Blake, Ashley Herring. Dream On, Ramona Riley. Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593815991. pbk. 416p. $19. LGBTQIA+ ROMANCE

The bestselling author of Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date returns with a small-town romance featuring Ramona Riley, whose dreams have been shelved, and nepo baby Dylan Monroe. They once kissed, but that was years ago. Now, Dylan is back in their hometown to film the big-budget rom-com in which she’s starring. Dylan is also hoping to prove that she can still relate to “regular folks,” so she reconnects with Ramona.

Center, Katherine. The Love Haters. St. Martin’s. May 2025. ISBN 9781250283825. 320p. $29. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Center (The Rom-Commers) offers a new rom-com where Janie pretends to be the girlfriend of one brother to line up a career-making gig profiling the other, Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson. She ends up falling for Hutch, but he thinks that she’s the one woman he can’t touch.

Chu, Lily. Drop Dead. Sourcebooks Casablanca. May 2025. ISBN 9781728291024. pbk. 384p. $17.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Chu (The Takedown) offers a workplace romance in which rival journalists Nadine Barbault and Wesley Chen are forced to collaborate to discover the secrets of a famous and reclusive author. They are given three weeks of access to her estate, to sift through someone else’s lifetime. Maybe the project will highlight what life has to offer them.

DeWitt, Tarah. Left of Forever. St. Martin’s Griffin. May 2025. ISBN 9781250329448. pbk. 336p. $18. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

DeWitt, bestselling author of Savor It, writes a second-chance romance. The divorced Wren and Ellis Byrd live in the same town but lead separate lives. When their son moves into his dorm freshman year, they both drop him off and then drive home together along California’s coastline, giving them one more chance to reconnect.

Fortune, Carley. One Golden Summer. Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593638910. pbk. 336p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestseller Fortune (This Summer Will Be Different) returns with a lake-set summer romance in which photographer Alice and Charlie, a shameless flirt, connect over balmy nights and long summer days, seeing each other and beginning to see a future together.

Gillam, Bianca. Bad Publicity. Penguin Bks. May 2025. ISBN 9780143138600. pbk. 336p. $18. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Gillam debuts with an enemies-to-lovers rom-com that also deploys the second-chance trope. Andie, a book publicist, is assigned to work with Jack, who’s her biggest author but is also the guy who ruined her life while they were in school. They will have to go on tour together, across Europe’s most romantic stops.

Kanter, Marisa. Friends with Benefits. Celadon. May 2025. ISBN 9781250358899. pbk. 384p. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

YA author Kanter (Finally Fitz) moves to adult rom-coms with this marriage-of-convenience story featuring lifelong best friends Evie Bloom and Theo Cohen. If they marry, Evie gets health insurance, and Theo gets livable rent in Los Angeles. But Evie really doesn’t want to get married, while Theo has always been a little bit in love with her. Yearning and change come with the I-do’s.

Keeland, Vi. Jilted. Bramble. May 2025. ISBN 9781250359858. pbk. 272p. $19.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Keeland’s newest is a slow-burn workplace rom-com featuring a wedding reporter who has hated weddings ever since her own fiancé abandoned her at the altar. At one particularly terrible wedding, she ends up in the coat closet with Wider Hayes, only to later discover that they will be working together. He is her boss’s son, and she has to cover every new wedding with him.

Matthews, Mimi. Rules for Ruin. (Crinoline Academy, bk. 1). Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593639290. pbk. 400p. $19. HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Matthews (“Belles of London”) begins a new series featuring the women of the Academy, who work to bring down the patriarchy of Victorian England. No one is allowed to betray the Academy once they’ve joined it. Miss Euphemia Flite is a key (if bitter) member who has been ordered to bring down a viscount, in exchange for her freedom from the Academy. Only bookie Gabriel Royce stands in her way.

Solomon, Rachel Lynn. What Happens in Amsterdam. Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593548554. pbk. 384p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Solomon (Business or Pleasure) offers a steamy, marriage-of-convenience rom-com set in Amsterdam, where Dani Dorfman has relocated. When she crashes her bike into her high school ex-boyfriend, Wouter van Leeuwen, sparks reignite. In order for Wouter to inherit a family legacy and for Dani to stay in the country, they decide to marry, discovering unexpected delights.

Soltani, Simone. Ride with Me. (Lights Out, bk. 2). Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593818169. pbk. 400p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Soltani (Cross the Line) offers her second Formula 1 romance, in which a marriage of convenience begins during a fling in Vegas and ends up with rings on fingers and something a bit different than regret. What if bride (Stella Baldwin, feeling a bit battered by life) and groom (race car driver Thomas Maxwell-Brown, who needs a break) have actually, accidentally found the perfect match?

Forthcoming Series Titles

Asher, Lauren. Love Arranged. (Lakefront Billionaires, bk. 3). Bloom. May 2025. ISBN 9781728292151. NAp. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Daria, Alexis. Along Came Amor. (Primas of Power, bk. 3). Avon. May 2025. ISBN 9780062960009. pbk. 512p. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Feehan, Christine. Thunder Game. (GhostWalker, bk. 20). Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593819630. 432p. $29. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Robert, Katee. Rebel in the Deep. (Crimson Sails, bk. 3). Berkley. May 2025. ISBN 9780593639122. pbk. 352p. $19. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Ryan, Kennedy. Can’t Get Enough. (Skyland, bk. 3). Forever. May 2025. ISBN 9781538706855. pbk. 448p. $17.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE