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Romance
August/September 2026 |
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Coming Soon to the Waterford Public Library
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Experiments in Offline Dating
by Kat MacKenzie
Maya Davis is chronically terrible at dating. So much so that she's turned her catastrophic dating experiments into a full-time job. Hellbent on dating offline for her second podcast season, Maya travels to Ireland to meet the world-renowned local matchmaker, and gets set up on a slew of horribly funny meet-ups that are exactly the type of comedy gold she was looking for. At the town's annual Matchmaking Festival, Maya wins a blind date with a surly local sheep farmer. But while she's had every bad date in the book, nothing could have prepared her for the apocalyptic, full-body-cringe that is the worst date of her life All she wants to do is forget it ever happened, but when the mischievous matchmaker talks her into a whirlwind dating adventure, he fails to mention that it's with the one person in Ireland that she just can't stand - her blind date catastrophe Trapped together, Maya and Tadhg journey across picturesque landscapes and green countryside until their constant verbal sparring feels increasingly like chemistry. And the more time they spend together, the more Maya begins to wonder if perhaps she's not so catastrophic at love after all.
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How to Find a Romance in a Bookshop
by Poppy Alexander
Petra doesn't like books anymore--not since her career as a literary agent imploded after a social media typo went viral. Now she is stuck for six months, babysitting a little bookshop by the sea--surrounded by books that just remind her of her failure. Ross McCloud's award-winning debut novel blew the minds of the world's literati, but that was five years ago. Now Ross and his keenly awaited second work have vanished. Something has gone wrong--horribly wrong--and Ross doesn't want to talk about it. Marooned in Capelthorne's Bookshop miles from London, Petra can't stop thinking about all the ways she has let people down. Then she discovers Ross lurking, incognito, in the second-hand books section. Misery loves company it seems, and a kinship tentatively forms. In the meantime, the magic of the bookshop slowly begins to enchant Petra. Soon, her book recommendations assume legendary status; she is chairing the newly formed Beach Reads Book Club; leading a weekly writing group and hosting a series of popular talks and signings by local authors. She is even starting to read again. Petra is also finding time to help her new best friend Jess--owner of a local telephone box library--to launch the inaugural Portneath Literary Festival. What better opportunity to put the Festival on the map--says Ross--than for Petra to unveil his second novel to the world there, before re-launching her career representing him at the Frankfurt book fair? What a comeback But can Petra find the courage to help the man she loves? Their love of books may be re-ignited, but is that enough to save them both from their own worst enemy--themselves?
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Nantucket Christmas Stroll
by Nancy Thayer
The Nantucket Christmas Stroll is the most wonderful time of year on the island, filled with holiday cheer and festive decorations. Excited holidaymakers crowd the streets, Santa arrives on a Coast Guard boat, carolers serenade with classic Christmas carols, and shop windows glitter with treasures, twinkling lights, and merry displays. At the heart of this celebration is the Parsons family and the sparkling house party they host each year. Brick Parsons and his wife, Jane, eagerly anticipate the arrival of their three adult children, Lydia, Florence, and Lucas, who are all coming home for the holidays. Lydia, a successful hospitality professional, is torn between her career in New York and her new relationship with her uber-wealthy cosmopolitan boyfriend. Florie, the ambitious middle child, is madly in love with a handsome poet who wants her to move to his hometown in Wisconsin. Lucas, the golden boy, has decided to switch his career path, and is fearful of his father's reaction. Together, the family celebrates the Stroll, reuniting with old friends and lovers on the tree-lit Main Street. But the holiday cheer is soon overshadowed by the stress of the season as secrets are revealed and emotions run high. Champagne flows and Christmas-themed canapes are enjoyed as the Parsons family come together on the night of the party, proving that family and the power of love can make any season bright.
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Grim Tidings
by B. K. Borison
When a runaway grim reaper tries to save a life, she clashes with a skeptical Guardian, forcing them to form an unlikely partnership beyond the grave. Darcy Moore is tired of death. Which would be fine and good ... if she wasn't a Grim Reaper. Determined to outrun her designation as the villain, Darcy decides she won't be dragging her next assignment to the underworld. She'll be saving him instead. Unfortunately for Darcy, there's a complication in her plan. Guardian Angel Gabriel Aetos doesn't tolerate threats to his little corner of the world, and a Grim Reaper showing up at his bar is as deadly as it gets. But when he realizes Darcy is not as she seems, Gabriel must decide if he can trust his growing feelings or hold on to his long-standing grudge. But magic doesn't come without consequences. And the Department of Hauntings & Spirits will eventually come calling for their missing Reaper.
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Doomsdate
by Laura Piper Lee
With a new virus spreading and a lockdown on the horizon, Maisie Bennett is determined to check one item off her bucket list: Get laid. But that's no easy feat for an anxious doomsday prepper who's never made it past a first date. So when a handsome, stubbly-jawed professor swipes right and agrees to meet up, Maisie vows to act normal--and to leave her taser at home. Dr. Everett Greer has lost all lust for life after a personal tragedy, but he doesn't have the heart to stand up the poor woman his best friend catfished to force him back out there. Maisie turns out to be surprisingly lovely, but there's something off about her, too, with her clinking cargo pockets, shy smile, and utility belt full of--are those weapons? Unfortunately, their awkward first date goes from bad to doomed when the GI virus that's trapped half of America in the bathroom starts claiming its first casualties, then reanimates them into flesh-eating zombies. And this is precisely why Everett doesn't date anymore. As the country spins out of control, Maisie and Everett find themselves an unlikely team of two--well, three, if you count Everett's cat, Chicken--as they travel north to hopeful safety. Along the way, Maisie and Everett make a deal: she'll teach the soft, liberal arts professor how to survive, and he'll teach her how to live--through movies, travel, and, to Maisie's delight, sex lessons. But when their growing feelings are put to the test, they're in danger of losing not only their brains to the zombies, but worse, their hearts to each other.
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Happily Ever Afterlife
by Emma R. Alban
Frannie's awful boss, celebrated literary novelist Henry L. Olsen, just told her that her latest manuscript is a dud--again. Frustrated and lonely, Frannie stomps around the ninth floor of the famously haunted Dakota Building in Manhattan, desperate for change. And then Bridgette, the ghost of a little girl, appears and asks Frannie to play catch. Shocked, Frannie agrees and soon meets Bridgette's ghost brother, Michael...and the children's exceedingly attractive and aloof ghost mom, Elsa. Fascinated and more than a little flustered, Frannie starts writing a book about Elsa (a.k.a. Hot Ghost Mom). While her boss is on a book tour, Frannie and Elsa slowly become friends, which blossoms into something more. To stay with Elsa and the kids, Frannie has to either give up her ambitions of becoming a novelist or somehow free her ghost family from their immortal home. Can Frannie find a way towrite them all a happily-ever-after...life?
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