedding leads to them waking up together in a freezing motel room with questionable wiring and a broken shower, Isaac takes a chance and asks Sunny to stay with him at his home. Surely the place is big enough that he’ll hardly see her or her unhinged cat. But when the two discover they’re both creatively blocked, they make a handshake deal. Isaac will help Sunny hunt down the truth behind the local lore, and Sunny will find Isaac a new muse.
And with these two opposites under one roof, there’s no way this jingle bell mingle could go off script…right?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Worst Duke in London by Amalie Howard
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: You’re yearning for a Regency-era 10 Things I Hate About You. A cash-strapped duke agrees to court a spinster, but fake feelings soon become real.
Publisher’s synopsis: Lady Evangeline Raine prefers animals to people and has no interest in marriage–much to the dismay of her flirty younger sister, Viola. Because their father has one rule: Viola may be courted, only if Effie has a suitor as well.
Saddled with debt, Gage Croft, Duke of Vale, is determined to rebuild his estates. When the owner of his vowels offers him a fortune to charm the impervious Lady Evangeline for the season so Lady Viola can be courted, the game is on, even if it means pretending to seduce an unconventional wallflower.
But Gage gets much more than he bargains for in an adversary who wants to make her own scandalous arrangement. Effie will go to London for the season, but only if Gage agrees to be her lover. Yet when their fake courtship leads to passionate feelings, will their indecent proposal end with the season or be the start of something real?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: You like your holiday romances with a mystery twist. Rival authors are invited to a holiday party, where a famed writer vanishes and leaves them to solve the crime.
Publisher’s synopsis: Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery. He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.
She hates his guts. He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)
But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.
That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.
She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?
As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.
Assuming they don’t kill each other first.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Lovers by Rebekah Faubion
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: You love opposites-attract romances (or are obsessed with that gorgeous cover!). A free-spirited woman encounters her perfectionist long-ago crush at a wedding, and sparks fly.
Publisher’s synopsis: If Kit Larson believes one thing, it’s that the cards never lie. She’s seen it proven time and time again as a tarot reader and mystic influencer. But unfortunately the cards didn’t warn her about her most recent breakup or her parents’ divorce. So when Kit is offered a gig at another influencer’s boho-chic Joshua Tree wedding she accepts for the distraction. And distract it does when she finds out her high school crush, Julia, is the wedding planner.
Julia Kelley is her agency’s most sought-after wedding planner, and for a good reason—she’s a perfectionist. Control means never showing others the vulnerable, blobby mess she really is deep down inside. Having an ex-girlfriend in the bridal party is a problem, sure, but reconnecting with the beautiful tarot reader who broke her heart as a teenager is so much worse.
Kit’s cards once told her that she and Julia were Twin Flames, two halves of the same soul. With wedding events pushing them together, their spark reignites . . . and so does a chance at being lovers.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
All I Want Is You by Falon Ballard
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: You’ve ever used romance books to soothe your own heartbreak. A romance writer is stuck in a small town with her ex (and rival) over the holidays.
Publisher’s synopsis: All Jessica has ever wanted is her own happily ever after. But until that happens, she spends her days as a small-time romance writer, penning satisfying Happily Ever Afters to soothe the heartache left by her ex-boyfriend Nick—also a romance writer and now her biggest rival—who has found success writing love stories without happy endings. It’s what he’s good at, after all.
So when their professional obligations bring them to a remote inn a few days before Christmas, they’re a little more than peeved, especially when they get trapped sharing a room in a snowstorm. But what’s more fitting for two romantic writers in a slump? Realizing the friction between them might be the only cure for their writer’s block, they decide to turn their frustration into fiction . . . and the pages start flying. But will Jess’s heart soar, too? Nick is the last guy on earth she should love. But what if he is really all she wants for Christmas?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
One on One by Jamie Harrow
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: Your post-Olympics haze has you craving sports romance. A college grudge resurfaces when years-ago classmates work together for their alma mater’s fast-rising NCAA basketball team.
Publisher’s synopsis: Eight years after graduation, Annie Radford is not happy to be back at her alma mater in her old job with the Ardwyn Tigers’ basketball team. Worse, her coworker from back in college, Ben Callahan, is still on the Tigers staff, and he’s annoyingly wholesome, hot, and clinging to a grudge against Annie for abandoning him and the team their senior year.
But as Ardwyn becomes the season’s Cinderella Story, things start heating up between Annie and Ben, too. And while neither of them can deny this could be something special, Annie’s afraid to tell Ben the truth about why she left basketball—the thing she loves most—in the first place. She’ll have to learn to trust him if they have a shot at being together.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Kiss Me at Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
Release date: Sept. 24
Read it if: You love a good “let’s put on a show!” premise. A woman gets roped into directing one last show at a crumbling theater, where she comes face-to-face with her one-night stand.
Publisher’s synopsis: Christmas can officially get stuffed because Harriet Smith is not feeling bright and merry this year. She hasn’t for a while. So when her college-aged daughter opts for Manhattan’s winter wonderland instead of Christmas at home, Harriet finds herself seeking solace in a wine-soaked one-night stand.
But how Harriet will spend the holidays is swiftly decided for her after she takes the fall for some students who break into the town’s old Winter Theater. To get the students off the hook, the theater’s elderly owner requests that Harriet direct the washed-out stage’s final Christmas performance. And Harriet will do anything to help the kids . . . even work with the owner’s lawyer who, as it turns out, is her less than impressed one-night stand.
Directing the play with him won’t exactly change her life. But it might just reignite the Christmas spirit and remind her what makes life merry and bright again.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
