Every season can be reading season, of course, but there’s something about fall that feels like the perfect time to wrap yourself in a blanket, brew some tea, and spend an entire afternoon with a book. If what you’re reading matches the overall autumn vibe, that’s even better.
The “fall romance book” label applies to stories set during typical seasonal holidays, like Halloween and Thanksgiving, spooky novels with witches, ghosts, and everything in between, or simply stories that happen mostly between September and November.
Whatever the case, collected and ranked here are ten of the best books that can be undeniably categorized as “fall romances”—you’re bound to find the perfect one to cozy up with.
10. September by Rosamunde Pilcher
This list starts with a book considerably older than all the others since it was published in 1990, and it’s also not wholly autumn-centric. Then again, Rosamunde Pilcher’s September is a classic of the genre that deserves its spot here. While most of the novel’s action takes place during spring, its final act, the ball around which all characters revolve, is planned for September; not just any September—a Scottish September, which almost makes up for it coming only towards the end of the story.
9. The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
This entry is also somewhat of a sneak, but it’s too delicious not to include. The most recent title on this list—since it was published only in October 2024—The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch revolves around two Princes—the Prince of Christmas, who is sick and tired of his father turning a beloved holiday into a PR stunt, and the Prince of Halloween, mysterious and aloof and very much off-limits. Add in a bit of fake competition and rivalry that quickly turns into love and voilà, you have a perfect holiday season rom-com.
8. Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
Out on a Limb is a heartwarming romance that starts precisely on Halloween, at a party where the main characters—independent Winnifred and charming Robert, both with limb differences—meet and have a one-night stand as perfect strangers. But of course, one-night stands usually never remain just that in romance books. Winnifred and Robert will find themselves much more entangled than they anticipated after the Halloween night they spent together.
7. A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau
Nothing better than a romance set during a very specific holiday weekend and taking place mostly within the boundaries of one house and one family—the shenanigans are always incredibly entertaining, and this is the case for A Match Made for Thanksgiving as well. Main character Nick Wong returns home for Thanksgiving to find that his family has invited blind dates for him and his siblings. One of those blind dates is none other than Nick’s latest one-night stand, for whom he still feels quite a bit of interest. Truly the best of setups.
6. Hearts on Hold by Cherish Reid
Autumn doesn’t get much more autumn-y than a story set in a university. There’s just something about the vast vibes of academia, in whatever shade they might be, that perfectly fits the season. In Hearts on Hold, the academia vibes are brought to the scene by the main character, Professor Victoria Reese, who is seeking to establish a partnership between her university and the local library—a library where she finds the very charming and incredibly distracting librarian, who seems to very much return her interest.
5. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Cemetery Boys might not be set around fall or any of its holidays specifically, but its main characters are witches and ghosts, so it fights right into the vibes of this particular season. The main character Yadriel, who struggles to make his traditional family accept his gender and his role as a brujo, finds himself entangled with the ghost of the school’s resident bad boy who is very determined not to go gently into that good night. Yadriel has no choice but to help Julian tie up some of his loose ends—growing closer and closer to him in the process.
4. Autumn Kisses by Té Russ
Autumn Kisses has everything one might look for in a cozy autumn romance, from the perfect setting—which, in this case, is Martha’s Vineyard—to the premise. The story focuses on author Rowan Hunter, who takes up residence in his editor’s cottage on the Vineyard to get over a bad case of writer’s block. What was supposed to be a quiet writer’s retreat, though, is interrupted by the arrival of famous jazz singer Sapphire Woods, real name Laurel Asher, who is also seeking some tranquillity to write her new album. The two end up under the same roof through a series of lucky mishaps, and of course, proximity will soon make way for love.
3. A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña
Fake dating is one of the most tried and tested tropes, and it shines in A Proposal They Can’t Refuse. Kamilah and Liam are doing their best to make sure their respective family businesses—a Puerto Rican restaurant and an Irish whiskey distillery—stay afloat, headbutting constantly with their much more conservative grandfathers, who just so happen to be best friends. In the end, they are presented with the titular “impossible to refuse” offer—marry each other, even though they can’t stand each other, and step in to truly manage their business, or risk seeing them sold off. Of course, what starts as Kamilah and Liam’s plan to outfox their grandfathers soon turns into something more.
2. Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
Witches really do fit in well with anything that has to do with autumn, and that’s true for Payback’s a Witch, the first book in the Witches of Thistle Grove series. Our main character is Emmy Harlow, a witch who isn’t particularly good at being one because of her prolonged self-imposed exile from her hometown. When she returns for a magical competition, though, she discovers some interesting news. The man who had been part of her reason to stay away is fresh off a breakup and the beautiful, sharp, and competent witch who broke it off with him is plotting revenge against him and wants to know if Emmy wants in on the fun.
1. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
A Discovery of Witches is the first book in the All Souls Series by American author Deborah Harkness. While the saga spans several seasons, it all starts in one picture-perfect Oxford fall—when a witch with secret powers beyond her imagination, Diana Bishop, meets the centuries-old vampire Matthew Clairmont at the Bodleian Library. A Discovery of Witches is truly the perfect fall book, filled with everything there is to love about this particular season, from the supernatural to the academic vibes. What more could one want?
Published: Oct 26, 2024 07:21 am