October’s a big month for seasonal/vibe readers, because if there are three things you can count on filling shelves, it’s spooky season reads, Hallmark vibes, and, despite Christmas and Hanukkah being months away, winter holiday romances. This month’s roundup’s got all three, and they are a delight.
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Best Hex Ever
Author: Nadia El-Fassi
Released: October 1, 2024 by Dell
Genre: LGBTQIA, Paranormal, RomanceA kitchen witch with a penchant for baking and a (literally) cursed love life meets someone who’s worth breaking a hex for in this sweet and spicy debut romance.
As a skilled kitchen witch, Dina Whitlock knows her way around a pastry recipe. In fact, she runs her very own London café serving magic-infused pastries for her loyal customers. But only a select few friends know about her magical abilities or the hex that has plagued her love life. It’s hard to fall in love when your partner is guaranteed to have a string of bad luck the second they start to have feelings for you.
Scott Mason is back from traveling the world and is excited to begin his new job as a curator at the British Museum. After leaving London to heal from a brutal breakup two years ago, Scott only now realizes how much he missed out on. Now that his best friend’s wedding is right around the corner, Scott is determined to be the most amazing best man ever, but he doesn’t expect to be bewitched by the maid of honor, who also happens to be the owner of his new favorite café and, more surprisingly, a witch?!
After a weekend in the countryside full of peculiar hedge mazes, palm readings by candlelight, and a midnight Halloween ritual, there’s no denying the chemistry between them. But there’s just one problem: The hex still holds, and Dina knows that Scott is in danger. In the past, she’s always cut her losses, but this time is different. Scott could be the one. Will Dina be able to undo the hex, before it’s too late?
Neither this blurb nor this cover gave away to me that this was a queer romance, but in addition to Dina being the first main character of Moroccan descent I’ve read, she is indeed bisexual, which is pretty central to the story. If you love reading cozy, witchy romances in fall, especially with spice (literal and figurative), this one’s got all the delicious autumnal vibes.
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Showmance
Author: Chad Beguelin
Released: October 1, 2024 by Penguin Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance“Showmance is ready for the big time….Beguelin crafts a story you never want to end.” —Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants
A down-on-his-luck Broadway playwright is marooned in rural Illinois in this sharply funny queer rom-com
Noah Adams’s career as a playwright is circling the drain, thanks to a scorching review of his first Broadway musical. So when a family emergency sends him back to his Podunk hometown of Plainview, Illinois, he figures he’ll hide out for a bit. But to Noah’s horror, his agent has secretly arranged for him to stage an amateur version of the career-ruining musical at the local community theater.
As if trying to work with a bunch of artless amateurs wasn’t enough, Noah runs into Luke, the jerk from his high school years, everywhere he goes. Luke somehow grew up to be beloved by everyone in town…and undeniably gorgeous. As rehearsals begin, Noah is surprised by his cast’s insights, the warmth of the town he’d dismissed, and the reality of what happened with Luke all those years ago. Just how much has Noah misjudged?
A serious contender for my favorite gay romance of the year, Beguelin’s debut novel has the laugh/swoon/cry combo on lock, the perfect pick if you’re looking for queer romance that feels like a great Hallmark movie. (Which, honestly, I’m usually not, and I loved it anyway, so!) Beguelin’s got a whole bunch of other writing cred and it shows, especially in the characters’ wit. Treat yourself!
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I’ll Be Gone for Christmas
Author: Georgia Boone
Released: October 8, 2024 by Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceFor fans of The Holiday comes a heartwarming Christmas house-swap rom-com debut in which finding yourself and finding love come hand in hand.
Bee Tyler needs a break. In the bustling San Francisco tech community, no one ever seems to stand still—especially her perfect sister and business partner, Beth. So when her best friend suggests a getaway on the wildly popular house-swap app, Vacate, Bee decides a countryside retreat might be exactly what she needs.
Clover Mills has had a year. Between losing her mother and making the complicated decision to leave her fiancé, sticking around the idyllic Christmas obsessed town of Salem, Ohio, just doesn’t feel right. So when she hears about Vacate, she jumps at the chance to spend the holidays in the unfamiliar city of San Francisco.
Soon enough, Bee is living in Clover’s cozy Salem cottage, and Clover is living in Bee’s sleek San Francisco apartment. As Clover can’t seem to stop running into Bee’s frustratingly gorgeous sister, Beth, and Bee finds herself spending more and more time with Clover’s ultra charming ex-fiancé, Knox, the two women realize that this Christmas they may find just what they were looking for and more…
Finding romance while home-swapping is fast becoming a favorite trope of mine (The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish is another fave), and I really love the way Boone does it here in her debut novel, tying the two couples together by having each half of a pair of exes find love via the swap. One pairing is hetero, the other Sapphic, with the queer MC really exploring that for the first time. It’s sweet and lovely and is also one of very few queer holiday romances with Black main characters, especially from a traditional publisher.
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Most Wonderful
Author: Georgia Clark
Released: October 15, 2024 by The Dial Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceA charming queer holiday romance about three adult siblings, each at a personal and romantic crossroads, who reunite at their larger-than-life mother’s Catskills manor for an unforgettable Christmas, from the author of It Had to Be You.
It’s the most romantic time of the year.
The holidays are fast approaching, and the Belvedere siblings are a mess. Liz, a Hollywood showrunner and responsible eldest, has no idea how to follow up her hit show’s first season, or how to deal with her giant crush on its star, Violet Grace. Birdie turned her chronic middle child syndrome into a career as a stand-up comic, but since she spends more time wooing women than working on new material, she’s facing one-hit wonder status, especially once she gets axed by her manager. And Rafi, sensitive romantic and the baby golden boy, proposes to his coworker girlfriend in front of his entire company, only to be turned down by the woman he thought was the love of his life.
Born to three different fathers, the three adult children share one mother: famed actress and singer Babs Belvedere. Seeking direction and holiday cheer, all three siblings head up to their mother’s house in the Catskills, determined to swear off love and focus on themselves and their work. But the spirit of the season seems to have different plans for them, and their best intentions are quickly derailed in the most delightful and festive of ways.
Emotional, smart, and sexy, this queer holiday romcom celebrates love, family, and the wild creative life, and is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Casey McQuiston.
I actually kicked off my year with my first read by Georgia Clark, the delightfully apropos (I was in the Bahamas) Island Time, and I loved returning to her wonderful world of bonkers families you can’t help but love. Plus, not one but three queer siblings, all very different, finding love! Whether they all keep that love, well, I won’t spoil that. But it’s an extremely fun read woven through with some serious topics (CWs for alcoholism and past pregnancy loss, to name a couple), and I just enjoy Clark’s style so much. If you’re a Schitt’s Creek fan, she’s definitely an author to check out.
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Marshmallow Mountain
Author: M.A. Wardell
Released: October 22, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Big Boys Small Spaces #1What’s worse than being snowed in with your ex? Literally nothing.
Initially, the only thing Marshall and Marshall had in common was a name. Marshall (aka Data) lived his life around spreadsheets, while Marshall (aka Marsh) was an F5 tornado of chaos. Yet for eight years, they were madly in love. Until Marsh abruptly ended things with a half-baked excuse.
Six months later, Data gets a text from Marsh out of the they need to clean out their cabin in Maine and sell it ASAP. He can make it through one more weekend with the man who broke his heart.
Marsh loved adding squiggles to the straight lines of his boyfriend. If only he could’ve lived up to the potential Data saw in him. If only he didn’t feel like he was one big miscalculation on Data’s ledger. Saying goodbye to Marshmallow Mountain will be the final tie to sever, even though he still pines for his number-crunching teddy bear.
But when a massive snowstorm traps them in their small cabin for days, they’re forced to confront hard truths about their breakup…as well as resist the sweltering heat raging between them.
These boys might be headed for a second act, but only if they can make it off Marshmallow Mountain.
This is the one book in the roundup I haven’t gotten to read yet, but it’s beloved indie m/m authors A.J. Truman and M.A. Wardell, and they’re kicking off a series called “Big Boys Small Spaces,” and I’m reasonably sure it’s spicy as hell, and I just don’t see how this one could possibly miss. Bring on the snowfall!
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I’m curious about the nightmare before kissmas by Sara Raasch which has the potential to be either very fun or very bad.