10 Most Anticipated Romance Books Coming Out In August 2024

August 2024 promises to be an excellent month for romantic literature. There is something for everyone, including readers who are fans of books that blend fantasy and romance. Some established romance authors are returning with the next book in their series or another standalone, while debut authors are making their entry with some swoony and adorable new plots. Certain upcoming rom-coms stand out by pitching a completely wacky new scenario for the main couple to find themselves in, while others are dependent upon classic romance vibes.

In other genres, people may critique romance for distracting from the main storyline; great fantasy book series without romance are difficult to find. Romance novels arguably have to work harder to make their mark when many popular romance authors are turning out countless narratively similar books. Maybe the romance is framed within a bigger story that has broader implications in the real world. Additionally, some books for people who miss the rom-com golden age call back to simple plots but include modern touches.

10 Daydream By Hannah Grace

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Following Icebreaker and Wildfire, bestselling author Hannah Grace is bringing fans another college romance in Daydream. This third installment in the series of books, all set at the fictional University of California, Maple Hills, follows a procrastinator/reluctant hockey captain who accepts private tutoring from a fellow student/aspiring writer. The former wants to pass a class, the latter wants to break up writer’s block with a new experience, and the rest will follow.

Grace successfully created a unique romantic atmosphere at a fictional university with a wistful name where she can explore the ins and outs of college relationships. This formula has certainly worked out, with her books rising to become #1 New York Times bestsellers. Grace also chooses her characters to remain in relationships over the marketability of sequels: Fans have been asking if she will ever write Icebreaker 2, but she feels she would have to break up the main couple (via hannahgrace.co.uk).

9 Bridesmaid Undercover By Meghan Quinn

Release Date: August 20, 2024

Meghan Quinn is the popular author of more than 100 rom-com and contemporary romance novels — and yet her upcoming book still sounds enticing. Bridesmaid for Hire was released earlier this year, establishing a new concept for Quinn to work with of a hard-core wedding planning and bridesmaid business. After Maggie’s classic “pretending to date” scenario in Bridesmaid for Hire, its follow-up Undercover Bridesmaid promises the same.

The second book focuses on Everly, a new employee at Magical Moments by Maggie, who is hired not only as a bridesmaid but also to help the best man win back the maid of honor. Rom-con shenanigans ensue when Everly finds herself with feelings for him, and he starts to feel the same way about her, jeopardizing friendships and carefully laid out professional boundaries. As several of Quinn’s other series include several more books, the crazy exploits of the Bridesmaid for Hire characters may only be beginning.

8 Born Of Blood And Ash By Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: August 13, 2024

Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of the top romantasy authors in the business, whose works cater to fans of Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass books and Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse franchise. Following a long career of fantasy literature starting in the early 2010s, Armentraut’s Blood and Ash series became a BookTok favorite, full of long-lost heirs gaining magical powers. The basic plot of Blood and Ash demonstrates that Armentrout enjoys working with the most popular tropes of the day and making them her own.

The final book in the Flesh and Fire series, the prequel/spinoff to Blood and Ash, is expected in mid-August. Born of Blood and Ash will depict the end of Sera and Nyktos’ story, covering their cautious alliance-turned-romance storyline and how they grapple with immeasurable magical power. They also have to defeat the Primal of Death before he destroys everything and Sera has a chance to become a powerful queen.

7 Dark Restraint By Katee Robert

Release Date: August 6, 2024

Dark romance is another BookTok-favored trope on the rise, blending typical young adult and new adult romances with more mature themes and taboo subjects. The titles alone of Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus series play right into this trope, with the seventh book Dark Restraint scheduled for an early August release (although this is the first individual book with “dark” in the title). Robert has also written an astounding number of books (around 150, to be exact), and delves into a new Greek myth with each book in this particular series.

Dark Restraint will be a retelling of the life of Ariadne, who betrays her father and finds herself caught between a marriage of convenience with Dionysus and a dangerous relationship with the Minotaur. Greek mythology is rife with opportunities to explore the interiority of mythological figures who are overlooked or under-characterized, providing Robert with plenty of source material. The next book in the series, Sweet Obsession, will be about Poseidon and Icarus and is currently available to pre-order for April 2025.

6 Bananapants By Penny Reid

Release Date: August 6, 2024

Bananapants has the most wildly unlikely reunion/meet-cute scenario to kick off a rom-com plot — the synopsis alone is hilarious and adorable. Childhood best friends Ava and Des might have been meant for each other but fell out of touch years ago. Ava is an attorney who happens to have a co-worker who looks exactly like her. This co-worker asks Ava to attend a high-class party in her place, where no one should know her.

As it turns out, Des has become a professional thief and is infiltrating the same party — which is actually a meeting for a billion-dollar secret society — to steal back something for a friend. The parents of the main characters are from Reid’s Knitting in the City series. Rom-coms need to have a strong start to establish an interesting relationship, but this summary implies an entire book full of bizarre turns mixed with the usual falling-in-love storyline.

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5 Beating Heart By Laura Pavlov

Release Date: August 15, 2024

The Magnolia Falls series of (sort of) forbidden romances and guaranteed happy endings is seeing its fourth installment this month from popular romance author Laura Pavlov. In Beating Heart, a single dad is committed to focusing on his son and work, until a beautiful pediatrician moves to town — and next door to him. Additionally, Finding Hayes, book #5 in Magnolia Falls, is coming out soon after (October 2024).

Pavlov’s series of wistful covers with embracing couples lit by a setting sun and synopses comprising a few lines of free-verse poetry encapsulate the kind of entertainment this is. They all promise a relaxing, ordinary romance that the reader may relate to at certain beats — or just enjoy the simplicity of a happy story. Luckily, Palvov has written nearly 50 books that readers can pick up afterward if they enjoyed Beating Heart.

4 The Break-Up Pact By Emma Lord

Release Date: August 13, 2024

Fake dating is given a 2020s twist with TikTok videos playing a major role in the story about two struggling young professionals. Also about estranged childhood friends, The Break-Up Pact has another wacky reason for the main characters to get together. June and Levi both suffer humiliating break-ups that go viral simultaneously, subsequently causing the internet to root for them to get together. They start “dating” to help June’s business and make their exes jealous.

The best part is probably the last line of the synopsis: “Because everyone knows fake dating doesn’t come with real feelings. Right?” Fans of the fake-dating trope can probably rest assured that romantic feelings are afoot. Lord has previously played with social media gone wrong scenarios in rom-coms, which put her on the New York Times bestseller list for Tweet Cute and You Have a Match. The Break-Up Pact seems like a solid addition to this author’s repertoire.

3 Meet Me In The Ether By Iris Lake

Release Date: August 1, 2024

According to goodreads.com, “Iris Lake is the pen name of a girl lost in daydreams.” Her writing is indicative of this, giving life to contained and enchanting stories. Her first book, The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities, follows a shop owner trying to preserve the little magic left in the world until she is pulled into a world of far more terrible kinds of magic. Now, Meet Me in the Ether is on track to be the next fan-favorite romantasy, especially for those who love stories with faeries.

The protagonist Neira uses her skills as a thief to survive in a world ruled by the faeries with a strange power of the “realm of dreams,” known as the ether. She ends up in a love triangle with an “etherman” and a Fae prince. Several more fascinating characters are mentioned in the synopsis with hints at enemies-to-lovers subplots and tragic villains, perfect for those who love every Hades and Persephone retelling out there.

2 The Truth According To Ember By Danica Nava

Release Date: August 6, 2024

Danica Nava’s debut contemporary romance novel promises to explore some weighty themes in addition to depicting a compelling romance. Ember is a Chickasaw woman who has been rejected for too many jobs, leading her to embellish her qualifications on her latest resume and start answering the ethnicity question as white. She gets her dream accounting job and soon finds herself falling for Danuwoa the IT guy.

Ember and Danuwoa start dating in secret due to their company’s no-dating policy but are caught and blackmailed by a co-worker, after which Ember’s lies begin to snowball. The Truth According to Ember is by an MBA who works in the tech industry; because it is seemingly unrelated to Nava’s regular job (aside from the main characters also working in a corporate environment), it is likely a true passion project. It should be a meaningful story about navigating a biased workplace and finding true love.

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1 The Pairing By Casey McQuiston

Release Date: August 6, 2024

Casey McQuiston wrote one of the original BookTok hits: Red, White & Royal Blue, a BookTok book that still deserves its hype. McQuiston has since written two more amazing rom-coms and is now mixing up their standard formula with The Pairing. In The Pairing, Theo and Kit were once madly in love and planned to go on the European food tour of their dreams together. Their plans were left in pieces after a brutal break-up on the way to the tour’s first stop.

A few years later, Theo and Kit have both coincidentally re-booked the same tour as solo travelers and end up stuck on the bus together. However, to prove they are over each other, they decide to have a competition for who can hook up with the most hot people along the way. McQuiston pitched this as the ultimate slutty bisexual book, which will surely also have plenty of mesmerizing descriptions of various cuisines. BookTok’s favorite romance author is back, joining other exciting romance releases in August.

Source: hannahgrace.co.uk, goodreads.com