Weekly Reads: August 24 to 30, 2026 (historical romance, paranormal romance, contemporary romance)

The Wallflower Win by Valerie Bowman (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Whitmorelands series. Eliza is totally uninterested in marriage, so she basically tricks Christopher into a wager during a chess match, where he will pretend to court her next season if she wins. Which she does of course, but she severely underestimated how much time they would need to spend together during their fake courtship. She really just thought they’d dance a few times at a ball and then she’d be free to read all day. And then it turns out that she actually likes the man. And he likes her too. Total mess, really. They just need to figure out that they should actually get married for real.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton (2026)

Paranormal romance. Book 1 of the Ministry of Supernatural Affairs series. Fantasy world where Queen Victoria is actually a vampire and a whole bunch of supernatural beings are real. Now there’s been a great revelation and everyone’s co-mingling. Cora is the human liaison between species and is in charge of the Devil and his entourage as they visit London for the Great Exhibition. Oh, and his son, Marcellus, the Marquis of Hell, is the most handsome man Cora has ever seen. Lots of danger, a possible assassin, and a love affair with an actual demon here. I thought it was fun seeing how all the species interact, especially with Cora’s housemates at her boarding house. The romance was pretty straightforward, with flirtation, and teaming up against a possible spy. This book seems to be another in a wave of historical romance authors branching out into other subgenres because historical itself isn’t selling these days. Aside from the demons and vampires, etc, we’re still solidly in Victorian-era England.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.

The Best I Never Had by Amy Buchanan (2026)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Family trauma all around here in a fake dating situation at their siblings’ wedding week. Thea and Owen fake dated for a weekend a few years ago while at Owen’s cousin’s wedding, and they’re thrown back together for the wedding between Thea’s sister Addy and Owen’s brother Harrison. They get to now pretend to be fake exes with meddlesome family members all the way around. Add in Thea’s history of being known as a troublemaker foster kid and Owen’s people-pleasing tendencies, and we’ve got all sorts of emotional angst going on. But I did like that they finally started standing up for themselves and going after what they want, despite all the reasons to stay away from each other.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.