Baird, Ginny. Christmas Eve Love Story. Sourcebooks. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781728276946. pbk. 416p. $16.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Baird (The Holiday Mix-Up) offers a low-heat Christmas romance that the publisher is calling “Groundhog Day meets Miracle on 34th Street.” Annie Jones, a window designer, must repeat Christmas Eve until she discovers love and family. Helping her are Santa and Braden Tate, who has long admired all things Annie.

Blake, Ashley Herring. Make the Season Bright. Berkley. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780593550595. pbk. 400p. $19. LGBTQIA+ ROMANCE

Bestselling author and LJ Best Book author Blake (Delilah Green Doesn’t Care) offers a sapphic Christmas story featuring two exes. Five years ago, Brighton abandoned her fiancée Charlotte at the altar. Both musicians have since gone their own ways, until separate invitations to the same cozy Colorado house bring them together again.

Elliot, Amanda. Love You a Latke. Berkley. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780593815830. pbk. 368p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Elliot (Best Served Hot), who also writes books for teens and children under the name Amanda Panitch, sets this Hanukkah romance in Vermont and Manhattan, where Abby and Seth agree to fake-date so his parents will stop bugging him and she can get help planning her town’s Hanukkah festival. Over bakery treats and snowfalls, they find more than they expect.

Gilliland, Raquel Vasquez. Lightning in Her Hands. Berkley. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780593548592. pbk. 320p. $19. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Pura Belpré Award winner Gilliland hit the bestseller list with her debut adult novel, Witch of Wild Things. She returns with a fake-marriage story featuring Teal Flores, who can control the weather and needs to find her long-lost mother, and Carter Velasquez, who needs to get married by age 30 to gain his inheritance.

Greenlaw, Rachel. The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells. Avon. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780063378254. pbk. 320p. $18.99. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Greenlaw (One Christmas Morning), who also writes YA romantasy, adds a dash of magic to this contemporary, set in a small mountain town. It is there that Carrie Morgan returns to the magical legacy of her family. Love and mystery and a man named Matthieu await her. With a 100K-copy first printing.

Janovsky, Timothy. The Merriest Misters. St. Martin’s Griffin. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781250338938. pbk. 320p. $18. LGBTQIA+ ROMANCE

Janovsky (You’re A Mean One, Matthew Prince) offers a queer yuletide romance. Patrick and Quinn have been married less than a year, and all is not well. When Patrick accidentally hits Santa, the couple must save Christmas—and take on the roles of Santa and Merriest Mister for much longer than one night.

Juniper, Josie. Double Apex. (Frontrunners, Bk. 1). Forever. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781538768976. pbk. 368p. $17.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Juniper moves to a big publisher and gets a 75K-copy first printing for this sports romance series opener, set in the world of Formula 1 racing. Phaedra Morgan is a top engineer on the circuit; Cosmin Ardelean is the new driver on the team. The two develop a secret relationship that becomes as hot as any race.

Roberts, Sheila. The Merry Matchmaker. MIRA. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780778369608. pbk. 368p. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Roberts is building a brand with holiday novels such as The Twelve Months of Christmas. Her newest Christmas-set story is inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma and features 50-year-old widow Frankie, who has a whole list of people she knows what is best for. Then there is Mitch, perhaps the most-in-need of Frankie.

Stein, Charlotte. How To Help a Hungry Werewolf. St. Martin’s Griffin. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781250352330. pbk. 368p. $18. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

LibraryReads pick Stein (When Grumpy Met Sunshine) pens a werewolf/witch romance. Cassandra returns home to her small town in order to sort through her grandmother’s affairs, only to run into Seth, her best friend–turned–nemesis. It turns out that Seth is a werewolf. What follows is a mating bond, magic, and more werewolves.

Thayne, RaeAnne. The December Market. Canary Street. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781335929358. pbk. 304p. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Neither Amanda Taylor nor Rafe Arredondo particularly wants to be in each other’s company, but when her grandmother and his grandfather start to date and their lives become intertwined, they find love and forgiveness during the holiday season. This second-chances story gets bestselling Thayne (A Beach House Beginning) a 150K-copy first printing.

War, Pyae Moe Thet. I Did Something Bad. St. Martin’s Griffin. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781250330512. pbk. 336p. $18. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

War’s fiction debut (after the essay collection You’ve Changed) is a high-stakes adventure rom-com about Tyler Tun, a Hollywood star who returns home to Myanmar to film a movie and Khin Hlaing, a freelance journalist assigned by Vogue to get the scoop on Tyler. After Khin is attacked, there’s a lot more at stake than an interview. With a 75K-copy first printing.

Wiesner, Melissa. Wish I Were Here. Forever. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781538741948. pbk. 352p. $17.99. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Wiesner (The Second Chance Year) offers a slightly speculative rom-com. College professor Catherine lives an ordered life, until that life seems to vanish—even the Social Security Administration says she is not real. She turns to her doorman, the charming Luca, for help, and the two launch an investigation that might remake her life.

Wilkens, Colby. If I Stopped Haunting You. St. Martin’s Griffin. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781250292902. pbk. 320p. $18. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Wilkens debuts with a 75K-copy first printing for an enemies-to-lovers romp set in a haunted Scottish castle. Penelope and Neil are authors with a shared history. They find themselves at the same writer’s retreat that’s filled with pursuing ghosts and discover a lot more than enmity.

Forthcoming Series Titles

Long, Julie Anne. The Beast Takes a Bride. (The Palace of Rogues, Bk. 8). Avon. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780063281172. pbk. 384p. $9.99. HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Martin, Celestine. Deja Brew. (Elemental Love, Bk. 3). Forever. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781538754450. pbk. 352p. $17.99. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Ryan, Reese. The Soulmate Project. (Holly Grove Island, Bk. 3). Forever. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9781538734506. pbk. 320p. $9.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE