Read & Rated 2026 Romance Releases
It’s a new year ushering in new releases in all things romance. And we’re still here reading and rating them as they publish. Honest ratings and reviews from humans who love books.
Romance Reviews Await—By Humans, for Humans
New titles are being announced and we’re tracking them all (well, not all but A LOT) HERE. We’ll rate and review books published in 2026 so you know what’s worth your time and money. And, most importantly, what’s not.
We’ll read every genre because you’ve gotta mix some mafia in with those shadow monsters and Ton-trained manners.
2026 New Release Reviews
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Accidentally Yours by Christina Lauren
☆ 3.75
MILD, HEA
“This was a great story - as a marketer by trade, though, I was completely sidetracked by the FMC wanting to be a CMO with only 4 years of experience. Really sweet neighbors-to-lovers novella.” - Cardigan B
Workplace Romance, Slow Burn, Neighbors, Hidden Identity, Witty Banter, Short/Novella, Tech Startup, Divorced, Valentine's Day Romance, Holiday Romance
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Brimstone (Book 2) by Callie Hart
☆ 4.25
MEDIUM, TO BE CONTINUED
“I had to re-read Quicksilver, the first in this series, to prepare for Brimstone. Glad I did. To Callie Hart: Stop. Introducing. More. Plot. It has enough that isn't resolved. I really enjoyed this book, but dammit there are too many unanswered questions.” - Cardigan B
Fated Mates, Loss of Parent (Death), Portal to Another World, MMC/FMC have to stop the end of the world, Fae/Fairies, Vampire, MC is trapped, Rescue, Kidnapping, MMC/FMC Involved in a Rebellion/Resistance, MMC/FMC is back from the dead, Hidden Powers, Soulmates, Immortal/Mortal, Cursed MMC
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Brutally Yours (Book 4) by Jamie Applegate Hunter
☆ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“There were parts of this story I'd rate 4 stars: the dragon sacrifices, the underground female army, the morally grey decision making, Sasha stepping in to save Amos, the patricide. But then there were other important parts that fell short. There just wasn't enough closure. Not enough pages to do the story and series finale justice.” - Cardigan B
Fae/Fairies, MMC Previously Abused, Abusive Parent(s), Fated Mates, Dragons, Magic, MMC/FMC Involved in a Rebellion/Resistance, MC has a Tragic Past, Loss of Parent (Death), MC is a Twin, Touch Her and Die Vibes
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Bulletproof by K.M. Moronova
☆ 3.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“Don’t go to the diner or else you’ll accidentally trigger a massive gangland response and find yourself in the midst of one giant black ops brawl. DON’T GO TO THE DINER.” - Cardigan B
Slow Burn, Break Their Heart To Save Them, Small Town, Power Struggle, Hidden Identity, Survival, Kidnapping, MC is a Bully (at the start), Gang Wars
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The Fox Hunt by Caitlin Breeze
☆ 4.5
MILD, TO BE CONTINUED
SEE OUR FULL ARC REVIEW “The best ARC I've read. This book is a cross between Gilmore Girls and Alice Through the Looking Glass. You're not going to be able to predict how this story unfolds.” Cardigan B
College/University Students, Secret/Elite Society, Rich/Wealthy MMC, Friends to Lovers, Portal to Another World, Shifters, MC is trapped, Secrets, Magic, Survival, Revenge, Cheating, Murder Mystery, MC has Interfering Family, To-Be Continued (TBC), Nerdy FMC, Female Friendship Group, Dark Academia
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Guarded by the Clanker by Layla Fae
☆ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“Pretty fun read - a woman needs protection from an assassin trying to silence her about her anti-robot views; the only protection she can afford is a robot. There are sparse details about her disdain for robots, but their love story is cute.” - Cardigan B
Robot/Human Romance, Bodyguard, Rescue, Survival, Only One Bed, Praise Kink, Forced Proximity, What the hell did I just read and why can't I stop
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His Doll by Anna Svoboda
☆ DNF
No physical description of the MMC at the beginning. My mind conjured the grossest, most disturbed individual possible. Balding, pock-marked, sweaty, rotting teeth, and sausage fingers. Couldn't continue.
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A Hunger in Every Heart (Book 4) by Kate King
☆ 4.25
HOT, HEA
“This series just keeps delivering. Fox and Aurelia are an unexpected delight - you don't get to know her well in the first books, but she's charming, sweet, and smarter than she gets credit for. Fox is brooding, calculating, and completely in love with her which he hates. They have to work hard for their love story.” - Cardigan B
Friends to Lovers, Friends with Benefits, Friendship Group, MC is a Twin, Wolf/Shifter, Magic, Protective MMC, Dirty Talker, Praise Kink, Fairytale Retelling
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One Small Echo by Jane Washington
☆ 4.25
MILD, TO BE CONTINUED
“I fucking LOVE Jane Washington. Her books leave me scratching my head. Eiko is a small town (blind) girl living in a lonely world. She runs away when her friends are "hollowed out" in this book's medieval version of conversion therapy. They join the military to hide. Oh, and they have to now share their meat vessel with A MAGICAL MONSTER WHO GRANTS THEM MYSTERIOUS POWERS. Jane, please write book 2 faster. I'm dying here.” - Cardigan B
MMC/FMC is/are on the Run, Military, What the hell did I just read and why can't I stop, Monster/Human Romance, Hidden Powers, MMC/FMC has limited vision or is blind, Doesn't Speak
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A Play for Love by Trilina Pucci
☆ 4.0
MILD, HEA
“So cringe when the MCs first interact in acting class, I was impressed at how much secondhand embarrassment the author could evoke from me. Rory's 'Happy V D" pants were hilarious. I haven't read anything by this author before, but this was witty and charming. I'll read more.” - Cardigan B
Second Chance, Longtime Crush, Valentine's Day Romance, Academic Setting, One Night Stand, New York City, Strong Sister Bond, Short/Novella, Holiday Romance, Theatre/On Stage
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Petty in Pink by L.J. Shen
☆ 3.25
MEDIUM, HEA
“She holds on so tightly to her insecurities. Grant sticks around too long.” - Cardigan B
Friends with Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Accidental/Surprise Pregnancy, Friendship Group, Doctor, Teacher, No Use of Contraception
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Pretty Little Death (Book 3) by Lola Glass
☆ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“Her magic is Death. But at no point during the story does she kill someone (which she's purported to do enough to have earned the reputation) or use her magic in any way whatsoever. We find out in passing that her Death magic doesn't affect Grayson. Okay...but, could we have some details please? Good story, but lacked details.” - Cardigan B
Surprise Virgin, Virgin FMC, Fated Mates, Found Family, Demons, Touch Aversion, Only One Bed, Possessive MMC, Obsessive MMC, Assassin, FMC & MMC Enter Into A Contract, MC has Interfering Family, Knotting, Mating/Bonding, Creative Anatomy
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Pretty Little Mate (Book 2) by Lola Glass
☆ 4.25
HOT, HEA
“This is a Rod Stewart song from beginning to end. "When the one you loooooves in love with someone else..." all the way to "and it was all for one and all for love, let the one you hold be the one you want." Loved this book. Niall stole my heart early on. Also, good riddance to werewolf rubbish. Yes offense, Gwen and Jonah. May this love never find me.” - Cardigan B
Fated Mates, Forced Proximity, MC has Interfering Family, Found Family, Second Chance, Shifters, Magic, MC is a Twin, One Night Stand, Friendship Group, Healing Together, FMC has Overprotective Brother/Male Relatives, Forgiveness Arc, Possessive MMC, Obsessive MMC
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Pretty Little Shadow (Book 4) by Lola Glass
☆ 2.5
HOT, HEA
“The definition of "phoned it in" - you won’t get the satisfying series conclusion you’re hoping for. Stop after Book 2 and write your own ending.” - Cardigan B
Fated Mates, Assassin, Virgin FMC, Vampire, MMC/FMC is back from the dead, Reformed Playboy, MC has Interfering Family, Stalker/Stalking, Magic, Abusive Parent(s)
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Pretty Little Wolf (Book 1) by Lola Glass
☆ 4.25
HOT, HEA
“This is the way to do consent. Callum won't fuck Kat so she makes it impossible for him to be pressured into it during her heat...by having him locked up in a padded room with no way out. #MaliciousCompliance.” - Cardigan B
Fated Mates, Werewolves, Stalker/Stalking, Soulmate Marks, FMC & MMC Enter Into A Contract, Magic, Clones/Twins, Secrets, Hidden Powers, In-Heat, MC is a Twin, True Identity, "Mysterious, Brooding (MMC)", MMC Previously Abused, Morally Grey MMC, Forced Business Partners, Forced Proximity, Kidnapping, Possessive MMC, Obsessive MMC
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Second Act Romance by Julie Soto
☆ 3.5
MILD, HEA
“The story centers around the tour and a shrimp taco night gone horribly wrong. It was funny and charming. Not much meat on the bones, though, and lots of background on the stage blocking.” - Cardigan B
Second Chance, Mistaken Identity, Rich/Wealthy MMC, Friends to Lovers, Rescue, Theatre Actress, Theatre/On Stage, TV/Movie Actor
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Valentine's Slay by Navessa Allen
☆ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“Surprisingly sweet second chance childhood romance between a grave digger and a wealthy housewife. It shouldn't work but it totally does. The dirty talk is hot, but a little jarring. They haven't spoken to one another in 15 years AND she just came out of a freshly exhumed grave. "You want this dick" is just too direct for the occasion.” - Cardigan B
Childhood Crush, Murder Mystery, Survival, Small Town, MMC/FMC is back from the dead, Rescue, Secrets, Adultery, Dirty Talker, Corrupt Cop/Detective, Emotional Abuse
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Where Reckless Hearts Whisper by Victoria Holliday
☆ 3.5
HOT, HEA
SEE OUR FULL ARC REVIEW “"He reaches a hand between us and paws at my clit" WHAT?! I got the sense in this series finale that the author was ready to be done with it. This was the perfect example - to date, her descriptions have been so elegant and sensual.” - Cardigan B
MC is involved in Mafia, Step-Sibling Crush, Arranged Marriage, Forbidden Love Interest, Kidnapping, Rescue, Age Gap Romance, Loss of Parent (Death), Loss of Sibling (Death), Grumpy/Sunshine, Virgin FMC, Gang Wars
@35CARDIGANS @BLACKCAT100
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The Velvet Edit
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Consider us your ‘secret stack’ librarians helping you curate your underground library with gems and newsworthy finds. Don’t spend $20 on a book just yet.
We give every book a chance. Every author their due. It’s up to them to make it worth your time and money.
It’s way too easy to fall for a gorgeous cover and end up with a story that reads like soggy fanfic.
That’s where we come in.
Our recs are proudly on point: 94% Satisfaction Rating
We’ve read thousands of books. We’ve no doubt read something you’ll like.
We know the tropes, we’ve seen some things, and we’re here to lead you into the world of romance fiction.
No shame, no buyer’s remorse — you’ll find fun, spice, and solid storytelling for your underground library of romance - aka smut, aka bodice rippers, aka spice rack reads, aka Booktok baddies, aka hoe books.
FAQs
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A guide to romance novels of all heats and sizes. We’re recommending books we’ve read (we’ve read 1,000s) and telling you what to expect. We’ll help you do your research - your time and money will be happy.
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‘Happily Ever After’ - nearly every book you find on The Velvet Pages has an ‘HEA’. It means that the story reached a satisfying conclusion. It might say “To Be Continued” which means there’s probably an HEA in the series, but that particular title didn’t resolve the relationship.
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This is how sexual or sexy a book is. There’s a range: Hot, Medium, Mild, and Flour.
Hot is ‘“holy Hell I’m sweating.”
Medium is steamy.
Mild is tender and sweet.
Flour means there’s nothing romantic here.
We label each book so you know what to expect and you can choose what you’re comfortable reading.
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We rate each book out of 5. Cardigan B and Penelope Black can rate a book the same score on occasion, but usually the rating you see is an average of their scores.
The ratings are pretty subjective, but include things like:
Did the story make sense?
How did the characters measure up?
Was the writing literate?
Was the premise or were the plot points memorable?
Were the mysteries solved? Did the questions get answered? Did you leave me on ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER, ONYX STORM?
Did the book make us feel something?
Was there a cute cat?
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We recommend starting with Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, or Sports Romance. They’re the most popular and you’ll find recognizable tropes.
Start with Mild to Medium heat and definitely choose an HEA.
If you’re still stuck, email us and we can give you some recs!
Heyyyvelvetpages@gmail.com
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We’ll read pretty much anything. Each month, Penelope and Cardigan select a list of about 20 books to read together. There’s at least one book from each genre and some popular titles that have been recently released.
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We sure do! It’s called ‘The Velvet Edit’. You can sign up at the top or on the ‘Contact Us’ page. We send out a themed list of recommendations each month and a ‘Quickie’ (a single title spotlight) two weeks later. We won’t spam you.
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That’s the section of the site where we share what we’re reading this month for our book club. You can check out our other reading lists from the past few months of 2025, too.
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Nope, not even close. The books on the site are generally the ones we enjoyed the most. Or hit on different trends we see coming up.
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They are! If you buy from a button click on the site, we might earn a commission. You’re not paying more for the product, though. We’re all about ‘pay less for smut’ around here.
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We use Storygraph. It has a friendly app interface and has every book we’ve read. It also shows your reading stats, which is unique.
We have separate Goodreads accounts, but they’re connected to our friends and family and…I don’t want them to see that I read the first and second book in a series about a merman with two dicks.
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MMC is Male Main Character. FMC is female main character.
There are typically one of each, but there can be multiple in genres like Omegaverse or Reverse Harem.
Or, like in the case of Court of Thorns and Roses, the MMC could be one person in one book and another person in another book.
Don’t come at me about ‘spoilers’ - these books were published in 2015.