There are loads of books releasing in 2021 that are on my to be read list. Narrowing it down to any kind of acceptable number was quite a chore, let me tell you. But I finally got it down to a number that captured my MOST anticipated for 2021.
Here are my 24 top romance picks to look out for this year.
A Lady’s Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett
What is a Victorian lady’s formula for love? Mix one brilliant noblewoman and her enigmatic protection officer. Add in a measure of danger and attraction. Heat over the warmth of humor and friendship, and the result is more than simple chemistry—it’s elemental.
Cute cover, smart heroine, unrequited love, a touch of danger – and all under the backdrop of Victorian London? Count me in.
A Lady’s Formula for Love is Elizabeth Everett’s first novel and the start of a new series, The Secret Scientists of London.
Releases 9th Feburary, 2021
The Bookworm’s Guide to Flirting by Emma Hart
What I thought I’d get on Valentine’s Day: a card.
What I got on Valentine’s Day: a blind date with my brand new roommate.
The Bookworm’s Guide to Flirting is the third in Hart’s Bookworm series.
I love these quirky, introvert bookworm girls and I’m so looking forward to seeing Saylor finally get her happily ever after. And I’m always guaranteed for a hilarious pick-me-up from Ms Hart. Can’t wait!
Releases 16th February, 2021
Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour by Erin Nicholas
Paige Asher has now officially sworn off all dating. Diamonds give her hives. So when her weekend fling turns into a real friend and offers her a place to escape, she finds herself on his doorstep in Louisiana.
Mitch agrees he can just be her friend and not commit the greatest sin of all…asking her for forever.
Mitch Landry has been in the background of all the previous Boys of the Bayou stories to date – and now he gets his own story… with Paige from the Hot Cakes world. I’m looking forward to seeing these two worlds collide – and these two polar opposites, who want such different things, being brought down by love.
Releases 23rd February, 2021
Bet the Farm by Staci Hart
Olivia Brent has one summer to save the dairy farm she just inherited.
But there’s one problem, and it’s not her lactose intolerance.
Jake Milovic. Sexy, grumpy farmer and co-owner of her farm.
Why am I so excited by a farm romance? I don’t know and I don’t care – this story sounds amazing. I think Ms Hart had me with “the sweaty, rolling topography of the manbeast’s body.” *Swoon*
Releases 23rd February, 2021
Not the Kind of Earl You Marry by Kate Pembrooke
When a false betrothal announcement is published, naming a stranger as his fiancée, William Atherton, the Earl of Norwood, is determined to quash what he believes is a marriage trap. But when he storms into Miss Charlotte Hurst’s home, the lady in question doesn’t hesitate to tell him he’s the last man she’d marry. Still, with his political ambitions on the line, he can’t afford a scandal, so he offers up a wild proposal: they pretend the engagement is real.
This is Kate Pembrooke’s debut novel and it sounds so good. The tropey goodness fair oozes from that description – fake relationship, enemies to lovers – gah, I’m excited!
Releases 13th July, 2021
Hard Luck by Sara Ney
SOME GIRLS HAVE ALL THE LUCK
Unfortunately, I am not one of those girls. Not when I lost my apartment because my roommate let the lease lapse while I was traveling for work. Not when my brothers keep finding love and my mother keeps reminding me I’m still single. Not after a one-night stand with my brother’s teammate has me waking up pregnant.
I’ve not read nearly enough of Sara Ney – and this book sounds far too good to pass up. If the one night stand, suprise baby with brother’s friend wasn’t enough – he also is the pursuer in this tale. Sounds perfect!
Releases 25th March
When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting
When Sparks Fly is a sparkingly witty contemporary romance by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting.
Full blurb coming soon.
Okay, hold on… how can I put a book on my ‘most anticipated’ list when I don’t even know what the book is about?
Well, because it’s Helena Hunting and I ADORED Kiss My Cupcake. So much so that her contemporaries are now an auto-buy for me!
Releases 21st September, 2021
The Sweetest Thing by Maya Hughes
Sabrina Mason has invaded my apartment, my life and now my dreams.
My new roommate is hiding secrets and I should know, I have more than one or two up my sleeve.
I want to discover them all and I know when I do, it will be the sweetest thing.
Whether she’s writing deliciously angsty new adult romance, or straight contemporaries, I adore Maya Hughes stories. The first book in the SWANK series, The Proposal, was a 5-star read for me and I’m so looking forward to revisiting the group of friends and seeing the next happily ever after.
Releases 10th June, 2021
My Sweet Enemy by Jenny Hartwell
When a gourmet chocolate factory hosts a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired competition, Charlotte and Luke have a clear case of insta-hate.
But when these two rivals find themselves distracted by delicious attraction, will they let their passion get in the way of winning the competition?
Who doesn’t want to read a bit of insta-love now and then? And this one promises to have lots of delicious sweet treats added in to boot. I’ve never read Jenny Hartwell before but this book sounds delicious!
Releases 8th February, 2021
Back in the Burbs by Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolff
When my great-aunt Maggie died, she willed me the keys to a house in the burbs, of all places, and dared me to grab life by the family jewels. I’m ready to fight for my life again.
I’ve only been standing in front of the horror show of a house for five minutes when my hot, grumpy neighbor tells me to mow the lawn first and I’m just…done. Done with men too sexy for their own good and done with anyone telling me what to do.
This is something slightly different than Avery Flynn’s usual offering – billed as funny “women’s fiction” (butt clench) with a really strong romance in there too. And I’m sold.
Releases 30th March, 2021
The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall
Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job.
When she’s hired for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is. If only the bride wasn’t such a diva, and she didn’t find herself so inconveniently attracted to the bride’s posh elder brother.
What first attracted me to this book was the super-cute cover. And the story sounds just as fun. Not only do I like the sound of a professional bridesmaid, but I do so enjoy an ‘inconvenient attraction’ to someone you wouldn’t think you’d be attracted to.
Releases 4th May, 2021
The Bride Bet by Tessa Dare
Once upon a time, two sworn enemies—the bookish daughter of a scholar and the devilish heir to a duke—made a pact: If they were both still single in ten years, they would marry each other.
It was a joke, right? Wait, right?
The fourth book in the Girl Meets Duke series will see Nicola finally get her duke and it sounds like it will be a wild ride.
The release date for this book has been pushed back several times, only making me even more eager for this romance. We can only hope that it will be ready to release soon! Fingers crossed.
Releases 2021 (Hopefully!)
Love Like Her by Claudia Burgoa
Eros and I met at JFK years ago while trying to catch two different planes. We had an instant connection that was too powerful to deny. Love happened, and we hooked up.
After our crazy romp, we agreed we couldn’t be together. We live too far away to make it work. Yet ever since, destiny has brought us together. Our paths have crossed so many times it’s obvious fate has intervened in our lives. Is it now time to admit the truth…?
Woo hoo! Eros is getting his own story. He’s popped up in two of his sister’s stories (Wrong Text, Right Love and Didn’t Expect You) and I cannot wait for more of the heat, heart and humour that I’ve come to expect from Ms Burgoa. Yay!
Releases 2nd March, 2021
The Guardian by Kimberly Kincaid
Detective Matteo Garza has learned the hard way that work and pleasure can’t co-exist.
So when his little sister’s best friend accidentally uncovers a money laundering scheme Garza vows to keep things strictly business as he keeps her safe.
No matter how much the quirky mathematician makes him feel things best left buried. No matter how much she makes him want.
I can just tell from the blurb that Matteo is a damaged, protector type who badly needs the love of a good woman. And the woman that’s going to bring him to his knees? A nerdy mathematician that he can’t help but fall in love with. I already want to give it 5 stars just from the description alone!
Releases 9th March, 2021
To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters
An effervescent, charming, and swoon-worthy novel about a man and woman who never agree on anything—until they agree to a no-strings-attached affair in this Regency-era romp.
I’ve yet to read Martha Waters’ debut novel, To Have and to Hoax, but it had glowing reviews calling it a “clever and delightful historical rom-com”.
That, coupled with the pretty cover and this book almost had to be added to my most anticipated reads for this year.
Releases 6th April, 2021
Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas
Lady Merritt Sterling, a strong-willed young widow who’s running her late husband’s shipping company, knows London society is dying to catch her in a scandal. So far, she’s been too smart to provide them with one. But then she meets Keir MacRae, a rough-and-rugged Scottish whisky distiller, and all her sensible plans vanish like smoke. They couldn’t be more different, but their attraction is powerful, raw and irresistible.
I’ve been a bit lax in my reading of Lisa Kleypas of late – despite having most of her earlier works. I hope to get back into the swing of things with this tale of opposites attract. No doubt it will still have Kleypas’ trademark emotion, warmth and depth.
Releases 27th July, 2021
Breaking All the Rules by Amy Andrews
A fun, sexy romp through the trials of starting over, and finding what you didn’t know you needed in the last place you expected, from USA Today bestselling author Amy Andrews.
I love Amy Andrews. Her writing is so much fun and always brimming with personality. I have absolutely no doubt that this newest offering will be as fresh as that pretty cover, and that I will love it just as much as I’ve loved previous books of hers.
Releases 25th May, 2021 (edit: now coming in 2022)
The Art of Falling For You by Maya Hughes
Maya Hughes brings us the first in a new series following the conclusion of her massively popular Fulton U, new adult series. The remaining books in the series will be The Sin of Kissing You and The Hate of Loving You, both also expected in 2021.
Ah – another book that I’m excited for that doesn’t even have a blurb or a cover yet and another that’s by Maya Hughes. It goes without saying that I’m also really looking forward to the second and third books in this series. They’re bound to be excellent.
Releases 1st March, 2021
Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras
Alejandro Miranda hasn’t been home to Key West in years—not since he left to explore broader horizons. The drama of a prodigal son returning to his familia is bad enough, but coming home also means coming face to face with the girl he left behind.
AnamarÃa Navarro was shattered when Alejandro took off without her and is dismayed that just the sight of him is enough to rekindle the flame she’s worked years to put out. Can they learn to trust again, before the Key West sun sets on their chance at happiness?
Anchored Hearts has a cover that rivals Island Affair, the first in the Keys to Love series where we were introduced to AnamarÃa. Other than that, I cannot wait to see the sparks of a second-chance, enemies to lovers story in the sultry sun of Key West.
Releases 27th April, 2021
Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine comes the clever, funny, and unforgettable story of a muscular, tattooed man hired as an assistant to two old women—under the watchful eye of a beautiful retirement home manager.
She had me at muscular and tattooed.
Sally Thorne has been hugely successful with her first two novels, neither of which I have read yet. So I’m a little late to the party, but this book might be the start of my obsession with Ms Thorne. Even if not, the book sounds delightfully quirky and funny.
Releases 13th April, 2021
The One-Month Boyfriend by Roxie Noir
In which Silas Flynn meets his match in Kat Nakamura.
Have you read Roxie Noir’s Loveless Brothers’ series? If so, you’ll know that Silas NEEDS his own story. And he’s finally getting it, with the first of a news series called Wildwood Society.
I am so disgustingly excited for this book.
Releases September 2021
Dare to Tease by Carly Phillips
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carly Phillips returns to her sexy Dare world of rich billionaire sports heroes in her new DARE NATION SERIES!
Brianne Prescott, publicist to the biggest athletes in the world, goes up against the one man she can’t resist.
Bri is the last of the Prescott siblings to be matched and we finally get to her story and the end of the Dare Nation series. I’m a huge fan of Carly Phillips and I’m excited to read Bri’s story – especially if her hero is Hunter!
Releases 23rd March, 2021
Undercover Duke by Sabrina Jeffries
Along with his stepsiblings, Sheridan Wolfe, Duke of Armitage, is determined to finally solve the mysteries behind the suspicious deaths of their mother’s three husbands. Tasked with investigating a possible suspect, Sheridan finds himself in dangerous proximity to her captivating daughter, Vanessa Pryde.
Sabrina Jeffries has always been a favourite of mine and I love the way she often entwines a mystery element in amongst the romances of her series’. This is the last in her Dyke Dynasty so we’ll get a good romance and the resolving of the mystery. Happy days.
Releases 25th May, 2021
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
With one week to win back the best friend she might just be in love with, a travel writer plans the trip of a lifetime in this sparkling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read.
We don’t get nearly enough orange book covers. That’s maybe why this one stood out to me so much.
And then I read the blurb. Friends turned to enemies turned to (hopefully) lovers? Sounds like something I will LOVE. Oh, and they’re polar opposites! Perfection. I’m looking forward to finding out.
Releases 11th May
I hope some of these find their way to your tbr lists and even your kindle.
And if there are any that I’ve obviously missed, please share below.
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