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As one of the co-hosts of When In Romance and one of Book Riot’s resident romance readers, I hear a lot about upcoming romance novels. In my other life, I also select the adult fiction for my local public library system, where I hear even more about romance novels. Even when I’m not reading or working, I’m probably scrolling on one of several social media apps. You know what that means: even more romance novels. Some of them are backlist, but for the most part I’m adding more and more books to my mental or digital TBR (or, naturally, downloading eARCs at an alarming and unsustainable rate). I can always pretend I’m going to read them before release, and there have definitely been times when I’ve gotten an approval for a galley and not even bothered to start my car and drive home from work before beginning to read. But more often than not, even my most anticipated romance releases will sit on my shelf or Kindle for days, weeks, months, or years before I actually get around to reading them. Part of this is my own inability to plan my reading—I am a mood reader before anything else. The other part of it is that there are just. So. Many. Books.
Romance is one of the most prolific genres in fiction, with dozens of traditionally published books releasing every week and even more being published independently. Some are announced a year ahead of time, while other authors pull a Beyoncé Surprise Drop and have us all scrambling to rearrange our reading schedules at the drop of a hat. There are big names who might publish a single book a year, and others who steadily produce a book a month (yes, that is possible without the assistance of generative AI). Trying to keep track of them is one thing; trying to read them all? Unfortunately, impossible. (At least if I want to be able to afford to eat and pay my mortgage.)
There are a few books, though, that I absolutely cannot wait to read, and hope against hope that I will be in the zone to read them close to their release dates—especially since some of these authors will be at the Tucson Festival of Books in March!
I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming
The day I saw the original cover of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon, I was All In for one Kimberly Lemming. When I saw that she was writing a sci-fi romance with multiple partners? I was sold. I’m looking forward to reading her signature irreverence in a different setting, and hope Berkley sees the excitement for this and continues to acquire sci-fi silliness from her!
Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Every single one of the Meant To Be series (Disney’s closed-door adult romance retellings) has been an absolute banger, and I’m sure this one is going to be the same. Instead of ancient China, we have a contemporary setting, where Mulan pretends to be her father over email in order to successfully manage a business endeavor. Of course, everything comes to a head when she’s invited to an in-person retreat and has to reveal it all to Shang, the man she’s been communicating primarily with. I’m sold! And sat.
A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander
This breakout contemporary romance author is giving us their first Regency romance, and it’s hella exciting! A young lord has to get married, but he has a big secret. The new valet he takes on also might have his own secret? I love mess! And I love queer authors approaching historical romance, especially Regency, in ways that are new and full of hope for our queer brethren in times before.
A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera
This is the third in the Las Leonas series and promises to be quite the conclusion to the series. Aurora is a doctor who runs a secret women’s clinic, and Duke Apollo offers her and her venture protection. Of course, this is a romance novel so feelings start to complicate things. The first two books in this series have been full of heart and spice, and this one will surely be no different!
Secret Spark by Kelly Farmer
Once upon a time, a group of romance authors got together to put out collections of novellas based on themes, and Kelly Farmer first introduced us to the idea of Secret Spark. But she decided to build it out into a full-length novel, and I am here for a mistaken-identity villain-turned-hero-maybe-sapphic-superhero romance!