October might not seem like the most romantic month, but the best romance books of October 2024 beg to differ! This month’s romance books include a ton of seasonal books alongside timeless future favorites. Celebrate spooky season with books by Nadia El-Fassi, Erin Sterling, Celestine Martin, and others. Or, if you’re already in a holiday mood, pick up a festive read by Amanda Elliot, Martha Waters, or Ashley Herring Blake.
It’s always a good season for swoony reads — check out all our picks for the best romance books of October 2024 below!
Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
Release date: October 1
Read it if: You believe food is its own kind of magic. A kitchen witch with a hexed love life falls for the best man at a wedding. As they grow closer, she fears the bad luck that loving her could bring.
Publisher’s synopsis: As a skilled kitchen witch, Dina Whitlock knows her way around a pastry recipe. In fact, she runs her very own London café, serving magic-infused treats to her loyal customers. She is not as much of an expert on romance, thanks to the hex hanging over her head. It’s hard to fall in love when your partner is cursed with a string of bad luck. But who needs love when your best friend is getting married, right?
Scott Mason has returned from global travels thrilled to embark on his new role as a curator at the British Museum. Having left London two years ago to recover from a devastating breakup, Scott has missed out on a lot. With his best friend’s wedding approaching, and Scott as best man, this is his chance to make up for lost time. Little does he expect to be enchanted by the magical maid of honor.
During a romantic weekend filled with a peculiar hedge maze, palm readings by candlelight, and a midnight Halloween ritual, there’s no denying the chemistry between them. But the hex still holds, and Dina knows that Scott is in danger of more than just bad luck. Because she’s falling, hard. Will Dina be able to undo the hex before it’s too late?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Showmance by Chad Beguelin
Release date: October 1
Read it if: You want a showbiz-set story written by an actual playwright. A struggling playwright returns to his small hometown. Soon, the town pressures him into staging a community-theatre production of his own flop show.
Publisher’s synopsis: Noah Adams’s career as a playwright is circling the drain, thanks to a scorching review of his first Broadway musical. So when a family emergency sends him back to his Podunk hometown of Plainview, Illinois, he figures he’ll hide out for a bit. But to Noah’s horror, his agent has secretly arranged for him to stage an amateur version of the career-ruining musical at the local community theater.
As if trying to work with a bunch of artless amateurs wasn’t enough, Noah runs into Luke, the jerk from his high school years, everywhere he goes. Luke somehow grew up to be beloved by everyone in town…and undeniably gorgeous. As rehearsals begin, Noah is surprised by his cast’s insights, the warmth of the town he’d dismissed, and the reality of what happened with Luke all those years ago. Just how much has Noah misjudged?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Deja Brew by Celestine Martin
Release date: October 1
Read it if: You’re in search of a witchy romance and love a Groundhog Day twist. A magical chef and a reality star get a (literal) second chance at love and magic.
Publisher’s synopsis: Ex-celebrity chef Sirena Caraway has had the wackiest October ever. Her cooking powers are on the fritz, she failed to land a career-saving job, and she embarrassed herself at the town’s Halloween party. Just before midnight, she makes a desperate wish for a second chance to fix her life. The next morning Sirena wakes up and realizes that she’s repeating the entire pumpkin spice-flavored month. Even sweeter, she runs into Gus Dearworth, whose magic leaves her spellbound.
A former reality star, Gus moved to Freya Grove to rebuild his reputation and heal his broken heart, but his restless magic is tempting him to return to the spotlight. And his secret crush on Sirena is making him want to try something dangerous like fall in love again. When Sirena realizes he can help her fix her powers, Gus makes her a deal. If she’ll help decipher a mysterious cookbook in his collection, he’ll help get her magical groove back.
Every encounter offers a new adventure—from tasting menus, harvest mazes, and a growing attraction that’s taking on an irresistible enchantment of its own. But as the month winds down and the wish grows stronger, Sirena and Gus have a decision to make. Will their second chance be their happy-ever-after ending or a bittersweet memory?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake
Release date: October 1
Read it if: You love Christmas carols and want a second-chance romance among the best romance books of October 2024. A string quartet heads to one member’s family home for the holidays, but another is horrified to find her ex there, too.
Publisher’s synopsis: It’s been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she’s doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in. But she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado. It is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet’s upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane’s sister Adele also brought a friend home—and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton.
All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas—and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she’s stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers—which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele’s mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won’t talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did.
After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together—Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin—and it all feels painfully familiar. But it’s all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts…right?
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Bad Reputation by Emma Barry
Release date: October 1
Read it if: You have strong feelings about book banning, intimacy coordinators, and other showbiz hot topics. A former teen star and a teacher-turned-intimacy-coordinator connect on the set of a TV show.
Publisher’s synopsis: Cole James’s reputation as Hollywood’s favorite himbo no longer suits him. His fans can’t separate the real man from the character he played on a soapy teen drama decades ago. But that’s going to change with Waverley, the hit streaming historical romance series.
Maggie Niven hates her own notoriety. Fired for directing a divisive play, Maggie takes her fight against censorship public. When Hollywood comes calling, she becomes the new intimacy coordinator for Waverley. But it’s harder than she imagined to focus on the job.
Cole isn’t what she expected―and Maggie is more than he dreamed of. As filming gets underway, the cast’s old traumas lead to real intimacy, and Cole and Maggie struggle with feelings they shouldn’t have. Having an affair on set could destroy his comeback and her new career.
The show must go on. But if Cole and Maggie want a happy ending, they’ll have to start doing things their own way.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
I’ll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone
Release date: October 8
Read it if: Your favorite Christmas movie is The Holiday. Two frustrated women house-swap for the holidays to get away from it all. While on vacation, they discover what they really want — and find love along the way.
Publisher’s synopsis: Bee Tyler needs a break. In the bustling San Francisco tech community, no one ever seems to stand still—especially her perfect sister and business partner, Beth. So when her best friend suggests a getaway on the wildly popular house-swap app, Vacate, Bee decides a countryside retreat might be exactly what she needs.
Clover Mills has had a year. Between losing her mother and making the complicated decision to leave her fiancé, sticking around the idyllic Christmas obsessed town of Salem, Ohio, just doesn’t feel right. So when she hears about Vacate, she jumps at the chance to spend the holidays in the unfamiliar city of San Francisco.
Soon enough, Bee is living in Clover’s cozy Salem cottage, and Clover is living in Bee’s sleek San Francisco apartment. Clover can’t seem to stop running into Bee’s frustratingly gorgeous sister, Beth, and Bee finds herself spending more and more time with Clover’s ultra charming ex-fiancé, Knox. The two women realize that this Christmas they may find just what they were looking for and more…
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Christmas Sweater Weather by Jaqueline Snowe
Release date: October 8
Read it if: You like your holiday romances to have plenty of sugar and spice. A single dad and his best friend’s sister struggle to keep their mutual feelings under wraps at a holiday getaway.
Publisher’s synopsis: Charlotte Calhoun has avoided Hayden Porter, her older brother’s sexy-as-sin best friend, ever since that mortifying night when he flat-out rejected her. Fine. Except this Christmas season, they’re thrown together at a snowy ski resort for her brother’s bachelor party, complete with mistletoe, cozy fireplaces, and adjoining rooms. She can tell herself to get over Hayden, but holiday cheer is turning to holiday lust every time he is within ten feet of her.
Between being a full-time single father and his high-pressure college coaching job, a romantic relationship is off the table for Hayden. But he’s fought his attraction to Charlotte for as long as he can. A one-night stand is starting to sound like a good idea—as long as her brother never finds out. But with two long weeks until the wedding, hiding their growing feelings is going to take a Christmas miracle.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
Release date: October 8
Read it if: You love foodie romances and would like a holiday romance that isn’t Christmas-centric. A cafe owner must team up with her most annoying customer to run a local Hanukkah festival.
Publisher’s synopsis: Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby’s been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene. Even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.
Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There’s one other: Seth.
As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah. If Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Double Apex by Josie Juniper
Release date: October 8
Read it if: You’re loving the “Formula 1 romances” trend right now. A genius engineer and an arrogant driver butt heads, but then spark a deliciously secret relationship.
Publisher’s synopsis: Phaedra Morgan is one of the best race engineers in Formula 1. She’s a math prodigy with dazzling skill, cutting wit, and no patience for matters of the heart. Of course, her job would be a lot easier if she didn’t keep butting heads with their team’s cocky and infuriatingly hot new driver.
Cosmin Ardelean is intense and committed, but as famous for his off-track romantic exploits as his on-track wizardry. Yet his devil-may-care façade conceals a haunted past. When the pair strikes up a secret—and thrillingly forbidden—“arrangement” to improve their communication and bond of trust, the heat of their attraction turns to something more . . .
But no secret stays hidden for long in the racing world, and soon things are spinning out of control. With everything on the line, will they be able to strip away all their defenses and go full throttle for a chance at love?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling
Release date: October 8
Read it if: You wish you the best romance books of October 2024 would transport you to Halloweentown. At a high-witch-society wedding, a magical merchant and a loner warlock accidentally travel back centuries.
Publisher’s synopsis: Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way. But when his friend Colin—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees.
Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life.
But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1958. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches…oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
Release date: October 8
Read it if: You’d love a Nightmare Before Christmas meets Hallmark movie for grownups! Santa’s heir and the Prince of Halloween come face-to-face over a marriage of convenience… and just might prefer each other.
Publisher’s synopsis: Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.
But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.
Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.
It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Lightning in Her Hands by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Release date: October 15
Read it if: You love your fantasy romance with a light, nature-magic vibe. A witch with volatile weather magic finds love (and answers) through a fake relationship.
Publisher’s synopsis: Teal Flores is desperate for two things—control over her gift of weather, and a date to her ex’s wedding. The first isn’t possible until she finds her long-lost mother. But the second has a very handsome last-ditch solution: Carter Velasquez.
Carter needs Teal too. His chance at receiving an inheritance depends on him being married by age thirty (blame his traditional Cuban grandmother), so who better to pose as his wife than Teal? But fake marriage and cohabitation prove tricky when mutual attraction charges the atmosphere—quite literally for Teal, whose volatile emotions cause lightning strikes.
Together, Teal and Carter embark on a quest to find her mother and the answers she’s searching for. But along the way, they’ll discover something even better: a love that can weather any storm.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner
Release date: October 15
Read it if: You like books with a hint of mystery and some hijinks. When her identity vanishes, a woman turns to her rule-bending doorman for investigative help.
Publisher’s synopsis: Catherine Lipton carefully calculates everything, and not just because she’s a math professor. She had a chaotic childhood growing up with a free-spirited single dad. So now, from her daily to-dos to her afternoon snacks, Catherine has a plan for it all. But sometimes she wishes she could be someone else, someone with a totally different life. Until suddenly her entire identity—from her Social Security number to her driver’s license to her academic record—mysteriously disappears. There’s no evidence Catherine Lipton ever existed.
With no ID and no other options, Catherine reluctantly accepts help from her exasperatingly laid-back—and infuriatingly attractive—doorman, Luca Morelli. Before long, by-the-books Catherine finds herself bending all the rules with the charismatic Luca—from taking meetings in smoky bars to breaking into hospital record rooms—and having a surprising amount of fun. As Catherine unravels the truth behind her identity’s disappearance, she may discover that the real Catherine has been missing for a lot longer than she realized.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters
Release date: October 22
Read it if: You have at least one holiday movie you devotedly watch every year. A former Christmas-movie child star makes a deal with an illustrator amidst a messy family holiday.
Publisher’s synopsis: Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won’t let her move on. When a piece revealing that her reluctance nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister.
But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she’s accidentally left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London from Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business—and the funds to keep their historic house running—relies on holiday cheer. Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors.
Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission illustrating iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs. Graham offers to help escort her, as long as she’ll commit to an art workshop at Eden Priory. But as Charlotte’s chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham. She may not love a Christmas romance…but what if she has one of her own?
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Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux
Release date: October 22
Read it if: You want historical romance with outspoken women for your best romance books of October 2024. A captain-turned-publisher and a female author collide at her cousin’s wedding masquerade.
Publisher’s synopsis: Margaret Arden yearns to live like the passionate and daring women in her novel. The idyllic life at Mosely Cottage with her two younger sisters and mother is fine, but Margaret wants more than the demure and dainty existence she’s known. After a particularly brutal rejection from an annoyingly attractive publisher, Margaret fears being forced into marriage to protect her family if their financial situation doesn’t improve—until her cousin’s glamorous wedding masquerade brings her onto a collision course with scandal, notoriety, and even love.
Captain Bridger Darrow is starting over after fighting for his country. Now home, he is struggling to save his family from destitution and succeed in a new venture of passion: book publishing. It’s all going rather poorly, until he stumbles upon loose pages of an astonishing novel while in attendance at his dearest friend’s wedding. Bridger knows he must publish it. But upon meeting the author, Bridger is stunned to discover that he—she—is a woman, and he has already told her off in grand fashion.
While Bridger is keen to gain her trust and rescind the initial rejection, Margaret can’t help but be skeptical of his intentions. Sparks fly between the two, just as the wedding of the season starts to descend into chaos when a masked dance leads to a case of mistaken identities.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Because Fat Girl by Lauren Marie Fleming
Release date: October 22
Read it if: You’ve ever felt like your dreams are just barely out of reach. A queer, plus-size director deals with her lost dreams while falling for an action star.
Publisher’s synopsis: Hollywood isn’t nice to women like Diana Smith, but that hasn’t stopped her from being unabashedly queer, plus-sized, and determined to make award-winning movies that showcase the diversity of her community. She was so close to her goal, appearing at festivals and gaining attention for her short films, when grief came and shattered Diana’s directorial dreams.
Forced to move to the suburbs with her sister and kids, the closest thing Diana gets to the movies these days is dressing the stars of them at her high-end department store job. Until one day, she gets a pity invite to a gala full of Hollywood’s most elite, where she unwittingly attracts the attention of a famous action star.
The unexpected pairing shocks their friends–and the tabloids–forcing Diana to choose between the status quo and the silver screen. For the first time in her life, doors open for Diana and the possibilities seem endless. The chance to create unforgettable films. To shake up the industry. To inspire everyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t belong.
But fame always comes with a cost…and to get her Hollywood ending, Diana’s going to have to go completely off-script.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Beast Takes a Bride by Julie Ann Long
Release date: October 22
Read it if: You love a good historical “marriage in trouble” romance. Five years after their marriage fell apart, a couple reunites to repair their reputations before parting forever.
Publisher’s synopsis: He would pay any price to possess her. But even though Alexandra Bellamy sacrifices herself to save her family’s fortunes, a shocking betrayal sunders her marriage to a taciturn brute of a war hero, Colonel Magnus Brightwall, before it even begins. Five years of icy separation later, a scandal—with Alexandra at the middle—reunites them, and Magnus issues an edict: they will confront the ton, rescue their reputations, then Magnus will banish her to another continent—forever.
But alone in a suite at the Grand Palace on the Thames, a new battle begins—between pride and the unexpected volcanic passion stirring between them. The danger is real: Magnus rediscovers why Alexandra is the only woman who could ever break him. And even as she lays bare the beautiful heart beating beneath the battered hide of the near-stranger she married, Alexandra knows she may have already lost him—even as she finally falls fatally, irrevocably in love.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Sleeping with the Frenemy by Natalie Caña
Release date: October 29
Read it if: You love secret relationships and swoony second chances. Longtime on-off FWB find themselves at a crossroads when they unwillingly become temporary roommates.
Publisher’s synopsis: Leo Vega’s love life has been on life support since long before the gunshot wound that put him on leave from the fire department. Now, a year after his injury, he’s hoping to both return to work and fix things with Sofi, the woman he’s had a secret on-again, off-again relationship with for years.
Sofia Santana may be ready to mend fences with her best friend, Leo’s sister, but she has no plans of letting Leo back into her bed or her heart. She’s charting a new path for her future, and past mistakes have no place in it. Then circumstances push Sofi and Leo into a tense roommate situation. It’s almost impossible to move on when Leo is there, reminding her what they had, every day.
With the help of Leo’s mischievous grandfather, Sofi’s equally devious grandmother and an adorably sweet rescue dog, Leo’s determined to get the stubborn woman of his dreams to finally see that they belong together—for good this time.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
