2026 Smart Romance Preview

The books I'm most looking forward to this year

A few reminders before we get into it today:

• Smart Romance Book Club will be February 19th, with a virtual discussion to follow the next week. We will be discussing Kate Goldbeck’s Daddy Issues, a book that deeply satisfied my need for flawed male heroes and conflicts that feel genuinely earned. Two weeks ago I named Kate’s debut, You, Again (currently $4.99 on Kindle!), among my favorite reads of 2025 and may have liked Daddy Issues even more. A reminder: this book club is free for all to join. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

• Craft Book Club will be March 4th, in the comments of a paywalled post and we’ll be discussing Jessica Joyce’s The Ex Vows (hoping the backlist pick makes this accessible for folks!). For newer subscribers: Craft Book Club is a perk of paid membership to Smart Romance. It’s a forum for readers who want to dive into the craft of romance—what’s working on the page, what isn’t, and why. If that sounds like you, you can join at a substantial discount here and jump into what’s always a lively, thoughtful discussion.

PS: This edition of Smart Romance was too long for email, so for those of you reading in your inbox you may have to click over to Substack to read the full version! Apologies!

Onwards!

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There are so many books coming out this year that have piqued my interest. It’s a hopeless task to catalogue them all, but I wanted to make an attempt at it. I couldn’t lay hands on ARCs for all of the below titles, so I’ve actually held off on reading even those I do have access to (barring two titles) for consistency’s sake.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about putting together this list was what it illuminated about my own taste. There’s no one connective thread here, but it seems what I’m most drawn to is (1) books that push the boundaries of what romance can be (2) books with love stories at their heart but something broader to say about life or society (3) craft excellence and (4) freshness.

If any of these novels appeal, you don’t need me to tell you how much pre-orders matter to authors, especially to those romance authors writing slightly outside the center of the genre. If pre-orders simply aren’t in the budget, consider requesting your library orders a copy and adding the book to your Goodreads list! Both help!

In an appeal to brevity, I’ve largely forgone full plot summaries in lieu of my thoughts about what specifically intrigued me about the books, but I’ve linked listings for each with more details. And, finally, a note that I’m almost certain I’ve forgotten titles so keep me honest and chime in with your own picks in the comments!

Debuts:

Haili Blassingame’s debut novel, They All Fall in Love at the End (June 2nd), exudes freshness — a polyamorous heroine, a bi-sexual love triangle and the title all but promises an affecting love story with a satisfying ending. All of this, set against the backdrop of the 2024 election and told with literary elan. The blurb offers comps to Lily King and Coco Mellors (!). One of my most anticipated. Also, if you’re not reading Haili Blassingame’s Substack, this essay on the dearth of literary romances is a great place to start.

Lavanya Lakshmi’s debut, Leave and Come Back (June 16th), sets its affecting and amusing love story in the midst of a chaotic, vibrant two week Indian wedding. The description hints at a sprawling ensemble of well drawn characters and a story that delivers musings about family, love and grief along with plenty of hijinks. Both Regina Black and Jessica Joyce are raving about this one (I cannot wait to dive into my galley!).

Kallie Emblidge’s debut, Two Left Feet (out now!), is one of the two books in this preview I have read, as Kallie is February’s Love Letter Author. Kallie’s M/M soccer (really, football) rivals to lovers romance set in London is the absolute best prescription I have for anyone suffering from Heated Rivalry fever. Kallie writes with a rhythmic and sonic awareness that is rare in romance land, and rarer still among debuts. Her London setting is so vibrant and alive, that it’s transporting. And I’m hard pressed to tell you which dynamic between her male leads I found more compelling - their athletic camaraderie or their descent into romance. It is one of the best debuts I’ve read in quite some time and will, almost certainly, make it onto my favorite books of the year list. I convinced some of my favorite bookstagrammers to read it as well (shoutouts to Next Chapter Kate and Seth) and their positive feedback makes me more confident in my lush praise here. Pick it up and then come back next month to hear from Kallie herself.

Anna McCallie’s debut, Abby Offsides (June 25th), is another London set soccer/football adjacent book, though this one is about an American woman who moves to London in order to flee a breakup, ending up working for a British soccer club and falling for its Scottish star. What drew me in here initially was the author’s unique background, Anna studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history at Harvard before attending the Fletcher School at Tufts, eventually spending eight years in the tech industry. I’m intrigued to see how her education and experience manifest on the page and my interest was further piqued when I saw that the book is one of Jenna Bush Hager’s first releases from her new imprint, 1,000 voices (another of which was last year’s sensation, Conform). The blurb and comps suggest that this one will be more trope forward and light hearted than Kallie’s debut but I’m excited to pick it up come summer!

Speaking of more lighthearted novels, Hannah Brohm’s STEM rivals to lovers debut, Love and Other Brain Experiments (February 3rd!), is the other book in this preview which I have had the pleasure of reading, because Hannah will be March’s Love Letter columnist (!!!). This book takes so many familiar elements (fake dating, academic STEM setting, rivals to lovers) and manages to deliver a story that’s far greater than the sum of its parts, leaving me in tears at its end. I also admired the way Hannah manages to illuminate the rampant sexism and undue pressures of the academic setting in a way that bolsters rather than detracts from the romance. This one is fun and has been, rightly I think, comped to some of Ali Hazelwood’s work. I’m excited to hear from Hannah in March!

Rioghnach Robinson’s, Bad Words (October 6th) is perhaps one of the most hyped releases of the year, with people (myself included) fighting for galleys, January launch events despite the fall release date and a prominent (and rare!) Emily Henry blurb. The author’s Instagram presence, a funny and unedited mix of classical music, copy editing and math jokes, suggests a keen intelligence that also appears in the description of the book, which alludes to a broader commentary on art, ambition and the creative life in addition to a deeply felt romance. In reading the press coverage of the novel, I’m reminded of the Hamilton quote, “I’m looking for a mind at work,” which I think is perhaps the best summative line I can offer when trying to describe my own taste. If this book lives up to its promise, it will top many best of lists this year, likely mine included.

Rachel Pologe’s Now that We Don’t Talk (October 20th), promises a second chance, enemies to lovers story which unfolds during Hanukkah. Rachel’s comedic and insightful Instagram content has left me convinced that her debut will sparkle with humor all while breaking your heart and putting it back together again. I’m of the mind we need as many stories of Jewish joy as we can find now, more than ever and am excited to kick off the holiday reading season with this one. Can’t wait for the cover reveal!

Sabina Nordqvist’s debut, It’s All in Your Head (February 10th), offers that oh-so-rare creature, a vulnerable male main character who is far from the idealized specimen that so dominates the genre as of late. Though we’ve seen many disabled heroines among the pages of our books, I’ve not (to date) seen a disabled hero and Sabina serves one up, along with a story that plumbs the themes of grief, vulnerability, and how masculinity can survive a change in physical identity. In her author PR, Sabina echoes a theme that I’ve seen come up in Heated Rivalry press as well, the idea that certain characters have been denied authentically complex happy endings in fiction — either we get an unconvincingly saccharine ending that doesn’t do justice to the characters’ legitimate struggles or we get sadness and brokenness. I’m excited to see more nuanced characters chart their way into the nuanced endings they deserve and think Sabina is doing something necessary and exciting with this release. I’ve read the first few chapters but cannot wait to dive in now that I’m “allowed” to!

Kate Eberle’s debut, If Books Could Kill (July 24th), is the lone speculative book on this list. Normally, I much prefer to read books that derive their tension and conceit from the world at hand, but I will admit the deal announcement for this book was so incredible, I immediately added the book to my TBR. And talk about a high concept premise! Our heroine cheekily comments that she wishes she could live inside a romantic comedy, only to find herself thrust into the midst of a thriller instead. I’m intrigued!

Laura Vogt’s In the Great Quiet (April 1st), offers a radical departure from romance genre norms, taking its reader to the Oklahoma land rush of 1893 in a story based on the author’s great-great-grandparents. The setting provides stakes, an outlaw hero and a sweeping, atmospheric story. The blurb (and cover, perhaps?) also suggests a deftness of prose that I find irresistibly compelling. I’m excited for this one and glad I stumbled across the author’s Instagram. I have the ARC and am excited to dig in and report back!

And last, but certainly not least, of anticipated debuts is Andrew Forrester’s How the Story Goes (May 5th). The participation of straight male authors in the romance genre is a new trend but one I’m cautiously optimistic about (Jeff Zentner’s Colton Gentry’s Third Act and Matthew Norman’s Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon were among my favorite reads last year). How the Story Goes also fulfills a need I hear voiced often among Smart Romancers, which is, the existence of more mature love stories and protagonists. Andrew’s hero is a widowed father of an eight year old who teams up with an MFA dropout to finish his late wife’s mystery series and, of course, ends up falling in love (though not without a third act twist!). I read the first chapter of this one before reluctantly putting it aside due to this preview and I’m dying to get back to it. Andrew’s voice is comedic and fresh and one that can absolutely carry a book.

Sophomore Releases:

Most of these authors I’ve covered before so I’ll keep the writeups here shorter and direct you to my prior coverage as well. A note that while all authors need our support, second books are often known to be a particularly Herculean task to bring out into the world. You’re no longer the debutante of the ball but not quite an established presence. If any of these intrigue, please take the time to champion their release!

Lauren Okie’s Tropesick (June 16th) is one of my most anticipated of the year (even despite the lightly speculative angle!). The compelling characters, complex themes and literary leaning prose of Lauren’s debut cemented her as an auto-buy author for me and in her sophomore effort, I’m excited to see her focus shifting from a damaged heroine in her debut (a woman struggling with the twin demons of infertility and infidelity) to a more damaged hero (a man struggling with addiction, now nine years sober). The Hamptons setting, the subversion of tropes by using the idea that they all come true as a plot element, and the second chance timeline add additional layers of appeal. While you wait for this one, be sure to check out Lauren’s debut, The Best Worst Thing (available on KU!) and her Love Letter column.

Ana Holguin - Author’s Second Chance Duet (March 10th) offers a look at a less explored milieu, that of music composition and television production. Here the setting delivers a swoony, slow burn romance in which our heroine gets a second chance, not only at love, but at the career of her dreams. Holguin’s excellent debut offered thoughtful commentary about parasocial relationships and a look at mature love, I’m excited to see what perspective her sophomore effort offers! Prior coverage here (Love Letter).

Kate Hash’s The Mother-in-Law Book Club (October 13th) appears to bring more of her signature women’s fiction meets romance style. Kate’s debut demonstrated the magic of centering a romance around a female character with substantive life experience (in the case of Gracie Harris, the sudden loss of a beloved husband) and her sophomore effort promises the same as it chronicles a soon-to-be divorcee finding love for the second time.

Heather McBreen’s Sunk in Love was out this week and she was January’s Love Letter columnist as well (here, in case you missed it!). I won’t retread all of my prior coverage, save to say that, half way through the novel, I can firmly say that second chance romance between a married couple has officially cemented itself as one of my new favorite tropes. Absolutely worth picking up, as is her debut, last year’s comedic and swoony Wedding Dashers.

The galleys for Claire Daverley’s People in Love (June 4th) have been trickling out and I’m absolutely green eyed with jealousy of those lucky enough to score one. Her debut, Talking at Night was one of my favorite reads of last year, with spare, affecting prose and a love story so painfully slow to unfold you were positively feral for the so very deserved happy ending. People in Love promises another literary leaning love story decades in the making as our hero shows up at our heroine’s engagement party, bringing with him the memories of a love that almost was years ago. I’ll be waiting patiently, for the book and for these characters to also get their happy ending. I believe this one has US rights, though the listing doesn’t make that abundantly clear.

Speaking of US rights, I’m hopeful that if I keep covering her, Anna Carey will eventually get US rights as well. Her debut, Our Song, was on my list of 2025 favorites and her sophomore novel, Love Scene, promises more of the same magic. Some PR coverage calls Anna “Ireland’s Emily Henry” and while the nod to her talent is absolutely deserved, I find Anna’s voice to be slightly less lyrically romantic and sharper and more realistic instead. In some ways, it makes her stories something less to observe and more to inhabit. In any case, rights or not, the novel is worth seeking out, though if the publishing gods are listening - US distribution please and thank you!

Jeff Zentner’s Love Like Apples (November 3rd) is going to be one where I’ll be shamelessly begging for an ARC. His lyrical prose coupled with the strong sense of setting made his adult debut Colton Gentry’s Third Act an excellent read (and lent itself to an excellent Book Club Discussion). Love Like Apples offers a materially more complex premise (1970’s NYC in the shadow of the Vietnam War and a burgeoning PBS) that sounds electrifying and profoundly distinct. I absolutely cannot wait.

Robinne Lee’s long awaited sophomore effort, Crash Into Me (July 7th) is also (finally!) out this year and seems to be a love triangle between a photographer’s husband and a former love who literally arrives back in her life via a car accident. I’m hopeful (perhaps wrongly so!) that this novel from Robinne will deliver a happy ending, rather than leaving me in tears as did The Idea of You (if you somehow missed this one, it’s available on KU!).

Katie Naymon’s In Every Future, it’s Us belongs on this list as well, but with a December (I believe?) release date, information beyond the deal announcement is scarce, so I’ll call it out for now and we’ll surely return to it later this year!

Another I missed and am adding in edits is ava wilder’s Love Notes which also belongs on this list, but does not appear to be up on Amazon or the publisher’s website yet, likely given its late year release date. It’s pitched as a You’ve Got Mail with a musical twist and offers a second chance romance and Ava’s first (I think?) foray outside of the world of fame and celebrity that she has spent the last few books so deftly exploring. Ava is an auto-buy author for me and, if you haven’t read it, her excellent debut is on sale for $5.99 on Kindle right now (How to Fake it in Hollywood).

Established Authors:

Keeping this even more brief as most of these are names you’ll know and recognize.

831 Stories has a slew of releases slated for this year, each one more tantalizing than the next. Already out is Cat DiSabato’s excellent sapphic WNBA romance, Rooting Interest. Other titles include:

• Found Time, a second chance romance featuring two single parents

• Major Gift, a sly inversion of the billionaire romance in which the female lead is a tech mogul’s widow tasked with giving away his wealth

• Down to Earth, a queer love story by Julia Turshen of cookbook fame (!!!!)

• Double Standard, a celebrity fake dating romance

• Self Indulgence, the third book from the always excellent Zan Romanoff in the Big Fan universe, this one featuring a Mischief band member!

Annabel Monaghan’s Dolly All The Time (May 26th) takes Monaghan back to her roots, writing an older female heroine who finds herself, as a single mom, fake dating a billionaire while she navigates the realities of a life centered around caretaking.

Susan Elizabeth Philips’ And the Crowd Went Wild (February 10th). At some point this year, we’ll resume the Romance 101 series (prior iterations here and here) and talk about SEP’s substantive contributions to the genre. But for now, I’ll just rejoice that we’re getting a new release in the Chicago Stars series this year!

Sara Goodman Confino’s Off the Record (June 9th). As someone sitting on a Cuban Missile Crisis romance idea myself, I am thrilled to see more mid-century romances being published. And this one from Confino, featuring a newspaper reporter and a Cold War secret, sounds both fresh, thrilling and high stakes. I cannot wait!

Kennedy Ryan’s Score (May 19) brings us her second book in the Hollywood Renaissance series (the first, Reel, was phenomenal). This time we’re delving into the second chance love story of between a screenwriter and a musician as they work side by side on a Harlem Renaissance biopic.

Tarah DeWitt’s final Spunes novel Lost and Found (August 4th) wades into territory that is almost certainly going to break our hearts — a heroine facing motherhood via her late best friend’s eggs. Tarah’s lyrical prose coupled with her ability to find the sharpest edge of every character makes this a book I’m eagerly anticipating. The prior installments of the Spunes trilogy are available on KU here and here.

Cara Bastone’s No Matter What (March 3rd) features a storyline I’d love to see more of - a couple clawing their way back to one another, this time in the aftermath of a life altering accident.

Tia Williams’s The Missed Connection (June 16th) offers a tantalizing premise (a chance encounter with a handsome airplane seat mate) told in Tia’s arresting and lyrical voice. An auto-buy author for me forever and ever. If you missed it, this Smart Romance column explores her beautiful prose.

Am I the only one still reading Emily Griffin these days? Perhaps I’m showing my age, but her particular brand of women’s fiction + romance is one I always enjoy and I was thrilled to see we were getting a release this year in the form of Love You More (July 7th). In this novel, Emily explores what happens when the siren song of first love arrives admits an otherwise well ordered life, do you answer? If you haven’t read her before, there’s not a bad book in the bunch, including her breakout debut Something Borrowed but I particularly enjoyed her JFK Jr. / Carolyn Besette retelling from 2022, Meant to Be.

And finally! THE Nora Roberts has a new thriller, the Final Target, out May 26th. Does La Nora do ARCS? Is she on NetGalley? I’m most certainly going to try to find out. I’ll read anything she writes, but this year’s novel features an up and coming author in danger from a rabid fan. Catnip!

Non-Romance:

There was one non-romance read I’m so anticipating that I couldn’t leave it off this list, despite being outside of my core coverage and that is Olivia Muenter’s Little One (out next week) which follows her 2024 debut, Such a Bad Influence. Little One offers the propulsive pacing of a thriller, the social commentary on wellness culture of a thought piece and the beautifully constructed prose of literary fiction. I pre-ordered four copies and have already convinced my Mom’s book club to read it in March.

Phew! Next year I’ll consider breaking this into a first and second half preview so it’s not quite so long, but I hope I introduced you to some reads not already on your radar!

Please sound off in the comments with anything else you’re looking forward to!