Coming Soon – The Books We’re Most Looking Forward to in January 2026
We would love to hear which books you’re looking forward to in the coming weeks. Here are a few from our AAR reviewers. (You can see them all at Amazon here.) Are you excited about any of these? Let us know!
Releasing the week of 5th January 2026
Drive Me Crazy by Lizzy Dent (January 6)
My January Duke by Kate Bateman (January 1)
Only on Gameday by Kristen Calihan (January 6)
Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur (January 6)
Remember That Day by Mary Balogh (January 6)
Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz (January 6)
It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard (January 8)
How to Get Away with Scandal by Caroline Linden (January 12)
The Exception by Vi Keeland (January 11)
The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave (January 6)
The Storm by Rachel Hawkins (January 6)
The Odds of You by Kate Dramis (January 6)
Releasing the week of 13th January 2026
A Killer Kind of Romance by Letizia Lorini (January 13)
Dandelion is Dead by Rosie Storey (January 13)
Fated Skates by Victoria Schade (January 13)
For Our Next Song by Jessica James (January 13)
Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibanez (January 13)
Most Eligible by Isabelle Engel (January 13)
Stealing His Thunder by Beth Bolden (January 14)
The Lust Crusade by Jo Segura (January 13)
Three Chances to Cherish by Grace Callaway (January 15)
Two Left Feet by Kallie Emblidge (January 13)
We’ve Hit Turbulence by Jessica L. Cozzi(January 13)
Releasing the week of 20th January 2026
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James (January 20)
Accidentally Yours by Christina Lauren
Ann of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra (January 20)
Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey (January 20)
My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney (January 20)
Next Level Love by Shameez Patel (January 20)
Second Act Romance by Julie Soto (January 20)
Sinful Promises on an Autumn Night by Stacy Reid (January 22)
Time Will Tell by Hanna Bonam-Young
Releasing the week of 27th January 2026
A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose (January 27)
Cold Heat by Toni Anderson (January 26)
Falling for the Fake Lumberjack by Sara Ney (January 27)
Lady Courtney’s Second Chance by Bronwen Evans (January 29)
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters (January 27)
Sunk in Love by Heather McBreen (January 27)
The Re-Do List by Denise Williams (January 27)
The Slow Burn by Ali Rosen (January 27)
You can see–and purchase them! – here.
Theory: many romances come out in February (due to Valentine’s Day) so there is a lull in January. Thoughts?
I’m looking forward to Only on Gameday. It has been a long time since Kristen Callihan published a book and she is a great writer.
Amazon has been doing sets of original Kindle short stories by popular romance authors a few times per year. Typically it is 6 to a set, starting at $1.99 each then eventually discounted to 99 cents. Last year they did a set called The Improbable Meet-Cute and this year there is a set called The Improbable Meet-Cute: Second Chances. The stories by Julie Soto and Christina Lauren listed above are in this set and I plan to get them. The stories are often completely independent of each other so I don’t always get the whole set. It’s an inexpensive way to try a new author!
I’m interested in a debut YA novel called Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet. It is a contemporary take on Little Women that opens with Beth being found dead in the woods and her sisters have to uncover her murderer! Too much? Maybe, but I am intrigued!
Some M/M authors I like are releasing next in series. Their books are typically easy reads for me as they are not necessarily complex, although the characters may deal with some serious issues. Sometimes this is just what I need.
Angel Domino by Eden Finley
Pumped by K.M. Neuhold
Ziggy’s Voice by Saxon James
Nash by Nora Phoenix
Problem Child by DJ Jamison
Scoring Chance by A.J. Truman
I get it. I have my reliable reads, too, that are just reliable at distraction and the right amount of feelings.
I will look up your authors, thank you, Manjari!
Thanks for the words of support!
I have Abigail Kelly’s short stories “Burden’s Moon” on my list. She is a paranormal or urban fantasy or something ( I am no good at genres) auto buy and reread author. Do not start with this – there are a few novellas if you want to try her.
I have some Beth Bolden on my tbr, I can do 1-2 books then I need a break, if I start her new series, the January book might fit in.
Otherwise, I will dig into a lot of freebies from various sales / gifts at Christmas. And wait for reviews whetting my appetite.
:-)
I don’t have a huge number of books on my January TBR, but then most of the authors I read are self-publishers so if there are any more coming, they might not have announced them yet. (And perhaps they all took time off over the Christmas break!) I have the Toni Anderson for review, plus an m/m romance by a new author.
I was looking in vain for a new books by m/m authors, and only saw the Beth Bolden, who I generally don’t mesh with. I have tons to catch up on, so I guess I shouldn’t be disappointed. I look forward to your review of the new author. I hope it’s promising!
Fingers crossed.
Honestly, I’m still in my Heated Rivalry bubble, so it’s just as well I don’t have many January books to review!
Do more people read in the winter? Anything EVER coming from Loretta Chase, or is she out of the game?
I haven’t heard anything – I know her last book was a long time coming and that she struggled with it; perhaps that was her last. I guess nobody can have ideas for books all the time…
She is working on a new book, a spinoff from the Difficult Dukes series.
A Box Full of Darkness. Super excited to read this one.
So far, I only have two books on my January tbr (which, hopefully, means I’ll have a chance to catch up on all the December releases I haven’t finished yet, lol):
Kati Wilde’s HAUNT MESS (January 15) is the first of a paranormal trilogy that features zombies & vampires (and, knowing Kati, lots of hot sexy times). Kati’s publication dates tend to be more suggestions than hard facts, so I’ll wait to see what January 15 actually brings.
Julia Connors’s PENALTY BOX (January 23) is the 5th book in her Boston Rebels series of m/f hockey romances. I’ve enjoyed some of the books but haven’t read all of them. In this outing, the MCs discover, after a one-night stand, that they are not only coworkers but that their parents are getting married. Awkward!
I just saw that Ainsley Booth (aka, Zoe York) has a new book scheduled for release on January 30: PUCKING INCONVENIENT, in which a hockey player gets involved with the estranged daughter of his team’s coach.
Can’t wait for HR lovers to read the Linden!
Yes, so good and the Balogh too!
She is one of my few favorite authors who are still writing!