The weather is getting cooler so what better time to brew some tea and cuddle up on the couch with a new romance. Here is a list of new contemporary romance to keep you warm over the coming months, including new releases from seasoned romance writers Emily Henry and Beth O'Leary, as well as thrilling new books from local Australian writers!
Opposites attract, with an Aussie cowboy…
Red Dust Running
Anita Heiss
Matters of the heart have always made Annabelle run for the hills – literally.
After a disastrous relationship effectively torched her personal and professional life in Sydney, Annabelle is back in Brisbane. She's about to start her dream job launching and curating a First Nations gallery in the city, and this time, no romance is getting in the way of her important work.
Everything is going to plan until a birthday trip to the rodeo with her tiddas brings Annabelle up close and (very) personal with Dusty Davies, bona fide cowboy. Opposites may attract, but Annabelle's not built for the rodeo life – it's just a country fling…
Can a real-life cowboy convince Annabelle to compromise for love, or will he be just another man left in the dust?
Enemies to lovers, live on the radio…
Love on the Air
by Ash London
Radio young gun Alex York is used to knowing – and getting – exactly what she wants.
But when she blows up her glamorous career and retreats to a tropical island, for the first time in her life she has no plan, no prospects and, increasingly, no money.
Lured back to the real world by the breakfast radio gig of a lifetime, she promises herself she'll never let anyone throw her off course again – not her patronisingly old-school CEO, her network arch-nemesis or even her unexpectedly attractive new boss…
A vibrant enemies-to-lovers romance full of radio drama and unexpected love stories, from beloved radio presenter and podcaster Ash London.
A romance in France…
Eat Your Heart Out
by Victoria Brownlee
Chloe Bridgers, Australian food blogger in Paris, has landed an interview to write the tell-all memoir of controversial celebrity chef Carla Duris. The only catch? To nab the role, she has to compete against a group of cut-throat, world-class food writers during a weekend-long job interview at the Duris family villa on the glistening Cote d'Azur.
Already feeling like a fish out of water, Chloe starts to worry that old-school French journalist Henri de la Fontaine has been sabotaging her from the get-go. But is winning the only thing he has in mind?
As the weekend unfolds, interviewees are seemingly sent packing at random and tensions among those remaining boil over. Does Chloe have what it takes to land the job, or will she become the next casualty in the fight to write for Madame Duris?
Stranded together on a boat floating out to sea…
Swept Away
by Beth O'Leary
Lexi is looking for no-strings-attached fun with a stranger. She deserves one night for herself, doesn't she? Zeke is looking for love. But for one night with a woman like Lexi, he'll break his rules…
Sparks fly at the pub, one passionate kiss leads to another and they end up stumbling home to the marina together. The next morning, hungover and shaken by an amazing night together, Lexi is more than ready for Zeke to leave. There's just one small problem… the houseboat they stayed on has been swept out to sea.
As their supplies start to run dangerously low, and the waves pick up, Zeke and Lexi soon realise there's much more on the line than their new relationship. How long can they really survive on a drifting houseboat in the North Sea? Will search and rescue find them? And who will they be if they both make it back to dry land?
Waking up from a coma and falling for your nurse…
I Leave It Up to You
by Jinwoo Chong
Jack Jr woke up from a two-year coma with a sore neck, a brand new ex-fiancee, and the distinct feeling he'd missed something big. Like, global pandemic big. Reluctantly returning to New Jersey, and a kitchen job at the sushi restaurant his family runs, he finds himself suddenly dependent on his dysfunctional and very estranged Asian American family – headstrong fishmonger father, Jack Sr; his recovering alcoholic brother, James; and his rebellious teenage nephew, Juno. And then there's Emil Cuddy, Jack Jr's former nurse, who may offer a glimmer of hope, but who's struggling with complicated feelings of his own…
Can Jack Jr navigate the family chaos, rebuild his life, and maybe even find love (or at least a decent date) in a world that's moved on without him?
Two champion athletes and what's just meant to be a 'fling'…
Deep End
by Ali Hazelwood
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A junior at Stanford and a student athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships – at least, that's what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It's how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water…
A girls trip and an island romance…
That Island Feeling
by Karina May
A week on Pearl Island is exactly the R&R that perpetual planner Andie Alcott needs. Except instead of sipping pina coladas by the beach, she's busy throwing her freshly divorced bestie, Taylor, a girls' trip to remember, dealing with a double-booking fiasco and worrying about her ailing father on the mainland. But it's cool – she has it covered. After all, everyone would be lost without her, right?
The last thing habitually barefoot local Jack Cooper wants is the headache of managing tourist bookings. But since he's to blame for the island's dwindling supply of holidaymakers, he'll do whatever it takes to keep them happy – in particular, a beautiful visitor named Andie…
When the fake dating starts to feel real…
Flirting Lessons
Jasmine Guillory
Avery Jensen is almost thirty, newly single and ready for a change. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially women) and flirt with everyone she sees. One problem: she has next to no experience when it comes to dating, and even less confidence.
Enter Taylor Cameron, champion heartbreaker. She just broke up with her most recent girlfriend and her best friend bet that she can't go two months without sleeping with someone. So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons.
With Taylor's help, Avery finally has the life she always wanted. But now she wants Taylor too. And, as their mutual attraction becomes impossible to ignore, both women must decide if acting on these feelings could ruin the best thing they've ever had, or if it could make it even better.
Romance in the publishing industry…
Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry
When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it – her big break. And even more rare – a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication.
The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing.
The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she'll choose who'll tell her story.
The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can't put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they're in the same room.
And it's becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret's spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad… depending on who's telling it.
