#2 Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Goodreads 3.99 503,605 ratings / 79,642 reviews

Quick take: A sweeping, romantic rivals-to-lovers set on sun-washed Little Crescent Island, where two writers compete to capture the life of a reclusive former heiress—and discover a story (and chemistry) of their own.

What works:

• The hook is irresistible: dueling biographers, ironclad NDAs, and a larger-than-life subject whose past unspools like old Hollywood gossip with a beating heart.
• Henry’s trademark warmth, observational humor, and “competence crush” energy between Alice and Hayden still charm.
• The nested narrative—present-day romance threaded with Margaret Ives’s scandal-tinted history—builds to a satisfying, emotional payoff.

What might not:

• The tone leans more women’s-fiction than rom-com; some readers may wish the central romance took the wheel earlier.
• Mid-book pacing can feel baggy as the biography sections deepen; if you’re here strictly for quips and kisses, patience required.

Vibe & tropes: Rivals-to-lovers • forced proximity • grumpy/sunshine (Pulitzer thundercloud vs. sunny striver) • story-within-a-story • celebrity/reclusive icon • island setting.

Heat level: 🔥🔥 (moderate—sensual, not explicit)

Content notes: Grief and family secrets; public scandal/tabloid scrutiny; aging/illness of an elderly character; workplace power dynamics handled with care.

Verdict: Thoughtful, tender, and ambitiously structured—less fizzy than Beach Read, more reflective and expansive. A confident pivot that still lands the swoon.

Book-Critic Score 4.8/5

#3 Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Goodreads 4.03 365,427 ratings / 53,296 reviews

Quick take: Jimenez pairs a “best-date-ever” opener with a tender, long-distance romance about choosing love while a family crisis reshapes everything. It’s funny and heartfelt, with a kitten-at-the-vet meet-cute and a heroine whose caregiving stakes feel real.

What works:

• The hook sings: Samantha and Xavier’s unforgettable first date gives the book a glowing center the later chapters keep circling back to.
• Jimenez balances banter with heavier themes; the portrayal of a parent’s early-onset dementia and the strain on adult children adds weight without sinking the romance.
• Xavier (a veterinarian) is an immediately endearing lead; apologies are earned, consent is clear, and the emotional payoff lands.

What might not:

• The story leans a bit more women’s-fiction than rom-com; readers wanting wall-to-wall swoon may feel the family storyline takes the wheel at times.
• Long-distance logistics can make the mid-book feel repetitive as obstacles pile up.

Vibe & tropes: Epic first date • grumpy/soft (he puts his foot in his mouth, then fixes it) • apology tour • long-distance romance • caretaker heroine • found family notes • vet hero with animals.

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥 (moderate, open-door moments).

Content notes: Parental dementia and caregiver burnout; references to past parental emotional/physical abuse; grief; medical/elder-care decision-making.

Verdict: Big-hearted and emotionally grounded, this is classic Jimenez—wit, warmth, and real-life stakes. Not her fizziest, but deeply satisfying all the same.

Book-Critic Score 4.5/5 stars.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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#4 Wild Side by Elsie Silver

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Goodreads 4.19 185,698 ratings / 21,416 reviews

Quick take: A broody–sunny enemies-to-lovers that turns into a marriage-of-convenience to protect a child—set in small-town Rose Hill with a hero who moonlights as a professional wrestler. It’s angsty, tender, and very fun.

What works:

• The stakes feel real: a contested guardianship and a “we’ll-do-anything-for-this-kid” romance give the swoon genuine weight.
• Rhys’s tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside persona (yes, the masked wrestler bit) plays beautifully against Tabitha’s fierce, capable warmth. The banter snaps.
• Silver’s small-town texture—work, friends, obligations—keeps the plot grounded as the attraction burns hotter.

What might not:

• The marriage-of-convenience/legal timeline asks for a little suspension of disbelief.
• The guardianship and wrestling subplots occasionally crowd the central romance for readers wanting pure fluff.

Vibe & tropes: Enemies to lovers • marriage of convenience • forced proximity • guardianship/“single-dad by proxy” • broody hero • small-town Western-adjacent setting • celebrity-adjacent (wrestler).

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥 (open-door scenes, emotionally charged).

Content notes: Death of a family member and grief; custody dispute; on-page sports injuries/violence from pro wrestling; public scrutiny.

Verdict: A big-hearted, high-chemistry ride with just enough grit. If you loved the blend of small-town charm and high heat in Silver’s earlier books, Wild Side delivers.

Book-Critic Score 4.8/5 stars.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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#5 Rewind It Back by Liz Tomforde

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Goodreads 4.48 176,319 ratings / 25,246 reviews

Quick take: A tender, slow-burn second-chance romance between childhood sweethearts who reunite in Chicago—he’s an NHL star, she’s the interior designer assigned to renovate his home. As the Windy City series finale, it leans into nostalgia, closure, and grown-up forgiveness.

What works:

• The setup is catnip: neighbors-to-lovers (again) + forced proximity (client/designer) gives the emotional history plenty of room to breathe.
• A heartfelt, series-capstone vibe—callbacks to the friend group and a genuine sense of goodbye without overwriting the central couple.
• Rio is an easy hero to root for, and Hallie’s career drive grounds the romance in believable adult stakes.

What might not:

• It’s a long book with a deliberately paced middle; some readers found the back half a bit baggy.
• Heavier reliance on series history means first-time Tomforde readers may miss some emotional texture.

Vibe & tropes: Second-chance • childhood sweethearts • neighbors again • forced proximity (home renovation) • pro-hockey hero • found-family friend group • Chicago setting.

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥 (open-door, moderately explicit; emotion-forward scenes)

Content notes: Grief and healing themes; public scrutiny of a pro athlete; past breakup fallout; mild sports-related injury mentions.

Verdict: Big emotion, steady swoon, and a satisfying farewell to the series. If you’ve loved Tomforde’s blend of banter + heart, this sticks the landing.

Book-Critic Score 4.4/5 stars.

#6 Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Goodreads 4.34 269,622 ratings / 30,703 reviews

Quick take: A sweeping love story braided with a slow-burn mystery and courtroom drama, told across past and present as a woman’s first love collides with the life she built. A Reese’s Book Club pick.

What works:

• Elegant dual-timeline structure that steadily reveals secrets while keeping the emotional stakes front and center.
• Vivid sense of place and atmosphere (rural Britain), plus grounded character work that invites messy, human empathy.
• Twist-forward plotting that threads romance with suspense in satisfying ways.

What might not:

• The affair/forbidden-love premise—and some character choices—will polarize readers.
• Pacing occasionally lingers in the mid-sections as backstory deepens; genre blend skews more women’s-fiction than pure thriller or pure romance for some tastes.

Vibe & tropes: Forbidden love • first love returns • love triangle/complicated marriage • small-village secrets • dual timeline • mystery with courtroom elements.

Heat level: 🔥🔥 (semi open-door; sensual more than explicit)

Content notes: Infidelity; grief; murder investigation and trial; emotional manipulation; scenes of violence/endangerment.

Verdict: Lush, layered, and emotionally thorny—a book-club-ready blend of romance and suspense that sticks the landing with its reveals.

Book Critic Score 3.9/5 stars

#7 The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Goodreads 3.4 382,339 ratings / 50,618 reviews

Quick take: Cozy-autumn small town + grumpy/sunshine romance with a latte of found-family warmth—and yes, open-door spice—as city girl Jeanie inherits a café in Dream Harbor and butts heads (then hearts) with stoic farmer Logan.

What works:

• Vibes for days: crunchy-leaf atmosphere, café comforts, and an eminently bingeable fall setting.
• Trope catnip: grumpy/sunshine chemistry, small town meddling, and supportive side characters that sell the “fresh start” fantasy.
• Light mystery thread that keeps pages turning without hijacking the romance.

What might not:

• The conflict is relatively low-stakes; angst lovers may want sharper edges.
• The spice level may surprise readers expecting Hallmark-cozy only; this series pairs cozy settings with explicit scenes.
• Familiar beats (big city to small town; gruff farmer softens) won’t feel novel to trope-savvy readers.

Vibe & tropes: Grumpy/sunshine • small town • found family • city-girl inherits a business • farmer hero • cozy autumn • light mystery elements.

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (4/5) — explicit open-door scenes.

Content notes: Explicit sex; mild peril/strange-goings-on around the café; starting-over stress; small-town gossip.

Verdict: A cinnamon-warm comfort read with genuine swoon and a spicier bite than its cozy packaging suggests. If you want fall vibes, a softening grump, and a guaranteed HEA, this delivers.

Book-Critic Score 3.7/5 stars

#8 One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Goodreads 4.3 306,636 ratings / 42,116 reviews

Quick take: A nostalgic, lake-soaked romance about a guarded photographer who returns to Barry’s Bay with her grandmother and collides with a flirty blast-from-the-past: the boy in the photo that changed her life—now very much a man. Expect golden-hour vibes, grief healing, and a soft, steady swoon.

What works:

• The photography motif (seeing vs. being seen) gives the love story texture and real emotional stakes.
• Returning to Barry’s Bay and re-meeting Charlie Florek will delight fans of Every Summer After, with cameos that feel organic, not distracting.
• Sunlit small-town atmosphere with an intergenerational thread through Alice’s bond with her Nan.

What might not:

• The story leans more women’s-fiction + romance than fizzy rom-com; a few beats feel familiar.
• A gentle pace with a late-book reveal may read predictable for trope-savvy readers.

Vibe & tropes: Lake-town escape • caretaker granddaughter • past threads meet present • flirt-to-feelings • small-town community • cameo tie-ins to an earlier book.

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥 (moderate, a couple of open-door moments—emotion first)

Content notes: Death of a parent (past); accident/medical issues (grandmother’s hip injury); a tense on-the-water incident; grief themes.

Verdict: Sun-dappled, tender, and carefully observed. Not a radical reinvention, but a confident, comforting return to the world readers love—with enough fresh emotion to make it feel new.

Book-Critic Score 4.2/5

#9 November 9 by Colleen Hoover

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Goodreads 4.11

1,293,101 ratings / 97,313 reviews

Quick take: A high-concept, one-day-a-year romance that blends swoony chemistry with a morally messy twist about fate, healing, and the stories we tell about ourselves.

What works:

• The annual-meetup structure keeps tension high and makes every scene count.
• Fallon’s journey with scars, self-image, and agency gives the love story emotional weight.
• The writer-hero adds a playful, self-aware riff on storytelling and truth.
• Big, satisfying reveals that reframe earlier chapters.

What might not:

• The major twist will divide readers who prefer clean-cut heroes and uncomplicated motives.
• Some beats lean melodramatic, and the time gaps can make the relationship feel compressed.
• A few moments of boundary-pushing behavior may not land for all readers.

Vibe & tropes: One day a year • fate vs. choice • writer hero • actress heroine starting over • traumatic past connection • slow burn across years • second chances.

Heat level: 🔥🔥 (semi open-door; sensual more than explicit)

Content notes: Burn trauma and scarring; grief and loss; emotional manipulation; parental pressure; references to a past fire and injury.

Verdict: Bold, twisty, and emotionally charged. If you like romances that dare the characters to confront the past before earning the HEA, this is a page-turner.

Book-Critic Score 4.5/5

#10 Leave Me Behind by K.M. Moronova

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Goodreads 3.91

52,783 ratings / 8,848 reviews

Quick take: A high-octane dark romance set inside an elite special-ops world: when a mission goes sideways, survivor-heroine Nell Gallows and a hostile teammate are forced to rely on each other—sparks, secrets, and danger included.

What works:

• Relentless momentum: tactical set pieces and survival stakes keep the tension simmering alongside the romance.
• True enemies-to-lovers heat (Nell vs. “Bones”) with sharp, barbed chemistry.
• Competent, battle-hardened heroine whose resilience anchors the story’s darker beats.

What might not:

• It’s dark: power clashes, “red flag” dynamics, and kink-forward scenes won’t suit every reader.
• Polarizing late-act turns and a baggier middle have divided reviewers.

Vibe & tropes: Enemies to lovers • forced proximity (stranded after a mission) • elite special-ops team politics • found-family squad energy • dark/kink elements.

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (4/5) — explicit open-door with darker kink notes (including CNC elements; check TWs).

Content notes: Graphic combat/peril; explicit sex; consensual non-consent and other kink; grief/trauma; controlling behaviors; profanity/violence.

Verdict: Dark, punchy, and unapologetically spicy—this is catnip for readers who want military-suspense action with vicious banter and high heat. If you’re kink-curious and comfortable with morally gray dynamics, it delivers; if you prefer soft cinnamon-roll romances, proceed with caution.

Book-Critic Score 4.0/5