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From bittersweet endings to a romance trilogy following three sparkling sisters, to magical shenanigans that find characters fake dating a demon to please their family and steamy marriage of conveniences with your secret crush and romance books cover model—our romance-loving hearts are beating faster just looking at what’s on the menu for the first half of 2023!
You’ll be sure to find quite a few exciting new reads within this list and be sure to check out our other 2023 round-ups too, including our Most Anticipated, Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Queer Books lists!
JANUARY
Make a Wish by Helena Hunting
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With her signature charm, Hunting completes the Spark sisters’ trilogy in Make a Wish, a second chance-romance sure to leave you reeling. Ever have a defining life moment you wish you could do over? Harley Spark has one. The time she almost kissed the widowed father of the toddler she nannied for. It was so bad they moved across the state and she never saw them again. Fast forward seven years and she’s totally over it. At least she thinks she is. Until Gavin Rhodes and his adorable now nine-year-old daughter, Peyton, reappear at a princess-themed birthday party hosted by Spark House, Harley’s family’s event hotel.
Behind the Scenes by Karelia Stetz-Waters
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Business consultant Rose Josten might not have officially reached “pug lady” middle age, but she’s already got the pugs—along with their little Gucci coats and trash-lovin’ appetites. Still, life is good, with her work, her sisters, and a secret hobby creating incredibly tactile (if surprisingly sexy) mindfulness videos. So why does it feel like it’s not quite enough? Which is exactly when former filmmaker Ash Stewart enters camera left, and Rose’s world suddenly goes full technicolor . . .
Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
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Always a matchmaker, never a match…Olivia Huang Christenson is excited-slash-terrified to be taking over her grandmother’s matchmaking business. But when she learns that a new dating app has made her Pó Po’s traditional Chinese zodiac approach all about “animal attraction,” her emotions skew more toward furious-slash-outraged. Especially when L.A.’s most-eligible bachelor Bennett O’Brien is behind the app that could destroy her family’s legacy . . .
Midnight Duet by Jen Comfort
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From The Astronaut and the Star author Jen Comfort comes a wildly electric romance about two musicians who collide on the stage of a Nevada opera house.
Back in a Spell by Lana Harper
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An awkward first date leads to a sparkling romance between one of the most powerful witches in town and a magical newbie in this rom-com.
Do I Know You? By Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
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When a couple starts to feel like they’re married to a stranger, a flirtatious game of pretend becomes the spark they need to reignite their relationship.
FEBRUARY
Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher
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In April Asher’s next Supernatural Singles novel, Not Your Ex’s Hexes, a one-night-stand between a willful witch and a broody half-demon conjures an adventure that wouldn’t be complete without several magical mishaps.
Radiant Sin by Katee Robert
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There’s nowhere more dangerous than Olympus…and no one more captivating than its golden god: Apollo. Keeper of secrets, master of his shining realm…and the only man Cassandra is powerless to deny. A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Apollo and Cassandra that’s as sinful as it is sweet.
Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author and TikTok favorite Tessa Bailey comes a steamy new rom-com about a starchy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn…
The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest
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A shy bookworm enlists her charming neighbor to help her score a date, not knowing he’s the obscure author she’s been corresponding with.
Best Served Hot by Amanda Elliot
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Two restaurant critics learn their opposing tastes might make for a five-star relationship in the next foodie romantic comedy from the author of Sadie on a Plate.
Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year by Rochelle Bilow
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When a thirty-something American food writer moves to a Scottish village for one year to fulfill her dream of writing a cookbook she finds more than inspiration–she meets a handsome Scotsman she can’t resist.
MARCH
Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly
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From the author of Love & Other Disasters comes a sparkling grumpy-meets-sunshine romance featuring two men’s sweeping journey across the Western wilderness.
A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
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Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles
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Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping LGBTQIA+ Regency romance from award-winning author KJ Charles!
Ellie Is Cool Now by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren
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In this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, one woman finds that to keep her dream job, she’ll have to face her worst nightmare: high school.
Right Girl, Wrong Side by Ginny Baird
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Baird brings her signature charm to this multicultural story about two disputing families sharing a beach house and the messiness that comes from falling in love with someone who your family is determined to despise.
The Love Wager by Lynn Painter
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Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Wrong Number.
APRIL
Happy Place by Emily Henry
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A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from Emily Henry.
Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg
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Equal parts witty and steamy, this debut rom-com brings a healthy dose of queerness and a whole lot of heart to a Pride and Prejudice-inspired enemies to lovers romance. This page-turning, sexy, and delightfully funny rom-com celebrates queer culture, chosen family, coming of age, and falling in love against your better judgment.
The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur
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Lambda Literary award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur returns with a steamy Sapphic rom-com about a quiet bookseller and a romance novel cover model who agree to a modern-day marriage-of-convenience…
In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae
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With a gorgeous beachfront mansion, salty ocean breeze, steamy nights, and ALL the summertime feels, this funny, sexy queer rom-com is a celebration of summer love, as a cinnamon roll of a pastry chef finds his indie rocker crush suddenly within reach.
To Swoon and To Spar by Martha Waters
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This is a Regency rom-com set in the world of Waters’ previous books, in which a woman attempts to trick her new husband into thinking his ancestral home is haunted in order to finally get some peace and quiet, only to find herself enjoying his company instead.
Ana Mariá and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa
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A forbidden love between a Mexican heiress and a shrewd British politician makes for a tantalizing Victorian season.
MAY
That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey
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Turns out you’re never too old for a summer camp romance. Or a change of heart. When a divorced woman attends a sleepaway camp for adults only, she reconnects with a man from her past–only to catch feelings for his sister instead.
Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan
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This irresistible adult debut from beloved YA author Jennifer Dugan is a queer romcom for fans of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and Written in the Stars, in which a woman gives a drunken bathroom pep talk to a hot stranger, only to find out it’s the bride-to-be she has convinced to leave her fiancé the night before the wedding.
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
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Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script.
Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
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In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.
Jana Goes Wild by Farah Heron
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The highly acclaimed author of Accidentally Engaged delivers a delightful rom-com of one woman trying to shed her perfect image at a destination wedding with hilarious—and moving—results.
Love Buzz by Neely Tubati Alexander
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In this spectacularly enjoyable and serendipitous adventure, a chance romantic encounter during a wild night at a Mardi Gras bachelorette party sends strait-laced Serena Khan’s carefully constructed life into chaos.
JUNE
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
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Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain.
Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder
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On screen, they’re in love. Off screen, they can’t stand each other. Two co-stars with a complex history reunite to film the final season of a beloved paranormal drama in this tension-filled will they won’t they romance from the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood.
A Love Catastrophe by Helena Hunting
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The fur is about to fly between a cheerful cat sitter and a grumpy hockey nerd in this hilarious and charming rom-com by the New York Times bestselling author of Meet Cute.
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
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For fans of Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After, from the author of Nora Goes Off Script comes the ultimate summer nostalgia read, about a woman whose return to her family’s beach house to plan her wedding brings her and her fiancé unexpectedly face to face with her first love who she hasn’t seen in fourteen years, but who she spent every summer with from age five to seventeen when he broke her heart, calling into question everything she thought she knew about their love story, and herself.
The First Date Prophecy by Kate Tamberelli and Danny Tamberelli
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Danny Tamberelli, 90’s Nickelodeon star from All That and The Adventures of Pete and Pete, teams up with his real-life wife Kate Tamberelli for a zany, big-hearted, and truly laugh-out-loud debut rom-com set in Brooklyn, steeped in 90’s nostalgia, and inspired by their very own love story. For two talented romantic misfits who’ve been looking for love for so long, a prophecy from a psychic could be just another disastrous-first-date anecdote—or it could be the beginning of a love story for the ages . . .
Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
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A ghostwriter and a struggling actor help each other on the page and in the bedroom in this steamy romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Talk.
Flirting with Fire