December 2023 Romance Releases
It’s my holy-crap-it’s-December-romance-reading-list! This is MY list of MY most anticipated new romance books! What books are you looking forward to this month? There are a lot of great new books being published. I’m so excited to read new books from Ilsa Madden-Mills, Lauren Rowe, Seresia Glass, Denise Williams and so many more. Around 20 romance novels are on my list this month.
What new release are you looking forward to this month? If I’ve missed a book that you feel deserves to be on my list, please let me know. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can refer to it when you need to throughout the month.
December 1
I hate him and I don’t even know his name.
The good news is my nemesis has made it abundantly clear the feeling is mutual. He did call me pretty, though, in the midst of a heated screaming match. Which would have been flattering, if I didn’t loathe him so much. But whatever. I don’t care how handsome he might be, or how charming the rest of the world probably finds him, guys who look like aged-out boy banders aren’t my type. Add to that, he’s got a knack for being in precisely the wrong place at the wrong time, and I was thrilled to march away from our angry skirmish and never see the bastard with the piercing blue eyes, ever again.
It wasn’t meant to be, though. As it turns out, my sworn enemy is my new next-door neighbor. F*ck my life. Luckily, he’s got a big secret to keep, just like I do. He’s in a jam, and so am I. So, we’ve decided to put our differences aside long enough to resolve our respective predicaments. Of course, we’ve made it clear this is going to be a business arrangement and nothing more. A necessary means to an end. But when you’re forced to work closely with your sworn enemy, a guy who happens to be ridiculously attractive and surprisingly funny—when he actually starts to grow on you, much to your shock—keeping things strictly professional becomes easier said than done.
My Neighbor’s Secret is a funny, silly, zany, swoony, spicy, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity rom com that will keep you laughing, swooning, guessing, and fanning yourself, all the way to Charlotte and Auggie’s happily ever after.
From New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey comes a steamy novella full of hope and humor tracking a couple’s fake marriage for a year after the wild New Year’s Eve when they first say “I do.” Adored by all, Britta is an ambitious waitress working at Sluggers. The popular bar holds a special place in her heart and is a regular hangout for the Bridgeport Bandits, the local hockey club. With a half brother on the team, Britta has a strict no-dating policy for hockey boys. But she does have a soft spot for one particular player. A beast on the ice, Sumner Mayfield is on the brink of breaking into the NHL. But time’s running out. With his work visa about to expire, Sumner’s only chance to stay in Bridgeport is to marry an American—and get a green card. Otherwise, it’s back to Canada for the defenseman. On New Year’s Eve, the team begs Britta to marry Sumner that very night. Sum is embarrassed yet hopeful—he’s desperately in love. But Britta balks at first. Until something about Sumner’s soulful brown eyes and ripped physique makes her reconsider…
December 5
In a sizzling romance that sparkles with wit and depth, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and agree to get married, and their lives will never be the same.
On a normal day, Emmaline Darling isn’t a car thief. She’s just a simple girl who runs a bookstore and adores cats. But when she’s stranded in the desert and needs to get away from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, she picks her only option: swiping the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and speeding away.
Football star Graham Harlan is in chaos. First he took a hit on the field that left him with a near-death experience, and now he’s promised his brother he’ll get married to secure the family inheritance. Trouble is he isn’t even seeing anyone.
Then a mystery woman steals his car. With his usual stubbornness, he tracks her all the way to Manhattan and gives her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll press charges.
Her choice is obvious, only neither of them expect the sparks that ignite between them.
As the end of their arrangement looms, will Graham take a chance on love or let his darling walk away forever?
Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers—and hearts—in ruins.
Archaeologist Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía has a bone to pick. Literally.
It’s been Corrie’s life goal to lead an expedition deep into the Mexican jungle in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it’s too good to be true…and she’s right.
As the world-renowned expert on Chimalli, by rights Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis. But Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new ways to best her since they were in grad school. Ford certainly isn’t thrilled either—with his life in shambles, the last thing he needs is a reminder of their rocky past.
But as the dig begins, it becomes clear they’ll need to work together when they realize a thief is lurking around their campsite, forcing the pair to keep their discoveries—and lingering attraction—under wraps. With money-hungry artifact smugglers, the Mexican authorities, and the lies between them closing in, there’s only one way this all ends—explosively.
Two wolf shifters agree to be fake mates but unexpectedly find something real in this steamy paranormal romantic comedy by Lana Ferguson.
Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.
Noah Taylor, interventional cardiologist and all around grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is. With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps. It’s worked for years, until an anonymous tip has everything coming to light. Noah is left with two options: come clean to the board and risk his career—or find himself a mate. The chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asking him to be her fake boyfriend on the same day he’s called to meet the board has to be kismet, right?
Mackenzie will keep her grandmother off her back, and Noah will get a chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate—a mutually beneficial business transaction, they both rationalize. But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal.
Seven years ago, he fell in love with a stranger he couldn’t have—today, she’s back in his life and the sparks between them threaten to set her career on fire.
Pearl Harris has learned the hard way to be careful in work and in love. When she is appointed acting director of OurCode, a nonprofit aimed at inspiring high schoolers to code, she has a chance to make lasting change for the organization, but a scandal has put their reputation at risk. Further complicating matters, Pearl didn’t expect the one man she hasn’t stopped thinking about in seven years to be the newest member of her board of directors.
Cord Matthews fell for Pearl when they met in an elevator seven years ago. She’s just his type: smart, capable, and makes him laugh, but when she broke his heart, he decided love wasn’t for him. After five years with no contact, their connection is immediate despite the many roadblocks in their way and Cord must consider breaking his ban on serious relationships. But going public with a romance between them might derail Pearl’s career and the progress she’s made at OurCode.
Pearl and Cord both are hesitant to trust their feelings and take a risk as they grow closer, but it becomes impossible to keep ignoring the electricity between them. Cord is a skilled programmer, but a workplace romance might spell disaster for both of them, and love isn’t easily debugged.
Bookish suffragist Catriona Campbell is busy: An ailing estate, academic writer’s block, a tense time for England’s women’s rights campaign–the last thing she needs is to be stuck playing host to her father’s distractingly attractive young colleague.
Deeply introverted Catriona lives for her work at Oxford and her fight for women’s suffrage. She dreams of romance, too, but since all her attempts at love have ended badly, she now keeps her desires firmly locked inside her head–until she climbs out of a Scottish loch after a good swim and finds herself rather exposed to her new colleague.
Elias Khoury has wheedled his way into Professor Campbell’s circle under false pretenses: he did not come to Oxford to classify ancient artefacts, he is determined to take them back to his homeland in the Middle East. Winning Catriona’s favor could be the key to his success. Unfortunately, seducing the coolly intense lady scholar quickly becomes a mission in itself and his well-laid plans are in danger of derailing…
Forced into close proximity in Oxford’s hallowed halls, two very different people have to face the fact that they might just be a perfect match. Soon, a risky new game begins that asks Catriona one more time to put her heart and wildest dreams at stake.
It’s lust at first sight. I’ve fallen for the… former pageant queen?
What happened to my life? One minute I’m just a single dad and fire chief. The next, I’m Mr. January.
That’s right, Georgia from Georgia’s been hired to organize the annual fundraiser. She’s not satisfied with a chili dinner. No. She came up with the crazy idea of a firefighter calendar. With puppies and kittens.
The department’s gone crazy over the idea. And her.
So has my six-year old because he thinks she’s shown up to be his new mom. For that to happen, she has to be mine. Sure, I want her. She’s gorgeous. Sassy. Smart. But she’s not sticking. I won’t have a little boy’s heart broken when she leaves.
Or is it mine I’m worried about?
And my life? Will it ever be the same? Do I want it to?
With all the books in the On A Manhunt series, it’s always open season on men.
December 7
Vera Gallagher is chasing constant. For four years, her life was anything but normal. And the years before that she refuses to even remember. Dwelling on the past only hurts. Life is fragile, a lesson her mother taught her well. She’s determined not to waste a moment of her newfound freedom.
Maybe some would consider her crush on Mateo Eden wasted time. Maybe some would call her a fool for loving a man who hasn’t once dropped a crumb of interest her way. Still, to Vera, it’s Mateo or nothing.
He’s handsome. Charming. Witty. And he loves his family the way Vera loves—with her whole heart.
Maybe he’ll never notice her. Maybe she’s too damaged, too broken, to find that normal life she craves. Maybe her secrets will always keep them apart. But Vera will love him anyway. Whether Mateo realizes it or not.
An unrequited love, small town romance.
December 12
When an unexpected Player Two enters her life, a gamer must decide if their relationship is worth leveling up in this new romance from the author of The Love Con.
Samara Reynolds has built a large following as a gamer under an anonymous screen name, and uses her skills as a DEIA consultant to advocate for equal representation in video games. When she posted a video critiquing the popular game Legendsfall, she knew she’d get a reaction from her fans, but the video leads to hundreds of female gamers critiquing the game and its company, Artemis Games. The only thing more unexpected than starting an online movement is getting a job offer from the handsome CEO of Artemis.
Aron Galanis has been on a mission to get his company certified to create gaming content for people with disabilities. When he sees Artemis trending online for all the wrong reasons, he’s determined to right his wrongs and offers the originator a mea culpa, as well as a job offer to overhaul the character options in Legendsfall.
Working together turns Aron and Samara from adversaries into allies, allies into friends, and after that—something more. But once their relationship goes public, will Aron and Samara be able to weather the storm and fight for their happy ending, or is it game over?
A millionaire and a woman who thinks he’s a house flipper are stuck living together with a menagerie of rescue dogs, in this heartfelt romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton.
After her ex took all their money and bailed, Hazel Bristow is left broke and homeless. A friend whose home is on the market lets Hazel and her foster dogs stay there until it sells. It’s the perfect setup, until her friend forgets to tell Hazel she’s sold the house!
Linc Kennedy is shocked to find Hazel squatting in the house he just bought, but after some negotiating, he agrees she can stay while he’s renovating the place. Linc tells Hazel he’s an investor who renovates homes for fun-but having been burned in the past by women who have only wanted his money, he leaves out that he’s also extremely wealthy…
Hazel’s intrigued by sweet, funny Linc. But her track record with men isn’t great, and trust doesn’t come easy.
Linc’s never met anyone like the quirky beauty who puts everyone’s needs before her own. But can he figure out how to tell Hazel the truth without losing her?
In this slow-burn yet highly combustible enemies-to-lovers romance, perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon and Abby Jimenez, two stage actors find themselves falling for each other with each onstage kiss…against their better judgment.
Actress Eden Blake’s biggest claim to fame is a mortifying pharmaceutical commercial for male enhancement pills. That is until the female lead on the nationwide tour of Broadway’s hit Pride & Prejudice musical abruptly quits and Eden is called up to fill the role.
The cast of Liz and Darcy: The Musical has just settled into a three-week run in Washington, DC, and Broadway royalty Brennon Thorne is set to play Darcy. Despite Brennon’s reputation as being “a dream to work with,” Eden’s first impression of him is more like a nightmare. Now, she’ll have to kiss the pompous jerk eight shows per week.
Brennon can’t disguise his disdain for understudies like Eden. But New York is filled with reminders of his most recent failed relationship, and this American tour is a much-needed distraction from his loneliness. As Eden and Brennon take the stage playing Jane Austen’s most memorable characters, their reality begins to mirror Elizabeth and Darcy’s—explosive chemistry and all. Together, they power through press performances and curtain calls, even as rumors of Brennon’s checkered romantic past resurface and prove to Eden that he can’t be trusted.
But with each choreographed stage kiss, Eden and Brennon’s passion for the stage—and each other—ignites. Maybe, just maybe, not all rumors are to be believed—and not all showmances are doomed to fail.
Best of friends with benefits—and more in common than they ever expected—in a funny and sexy romance by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Lauren Landish.
Wren Ford is the city attorney for Cold Springs—a job she takes seriously. Good thing she has a great form of stress relief: a friends-with-benefits arrangement with the well-muscled and very attentive construction worker Jesse Sullivan. Wren’s heart secretly craves more, but how can she fess up her feelings to a man who doesn’t want to get tied down?
Jesse is head over heels in love with Wren, but he can’t picture a happily ever after. What would an attorney and out-of-his-league goddess want with him? Especially when a flirty, cocky lawyer who screams money and power shows an interest in Wren.
As a scandalous high-profile split escalates from name-calling to corporate takeovers, Wren and Jesse must team up to find a way to protect the people and the town they love. And everyone in Cold Springs is rooting for them to figure out that maybe, against all odds, they’re made for each other.
December 26
What Not to Wear and Queer Eye meet All the Feels in this sparkling romantic comedy by Jenny L. Howe, in which the new guest on a popular plus-size makeover show has her style―and her love life―transformed.
Everly Winters is perfectly happy to navigate life like a good neutral paint color: appreciated but unnoticed. That’s why she’s still a receptionist instead of exploring a career in art, why she lurks but never posts on the forums for her favorite makeover show, On the Plus Side, and why she’s crushing so hard on her forever-unattainable co-worker. When no one notices you, they can’t reject you or insist you’re too much.
This plan is working perfectly until someone secretly nominates Everly for the next season of On the Plus Side. Overwhelmed by the show’s extremely extroverted hosts and how much time she’ll have to spend on screen, she finds comfort in a surprising friendship with the grumpy but kind cameraman, Logan. Soon Everly realizes that he’s someone she doesn’t mind being noticed by. In fact, she might even like it.
But when their growing connection is caught on camera, it sends the show’s ratings into a frenzy. Learning to embrace all of herself on national TV is hard enough; can Everly risk heartbreak with the whole world watching?
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Nordic King and Black Sunshine, comes CITY OF DARKNESS the third book in the Underworld Gods series, a high heat dark fantasy adult romance series.
When mortal Hanna agreed to marry Tuoni, the God of Death, in exchange for her father’s life, the last thing she expected was to fall for the morally grey anti-hero. But it’s not only her heart that’s in danger now. As she navigates her new role as the Goddess of Death in the spooky and macabre underworld of Tuonela, Hanna discovers that Death has many enemies in his kingdom, none more powerful than his half-demon ex-wife, Louhi. With an uprising of Old Gods at her fingertips, and skeleton armies ready to do her bidding, Hanna and Death must work together to make sure the underworld isn’t lost forever, even if it means losing each other and all they hold dear.
December 28
Catch up with the Brewer family (from The Proposal) in this “spicy and swoon-filled” office romance. More info coming soon.
The Grumpy Football Player and the Pop Star.
Spade. People know what to expect when they hear my last name.
Billionaire. Alphahole. The forever bachelor. Heir to Spade Hotels, one of the most luxurious brands in the world.
Want to know what they would never call me?
Boyfriend.
Until her.
With one glance at her in the club, I’m ready to claim her for the night.
Dark, flowing hair. A smile that causes my heart to pound. Eyes that pierce my soul. And a perfect body that makes every part of me pulse.
She’s addictive. Electrifying. Consuming.
I’ve never wanted anyone more.
Our eyes meet, but she looks right past me. She isn’t here for me. She’s here for the music.
For the first time in my life, a woman makes me work for it. Her indifference fuels the fire inside me.
The result? One night. No names. No introductions.
Just pleasure.
The way I’ve always liked it.
But now, I find myself fantasizing about this gorgeous stranger, and I swear I can still feel the softness of her skin and taste her on my lips.
The minute I saw her, a switch flipped inside me. Now, how do I stop this raging … obsession?
When our paths cross again in the most unexpected way, I’m on a mission to make her mine. But what happens when she wants nothing to do with me?
A sizzling grumpy-sunshine, boy-obsessed, one-night-stand romance.
For a list of Holiday Romances from years past, click here. For a Holiday novella, click here. I will try to post a list of some great Holiday Romances from this year this month but it IS a little busy at this time of year, so no promises.