Love on the Shelf

 

A fast-paced rom-com that offers a thought-provoking cultural commentary on love—most notably, the virtues of romance novels.

With 60 books under her belt, Sheila Roberts (The Man Next Door) once again tackles the genre she knows best--romantic comedy. Love on the Shelf is a wry send-up that cleverly pits a hopefully romantic bookseller against a jaded, romance-averse, radio shock-jock.

Shy, single, bookish Alice Willoughby believes in love and happy endings. She and her mother own and operate HEA Books, a fun, “haven and happy place” bookstore in Seattle, Washington. Since Alice graduated college and became a local merchant, she has taken pride in promoting romance titles--even successfully serving as a ‘book matchmaker’ for readers hungry to find the perfect literary love story escapes.

Enter Parker Black, who is bitter from a soured, broken relationship with a romance writer who later poison-penned their story, casting him as a villain. Parker uses his popular radio platform and machismo to take-down all things romance—including ‘evil’ romance novels. His outspokenness ultimately stirs up trouble for Alice and HEA until an on-air debate sends sparks flying between the two that not only incite a public protest about the nature of love and happy endings but suddenly shifts the perspectives of the two disparate souls.

Nobody does the charm of witty romance better than Sheila Roberts!  Love on the Shelf is a thought-provoking cultural commentary on the romance book industry, offering well-defined characters in whom readers will root to fall in love.

The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts

MIRA Books (HarperCollins, Harlequin), 18.99 paperback, 9780778305828, 336 pages

Publishing Date: May 26,2026

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

Learn more about Sheila Roberts HERE

I Know How This Ends

An imaginative romance about a 36-year-old faced with rebooting her shattered life in unexpected ways. 

Are we in control of our destinies? Or does fate cast the die of our lives? Those two questions inspire I Know How This Ends, an inventive, thought-provoking romance by Holly Smale (Geek Girl, Cassandra in Reverse).

The story is told by down-on-her-luck, 36-year-old Margot Wayward, a British-Australian who is enduring the fall-out of a broken, ten-year romance and her losing her job, in a terminal way, as a meteorologist. With her life unmoored, Margot has settled back into her old hometown of Bristol where she struggles with ‘what’s next?’ for her life.  

Enduring a string of no-spark, going-nowhere dates, disillusioned Margot starts to experience supernatural visions that offer glimpses of a future she cannot envision for herself. When she crosses paths with Henry--a sweet-natured single dad and widower; a waiter at the Italian restaurant where all her dates end in disaster--Margot's heart reawakens.  But after everything she’s been through, is she really ready to live--and love--again?

A compelling premise, a strong narrative voice, and a quirky supporting cast permeate Margot’s hopeful journey that will delight readers with tinges of time-travel and magical realism. 

I Know How This Ends by Holly Smale

Mira Books (HarperCollins, Harlequin), $30.00 hardcover, 9780778368632, 368 pages

Publication Date: August 12, 2025

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

 

Link HERE to learn more about author Holly Smale

The Lost Book of First Loves

RaeAnne Thayne, a prolific author of women’s fiction, delivers a heartfelt, emotionally moving story about how secrets revealed change the lives of two women in extraordinary ways.

Juniper “June” Connelly, based in Puget Sound (Washington State), is a 34-year-old, seemingly healthy, high-powered, intimidating career woman who expects much of herself and those who work under her employ. Just as she is about to fire her latest unpaid intern, Allison Wells, a 26-year-old recent law school graduate, June collapses from a heart attack and none other than Allison saves her life. This sets up a complex dynamic that forever links the two women—in more ways than one.

 

It seems that Allison’s career aspirations were something of a pretext. After the death of her literary icon father, a shocking secret sets Allison on a quest to wheedle her way to the internship. Her intent is to get to know June better as a DNA test formerly revealed that she and June, her boss, are actually half-sisters. But before Allison has a chance to enlighten June to the truth, the health emergency takes precedence.

 

As a result, the two likeable women forge an unlikely bond of friendship where Allison actually invites June, in need of R&R and healing, to use the "family cabin" in a small Wyoming town.  Over the course of one summer and June’s convalescence, the two women grapple with the missing pieces of their lives and new love interests as they both discover the real meaning of family.

Thayne (The December Market) delivers another tender, winning romance that’s sure to inspire hope for new beginning and second chances.

 

The Lost Book of First Loves by RaeAnne Thayne

Canary Street Press (HarperCollins/MIRA/Harlequin), $30.00 hardcover, 9781445467713, 352 pages

Publishing Date: June 3, 2025

To order this book on Bookshop.org link HERE

Learn more about RaeAnne Thayne HERE

 

Pickleballers

A flirtatious romcom about a jilted divorcée, a craft artist, who takes up the sport of Pickleball enroute to carving out a brand-new life. 

A craft artist recovering from an abruptly severed marriage takes consolation via the sport of Pickleball in the competitively spirited romcom, Pickleballers, an amusing first novel by Ilana Long.

 

Meg Bloomberg--a 30something Seattle, Wash. native--is struggling after her dentist husband of two years walked out on her. Unmoored, Meg is emotionally cast adrift. But when her bestie from college encourages Meg to take up pickleball as a “mental distraction from her loneliness,” Meg soon finds meaning and purpose for her life again.

 

Meg crosses paths with a diversity of players—each with personal problems of his/her own. But as she sets out to competitively master the game, Meg learns her local pickleball courts are facing closure—environmentalists are intent to restore the area to a nature preserve. This sends Meg to practice with her partner on nearby Bainbridge Island. Via the 35-minute ferry crossing from Seattle, Meg is drawn to a charming stranger with “dreamy eyes” whom, she learns, also plays pickleball. As the two strike up a romance, Meg discovers that her new beau is the very conservationist intent on closing her local Seattle courts. This sets up a host of complications for Meg--both on and off the court.

 

Pickleball history and lore--as well as nuances about the game--flesh out this amusing, flirty romcom. Long serves up witty volleys of banter and clever plot twists that play out with winning aplomb.

 

Pickleballers by Ilana Long

Berkley, $19.00 paperback, 9780593642238, 368 pages

Publication Date: November 12, 2024

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (November 15, 2024), link HERE 

Wish I Were Here

An adventurous, open-hearted romcom about an exacting mathematician and a quirky, fun-loving doorman who set out on a journey of self-discovery.

Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner is an adventurous and open-hearted romantic comedy about a precise and exacting mathematician whose world is turned upside-down in a case of missing identity. 

Catherine Lipton of Pittsburgh, Penn. is thrilled when she’s offered a university math professorship. However, when the college requests original documents for her employment file, the single, 29-year-old learns she doesn’t exist. Her birth certificate and Social Security information aren’t even found in any databases. This forces Catherine to find a way to substantiate her existence.

Catherine seeks the help of her career-averse, bohemian father, who has lived intent on pursuing his dreams of clown performing—juggling, his specialty. As a single dad who raised Catherine--Catherine’s mother walked out on them--he refuses to help Catherine’s search for her mother who might retain the original documents needed for Catherine’s dream job. Desperate, Catherine accepts help offered by Luca Morelli, the handsome, heavily tattooed, artsy doorman who oversees her apartment building, which is filled with fun-loving octogenarians. The somewhat sinister connections offered by Luca and those in his orbit steep Catherine in unexpected complications, while offering readers amusingly plotted twists and turns. 

 

Female protagonists whose lives comedically derail, forcing them to change, are hallmarks of Wiesner’s (The Second Chance Year) cleverly inventive romcoms. In Wish I Were Here, she builds on this foundation with great charm and wit.

 

Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner

Forever, $17.99 paperback, 9781538741948, 368 pages

Publication Date: October 15, 2024

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (October 18, 2024), link HERE