Romance/Romantasy

Few fantasy series have travelled as far as Penn Cole's Kindred's Curse Saga. The first three books appeared in 2023, and Atria now publishes the print editions in North America. Burn of the Everflame, the fourth and final volume, arrived in September and is still sitting high in Amazon's US romantasy chart almost two months later. That kind of staying power is the clearest sign of a readership built book by book rather than bought.

The setup for the finale is suitably epic. War has engulfed Emarion. Ophiucae's mortal army is gathering in the north, a long-planned rebellion is stirring in the south, and the Crowns of the realms must try to forge an alliance in Lumnos. At the centre, as ever, is the healer Diem Bellator, whose fight against oppression has carried the series from the start.

Cole's strengths are the ones fans will expect: a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, an inventive magic system, dragon-like creatures and banter that cuts through the bleaker stretches. The scale is the real ambition here. At around 880 pages in hardcover, this is a book that wants to settle every thread, and readers who like their endings unhurried will relish it.

It is not a jumping-on point. Without three books of politics and betrayals behind you, much of the emotional weight will be lost, so newcomers should start with Spark of the Everflame. For readers who have come this far, it is the big, generous send-off the series has been building towards.

Some books sell on their premise alone, and this one has a premise built for the age of the screenshot. Sloane is added by mistake to a stranger's family group chat. Rather than leaving, she stays for the drama, the memes and a grandmother called Ruth who steals every thread. Then she discovers that the family are wolf shifters, and that she has fallen for the eldest son anyway.

Roxie Ray is one of the most prolific names in paranormal romance, and this new collaboration with Lindsey Devin went straight into the top tier of Amazon's Kindle charts within a fortnight of its October release. As we went to press it was No. 3 in the entire US Kindle Store and No. 2 in Romance, a remarkable showing for a book only weeks old.

The appeal is easy to see. The group-chat framing gives the opening a breezy, comic energy, and the found-family warmth is as much of a draw as the romance. Reader reviews also point to more emotional weight than the title suggests, citing themes of neglect and healing that give the story some substance under the jokes.

Calibrate your expectations, though. This is a long, trope-forward shifter romance with moderate heat, and it is written for readers who already enjoy the genre's conventions: fated bonds, protective heroes and a big, meddling pack. If that sounds like your idea of comfort reading, it is one of the most purely enjoyable surprise hits of the autumn. If not, the title will tell you everything you need to know.

Few writers have shaped modern romantic fiction quite like Cecelia Ahern, whose debut PS, I Love You became an international phenomenon. Her latest novel, Love Unlocked, published by HarperFiction in August, has been shortlisted at the 2026 An Post Irish Book Awards, and it shows her still finding fresh ways to write about love.

The setup is a delightful blend of rom-com and mystery. Al, an engineer still reeling from discovering that his fiancée and his best friend were together behind his back, has had all the love locks removed from a Dublin bridge because their weight is a safety risk. Shortly afterwards, couples begin splitting up at an alarming rate, not only in Dublin but across the world. Melody, a commitment-shy podcaster who has decided love is not for her, starts digging into the phenomenon and soon tracks down the man responsible.

What follows is a gently magical romance in which two people who have given up on love are drawn together while trying to solve everyone else's heartbreak. Ahern grounds the whimsy in history by weaving in letters and the story of Grace Gifford and Joseph Plunkett, the Irish revolutionaries who married in Kilmainham Gaol in 1916 on the eve of his execution. Those sections add poignancy and a sense of how love endures.

The middle section repeats itself a little, and the plot relies on convenient meetings. But Ahern's humour, generosity and gift for character carry it. This is a comforting, uplifting read for fans of her earlier work and anyone in need of a little enchantment.