Sweater Weather
Sweet rom-coms with plenty of sizzle but none of the steam.
1. JUST DON’T FALL by Emma St. Clair
SYNOPSIS
Before Logan Barnes was hockey’s hottest bad boy, he was my brother’s best friend… and my first crush. Oh, yeah—and the guy who ghosted me and broke my teenage heart.
Now Logan is back in Harvest Hollow, but not willingly. Recovering from an injury (and some bad press), he’s stuck playing for our minor league team. Which means I’ll be working with him almost daily.
As the hockey team’s social media manager, it’s my job to wrangle all the guys into filming TikTok trending videos. But Logan doesn’t want to be wrangled. Turns out… neither does my heart. Because my old crush never died. And when Logan becomes my accidental fake boyfriend, those old feelings flare hot enough to melt the ice. But this is all totally one-sided. Totally fake. Isn’t it?
No matter what signals he seems to be giving me or how real things start to feel, I know Logan’s not home for good. I survived Logan leaving me once. But this time, I’m not so sure my heart will recover…
2. THE FALL BACK PLAN by Melanie Jacobson
SYNOPSIS
The bad boy and the golden girl have traded places…
I’m back in Harvest Hollow after ten years to prove a point and to even a few scores. I’ve opened a new bar, and anyone expecting the old sweet and shy Jolie McGraw to be running it is in for a shock.
I’m not the only one who’s changed: when the sheriff comes to tell me I’m the prime suspect in the most ridiculous crime in town history, it’s none other than Lucas Cole, the former star of my teenage stress dreams, wearing the badge. Seriously? The smack-talking punk I was forced to tutor in math is now one of the town’s most upstanding citizens? This isn’t what I had in mind for turning the tables on my former tormentors.
I blow him off… until I meet the niece he’s raising. I see so much of my younger self in her. But when I agree to help when she needs a woman in her life, Lucas uses it as a chance to build a case that he’s the man I need in mine.
That’s a hard no. No to love. No to Lucas. But when Harvest Hollow’s nosiest forces combine to push us together, I’m not sure my heart stands a chance.
3. CAN’T HELP FALLING by Courtney Walsh
SYNOPSIS
Sometimes all it takes to start a fire is a single match...
Owen Larrabee is not my soulmate. He wasn’t when I confessed my love to him on his wedding day, and he isn’t now. I should probably say that I wasn’t the bride when that happened. I don’t have the best timing.
He’s got a temper, he’s moody, and he has a history of being misunderstood and making big mistakes. I, on the other hand, make pumpkin cupcakes, spend my Friday nights curled up with a beloved romance novel and long to be kissed in the rain.
Owen is my best friend’s older, off-limits brother and the only boy I ever thought I loved. Which is laughable because he only ever saw me as his kid sister’s dorky friend. But that was a long time ago. And I’m over him. Mostly. Until he comes back to Harvest Hollow like some kind of hero, showing up just in time to pull me out of my burning house and make me feel all the things I told myself I’d never feel again.
But I have questions. Why is Owen back? And does he remember our secret friendship or the day I’ve spent the last eight years trying to forget? I know better than to get hung up on Owen again. Especially now, when he’s sworn off relationships and thinks romance is a farce. And I’m something of an expert—at least to the people who listen to my podcast, The Hopeful Romantic.
Never mind that nobody would guess their local bookshop owner is the one doling out popular weekly relationship advice. Never mind that I’m basing all that advice on the hundreds, (thousands?) of romance novels I’ve read over the years and not on personal experience. And especially never mind that Owen is making me question everything I believe about all of it.
4. FAKING THE FALL by Julie Christianson
SYNOPSIS
When the movie star’s spotlight could hurt the ones he loves most…
My agent has this idea—an insanely bad idea—to reboot my Hollywood heartthrob status by having my long-lost love dump me… while I’m proposing to her on national TV. The theory? Women everywhere will swoon over poor Lincoln James, scrambling to repair his vulnerable, shattered heart. Trouble is, I don’t have any kind of love—long, lost, or otherwise.
To play my fake girlfriend, my agent enlists Hadley Morgan, my secret college crush. The one who dragged me to an audition that launched my career but left her in the dust. Upping the ante, she offers Hadley a slot on the show she missed out on years ago. When the alternative publicity ploy is for reporters to dig up dirt on my family, I’ve got no choice but to go along with the ruse.
That’s why I’m in Harvest Hollow now—as one half of the dream couple HadLink—at least until Hadley explodes our relationship during a very public proposal. Our breakup’s built into this deal. Too bad I’ve got real love for this woman. But if I come clean, I risk Hadley’s big break, my family’s painful past, and my own rebooted heart…
5. EASY AS PIE by Carina Taylor
SYNOPSIS
My best friend is back in town—and I refuse to let my pesky attraction to him ruin our friendship.
Tripp Sharpe and I have been best friends since middle school. And when he moved away to go to medical school and become a doctor? We’ve kept up by texting, phone calls, and every funny reel we come across. I have one simple rule for myself: protect our friendship at all costs—even from myself.
But when Tripp moves back to town, I can’t ignore the attraction I feel. If it were anyone else, I’d just avoid him. But it’s hard to avoid a guy who thinks we’re still the same ol’ besties we’ve always been. Or are we? It turns out some things have changed for him too.
Maybe I’m imagining the long stares, the lingering touches, or the flimsy excuses to spend time together, despite his ridiculous schedule. And when Tripp asks me to show him how I like to kiss? It seems like I’m not the only one blasting through our friendship rules…
6. A NOT SO FICTIONAL FALL by Savannah Scott
SYNOPSIS
I live for happily ever afters. And I’m finally meeting my favorite romance author in person!
Only, all this time, I thought author, Amelie De Pierre, was a woman. It turns out, Pierre Toussaint is the man behind the books that make me weak in the knees. He could be the consummate book boyfriend with his dreamy hazel eyes, strong jawline, and those black-rimmed glasses. Not to mention that accent. Oh, that French accent. When Pierre speaks, I feel like I’m curled in his arms on a riverbank being fed chocolate-dipped strawberries. Not Pierre’s arms, of course. We barely just met. And I’m just me. And he’s Pierre, internationally renowned romance author.
Seeing Pierre in person has me stammering and blushing—two things I don’t usually do. Imagine my surprise when I receive a call a few weeks after meeting Pierre—from his agent—proposing marriage. Not that I’d marry his agent. They want me to marry Pierre.
7. ABSOLUTELY NOT IN LOVE by Jenny Proctor
SYNOPSIS
My requirements for a man are simple. Must love books. Must NOT love hockey.
Which is why I will never be interested in my neighbor, the aloof and mysterious Felix Jamison, no matter how many books I see him hauling into his apartment. Unless he loses his pro hockey skates, I’m out. But then he shows up at my symphony concert. And I catch the sweet strains of Beethoven floating across the hall. Have I mentioned how incredible he looks in his game day suit?
Still, my history with hockey is complicated. My older brother played, and let’s just say he stole enough limelight to land a plane at midnight. I was forced to be a part of that world for so long, now that I have a choice, it’s the last thing I want. But something tells me Felix is about to change my mind…
