Archives de catégorie : Contemporary Romance

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN LOVE de Mariko Turk

Sold in a rapid US pre-empt, an irresistible instant classic about the thrilling, often infuriating, rush of first love, guaranteed to sweep you off your feet. With a dash of the dreamy atmosphere of Anna and the French Kiss, a twist of Jenny Han’s heartfelt honesty and wit, and a heap of Lynn Painter’s authentic and magnetic characters, with a flair and heart that is wholly Mariko’s own, this new novel is destined to become a vital addition to the pantheon of YA romance greats.

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN LOVE
by Mariko Turk
Henry Holt, October 2026
(via Writers House)

Tonight, inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art—somewhere between the hours of 8 PM and 5 AM—Auden Peck will fall in love with Miki Kawamura.

That’s Miki’s plan, anyway. And the plan is destiny.

See, Miki’s grandparents fell in love after accidentally being locked in the Met overnight in 1965. And now, after too many almost-confessions, hopeless romantic Miki will finally tell her best friend Auden that she loves him by retracing the path through the museum that her grandparents took that fateful night.

But destiny has other plans. For it’s not Auden who joins Miki on her midnight tour, but Lou McSweeney—the world’s most jaded cynic, and Miki’s ex. How can she possibly confess her feelings for Auden when she’s stuck sparring with this arrogant jerk? And is it possible that her original plan was not destiny’s true course after all?

Mariko Turk is the author of The Other Side of Perfect and I’ll Be Waiting for You. She received her PhD in English from the University of Florida, with a concentration in children’s literature and lives in Colorado with her husband and daughter.

SIDE CHARACTER ENERGY d’Olivia Tolich

A sharp, wise, hilarious novel about love—romantic, platonic and toxic—from a brilliant new voice in Australian fiction.

SIDE CHARACTER ENERGY
by Olivia Tolich
Text Pubishing Australia, February 2026

Before she met Bee, Gertrude was alone—like a whale singing on a different frequency so that none of the other whales could find it. Then Bee decided they were friends, and now they’re not just best friends: they live in the same house and work together too.

Gertrude’s whole life, in fact, seems to revolve around Bee. Not that it’s a problem; she’s just not sure why she’s going on double dates with Bee and her new boyfriend Will, a pompous-finance-bro, and his friend Arthur, who is apparently also a jerk.

Apparently. Because there might be more to Arthur than Gertrude thinks. And, according to Arthur, there might be more to Gertrude than she thinks as well. And if that’s true? Where would that leave her life with Bee?

The author herself writes, “This book is for everyone who watches a romcom and thinks the best friend should get their own movie.” 

Senior Editor at Text, Mandy Brett, writes, “A lot of craft goes into crafting effortless fun. Olivia Tolich is a master of her craft.” 

Olivia Tolich is an emerging author based in Melbourne. She holds a Masters of Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing from the University of Melbourne and works as an educational publisher. 

THE END OF ROMANCE de Lily Meyer

A big-hearted, wise, unceasingly buoyant novel about a woman who, after escaping a bruising marriage, theorizes that happiness is possible solely with the eradication of all romance—only to find a love that could change her life forever.

THE END OF ROMANCE
by Lily Meyer
Viking, February 2026
(via The Gernert Company)

Sylvie Broder was taught early to embrace joy. The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors whose greatest priority was enjoying the life they’d snatched back from Hitler, Sylvie believes in the tenacious pursuit of pleasure—yet, somehow, finds herself trapped in a suffocating, emotionally abusive marriage. With enormous fortitude, Sylvie frees herself and turns to graduate school, where she develops a new philosophy: Straight women will find true liberation and happiness only once romance is eradicated.

Now, Sylvie prides herself in separating sex from tenderness—having fun with men, but never committing to one. Then she meets Robbie and Abie, and finds her philosophy sorely tested. A warm and gentle man, Robbie treats Sylvie with patience and enormous kindness, offering her comfort she hasn’t had since childhood. Abie is passionate and dynamic, a man who challenges Sylvie, and with whom she finds herself constantly disarmed. With both men, she feels a deep desire that looks, worryingly, a lot like love.

Cleverly constructed, delightfully funny, and beautifully written, THE END OF ROMANCE is an anti-romance romance novel that charts its fallible heroine’s tumultuous journey to love and happiness with erudition and deep feeling—a story for anyone who, despite their very best efforts, has fallen in love, and wondered why.

Lily Meyer is a translator, a critic, and the author of the novel Short War. She is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic. Her stories and translations can be found in The Dial, The Drift, The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, and many other journals, and her essays and criticism appear in outlets including Bookforum, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Book Review.

Série « New Haven » de J.L. Seegars

An interconnected series of stand-alone enemies-to-lovers romance novels about forbidden romance and love after loss.

The New Haven Series
by J.L. Seegars
Bloom Books/Sourcebooks, 2026-2027
(via Laura Dail Literary)

BOOK 1: RESTORE ME (first self-published 2021; re-release by Bloom Books in 2026)

Sloane

Dominic Alexander is my late husband’s best friend and the last man on Earth that I should want. He’s arrogant, dismissive, and up until recently has only ever used those dark eyes of his to look right through me. For the last twelve years, he’s taken a sick pleasure in making me feel paper thin, like my entire existence is of no consequence to him at all.

But now, things are different.

After one drunken night, and a surprisingly sexy act of heroism, he’s started to be…nice. Treating me like something other than the physical embodiment of his annoyance, which would be nice if it didn’t make me feel all the things I swore to never feel for another man after my husband died.

Dominic

Sloane Kent is going to be my undoing.

What’s worse: I think I’m going to enjoy being unravelled by the gold flecks in her hazel eyes and the adorable little way she scrunches her nose up when we’re arguing, which we’ve done a lot of over the past decade. She thinks it’s because I hate her, and I’ve always let her think that because the alternative is…untenable.

But something is changing between us, and I don’t know how to stop myself from breaking every promise I’ve ever made to myself regarding my best friend’s wife. Promises that include never telling her that there’s a long list of things I feel about her, but hate isn’t one of them.

J.L. Seegars is an indie romance author who takes pride in writing books that make you swoon, cry, and swoon some more. All of her works center around Black women and the lovingly possessive men who are obsessed with them. Their stories, like their love, is tinged with a little heartbreak, but it never stops her from delivering the coveted HEA.

FLIRTING WITH MURDER d’Amanda Sellet

This mystery and romance mashup features a quirky, contemporary setting and unforgettable characters, think The Agathas meets The Thursday Murder Club.

FLIRTING WITH MURDER
by Amanda Sellet
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, April 2026

Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand lotion: every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.

But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building’s beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.

Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.

In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they’ve always loved.

AMANDA SELLET is a former journalist and the author of rom-coms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter.