Romance
January 2026

Recently Added
Crossing Paths by Katie Ruggle
Crossing Paths
by Katie Ruggle

Norah Pax loves working behind the scenes for her family's Rocky Mountain bounty-hunting business. But unlike her adrenaline-junkie sisters, she only enjoys chasing down a skip from the safety of her laptop. She has all the computer skills she could want, but her fighting technique is lacking--so when all hands are needed, she dredges up her courage to ask surly MMA expert Dashiell Porter to teach her everything she needs to know. Dash may be terrifying to most, but his unexpected gentleness makes her feel safe, and it isn't long before things begin heating up.

Dash is used to people slowly backing away when he enters a room, but a certain beautiful bounty hunter's earnest trust throws him off guard…and catches his attention. Yet as the two throw punches and awkwardly flirt, vultures circle. Every criminal in town has turned against the Pax girls, and they're willing to hit them where they're (supposedly) weakest: Norah. To keep herself and her family safe, Norah will need every new skill that Dash teaches her.
People Watching
by Hannah Bonam-Young

Prudence Welch has found solace in her introverted life in Baysville, a charming tourist town in Northern Ontario. Despite once dreaming of a life beyond its borders, she now finds contentment in her working at her father’s gas station, writing poetry, and caring for her mother, who was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's shortly after Prue’s nineteenth birthday. But as her mother’s condition worsens and her father’s concerns about her future intensify, Prue feels her world slipping further out of control.

Enter Milo Kablukov, an enigmatic wanderer whose beat-up van covered with ill-advised bumper stickers rolls into town just when Prue needs a change. It’s all too easy to let go with him, and Prue can’t help but strike up an unlikely friendship with Milo, which leads to a wild and sexy agreement between them.

Milo, a man of many adventures and countless stories, is not one to settle down. However, his brother’s urgent need for help has brought him to Baysville, and now the intriguing Prue has given him more reason to stay. Especially once they start spending more time together, their chemistry intensifying, and casual-sex lessons start at Prue’s request.
People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young
Witch of the Wolves by Kaylee Archer
Witch of the Wolves
by Kaylee Archer


Cordelia Levine comes from a long line of powerful witches. She's been flying under the radar in the human world, focused on strengthening her magic. She loves working at her aunt's apothecary in London, secretly serving supernaturals. Until the truth about her family is revealed.

She always assumed her enhanced sense of smell came from her French perfumer father. But when Bishop Daniels abducts Cordelia at the request of her father, the Alpha, Cordelia learns she's a lycan--sharing both witch and werewolf traits. She's brought to Trevelyan, the pack estate, under the guise of protection from foreign threats who want to use her to continue their bloodline. She quickly learns that to keep her from being sold off to another pack, her father intends to give Cordelia as a mate to Bishop. His second in command and the future Alpha.

Cordelia refuses to accept this as her fate. She can't rely on her magic alone to escape and when she learns Bishop plans to challenge her father's power, she reluctantly begins to trust him. The cracks within the Pack become evident and something is bound to break. And Cordelia and her growing desire for the man who shouldn't set her on fire are right at the center of it all.
It's Different This Time
by Joss Richard

Subject 74 Perry Street

So begins the email that turns June Wood’s entire world on its head. Five years ago, she lived on Perry Street with her former best friend Adam Harper. But why is the management company reaching out to her about it now? 

Still smarting from the news of her hit TV show being canceled, June has nothing else to lose. She boards a plane from Los Angeles to New York City to find out more about the mysterious email and the promised opportunity it alludes to. It turns out that, thanks to an unbelievable legal loophole, if she and Adam can live together in the stunning West Village brownstone for a month, it’s theirs. Any true New Yorker knows you don’t pass up prime city real estate, and that fall in the city is magical—so what’s there to think about?

And yet, though most things have changed in the time since they last spoke, one thing hasn’t: June and Adam have unfinished business. They didn’t exactly end on good terms when they each went off to chase their dreams. Now, confronted with the consequences of their choices, they must navigate the minefield of their past the best way they know: together.
It's Different This Time by Joss Richard
The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell
The Austen Affair
by Madeline Bell

Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It's not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.

A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.

Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.
Lady Like
by Mackenzi Lee

Harriet Lockhart never planned to marry. The educated daughter of a high-class prostitute, Harry has spent her life defying playing male roles in bawdy Shakespearean productions on London's seediest stages, pursuing the many women who adore her, and wearing whatever she pleases, so long as it's well tailored—all while being subsidized by her late mother’s trust. When she is contacted out of the blue by her hitherto anonymous father, she finds herself at risk of losing the trust that he actually funds unless she acquiesces to his request that she lead a more respectable life, starting with finding a husband. 

Emily Sergeant, on the other hand, has only ever wanted to marry. She is the modest, tea-sipping, soft-spoken Regency bride. And were it not for one mistake in her youth that rendered her a social pariah, she would be appropriately betrothed. Instead, she’s due to wed the only willing man in her small the abominable Robert Tweed. Desperate for an alternative, Emily flees to London for the summer to snag a less lecherous fiancé before she's shackled to a scoundrel.

Worlds collide, dramatically and hilariously, when both women decide on the very same duke as their best possible chance at a tolerable husband and the security that he brings. A tongue-in-cheek romp through London's summer season, from balls to brothels, horseraces to duels, Harry and Emily compete for the duke's favor, only to find their true hearts' desires may be more compatible than they ever could have predicted.
Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee
Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance by Kate Robb
Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance
by Kate Robb

When Jules finds out that Kitty St. Clair, a resident at the retirement home where she works, has passed away and bequeathed her a dilapidated dance hall in their quaint and picturesque lakeside community, Jules is surprised. Kitty St. Clair was as eccentric as she was glamorous, but Jules cannot figure out why Kitty left her an abandoned building. 

That is until Reeve, a charming, successful developer, returns to town, looking for the new owner of the dance hall, intent on turning it into luxury vacation condos. Suddenly Jules has a way to make her lifelong dream of going to med school a reality. But selling the dance hall will only add to the steadily rising real estate prices and make it harder for residents of her tiny vacation town to live there, not to mention, Reeve also happens to be the man who Jules shared a magical night with two summers ago-- and never heard from again. 

Reeve wants a second chance with Jules and is determined to earn back her trust. But can she let herself fall for him again? Does he want her, or a guaranteed sale? 
Well, Actually
by Mazey Eddings

Eva Kitt never expected to be the host of Sausage Talk, interviewing B-list celebrities over lukewarm hot dogs, instead of pursuing the journalism career she dreamed of. But when Eva’s impromptu public call out of her college ex goes viral, she’s thrust into the spotlight. It doesn’t help said ex is Rylie Cooper, a beloved social media personality that has built a platform on deconstructing toxic masculinity and teaching men how to be good partners.

Forced to confront Rylie on a live episode of Sausage Talk, he offers Eva a deal: allow him to take her on a series of dates to make up for his toxic behavior, then debrief them on his channel to show he’s changed. Eva refuses to play nice, but agrees to the scheme to advance her own career and continue defaming Rylie’s good name. When these manufactured dates start to feel real, Eva has to wonder if the boy that broke her heart has become the man that might heal it.
Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings
An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love by Lauren Appelbaum
An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love
by Lauren Appelbaum

Mallory Rosen takes her remote tech job seriously. She values routine with predictability and minimum contact with others. So the last thing she wants are any surprises that force her to leave her comfortable Seattle apartment. Surprises like inheriting her late grandmother’s seaside cottage in Florida…with the requirement that she keeps her newly widowed grandfather company.

With no vacation days left, Mal will have to quickly check on her grandfather, sell the cottage, and return to her structured life before her boss even knows she left. But when she gets to Gramp's new independent living community, it’s not so simple. The cottage needs expensive maintenance fixes with a much too charming property manager. Her grandfather constantly interrupts her Zoom meetings. The WiFi drops at the absolute worst times. It all feels too much like déjà vu—the kind that reminds her of when she was fired from her last remote job and was forced to live with her parents.

But right when she’s about to call it quits, she starts finding the making friends at the senior citizen yoga, getting to know Gramps as a person (rather than just a stubborn boomer), and exploring the tight-knit small town. It doesn’t help that she keeps running into her hot property manager who seems to know everyone. Just when she finally feels alive, connected to others, and like she has a chance at love, she gets the (almost) worst notice All employees must return to the office.
Ladies in Hating
by Alexandra Vasti

Celebrated authoress Lady Georgiana Cleeve has achieved fame and fortune. Unfortunately, she’s also acquired an enemy: the enigmatic Lady Darling, whose spine-tingling plots appear to be pulled straight from Georgiana’s own manuscripts. What’s a stubborn, steely writer to do? Unmask her rival, of course.

But unmasking doesn’t go according to plan—because Lady Darling is actually Cat Lacey, the butler’s daughter and object of Georgiana’s very secret, very embarrassing teenage infatuation.

Cat Lacey has spent a decade clawing her family out of poverty. The last thing she needs is to be distracted by the stunning(ly pretentious) Lady Georgiana Cleeve. But Cat can’t seem to escape her infuriatingly beautiful rival—including at the eerie manor where they both plan to set their next books. The plot unexpectedly thickens, however, when the novelists find themselves trapped in the manor together. In between ghostly moans and spectral staff, Cat and Georgiana come face-to-face with real danger: the scorching passion that’s been haunting their rivalry all along.
Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti
Road Trip with a Vampire by Jenna Levine
Road Trip with a Vampire
by Jenna Levine

Reformed bad witch Grizelda “Zelda” Watson had hoped to never see another vampire again when she slipped away to sunny California for a fresh start. She'd grown tired of them and their nonsense ages ago. But when a vampire with amnesia unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep with a letter from her old friend Reggie, and asks for her help, she can’t say no. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Peter Elliott is tall and gorgeous, looks great in yoga shorts, and has the kind of dark hair and surly expression Zelda’s been a sucker for for hundreds of years.

Peter isn’t completely harmless—he is fanged, after all—but he’s harmless enough, and soon becomes the only person in Zelda’s new life who knows the truth about what she is. If she can help him decipher the cryptic notes in his journal, the only clues to his lost memories, she might as well try before sending him on his way.

But when an alarming message from Peter's past coincides with a clear sign that Zelda can't keep running from her own, they embark on a cross-country road trip for answers—only to find what they're looking for in each other.
It Had to Be Him
by Adib Khorram

Ramin Yazdani's marriage proposal has just gone bottoms up: his ex dumped him in public for being boring. Bent on proving him wrong, Ramin books a spontaneous solo trip to Italy. When he runs into his high school crush while in a gelateria, however, his resolve to reinvent himself is put to the test.

Noah Bartlett’s in a rut. Since his divorce, he's become a bit of a homebody. So when his ex-wife insists he join her and their son on an Italian holiday, Noah reluctantly agrees. But his reticence turns to excitement when he sees his former classmate, who's aged just like a fine wine. As a teenager, Ramin fascinated him—and since Noah now knows that fascination was code for crush—all those feelings are quick to come rushing back.

Soon Ramin and Noah are tumbling headfirst into a relationship. Only Ramin fears Noah’s feelings won’t last without Ramin’s adventurous new persona—and Noah's not sure he can be the supportive partner Ramin deserves. With the days counting down to the end of their trip, can their love last without the magic of Italy?
It Had to Be Him by Adib Khorram
We Met Like This by Kasie West
We Met Like This
by Kasie West

Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance-loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as those in the books she reads—a mixed-up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on her future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.

The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster . . . well, until the make-out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make-out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.

When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only one thing: a repeat of the hot make-out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in a cute way! But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive by opening her own literary agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.
As a Last Resort
by Kristin Wollett

After her mother’s substance abuse left her raising herself, Samantha Leigh left everyone in her Florida small town behind. She much prefers her new life as a real estate developer in New York City—with its nonstop noise, packed sidewalks, and her fellow workaholics. But when her work nemesis falls ill, she's forced to be his replacement on a new resort development project…in her hometown. Needing this assignment to get the promotion she desperately wants, Sam will just have to suck it up and get in and out as soon as possible.

Only the plan to avoid all of the hot local spots falls apart. Back on the island, Sam is confronted with everything she ran away her inebriated mother, her ex-best friend, and her old high school bullies now married with children. It certainly doesn't help when the town golden boy (and her childhood crush), Austin Marcs, keeps coming to her rescue. As her ex-best friend’s brother and someone who loves his hometown, he’s only trouble waiting to happen and comes with too many strings attached. Despite Sam's best efforts, Austin soon has her going out and enjoying old stomping grounds, white beaches, and the Florida sunset, making it hard to hold on to the grudges of her past. But will she leave all she’s worked for behind for a chance at love . . . or potentially destroy the small town that holds her most painful memories?
As a Last Resort by Kristin Wollett
Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
Sweet Heat
by Bolu Babalola

Three years after their break-up, Kiki's worked hard to forget her first love. But just as she thinks she's got her life under control—jumping into the distractions of her romance-by-calendar-invite boyfriend, and plans for her best friend, Aminah's, wedding—Kiki's career implodes, the family business teeters on collapse, and Malakai returns. As Malakai takes up his role as best man opposite her maid of honour, suddenly Kiki can think of nothing but their simmering chemistry, what went wrong, and why it is now impossible to act normal around each other.

Juggling a new job, the prospect of her parents' restaurant being sold, and keeping her best friend from going full bridezilla, dealing with The Ex is the last thing she needs. But somehow the spark between them is only getting hotter—and threatening to ruin everything.
Love at First Sighting
by Mallory Marlowe

Los Angeles social media influencer El Martin seems to live the perfect aesthetic life. But what El wants more than anything is to find something real to make her heart race in a way it hasn’t in years. She doesn’t expect that feeling to come from capturing footage of an unidentified flying . . . thing, much less from the charming Man in Black who keeps following her around.

Agent Carter Brody is trying his best to keep the Private Intelligence Sector afloat by dragging their hopelessly out-of-date office into this century, even though what he really wants to do is follow in his father’s footsteps identifying and hiding extraterrestrial sightings. He gets his chance after being assigned to El’s case and is stopped in his tracks not only by her ingenuity and confidence, but also by the unnerving coincidence of how her sighting looks eerily like what he saw right before a family tragedy.

The deeper El and Carter fall into the mystery, the harder it is for them to ignore their growing chemistry, as their own alien feelings become dangerously terrestrial.
Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe
A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena
A Dance of Lies
by Brittney Arena

Vasalie Moran was once a dancer in King Illian’s court, until he framed her for murder. Barely surviving her two years in the dungeons, she’s suddenly called to face her king. He offers her a deal: become his spy at the six-week royal Gathering and he’ll grant her freedom.

As Illian’s orders grow bloody and dangerous, forcing her to harm and betray those around her, Vasalie discovers that the monster she serves may be aligned with a bigger monster—one far closer to home. With her world threatened, Vasalie enlists the help of Illian’s brother and greatest adversary, the infamous King of the East.

As the rivalry between brothers escalates, with Vasalie caught in the middle, the horrifying truth of her past comes to light. If she wants to survive, she must decide who to trust, who to fight for, and how much of her soul she’s willing to damn in the process.
The Good Boy
by Stella Hayward

On the eve of Genie’s thirtieth birthday, her grandmother gives her an unexpected gift: a wish at midnight. Genie, forever the family skeptic, laughs it off and, after an evening fending off invasive questions about her nonexistent love life, returns home to her empty house and her golden retriever, Rory. Who needs a boyfriend when she has a loyal friend like Rory? As she hugs him and gets ready for bed, she wishes to herself that he were human… at least then their conversations wouldn’t be so one-sided.

She really should’ve listened to her grandmother. To her surprise, Rory is now a human with big Golden Retriever Energy—like a goofy, adoring Hemsworth. But he doesn’t like being a human. He doesn’t like wearing clothes or human manners, and he most definitely can’t manage a human job.

Genie needs to turn him back before it’s too late and enlists her oldest friend and boy next door, Miles, to help. Their quest brings them closer than they’ve ever been—and maybe, just maybe, her messed up wish is the key to granting her heart’s desire after all…
The Good Boy by Stella Hayward
Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
Cover Story
by Mhairi McFarlane

Bel’s joined the tiny Manchester office of a national paper from her indie podcast.

Thirty-something Connor is going to back to the start as the new intern.

The latest office news? They can’t stand each other.

So of course Bel bumps into Connor when she’s working undercover on the biggest scoop of her career. And of course she’s forced to improvise, pretending they’re a couple. A couple deeply in love.

Two rivals. One fake romance. The headline writes itself…
Love is an open book
by Chandra Blumberg

Mia Brady never imagined her romance novels would become bestsellers, much less inspire a hit TV show. However, after signing a deal to write the final book of the series, she’s struck by a serious case of writer’s block. Her fans are clamoring for a passionate payoff, but Mia’s own experience with heartbreak—and current lack of real-life romance—is getting in the way. Do friends who become lovers ever truly have a happy ending?

Gavin Lane would like to think so. As Mia’s ride-or-die BFF, he’s been by her side through it all and convinced himself his crush on her is a thing of the past. He’s not about to let his feelings ruin their friendship, and never will. But that doesn’t stop him from pitching a bold idea to help save Mia’s testing out tried-and-true love story tropes…together.

From workplace romance to fish-out-of-water, Mia and Gavin embark on a series of “dates” to spark a little creativity—but are not prepared for the flame that ignites between them. Does their friendship even stand a chance when pure fantasy suddenly becomes a little too real?
Love Is an Open Book: A Fun and Flirty Friends-To-Lovers Summer Read Between a Bestselling Author and Her Best Friend Testing All the Romance Tropes by Chandra Blumberg
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Concord Public Library
45 Green St.
Concord, New Hampshire 03301
603-225-8670

www.concordnh.gov/588/Library