Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2023 To-Read List

Usually, when we get to these posts, I try to promote books coming out that season. But, after finally getting my Etsy shop launched this week, I’m going to be taking it easy and reading the books that make me smile and those right now are contemporary romance titles. So, I’m sharing ten contemporary romance books that I’m hoping to get a chance to read this fall, all of which have that fall-vibe we’re all chasing right now!

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Books on My Fall 2023 To-Read List

Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter

IT STARTED WITH A CUP…

Isabella Shay is usually a very honest person. But when she’s running late for her first day at a dream job and the barista yells for “Amy” 3x with no answer, she does the unthinkable.

Izzy takes that PSL.

It’s the exact drink she ordered and paid for, only waaaay further ahead in the line, so she mutters “I’m Amy” and grabs the cup. But when she turns around and runs directly into the most attractive man she’s ever seen, spilling the drink all over his GQ shirt and tie, she ends up having the ultimate meet-cute. Sparks fly and things feel beyond promising until he says the words, “See you tomorrow, Amy.”

Uh, oh – she’ll definitely have to straighten him out the following day.

Only when she gets to her new office and meets the VP of her department, it is none other than Blake Phillips – the hottie from Starbucks. And the man might’ve been charming to “Amy,” but he is an arrogant grump to Izzy, an arrogant grump who dos not find her explanation funny at all.

Autumn Sky by Jenna Starly

Autumn must prove to herself that she doesn’t always need to be one of a pair – but she also really needs a date to her sister’s wedding.

Billionaire and space entrepreneur Ren insists a faux girlfriend is the only way to keep fortune hunters at bay when he serves as keynote speaker at an upcoming conference.

When her best friend and his assistant match them on a dating app, Autumn and Ren devise a fake romance plan that’ll fulfill both of their goals.

But complications arise when they begin spending time together in preparation for the events. Real feelings and undeniable chemistry threaten their charade.

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

When Olivia Rawlings—pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club—sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of—the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts.

Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uberenthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired—to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.

With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought.

But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee—or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected—it could be even better.

The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon

When it comes to personal training, Taylor Powell kicks serious butt. Unfortunately, her bills are piling up, rent is due, and the money situation is dire. Taylor needs more than the support of her new best friends, Samiah and London. She needs a miracle.

And Jamar Dixon might just be it. The oh-so-fine former footballer wants back into the NFL, and he wants Taylor to train him. There’s just one catch—no one can know what they’re doing. But when they’re accidentally outed as a couple, Taylor’s game plan is turned completely upside down. Is Jamar just playing to win . . . or is he playing for keeps?

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead . . . but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

Falling Inn Love by Erin Branscom

Beth is a struggling romance author who’s been trying to find her place in the world after the unbearable tragedy of losing her family. Unable to find peace other than in her writing, she ends up stranded by the side of the road in Freedom Valley, New Hampshire, where a strikingly hot, green-eyed, bearded flannel wearing innkeeper rescues her.

Evan, a former marine who took over his family’s inn after the sudden loss of his father, is struggling to keep afloat.

Running out of money, Beth agrees to help Evan run the inn in exchange for room and board, but she has no intention of staying too long and letting her guard down or anyone into her heart.

But there’s something about Beth that makes Evan believe he can be the man to give her the love that she deserves.

The more emotional walls Beth tries to put up, the harder Evan works to tear them down, using everything he can, including a pair of puppies he finds abandoned by the side of the road, to make her want to stay.

Will Evan be able to convince Beth to take a second chance at love?

Meet Me On Love Lane by Nina Bocci

Charlotte Bishop is out of options in New York City. Fired, broke, and blacklisted by her former boss, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Hope Lake, PA to lick her wounds. Although she’s expecting to find a miserable place with nothing to do, she is pleasantly surprised to discover it is bustling and thriving.

She’s only supposed to be in Hope Lake temporarily until she can earn enough money to move back to New York. She’s not supposed to reconnect with her childhood friends or her beloved grandmother. She’s not supposed to find her dream job running the local florist shop. And she’s definitely not supposed to fall for not one but two of Hope Lake’s golden boys: one the beloved high school English teacher, the other the charming town doctor.

With a heart torn between two men and two cities, what’s a girl to do?

See You Next Fall by Annabelle McCormack

For four years, Elle Winnick and Quinn Camden have shared a standing date as friends—no expectations, no strings attached. After all, a romantic relationship between them seems impossible. Elle’s roots are firmly planted in Tennessee, tethered to her life and family, while her trust in love remains fragile after a devastating heartbreak. Meanwhile, Quinn is immersed in managing his father’s company and preparing to inherit his family’s ancestral estate in England—a destiny predetermined since his childhood.

The rules between them are crystal clear:

Sex is off the table.
Honesty is paramount.
Meet the first week of October, every year.

But what happens when their connection runs deeper than friendship, when every encounter stirs the embers of love? Are they willing to risk breaking the “rules,” knowing that it could change everything they’ve known?

The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert

Focused and unassuming fifth generation cider-maker Sanna Lund has one desire: to live a simple, quiet life on her family’s apple orchard in Door County, Wisconsin. Although her business is struggling, Sanna remains fiercely devoted to the orchard, despite her brother’s attempts to convince their aging father to sell the land.

Single dad Isaac Banks has spent years trying to shield his son Sebastian from his troubled mother. Fleeing heartbreak at home, Isaac packed up their lives and the two headed out on an adventure, driving across the country. Chance—or fate—led them straight to Sanna’s orchard.

Isaac’s helping hands are much appreciated at the apple farm, even more when Sanna’s father is injured in an accident. As Sanna’s formerly simple life becomes increasingly complicated, she finds solace in unexpected places—friendship with young Sebastian and something more deliciously complex with Isaac—until an outside threat infiltrates the farm.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.