Weekly Reads: October 5 to 11, 2026 (contemporary romance, paranormal romance)

Snowed Inn by Valerie Bowman (2026)

Contemporary romance. Book 2 of the Honeycrisp Orchard series. Maria’s trapped on the East Coast for Christmas due to a snowstorm, so her friend Ellie invites her to stay at the Honeycrisp Orchard Inn. And that’s where her total opposite, sort of enemy Jesse works. They got off on the totally wrong foot because he insulted her designer clothes and upscale attitude, and then she looked down on his flannel woodsiness. They’re both just assuming the wrong things about each other, with a healthy dose of general insecurity from prior heartaches. Being stuck together in a small town makes them confront their differences and actually get to know each other though. Definitely a perfect small town cozy holiday romance.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Print book provided by Avon Books.

Shop this book via Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Libro.fm

Bound and Unbound by Ali Hazelwood (2026)

Paranormal romance novella duology. Both novellas are super quick reads and doesn’t take much to uncover the paranormal nature of the people in the story. In Bound, Vero is a grad student who somehow ends up being a very talented art forger. Viktor seeks out her services, but is all mysterious about the project. And you know, his very expensive and highly secure mansion. Vero and Viktor end up spending a lot of time together and she’s clearly wary of his backstory. It’s a slow burn romance here that is delightful to read about. In Unbound, Lilit has an on-off relationship with Roman and we get a lot of time skips in this story as she reminisces about how they meet. There’s also some danger and political jockeying among Lilit’s peers, so we get to see how that mystery gets solved. Overall, fun reads.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson (2026)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. This book has been getting so much hype that of course I picked it up on release week. Parker is a novelist whose career was basically destroyed by book critic Selina three years ago. He’s plucked himself up and is releasing a second book, which again, totally eviscerated by Selina. A chance meeting at a party and a viral video of a verbal confrontation has pitted them against each other on social media. Goes to show that all press is good press because now Parker’s book is picking up steam. It’s all sorts of messy and they’re most definitely enemies, so I’m wondering when and how the romance is going to happen. It’s the slowest of slow burns and they don’t really spend much time together on page. When they do, the banter is great and when we get there, the angst is super emotional. I enjoyed this book a lot and I think it looks at the world of publishing, literary review, and social media with an interesting lens.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.