11 Best Romance Books of January 2026 to Kick Off the New Year
There’s no better feeling than turning the page to a new chapter, to starting anew. With the start of 2026, your TBR is empty, waiting to be filled with the many exciting titles to be released for the year. And trust us, your TBR is going to be piling up very quickly.
To kick things off, this month’s selections showcase the expansiveness of the genre, with sharp debuts and exciting offerings from beloved writers. Tessa Bailey turns up the heat this January with her latest steamy romance, Catch Her If You Can. Since you’re already feeling Bridgerton vibes with Season 4 coming out in January, you’ll be delighted by Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban.
If your New Year’s resolution included reading more, be sure to start with Swooon’s 11 best romances of January 2026. Let us know which romance you’re looking forward to reading most in the comments below.
Graceless Heart
Isabel Ibañez
Release Date: January 13, 2026
The star of Ibañez’s adult romantasy debut set during the Italian Renaissance must make a choice between rescuing her family or falling in line with a dangerous family. Ravenna knows that magic is outlawed in the city of Italy, but takes the risk of entering a competition held by the powerful Luni family, in hopes that if she wins, they’ll be able to get her brother out of jail. But during the competition, Ravenna accidentally reveals her powers, the Luni family kidnaps her and forces her to use her powers to find powerful gems. Ravenna begins to befriend Saturnino, the family’s heir, but trapped among a family all competing for power, her loyalty is called into question. And the wrong answer means death.
Catch Her If You Can
Tessa Bailey
Release Date: January 20, 2026
Kick off your new year with Tessa Bailey’s (of course) sexy and compassionate new installment in her Big Shots series. As teens growing up in Rhode Island, outsider Eve and jock Madden developed a friendship because their peers couldn’t accept that Eve’s family owned a strip bar. Madden knew he was in love then, and he’s sure of it now as a baseball player for the New York Yankees. Eve, meanwhile, has grown up to take over her family’s business, for which she no longer has any shame. But when an accident leaves Eve in charge of both her young niece and nephew and the club, the financial restraints begin to bubble over. Seeing the pressure Eve is under, Madden offers to marry Eve, if only to help her financially while she’s taking over as a surrogate parent, and Eve agrees to the help, only if they dissolve the marriage in six months. But Madden’s feelings are as strong as they were when they were kids, and he only has six months to prove to Eve that their romance is anything but temporary.
The Book of Blood and Roses
Annie Summerlee
Release Date: January 13, 2026
Rebecca Charity is a dream recruit for the anti-vampire organization Callisto. After her parents were murdered by vampires, Callisto adopted Rebecca into their camp and has turned her into a deadly weapon aimed to fire at any vampire. She’s sent to Tynahine University, a vampire academy that’s recently started accepting human students, to find the titular Book of Blood and Roses that allegedly holds every vampire’s weakness within its pages. Rebecca’s mission falls off course, however, as she begins to connect with her vampire roommate, Aliz Astra, and begins to learn that the history Callisto has taught her of vampires may not be entirely true.
Silver & Blood
Jessie Mihalik
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Mihalik’s gripping romantasy begins with Riela, a young woman who had no idea of the magic she held until she saved her village from a storm that would’ve drowned them all. Now the town looks to her when rumors begin of a beast lurking in the forest. Despite having little control of her powers, Riela heads into the woods in hopes of protecting her people and encounters Garrick, an immortal king mage trapped in her universe due to a battle with a rival king. Worse, they are stuck in the forest together, as it traps any magical being who enters. It will take an alliance to get them both out of danger and back to their people, and despite their initial suspicions of one another, they prove to be a powerful duo that may not want to return home alone by the story’s close.
Last First Kiss
Julian Winters
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Winters makes a return to the I Think They Love You universe with this winning second chance romance and coming out story. As the event coordinator for his billionaire family’s business, Jordan Carter is expected to be prepared for everything. And typically, he is, but the only thing that can throw him off is the appearance of Jamie, the man Jordan kissed when he was a teen and has left him questioning his sexuality ever since. Jamie is the best man for a wedding Jordan is organizing and the unexpected reappearance brings up all the feelings Jordan remembered. A one-night hook-up confirms what Jordan has always known deep down, that he,’s gay, but how to move forward comes with a series of mishaps and communications. Jordan and Jamie navigate the complications of Jordan’s coming out, and Winters handles this tale with compassion and care.
Drive Me Crazy
Lizzy Dent
Release Date: January 6, 2026
The careers of an F1 principal and a rising star driver are on the line in Lizzy Dent’s snappy romance. Chloe Coleman knows that as the first female principal for the Ardens, the worst team in the league, there’s a lot riding on her success (or failure). Getting this team to raise its profile is already challenging enough without people questioning her authority or undermining her because of her gender. The job only gets harder when their new driver is none other than Matt Warner. Matt is not only her childhood crush who ditched her when he garnered F1 fame, but also one of the toughest drivers to connect to after a recent crash left a friend injured. But if they both want to secure their careers and prove everyone wrong about them, they’ll need to overcome their past and work together to ensure a victorious future. That’s if they can just get over all the tension and hurt feelings years apart have left on their strained relationship.
The Re-Do List
Denise Williams
Release Date: January 27, 2026
The internet seems to know everything about Willow’s disastrous split with her boyfriend of a decade after a video of their breakup goes viral. In search of some peace and quiet, Willow decides to leave town and house sit for her brother while she recuperates from the public embarrassment and private heartbreak. While housesitting, Willow meets her brother’s best friend, Deacon, and enlists his help in completing her re-do list, i.e, a list of firsts she did with her ex and now wants to try on her own. Deacon cannot resist Willow’s charms and finds himself tagging along as she works her way through the list and her regrets over her past relationship. Both of them know the other is off limits because of their relationship to Willow’s brother, but is that enough to stifle the connection they can’t deny is growing?
Release Date: January 6, 2026
Romance isn’t a priority for single mom Janae, the titular lead of this sensual story. After an exhausting divorce, Janae’s primary focus is on her son and trying to get everything he needs to pursue his dream in fashion. When her son reports that his extracurriculars are getting canceled, Janae is ready to confront the superintendent and do whatever it takes to bring the programming back. She’s surprised to find that the superintendent is none other than Adam Henderson, a former NBA player who’s returned home to help better his community. And, he’s her secret crush from high school. When Adam suggests the pair head off to a cabin to merge minds on solutions to the school’s programming, the pair are forced to face the chemistry growing between them and figure out exactly what they want to do about it now.
Like In Love With You
Emma R. Alban
Release Date: January 13, 2026
Two women in pursuit of the same man during the courting season find themselves falling for each other instead in Alban’s Regency romance filled with delightfully charged tension. It’s 1817, and everyone is on the prowl for a suitor in Bath, England. Everyone accepts Lady Rosalie, as she’s sure that her engagement to the rich (but painfully dull) Mr. Dean is on its way. So when the Pine family arrives, Rosalie believes she has no reason to worry, until Catherine Pine sets her sights on the very viscount Rosalie has in her snares. Their competition for Mr. Dean’s attention is suddenly thrown off course when Rosalie realizes that her passion for this clash comes not from her desire to win the viscount, but rather from garnering Catherine’s attention. But what comes next for two women falling rapidly in love in a society that says they cannot exist?
The Magic of Untamed Hearts
Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Release Date: January 13, 2026
Gilliland brings her Wild for Magic series to a dazzling close with this compelling friends-to-lovers tale. Everyone in Cranberry, Virginia, has thought that Sky Flores was dead, even her own sisters. But when Sky reappears in town, no one is quite sure of what to make of her. With her sisters busy starting their own lives, Sky attempts to find a life of her own, leading her to Adam, the beloved reporter who has recently returned home from his stint in New York. In need of a new friend, Sky offers to share the story of her disappearance with Adam, and in unraveling the details of her life, Adam finds not only inspiration but the seedlings of romance sprouting from within.
Dom-Com
Adriana Anders
Release Date: January 27, 2026
A night out at a kink club leads to a steamy workplace romance in Anders’ smart and slick romance. Rae Jensen is new to the kink community and, in search of a safe place to explore her desires, winds up at a kink club where she encounters the sexy and domineering Grant. She’s surprised to return to her office at a sugar daddy company to discover that her new coworker is Grant himself, but Rae doesn’t know Grant’s true intentions at the company. The attraction between this dynamite pair spills off the page, and the pair form an agreement to end their relationship when Grant’s time at the company comes to a close. But can they work past a relationship not based on truth, when everything in the bedroom has been based on it?
