If your favorite romance novels feature heart-warming journeys home, protective cowboys, second chances, secret longing, beachside escapes and communities where everyone has an opinion about your love life, you've come to the right place. Curated by our indie publishing team, this collection of brings together some of the most irresistible small-town romance books today, featuring everything from forbidden relationships and lifelong yearning to rivals, redemption and laugh-out-loud rom-com chaos. Whether you love emotional slow burns or stories with plenty of sizzling heat, these books remind us why readers never seem to tire of falling in love in a town where everybody knows your name. Discover your next fictional hometown that you'll never want to leave.
North Country
by K. A. Tucker
From USA Today and international bestselling author of The Simple Wild comes a sweeping second-chance, forbidden romance set against the rugged beauty of northern Ontario.
Emery McAllister once dreamed of leaving Cold River with the boy next door, but one devastating night destroyed their future and left her heart carefully guarded. Twenty years later, she's built a life of control: running the town's police detachment, raising her daughter and keeping a fragile peace with her ex-husband, the mayor.
She's certain she has moved on until the day she has dreaded-and secretly hoped for-finally arrives.
Logan Landry is home.
After two decades behind bars for being in the wrong place at the wrong time-and the choices that haunted him ever since-Logan returns to his family's bison ranch carrying the weight of everything he lost, but especially Emery. Friendship is all he dares hope for now, but seeing her ignites a fire he thought long extinguished.
When a teenage girl disappears and old wounds reopen, Logan becomes Cold River's favorite suspect, despite his airtight alibi. As distrust closes in, Emery must choose between the life she's built ... and the love she can't let go.
You've Got Hate Mail: A Viral Sensation Romance
by Pippa Grant
From USA Today and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author Pippa Grant comes a funny, heartwarming, swoony romance perfect for readers who love protective book boyfriends, found sisterhoods, slow burns, epically awkward meet-cutes and love conquering all.
A funny romance perfect for readers who love protective book boyfriends, slow burns and epically awkward meet-cutes.
I should've worn underwear that day.
I'd have far less hate mail in my inbox. I'd also still have a job.
But I didn't wear underwear. And I had a wardrobe malfunction on a livestream.
So now I'm the proud owner of the internet's most famous ... you know.
The good news? I've been invited to hide from my sudden infamy at a closed winery with other women who've suffered their own five minutes of shame.
The bad news? The winery has a live-in handyman.
A competent, compassionate, patient, sexy, single dad handyman.
Whom I met when I punched him in the face.
Accidentally, of course. But I still get why he's happy keeping his distance from me.
But when we find out the winery that's saving my life is in danger of foreclosure, he and I become accidental partners.
No big deal, working with a guy that I'm falling harder for each day.
I'm already the internet's favorite punching bag. Why not add an unrequited crush to my life?
But what if it's not unrequited after all?
Content Note: This book contains toxic family and references to bullying, suicide, abuse and the off-page cancer death of the hero's first wife several years before the story begins.
Small Town Smokeshow
by Holly Renee
From USA Today Bestselling Author, Holly Renee, comes the next installment of The Calloway Ranch Western romance Series.
Hunter Calloway is a small town smokeshow and the kind of man my father warned me about.
He's got a reputation a mile wide, a smile that could burn through any girl's good sense, and did I mention he's also the man my sister once loved and left behind? He strolls through town like he owns it, tips his hat with a promise in his eyes and slides those calloused hands across my bakery counter like they haven't been haunting my dreams for years. He's 6 feet of pure temptation wrapped in worn Wranglers, and every time I'm near him, it's like striking a match during a drought ...
Dangerous, inevitable and exactly what I shouldn't want. I try to convince myself I don't notice the way his gaze lingers or the way he says my name as if he's tasting it. But all my good intentions crumble to dust when we find ourselves alone under a sky full of stars with nothing but whiskey and want between us.
And it changes everything.
We promise each other we're just having fun, yet his fingertips brush across my skin when no one's watching, and we pretend we don't ache for each other in a room full of people who would never understand. Every kiss stays in the dark, every desire whispered like a secret and every touch brands me with guilt.
I know better than to fall for a cowboy like him. I know better than to want my sister's past. But when his eyes find mine, I forget every reason I've ever had to say no.
Every touch feels like a risk and every secret like a countdown. I'm lying to everyone, falling harder for a man who never promised me anything and wondering how much longer I can pretend I don't care whether I'm just another notch on his well-worn belt.
Because I'm in love with Hunter Calloway regardless of the cost.
One More Round
by Amber Palmer
Olivia Hart always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps to become the CEO of Hartstring Records, the massive record label that's been in her family for generations. Before he died, she vowed she'd do whatever it took to make that dream a reality, regardless of the personal cost.
Now, at 37, she's kept her promise. Only, instead of bringing her joy, she finds herself divorced and resenting her position at the top, forced to prioritize her career over her daughter, Charlie. The days are long and the nights are lonely. She finds herself longing for a fraction of the happiness her ex has found after their divorce. When Olivia gets an unexpected call from her brother that their uncle's health is failing, she seizes the opportunity to step away from the career that has become more of a chore and drops everything to head back to Tennessee and the charming little town she left behind.
It doesn't take long for Olivia to realize that not everything is the same as it was before she left. Especially not her brother's best friend.
Duke Bennett was carefree and vibrant the last time she saw him, but now his dark eyes are haunted by something that wasn't there before. He's brash, stubborn and adamantly against her being back in his life for any reason. Unfortunately, his daughter and Olivia's have become inseparable, so there's no avoiding each other. What starts as after-school playdates and Saturday morning soccer games reluctantly becomes more. Before she knows it, her brother's broody best friend becomes the one thing that makes her feel free for the first time in years, giving her hope for something she thought she'd never have.
As Olivia's time in Pinecrest comes to a close, she is faced with a decision that could wreck her heart either way. Does she walk away from Pinecrest and return to the dream she thought she always wanted, or will she realize that sometimes it's the legacy you choose that matters the most?
Fragile Hopes
by Lisina Coney
A spicy firefighter romance perfect for readers who love cozy small towns, age gaps and slow-burning tension!
After three years in the city, Ivy Farnsworth never expected to return to Harmony Hills as her brother's guardian. At twenty-six, she suddenly finds herself raising sixteen-year-old Joe and juggling two jobs, determined to give him the chance to chase his dream of becoming a pilot-even if it means putting her own on hold.
The last thing Ivy needs is a distraction-especially Ford Hayes, the firefighter next door. Wary and closed off after a messy divorce, Ford has no interest in giving love a second chance ... until Ivy's quick wit, quiet strength and unwavering optimism begin to chip away at his walls.
Ivy has spent her life taking care of everyone else, but Ford is the first to truly show up for her. As their friendship slowly deepens into love, they must decide if they're willing to risk their hearts-or if the weight of their pasts will keep them apart.
Hung Up
by Sierra Mac
Sorrel Saxxon has been hiding out at her family's Montana ranch all summer. Normally she's on the barrel racing circuit, entering professional rodeos. But after a nasty breakup with her bareback rider, ex-boyfriend-Huck Kenzington, she couldn't face seeing him. Even if that meant missing out on summer rodeo season.
Unfortunately, she can't hide forever. When she enters Montana's biggest rodeo of the summer, she knows the chance of a run in with her ex is high. She just didn't expect it to be at the concert after the rodeo. She also didn't expect the performing artist, Denton Reed, to stop the entire show when they caused a scene.
Denton's had his eyes on Sorrel since her run. He overheard his old college rodeo team member talking about a smokin' hot barrel racer.
Sorrel isn't even remotely interested in cowboys at this point in her life. Not even a smooth-talking up-and-coming country music star. Nothing can pull her away from barrel racing, her family and their ranch.
A Shore Thing: A Small-Town Summer Romance
by Jenny Fyfe - Natalie Murray
As a construction foreman, Ethan Davis is used to being in control.
So when his parents buy a rundown beach house in a faraway town and hire someone else to renovate it, he insists on doing the work himself.
If he stays focused, he should finish the job early and under budget.
But there are some things Ethan can't control. Like an unreliable ferry, inclement weather and his new neighbor, Chloe.
Chloe's cheery attitude and constant smiles really get under his skin. Not that it matters. He has a job to do, and his deadline is written in stone.
***
Life is good for Chloe Mills. Not only does she live right on the beach, but business at her coffee shop is booming. The only thing missing is someone to share it with.
Unfortunately, in a tourist town like Inner Shores, people tend to come and go with the tide. Like her new neighbor, Ethan.
He might be the surliest person she's ever met, but Chloe can see a big heart hiding beneath all those scowls.
So when he moves in next door, she decides to show him all that Inner Shores has to offer. Even if it means catching feelings for someone who was never meant to stay.
Because, for both Chloe and Ethan, nothing about life-or love-is a sure thing.
But love doesn't always fit into your plans.
Sometimes, it changes them.
We hope you enjoy these cozy romance books that will keep you reading through the last days of summer and well into the fall. For more curated book lists and reading recommendations, sign up for our email list or take our Reader Type quiz to find more books recommended just for you.