Books for the Small Town Romance Fan
Whether you are ready for your own small town escape (the bookstores! the coffee shops!) or you’ve been watching plenty of holiday movies (possibly all year round), we have a list of heartwarming, sometimes silly, recs with lots of family, friends, and merriment for you.
There are three things that PR strategist Jasmine Morgan knows for sure: One, she’s damn good at her job. Two, she’ll do whatever it takes to save her team from looming layoffs. And three, Derek Carter will always be her archnemesis—even if the man is ridiculously fine. Unfortunately, she and Derek end up on competing projects in Miller’s Cove, a small town highly suspicious of corporate outsiders. To gain the trust of the locals, she’ll have to ditch her blazer and pose as a “honeymooning couple” with her mortal enemy.
Derek isn’t about to let Jasmine best him on the venture that will seal their fate during this company audit. But wherever he goes, she’s there—in his hotel suite, digging for the same research, and even stealing the loyalty of his dog (traitor). Worse, her tempting performance as his fiancée has him torn between killing her career or kissing her senseless. But as the two get deeper into their charade, they discover little Miller’s Cove has a lot of big secrets. Secrets that could save their careers . . . but at what cost?
Welcome to Moose Falls, Alaska where a down-on-his luck football player and a sassy restaurant owner find themselves going from enemies to lovers; perfect for fans of Brenda Novak and Annie Rains!
Opposites attract when a real estate developer's quest for a promotion returns her to the coastal hometown she loathes—where she's reunited with her teenage crush turned town golden boy.
“Fresh, funny and crisply written, As a Last Resort is a rom-com for lovers of second chances and meant-to-be lovers. Don't miss this one.” ―Annabel Monaghan, USA Today Bestselling author of Same Time Next Summer
There’s no place like home … and that’s exactly how real estate developer Samantha Leigh plans to keep it. When she ditched Rock Island, Florida for New York City, Sam left everything behind—her alcoholic mother, the high school bullies, her ex-best friend, and her first crush, Austin Marcs. She’s never looked back—until her boss ambushes her with an extended assignment on Rock Island, where promotion will be on the line.
Sam has no choice but to book a flight home … to where nothing has changed. Her mom still drinks, the mean girls became mean-girl mommies, and Austin? The town’s golden boy is now its favorite ferryboat captain—still smoking hot, inexplicably devoted to the island, and Sam’s total opposite in every way. He insists Rock Island is perfect as is, without her big corporate ideas, and he’s determined to prove it.
Before long, Austin’s personal tours of sandy beaches and swoony sunsets almost make Sam forget her hometown hate. But is falling for the guy—and the town—she left behind worth the risk?
For a gardener blessed with a green thumb, Savannah Collins’s life sure seems like it’s all thorns and zero roses. She has no job, no relationship, and no place to live. With nothing but a car full of plants and her new rescue kitten, Savannah heads to Bloom, North Carolina, to spend the summer with her beloved Aunt Eleanor, a retired librarian.
Her aunt shares her love of literature with the Finders Keepers Library, located in her beautiful garden, where anyone can stop by to take or leave a book. When a sudden summer storm destroys the library and many of the roses, it will take a village to get everything ready for the garden wedding taking place in just three weeks.
As the entire town joins in to make the necessary repairs, Savannah bonds with their neighbor Evan Sanders over the books that Eleanor has specially handpicked for each of them. Savannah only intends to stay through the summer, but when an unexpected job offer, a sudden health crisis, and a wayward pre-teen push her future in new directions, she has to wonder whether this is the place that she is meant to be—and the family she’s meant to be with.
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 exists. But 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.
Magda Miller’s feud with rival baker Mackenzie Newton is so old, folks in tiny Pine Hollow, Vermont forgot how it started. But Magda remembers: Ten years ago, she offered Mac her heart—instead, he ran off with her grandmother’s maple cake recipe. Now, Mac traipses all over Magda’s baking territory, just like his oversized tabby keeps sneaking into her house to claim her dog’s favorite bed. So, when Magda gets the call to compete on The Great American Cake-Off, she’s thrilled to finally shine in a Mac-free zone. But when she arrives on set, her devilishly handsome nemesis is already there . . .
It turns out, Mac and Magda’s story has inspired the first ever Arch Rivals edition of Cake-Off, and of course Mac has to raise the stakes with a wager. The winner takes all—the Cake-Off title, the contested recipe, and control of the narrative. Magda is more than ready to kick Mac’s Bundt. But as they spar, on-screen and off, Mac and Magda reveal the best in each other…and the sizzling attraction fueling their rivalry. Only one of them can win, so why does it suddenly feel like they both stand to lose?
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?
Aspiring fashion designer Cora Lewis should have known better. Entering her grandpa’s extremely adorable—and totally unruly—pups in a dog show? What was she thinking? Oh, right. Her grandpa is injured, his beloved pet shop is losing the fight against the upscale dog boutique across the street, and his business and home are on the line. She needs that prize money to save the day—and if the only way to win is to train with her strongest adversary, then she’ll suck it up and ask for help.
Rival store owner Leo Salinger is everything Cora is not: successful, wealthy, and overly ambitious. She would never guess that he is also the kind and witty pen pal she’s met on a local message board. But somewhere between teaching pups to heel, fetch, and stay, Cora and Leo are finding a little competition can ignite a serious attraction. Can they stop this sexy spark . . . before all her dreams go to the dogs?