There’s just something about reading a romance set in the fall. Give me crisp autumn air, changing leaves, cozy sweaters, pumpkin everything, and two people falling in love, and I’m happy. If you’re in the mood for some seasonal romance reading, I’ve put together 20 romance books set during the fall that are perfect for your autumn TBR. Whether you’re in the mood for a cozy small-town romance, a second-chance love story, or something a little steamier, these books are full of those warm, romantic fall vibes that make this time of year so much fun to read.
The list is in alphabetical order for the most part. The first book, however, is one I just read and want to spotlight. What a fantastic read! Trust Fall is a YA romance with some really powerful and emotional moments. Highly recommend!
Trust Fall
Julia is just a small-town girl from Nebraska who loves her peaceful life. But when her elderly next-door neighbor—who just happens to be a secret multi-millionaire—leaves everything to Julia and her family after his passing, Julia is swept away to live in a historic brownstone in New York City and attend an elite private school for the super-rich.
It should be a dream come true. Wrong. Julia doesn’t fit in at her new school; worse, she’s failing. Enter Damion, the mysterious and handsome tutor who will get Julia back on track. Except Damion has a secret. He is the great-nephew of the man who left everything to Julia’s family. Damion doesn’t buy for a second that the person who was like a father to him would leave his home to strangers. And he’s determined to prove it.
To uncover the truth, Damion schemes to earn Julia’s trust. Not an easy task with Julia unsure about this rich boy with a rebellious personality. But the more time Damion spends with Julia, the more his plan begins to backfire. Because he is falling for the enemy—and the enemy is falling for him.
As Damion and Julia figure out where they belong, can they see past their differences and act on their feelings, or will the trust Damion has worked so hard to gain fall apart?
LINKS: Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Bookshop.org
Better Hate Than Never
Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won’t even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.
Despite their friends’ and families’ pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she’s only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn’t sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.
When Christopher’s persistence and Kate’s curiosity lead to an impassioned kiss, they realize “peace” is the last thing that will ever be possible between them. As desire gives way to deeper feelings, Kate and Christopher must decide if it’s truly better to hate than to never risk their hearts—or if they already gave them away long ago.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore
These old flames are ready to catch fire.
After a very public failed engagement, Penny Darling, proud owner of Bonfire and Bliss Books, is done with love. She’d rather cozy up by the fire with a pumpkin spiced-anything and one of her book boyfriends than a real one any day.
So when her old high school best friend, author Jake “Monty” Montgomery, tells the town busybodies that he’s her new boyfriend and volunteers them to co-host Hope Harbor’s famed Maple Festival, Penny is more than hesitant.
Until Monty admits the real reason he returned his latest book release failed and if he doesn’t turn in something amazing soon, his career as an author is over. Convinced that Penny’s obsession with romance novels makes her an expert on the subject, Monty begs Penny to teach him how to be the perfect romantic hero so he can finally write one. In return, Penny’s “boyfriend” will put a stop to neighbors’ pitying looks and matchmaking.
But as pretend kisses in the apple orchard turn into searing ones beneath the autumn moon, Penny begins to wonder if Monty could really love her, or if she’s destined for another broken heart.
LINKS: Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Bookshop.org
The Cozy Nook Bookshop
Emma Rogers-Li is having her worst chapter yet. She’s lost her friends, her apartment in Manhattan, and a jerk of an ex. When a job opens to run a bookshop in the quirky small town of Heart’s Hope Crossing, Vermont, Emma jumps at the chance to start over. For the first time in years, she feels like she’s finally calling the shots in her own life . . . until she runs smack into Hunter Hall.
According to town legend, it’s fate—couples who meet (or collide) at that corner are meant to be. And while Emma doesn’t believe the town gossips now convinced she and Hunter are meant for each other, something about the tall, gruff forest ranger sends her completely off-balance. Falling in love with Heart’s Hope Crossing might be the best thing to happen to Emma. But Hunter has a complicated past of his own when it comes to love. Can they both take one last chance on a perfect happily-ever-after?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Fall for Me
Running from a wedding… into a fake fall romance!
Fleeing her wedding and a toxic relationship in her white gown, Peyton jumps on the first bus out of town—and straight into billionaire Liam Rockwood. Literally. Distracted by her search for a place to stay, she steps into the street and sends the town’s most eligible bachelor crashing off his bike!
Liam is furious. His suit is ruined, he’s late for an event at his hotel, and now the runaway bride responsible is trying to check in. Worse, the small-town rumor mill quickly decides Peyton must be his secret new wife.
When Liam’s father arrives ready to celebrate the “happy couple,” Liam makes Peyton an offer: a temporary marriage of convenience. She gets protection against her vindictive ex, a home, and a fresh start. He gets the wife his family expects.
As crisp fall days turn into cozy nights, they carve pumpkins, steal kisses in the corn maze, and share secrets in the dark. Suddenly, their fake marriage starts feeling dangerously real. But falling was never part of the plan…
LINK: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Fall Shook Up
The grumpy recluse begrudgingly rents me his guest house if I agree to leave him alone. Too bad I’ve never been good at doing what I’m told.
I am in desperate need of a place to live when my ex-boyfriend unceremoniously kicks me out weeks before a huge break in my career. Things look hopeless until I find a listing for a home that would be perfect, complete with a concise list of dos and don’ts. All I have to do is ignore the alarmingly good-looking owner, Levi, and follow his strict rules.
As the days pass and I continue to push boundaries it gets harder to avoid his sweet compassion, capable hands, and attractive glower. The lines of our strict owner/tenant relationship continue to blur as the truth behind his protective shell is uncovered.
Can I let him be or will my instincts for information trample the intense attraction growing between us?
I’m under deadline, over my head and (F)all shook up thinking about Levi.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Fallin’ Tides
Colt Mitchell was a charity case, taken in by the prominent Sinclair family to keep their star quarterback son on track. After three years under their roof, Colt traded in his broken background for the Marines, dead set on leaving Holly River for good.
Alice Sinclair was a dreamer, growing up in a house that worshipped trophies. Colt, her brother’s best friend, was the only one who truly saw her. When he left, Alice flooded his mailbox with hope—letters he devoured, but rarely answered.
Until the last one arrived.
Now Colt Mitchell is back. And the kid sister he remembers is gone. In her place is a woman on a mission. Alice has three months to turn her childhood home into the bookshop of her dreams, or lose it forever. And Colt’s hellbent on ensuring that happens, because when Colt was deployed, Alice’s letters saved him. And now he’s come home to repay the favor.
But as the two race to finish renovations by the Fall Festival, and the heat between them rises, Colt realizes that the one woman who’s entirely off limits…is the exact one he wants.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Falling Like Leaves
Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this autumnal teen rom-com about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.
Ellis has a lot of expectations for her senior year, but moving from Manhattan to Bramble Falls, Connecticut is not one of them. Yet in the wake of her parents’ separation, that’s exactly where she and her mother are headed.
Bramble Falls might be charming, but it’s also full of distractions. Like local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis’s one-time best friend—and first kiss—who has not only majorly glowed up but wants nothing to do with Ellis.
Then there’s the Falling Leaves Festival, a month-long tourist attraction run by Ellis’s aunt—celebrating everything autumn. The festival seems nice and all, but Ellis doesn’t have time to be roped into her aunt’s enthusiastic planning. Dragged to each event, she can’t stop bumping into Cooper, the one person she’s hoping to avoid.
But the longer she stays in Bramble Falls, the harder it is to pretend she’s not falling for this town and the people in it. As her return to Manhattan gets pushed further and further out, Ellis is forced to confront exactly what she wants for her future—and what that means for her present.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Falling After All
I came back to write my next book. He thinks he can rewrite our past.
Penny
When I return to my hometown for some peace, inspiration, and cozy fall vibes, the last person I want to see is Camden Clarke. He’s the guy who stole my paper in high school and passed it off as his own—derailing my future and destroying the pathetic crush I had on him in one fell swoop.
Unfortunately, it turns out he’s my landlord. And my neighbor. Oh, and the town loves him so much they elected him mayor.
He may have the rest of Halften fooled, but I know better. And no matter how many times he shows up with that easy smile and disarming charm, one thing is certain:
I’m not falling for it this time.
Camden
I made a big mistake in high school. One that cost Penelope Crowe more than I ever realized.
Now she’s back in Halften, and somehow we keep crossing paths—including a very public “date” at the fall festival neither of us signed up for. She has every reason to hate me. And I have every reason to keep my distance.
But the more time I spend with her, the harder it is to ignore the way she surprises me, challenges me . . . and makes me want things I have no right wanting.
Because I don’t just want a chance to make things right—I want a second chance with her.
But after what I did, that might be the one thing I don’t deserve.
LINKS: Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon
Flirty Fall Fling
I read the grumpy skeptic’s fortune in the bottom of a coffee cup. The grounds say he’ll find true love, but I tell him to expect a flirty fall fling…
In my defense, he thinks I’m a fraud and made it clear he doesn’t believe in l-o-v-e. I try to forget him, but he keeps appearing wherever I go. Then he offers me five grand per hour to break a family curse he swears is real. Considering I need the money to repair the roof of my haunted manor, I help him.
Our sessions end before the autumn equinox, and instead of walking away he proposes a new deal: be each other’s until Halloween. Against my better judgment, I agree, but with strict rules.
Between sneaking around at the apple orchard and finding each other in the hay maze, I catch myself not wanting to keep him my dirty little secret. The town’s meddling matchmakers don’t know their beloved Jamie is Jameson Cross, a billionaire in hiding. Or that he’s in my bed every night. When the paparazzi track him down and the tabloids leak that he’s dating a witch, his bags are already packed for New York.
The cup said he’d find his forever, and I don’t believe it’s me. Magically, the stubborn man who’s never been able to commit to anyone longer than thirty days is determined to prove me wrong.
And I think the universe might be on his side. Pfft.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
If It Makes You Happy
My new next-door neighbor seems to have everything figured out. Small town golden boy? Check. Single dad extraordinaire? Check. Hot baker forearms? I didn’t notice them, I swear.
I, on the other hand, don’t–at all–have anything figured out.
Trust me, I didn’t think taking over my mom’s dream bed and breakfast in Copper Run Vermont was going to be easy. It should be a good place to heal after my divorce. But apparently my scones belong in the garbage with my small talk skills. As pointed out by none other than Cliff.
Cliff is inescapable. He knows exactly what people need–always. His charm, the way he wears flannel, and even his pastries, make not wanting to be friends with Cliff and his daughters pretty hard.
Friends? I can make friends. That’s safe.
Except I’m leaving in three months to pass the inn off to my little sister and get the promotion in Seattle I’ve been working towards.
So ask me why I’m thinking about kissing my hot neighbor.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Just for the Season
Frankie Winters’ life has fallen apart spectacularly, with her becoming single, jobless AND homeless all in the same day. Fleeing to the sea – more specifically to her gran and cousin’s hometown of Milbury Bay – feels like the right answer.
Marcus Brooks swore off women the moment his ex-wife walked out on him and his children. And after a tumultuous encounter with a certain stubborn stranger in the local café, he’s only more convinced he made the right decision.
But when Frankie decides she needs a fake boyfriend to reassure her eighty-five-year-old gran she’s doing just fine (even if she isn’t!), her gaze lands on the last man she should the grumpy, unruly one she argued with over the last carrot cake.
Saying yes to Frankie’s insane plan might be Marcus’s biggest mistake yet… or the best decision he’s ever made. Because sometimes, the last thing you’re looking for is exactly what you need.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Love Felt Like This
A grumpy rock star and a joyful children’s show creator revive television magic in this cozy small-town romance.
Griffin Harvey lives his life in the spotlight. Reluctantly. The brooding famous singer-songwriter is on the cusp of composing his sophomore album . . . if only he could find the notes. But after gaining custody of his two-year-old daughter, the only music he’s writing is about shapes and counting to ten.
Enter Beverly, who lives her life in the background producing children’s television and laughter. Except joy is hard to find when her nonprofit loses funding. She sinks all of her savings to revive the children’s show by herself, but when her variety show appearance collides with Griffin’s, their banter and chemistry is caught on live television.
Suddenly, Griffin is singing a new tune. He needs a muse, and Beverly needs all the help she can get. With his secret daughter in tow, they hide out in her cozy mountain hometown, attempting to script, compose, and revive television magic. Their dynamic shouldn’t work. He’s all harsh tattoos and rough hands while she’s bright colors and gentle touches. Once their three months of work are done, they’ll return to their separate worlds. But what happens when it seems the true magic might be found in each other?
LINKS: Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Bookshop.org
The Magic We Made
She doesn’t believe in magic. He is magic. But when they meet, a spark is lit, and neither will ever be the same—in this charming new stand-alone in the Witches of West Harbor series from New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot.
Frankie
A trained therapist, Francesca Giovanni knows there’s a scientific explanation for everything. Unfortunately, she lives in West Harbor, CT, a town that’s recently exploded in popularity thanks to “witch tourism.” Suddenly, witches are everywhere, offering locals their psychic services. Frankie’s fine with this…until aspiring teenage witches begin to disappear, and strange things start happening in the lake house next door. Frankie begins to suspect not all newcomers to West Harbor have the good of the community in mind—especially not her new neighbor, Ash Merit.
Ash
Ash Merit finds lost things—and people—for a living. All he wants is to help his clients, and maybe get to know the stunningly beautiful (and newly single) Dr. Frankie Giovanni a little better. But thanks to some troublesome young witches—not to mention his often faulty psychic “superpower”—everything goes wrong. If only Frankie wasn’t so distractingly attractive…and so unwilling to admit there might not be a logical reason for everything, including the flames that ignite whenever the two of them kiss. Ash hopes to change that, but first he and Frankie have to find the missing girls, as well as the truth about what’s happening in West Harbor…a truth that could change everything they thought they knew about themselves—and the magic of love.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Meet Cute Magic
She’s a witch who can’t fall in love without getting her heart broken. He holds a grudge like no other.
Bookstore owner Rosie Mayfield wants a love of her own, but it’s not meant to be––because of her family’s curse. To break it, she conjures a ghost who will break her curse, but for a cost––she has to brew a potion to help him transition to the other side. The problem? There’s only one person who hates Rosie in all of Heartwood Hollow, and she needs his help to complete the required task.
Jack Haggerty, the ghost’s grandson, has lamented about Rosie for years––she’s a disaster and she’s forbidden from visiting his gaming shop. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he’s stunned when his beloved grandfather makes an appearance. While he loves his family and will do anything to help his grandpa, he fights against the chemistry brewing between him and Rosie until he can’t anymore. But he doesn’t know how to tell her he no longer wants to go through with the plan, and she won’t admit that she’s falling for him because they’re doomed from the start.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
The Pumpkin Bride
Shrek meets The Princess Bride in this cozy, low-stakes romantic fantasy. The Pumpkin Bride delivers all the autumnal feels, a dash of spice, and a guaranteed HEA!
Some curses just need a cozy fire, a little magic, and a second chance to break them.
A cursed knight.
Sir Bram Duncan was once a knight of legend in Harvest Hollow—until the whim of a jealous prince and the trickery of an autumn sprite turned him into the hulking orc Jask Bone-Cracker, and tethered him to Grimroot Farm. For three long, lonely years, he’s hidden his monstrous form and the truth of what happened the night he lost everything, including his true love, Princess Marigold.
A runaway princess.
Fleeing an arranged marriage to the vain and intolerable Prince Crispin, Marigold finds a safe haven when she stumbles across Jask’s charmed pumpkin farm deep in the forest. Sensing glimmers of gentleness—and a surprising talent for baking—beneath the grumpy orc’s imposing exterior, she begins to feel a familiar longing she believed dead when her Bram disappeared.
One true love.
As magic stirs and pies are baked, truths about Jask’s curse begin to surface. But curses don’t break easily, and wronged princes don’t capitulate. As their peace is threatened, Jask and Marigold must decide: cling to the lies that protect them, or risk everything for a love that could set them free.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
The perfect autumnal romance read, Gilmore’s heartwarming tale finds upbeat city girl Jeannie relocate to a small town to run her aunt’s beloved cafe and cause one irascible local’s heart to flutter.
When Jeanie’s aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Cafe in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.
Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor’s gossip at all costs. But Jeanie’s arrival disrupts Logan’s routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.
Will Jeanie’s happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won’t fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes…
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Red Velvet
Faking it has never been so much fun…
In her ultra-competitive family, April Beckett is used to taking last place. For years, she’s put up with jabs about her modest job and her pathetic love life. Especially after she tried to impress her older sisters with a fake boyfriend in college and failed miserably. But now she has a smoking-hot date for her brother’s wedding, guaranteed to wow them.
Until he bails. Cue total desperation.
Without April’s friendship, Brody Blackwood wouldn’t have survived his last breakup. So, if she needs a plus-one for a family wedding, he’s all in. Even if it means pretending to be her boyfriend. And committing to six days of activities at a wooded resort in Wisconsin. But how hard could a relaxing getaway with your best friend be?
Too bad there’s a grueling 10K race and a cutthroat trivia night to endure. Not to mention a massive secret to protect. But will the biggest secret of all turn out to be that this fake relationship feels more real than April or Brody ever imagined?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Something About September
Cozy up with your pumpkin spiced latte and a slice of apple pie, because it’s time to fall in love in Bramley Hollow…
A fall-inspired second-chance romance about a woman who returns home after inheriting her grandmother’s diner, only to discover the contractor she must hire was her high school crush.
Sweater weather is better together.
Rebecca Macintosh has always felt that there’s just something about September—nostalgia, crisp mornings, and possibility. But not this year. Rebecca has thirty days to return home to fix up her late grandmother’s diner or face the consequences. And the only contractor in town? Cort Adams. The man who rejected her one year ago. He’s somehow even better looking as a single dad than when he was the high school football star she once tutored. She’d been hoping to avoid him forever.
As the golden leaves start to fall, Rebecca may find that there’s more to her hometown—and to Cort—than she’d realized, and that the dreams she’s been chasing might have been the wrong ones. Could a spark kindle hot enough in the cool autumn air to call Rebecca home for good?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Take a Chance, Sasha Sinclair
Sasha Sinclair is used to being alone. Her parents, successful documentary filmmakers, died in a car accident three years ago, leaving her with a legacy she’s been unable to live up to. Instead, she spends her time with casual hookups and odd jobs as she travels around the country. But she can’t stop thinking about her parents’ dream project and is determined to make it a the story of Alice Bishop in Blair Mountain, North Carolina.
Margot Bishop is not a witch, despite the town’s century-long suspicion about her family. When her ancestor Alice Bishop showed up to Blair Mountain in 1901 and opened Thornrose Apothecary, the town was flummoxed by this strange enigma of a woman, calling her the Rose Witch. Now, the Bishops also run Ghostlight, an occult-themed amusement park that fully leans into the rumors.
Despite the draw of the Rose Witch and the haunted Thornrose Woods where Alice had lived, however, the Bishops’ businesses aren’t doing well. When Margot’s mother comes up with a solution—a documentary film about their family—Margot can’t get on board, not when her family’s legacy is at stake. Even worse, she’s deemed the point person for Sasha, the charming, peppy wannabe-filmmaker. But as they spend more time together, diving deeper into the true story of Alice Bishop, the ice slowly melts and their relationship turns into a heart-fluttering rollercoaster ride, one they aren’t sure they want to get off.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
