Small-town romances are a staple on my shelf. Maybe it’s because I love the tropes that come with them: forced proximity, second-chance romances, fish-out-of-water heroines, small business rivals-to-lovers, run-down inns with only one bed — the list goes on! There’s something for everyone in these fictional towns where everyone is hot, the diners are always open, and happy endings are guaranteed.
In a world that is often scary, small-town romances remind me that everything — the good, the bad, the weird — starts small. It starts with nosy neighbors and community meetings about the only stoplight in town, with mom-and-pop flower shops and people who know people who have a cousin who can build that bookcase for you. It starts with kissing a stranger at the local watering hole.
It starts with a promise of something new.
Here are some of the small-town romances that feed my ravenous heart, and maybe yours, too.
Lovelight Farms
by B.K. Borison
Some of my favorite contemporary romances come courtesy of B.K. Borison and her seasonally themed quartet of Lovelight novels set in the town of Inglewild, Md. We start in winter with “Lovelight Farms,” which follows Stella, an optimistic Christmas tree farm owner who cons her best friend — Luka, a freckled data analyst — into posing as her boyfriend so she can win a competition to save the farm. But between a raccoon invasion and her budding feelings for her supposed-to-be-fake boyfriend, this holly jolly heroine might be in over her head.
Borison’s writing is so witty and cozy that you’ll want to burrow into a nest of blankets with a cup of hot cocoa and binge the entire series.
Sex, Lies and Sensibility
by Nikki Payne
In this retelling of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” Nora Dash is reeling from a viral video scandal when she and her free-spirited sister, Yanne, learn at the reading of their father’s will that they were his secret second family. In addition to this bombshell, their dad also left them a rustic inn in rural Maine, which they have to fix up before Labor Day or they’ll lose everything. Nora’s not one to give up easily, but neither is the Native Abenaki tour guide Ennis Freeman (Bear to his friends), who has staked his own claim on the property. When they butt heads, sparks fly.
I’ll admit: I don’t like Austen. I’ve tried, I swear! And there’s something so magnetic about Payne’s retelling of the 19th-century classic that it convinced me to give Jane another go … to no avail, sadly. Nikki Payne, however? I will read her grocery list.
The Duke Who Didn’t
by Courtney Milan
Sometimes, you just want to read about a hot man in an ascot ripping off a heroine’s bodice in Regency England. Milan delivers, with swoon-worthy aplomb, in “The Duke Who Didn’t.” Three years ago, Chloe Fong crushed Jeremy Wentworth’s heart. Now he’s back with a plan to win his former childhood sweetheart over. He tried, as she requested, to become a better man — a serious man — but the endeavor was incompatible with his personality. Instead, he decides to tell her the truth: his real name, his title and maybe even the fact that he owns their entire village (surprise!), a haven for Chinese immigrants.
The New York Times called this book “one of the best things to come out of the hellscape that is 2020,” and if that doesn’t tempt you in the year of our Xanax-poppin’ lord 2025, then nothing will.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
by Heather Fawcett
Don’t let Emily Wilde’s practical-seeming diary entries dissuade you: Fawcett’s novel, the first book in a series, is witty, frank and incredibly endearing. Our narrator is a Cambridge professor who ventures to a remote Scandinavian village to research — you guessed it — faeries, only to find herself shadowed by her workplace rival, Wendell.
She then proceeds to devote a suspicious amount of space in her journal to waxing poetic about the perfect curl of Wendell’s hair, even as they spar. As is obvious to everyone except Emily, the girl is down bad. Fawcett’s dreamy romance will delight anyone who has thought about fleeing into the woods to study mushrooms and hunt for fairy circles.
A Cowboy to Remember
by Rebekah Weatherspoon
The western subgenre is synonymous with small towns, and you’d be hard-pressed to find sexier cowboys than Weatherspoon’s Pleasant brothers, who each star in their own contemporary fairy tale retelling in her Cowboys of California trilogy. The first book, “A Cowboy to Remember,” is a twist on Sleeping Beauty. Evie, an up-and-coming chef, returns to the dude ranch where she grew up after losing her memories in an accident. She doesn’t remember anything about the ranch or its staff — until Zach, a former rodeo champion and her childhood friend, reawakens feelings in her that she never dreamed possible.
Weatherspoon brings a sweetness to each page that slowly builds to a sensual climax, leaving you ravenous for more. If you haven’t read any of her romances yet, you’re in for a treat.
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
by Megan Bannen
Speaking of hot men in cowboy hats, “The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy” is a doggone delight. Hart is a brooding marshal who patrols the strange, enchanted wilds of Tanria. Mercy is an undertaker who has way too much on her slab, er, plate to be messing around with lawmen, no matter how ruggedly sexy they may be. The pair find themselves falling in love through anonymous letters in this romance with serious “You’ve Got Mail” vibes. Rivals-to-lovers set in a magical Wild West? Say less!
Bannen’s whimsical, big-hearted fantasy deserves a spot on everyone’s shelf beside Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett.
Dream On, Ramona Riley
by Ashley Herring Blake
I am a sucker for a Hollywood romance. And a small-town Hollywood romance? Excuse me, let me pop out my lawn chair and get comfortable. “Dream On, Ramona Riley” follows Ramona, a waitress and former costume designer who gave up her dreams of stardom to help her family, and Dylan, the actress who was her first kiss. When a movie shoot lands Dylan in Ramona’s New Hampshire hometown, the women find themselves confronting their past, and their uncertain future.
Blake is one of my favorite Sapphic romance authors and here she weaves a poignant story about small town lives and big loves. This, as Hilary Duff once said, is what dreams are made of.
The Cottage Around the Corner
by D.L. Soria
Whenever I think of cozy romantasy, I think of “The Cottage Around the Corner.” It has everything: small-town exploits, family businesses rallying against the encroachment of big-box capitalism, hot mages in suits (OK, maybe that last one is just me, but there’s room on this ship for more of us!). When supernatural events threaten the town of Owl’s Hollow, Charlie, the owner of the local spell shop, and Fitz, a mage business mogul, must put their rivalry aside to save the magical enclave.
Basically, Soria’s charming novel is the answer to the question, “What if Nora Ephron wrote a cottagecore romantasy?” By the end, you’ll want to visit that cottage around the corner. I know I did!
The Prospects
by KT Hoffman
Beaverton, Ore., may not technically qualify as a small town, but anyone who’s been part of a sports team (and I am including marching bands in this — that is a sport, and you can’t tell me otherwise) knows that it’s basically an ecosystem all its own. Gene is a shortstop for the Beaverton Beavers, the city’s minor-league baseball team, and the first openly trans player in the league. When his former rival, Luis, gets traded to the Beavers, sparks fly — on and off the field.
“The Prospects” has everything you could want in a small-town romance: community, interpersonal drama and so much heart you’ll find yourself grinning from beginning to end. Looking for a feel-good read? Hoffman makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping
by Sangu Mandanna
Hi, my name is Ashley and I’m a sucker for second chances. Once a magical prodigy, Sera Swan lost most her powers resurrecting her beloved, momentarily deceased great-aunt. She had resigned herself to an everyday existence running the Batty Hole, a ramshackle refuge for weary travelers and lost souls. But when she comes across a spell that could restore her magic, she will do anything to make it work — even if it means asking Luke Larsen, an icy magical historian, for help.
Found family, a talking fox, a quaint inn in an English village — it’s like this book was written just for me. Mandanna somehow writes existential crises like a warm hug (in fact, I love her work so much I’ve blurbed it). The only problem with this book is that you have to wait to experience it: It comes out July 15.
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