12 Bookish Contemporary Romances To Check Out

by Jasmine Guillory

In this reimagining of the Beauty and the Beast fable, a young, Black woman working in publishing makes a surprise connection with an author who has failed to deliver his highly anticipated manuscript.

by Rachel Lacey

When she discovers that romance author Brie, the woman she's fallen in love with online, is responsible for terminating her bookstore's lease, Rosie Taft closes her heart to love until Brie writes her way to a happy ending.

by Kelsey Rodkey

Nothing will stop Madeline from taking over her family’s independent bookstore after college—until a chain bookstore opens across the street and threatens to shut them down. The guy who works there seems intent on ruining her life. Not only is he taking her customers, he has the unbelievable audacity to be…extremely cute. But he's the enemy and he will be destroyed. After all—all’s fair in love and (book) war.

by Ashley Poston

Rosie is feeling stuck—stuck in her small town, and stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he’s forced to hide out in Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read. When Vance’s and Rosie’s paths collide, sparks do not fly. But as they begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off.

by Freya Sampson

June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand. The kindhearted lawyer's feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won't believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way.

by Claire Kann

Alice's last girlfriend ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual. Now Alice is sure she's done with dating...and then she meets Takumi. She can't stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade romance feelings she did not ask for. When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge, Alice has to decide if she's willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

by Emily Henry

Nora Stephens's life is books and she lands enormous deals for her authors as a cutthroat literary agent. When she agrees to spend a month with her sister in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, she keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute except they've met many times and it's never been cute. As they're thrown together, what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Forced to reunite as they face crossroads in their personal and professional lives, authors Katrina and Nathan must work through the reasons they’ve hated each other for the past three years while writing a romantic novel that pushes them closer together in the Florida heat.

by Shauna Robinson

After five years working at Parson's Press, Nora is the last editorial assistant standing. But she can't leave until she finds another job. That's when Nora is forced to lie her way into moonlighting for a rival publisher...and maybe poaching a few authors along the way. But when Nora accidentally falls for Andrew Santos, an author Parsons Press can't afford to lose, she must decide where her loyalties lie.

by Melissa Ferguson

Savannah Cade has been secretly writing a romance while working as an editor at a highbrow publisher. After nearly exposing herself to the whole company, she hides the manuscript but when she returns for it, Savannah discovers that someone has written notes in the margins. As their notes back and forth start to fill up the pages, she finds this shadowy editor not just becoming pivotal to her work but her life. She’s falling for her mystery editor. If she only knew who he was.

by Sarah Jio

Inheriting a flat and bookshop in London from the mother who adandoned her, Valentina slowly begins to piece together her mother’s life while trying to save the bookshop from going under, with the help of its eccentric staff and some startling revelations.

by Lauren Kate

A successful romance editor is hired by a renowned but mysterious author to help cure a bout of writer’s block and makes a discovery that upends her world.