It’s another Ali Hazelwood win in my book. Maybe even a new favorite!

When I picked up Ivy Fairbanks’s debut novel, Morbidly Yours, late last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It did not disappoint.

This book surprised the heck out of me.

After reading Love, Theoretically back in 2023 (and loving it, I should add), I thought Ali Hazelwood had crossed my threshold for steam in her books.

You’ve heard of the forbidden love trope. Sometimes it feels a bit tired and overdone, but I’m not sure I’ve ever quite read it like this.

Here’s the deal. I loved this book, but, and it’s a big one, I kind of had to tell myself that I was not reading an Emily Henry title.

Ellie Palmer is quickly becoming one of my favorite rom-com authors. Four Weekends and a Funeral was one of my favorite books last year, and I have a feeling Anywhere With You will be one this year.

As part of the “improbable meet cute” series of short stories, this one definitely met the description “improbable,” but I didn’t care one bit.

This is a short and sweet pick-me-up. I really enjoyed it. It was funny and cute.

Florence and Jude spend summers in Michigan at Harbor Arts Camp. Every year on the last night, the "HAC"ers find someone at the bonfire to hang out with until sunrise.

Eliza is a widow and she’s not even thirty yet. Her late husband has left her a fortune, but there’s a catch—a morality clause that means she can do nothing untoward. It’s a good thing that the new Earl of Somerset is her childhood love (is there any chance for them after how they left things a decade ago?) and he’s the one controlling those purse strings.

Ellis and Wren grew up together and had their son, Sam, as teens. A decade later, their marriage fell apart. Now in their 30s, they still can’t keep their minds off each other. A summer road trip to drop Sam at college is an opportunity to see whether forever might still be possible.

Katherine Center always brings the most joy-filled, zippy rom-coms that make me grin and swoon a little. This was no exception. Katie is asked to film a promo video for the US Coast Guard with her work superior's brother, rescue swimmer "Hutch" Hutcheson.

I love it when a book surprises me, not because it had twists and turns I didn't expect (although I'll take that, too), but when I went in without high expectations and they are exceeded. I read Jilly Gagnon's rom-com of 2024, Love You, Mean It, and I had a good time with it, but there were a few parts of it that just didn't work well for me. It was a solid read, but I didn't find myself immediately wanting to read everything by this author.

Xavier is a veterinarian. He’s known for a gruff bedside manner, but he’s also very good at his job. When Samantha comes in with a kitten who has a life-threatening condition, he gives it to her straight; and she serves it right back.

Margot is a famous romance writer, but after several bad experiences with men, she’s started “screaming into her pillow” by writing alternate endings to each of her books in a secret file called Happily Never After.

Elliott is in Omaha for a stem cell transplant. The night before her surgery, her best friend encourages her to get out and live a little. In so doing, she meets Jamie. He’s been stood up on a date and they immediately hit it off. He takes her to the baking lesson he’s booked for the night and they spend hours laughing and talking.

Since her best friend died of cancer six months ago, Lenny has been taking temporary nanny jobs–a weekend here or there because that’s the limit to how long she can “hold it together.”

This book was so much fun. It had some twists and turns with clues along the way. I try to be along for the ride with this type of book, but I couldn’t help but make some predictions. I wasn’t completely caught off guard by the ending, but I was surprised enough that I’m eagerly awaiting the second book in the series.

Meghan Davis has done it again, making unsuspecting victims of her readers, fooling us with a campy vampire cover and description, and punching us in the gut with the full spectrum of human emotion.

This was an interesting take on a second-chance. While I wouldn't categorize it as strictly romance, more contemporary fiction, it centers on Charlie and Vivian now in their sixties, who were married forty years ago.