The September Romance Edit
There is something about September that makes romance reading particularly appealing.
Give me a small town, falling leaves, a cozy inn, a second chance, or perhaps a witch or two, and I’m perfectly happy to disappear into a love story for the evening.
And this month’s romance releases seem to understand the assignment.
I’ve gathered nine September romances worth having on your radar, from cozy autumn love stories and second chances to old crushes, small towns, unexpected reunions, and a little magic.
If your fall TBR could use a love story or two, start here.
See something your TBR needs? You can find all of my September romance picks together here.
Trust Fall by Lynn Painter
Why it’s on my radar: A small-town girl dropped into New York City, an enormous inheritance, an elite private school, and a boy getting close to her for all the wrong reasons.
When Julia’s family unexpectedly inherits a fortune, she trades small-town Nebraska for a New York City brownstone and an elite private school. Her mysterious new tutor, Damion, has his own reasons for getting close to her, but his plan becomes complicated when he starts falling for the girl he doesn’t quite trust.
Perfect for readers who love: YA romance · New York City · secrets · tutor romance · rags-to-riches stories
If Not You by Ellen O’Clover
Why it’s on my radar: Workplace rivals, five years of history, and four weeks on the road together sounds like exactly the kind of slow-burn tension I want in a romance.
Rival copywriters Mattie and Campbell have spent years competing against each other, but a major advertising pitch sends them traveling together for four weeks. As competition gives way to unexpected vulnerability, Mattie begins to wonder whether the story she’s always told herself about Campbell might need a different ending.
Perfect for readers who love: rivals to lovers · workplace romance · forced proximity · road trips · slow burn · career-driven heroines
The Sugar Maple Inn by Laura Bloom
Why it’s on my radar: A historic inn, a small town in autumn, an anonymous online connection, and two people who both want the same property for very different reasons.
Grace sees the sale of a historic island inn as her chance to finally build something of her own, while billionaire Reese wants the same property to uncover a long-buried family secret. Neither realizes they’ve already been falling for each other anonymously online until an autumn storm strands them together and their real identities begin to unravel.
Perfect for readers who love: small-town romance · autumn settings · single moms · forced proximity · anonymous online connections
A Fall to Remember by Ellie Alexander
Why it’s on my radar: This one sounds like pure September reading: a Fall Harvest Festival, apple cider, small-town charm, and an unexpected romance.
When Miranda’s hilariously bad vacation photos unexpectedly make her internet-famous, a travel company sends handsome Jim to help her cover her hometown’s Fall Harvest Festival. Surrounded by small-town autumn charm, their growing romance gets complicated when Miranda begins wondering whether Jim’s feelings are real or simply part of the campaign.
Perfect for readers who love: cozy romance · small towns · fall festivals · unexpected fame · Gilmore Girls vibes
Fall Into Place by Kristyn J. Miller
Why it’s on my radar: A Vermont apple orchard, one final autumn at home, a childhood crush, and a woman trying to figure out where she belongs. This sounds like peak fall reading.
Lenore returns home from Manhattan to spend one last autumn at her family’s historic Vermont apple orchard before it’s sold. There she reconnects with Callan, her brother’s best friend and the childhood crush she never quite forgot, giving them one final season to reconsider the lives they thought they wanted.
Perfect for readers who love: small-town romance · Vermont in fall · brother’s best friend · childhood crush · second chances · apple orchards · homecoming
Falling for Peachtree Bluff by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Why it’s on my radar: Kristy Woodson Harvey, a cozy Southern town in fall, complicated sisters, family drama, and a second-chance romance. This feels like exactly the kind of book I want heading into autumn.
The Murphy women are back in Peachtree Bluff, each navigating her own season of change, from weddings and pregnancy to marriage troubles and unexpected romance. When a scandal threatens their family and the town they love, the sisters once again discover just how much they need one another.
Perfect for readers who love: Southern fiction · small-town romance · sister stories · complicated families · second chances · fall settings · women’s fiction
A Season for Falling by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Why it’s on my radar: A postcard-perfect Connecticut town in fall, first love, second chances, and a former child star trying to figure out who she is away from the spotlight.
Five years after leaving her life as a child star behind, Claire is determined to finish high school quietly and save enough for college. But when her former co-star and first crush arrives in her small Connecticut town for a movie shoot, their unexpected reunion forces Claire to confront the past she’s been hiding and the feelings she never quite left behind.
Perfect for readers who love: second chances · first love · fall settings · small-town Connecticut · Gilmore Girls vibes
Take a Chance by Ashley Herring Blake
Why it’s on my radar: North Carolina, a family rumored to be witches, an occult-themed amusement park, and two women uncovering a century-old family story together.
Still grieving the loss of her documentary-filmmaker parents, Sasha travels to a small North Carolina town to finally make the film her parents dreamed about, centered on a local family long rumored to be witches. But Margot Bishop wants nothing to do with exposing her family’s history, until working together begins to uncover both the truth about her ancestor and an unexpected attraction between them.
Perfect for readers who love: sapphic romance · witchy atmosphere · small towns · family mysteries · opposites attract
Meet Cute Magic by Morgan Elizabeth
Why it’s on my radar: Because apparently my September romance requirements now include bookstores, witches, ghosts, curses, and a man who insists he can’t stand the heroine.
Bookstore owner Rosie is desperate to break the family curse that keeps her from finding lasting love. When a spell summons a ghost who can help, she discovers she’ll need the assistance of Jack, the one man in town who can’t stand her, and the last person she expects to start falling for.
Perfect for readers who love: witchy romance · bookstores · enemies to lovers · ghosts · small-town magic
What Are We Reading First?
If I were building a September romance stack purely for the season, I’d be very tempted to start with The Sugar Maple Inn or A Fall to Remember. Both have the sort of cozy autumn setting that makes me want to pretend Texas has decided to participate in fall.
But that’s the nice thing about this month’s list. There’s room for the reader who wants cozy and seasonal, the reader who wants a second chance, the reader who wants something witchy, and the reader who simply wants a really good love story.