Hot Stuff: The 8 best romance novels of Winter 2022

Winter is here (though if you live in Los Angeles, maybe not so much).

With blizzards and cold temperatures galore, there's no better time to curl up inside with a good book for the day. And if you're in need of something to warm you, a romance novel will likely do just the trick. These 8 winter releases (spanning Dec. 2021 to Feb. 2022) turn up the heat in all the right ways.

Reality TV shows seem to be the name of the game in romance, with that premise making up the plot of at least half of the titles featured here. But all eight titles share one major theme, which the reality TV setting helps underscore — the gap between the identity one presents to the world and one's truest self, how to reconcile that, and find the person that sees and uplifts that version of you.

Grab that warm drink and curl up with one of our eight favorite romance novels of the winter.

01 of 08

The Love Con by Seressia Glass

Seressia Glass celebrates nerd love and the joys and struggles of pursuing a creative career in this delightful rom-com. Kenya Davenport may come from STEM parents, but she chooses to spend her days in geek heaven, dreaming of turning her cosplay talents into a full-time job by way of reality show competition Cosplay or Now Way. When the challenge for the final round involves iconic duos, requiring a significant other, she fibs that her best friend, Cameron, is her boyfriend. Cameron, who has been harboring feelings for Kenya longer than he'd care to admit, readily agrees. But when the producers and cameras get up close and personal, it becomes harder to discern which feelings are for TV and which are real. Glass gives readers a heartfelt glimpse into the world of cosplay and costume design, describing the nitty-gritty details of carving foam, building armor, and more with precision and a clear passion for her subject. But where the novel really sings is in its unflinching look at the micro-aggressions Kenya must battle (on the show and throughout her life). When the producers routinely try to create scenarios that would paint her as an angry Black woman, Kenya has to tamp down her emotions to avoid unfairly falling into their trap. Cameron is a white man, but he's well-aware of the unrealistic standards Kenya must adhere to — and he works to combat them and help her in any way that he can. Her family adds an extra layer of stress, as her parents refuse to see her costuming goals as a legitimate career path. But as Cameron and Kenya struggle to acknowledge the depth of their feelings for each other, they must also unpack their relationships to their parents and how the world sees them. The Love Con is an unabashed love letter to geekdom and female fan culture, while also refusing to ignore the dark side of geek culture and the challenges female fans, especially female fans of color, must face. Friends to lovers is a difficult needle to thread as a trope, but Glass executes it with an abundance of steaminess and heart, proving that the best way to create an iconic duo is to be true to your heart.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: B+

02 of 08

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

Anita Kelly's latest is a recipe for an irresistible literary meal. After a divorce and something of a life crisis, Dahlia Woodson is looking to start over. She hopes competing on reality competition show Chef's Special will help with that reinvention, but a series of mishaps and an encounter with competitor London Parker leave her feeling off-balance from the word go. London has their own challenges to contend with, announcing their pronouns on national television and weathering the ensuing wave of trolls (including their father) that accompany their bravery. In short, neither of them have time for the mess that is be falling in love on TV. Kelly's book is sublime, a true paean to the power of good food and even better love. London is unapologetically themselves, but Kelly doesn't shy away from the emotional and mental cost of that — the way it colors every interaction, including ones with those they trust and love. Meanwhile, Dahlia must also learn to trust herself again. After sinking into a hole of depression and anxiety that coincided with the end of her marriage, Dahlia isn't even sure who she is or what she wants from life. But London gives her the courage to ask those questions and embrace the answers, even if they're not leading her toward an easy path. Love & Other Disasters understands the ins and outs of cooking competition shows beautifully, and mouthwatering descriptions of the chef's concoctions abound. But the novel's beating heart is the connection between Dahlia and London, the ways, big and small, that they support each other and make room for vulnerability. Reading of Dahlia's mental health struggles and London's battle for acceptance can verge on painful, they're so visceral and brutally honest. But Kelly crafts an absolutely engrossing love story that serves as a reminder that sometimes finding yourself can also mean finding each other. It's a celebration of living our lives fully as ourselves — the courage that requires but also the abundant rewards. Can you give a book a Michelin star?

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: A+

03 of 08

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

Alexis Hall is one of the most vibrant romance writers out there today, painting hilarious and heartfelt stories no matter the era he's writing in. Something Fabulous has the contemporary voice and whimsy of Hall's brilliant Boyfriend Material, but he turns his gimlet eye to the 19th century. Imagine if Oscar Wilde wrote a romance novel and you'd get something like this. Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has always intended to fulfill his late father's wish that he marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But when Belle flees into the night, Valentine must pursue her on a pell-mell chase through the British countryside in the company of her twin brother Bonaventure "Bonny" Tarleton. As they traverse through roadside inns and the homes of sapphic writers, they're met with mischance and adventure at every turn — but the greatest discovery of all is that Valentine might actually have feelings for Bonny, not Belle. Bonny is unabashedly queer, or at least, as much as one can be in the era. He readily sleeps with people for information, relishing every moment. But stuffy Valentine, who has survived by keeping the stiffest of upper lips, can't help but be attracted to Bonny's dry humor, big heart, latent romanticism, and soft edges. Their attraction blooms into out and out love as they find themselves in increasingly ridiculous scrapes, including a patently absurd duel. Hall has an absolutely rapier wit, one that slices through the customs and expectations of the British aristocracy with gleaming verve. The Tarletons, Belle in particular, are deliciously over-dramatic, made so from a steady diet of novels. Jane Austen's send-up of the gothic novel via Cathy Morland in Northanger Abbey comes to mind each time Belle swoons. But it's the joy on the pages that makes Something Fabulous so enrapturing. Bonny is unwilling to live as anything but himself, feeding all of his appetites with a courageous rejection of regret. Valentine, who discovers he is demi-sexual, realizes how compartmentalized and small a life he has led to meet a duty that has never brought him anything but misery. Something Fabulous is a romp through-and-through, but it's also an ode to refusing to live life in any way but that which makes you happy. Perhaps the notion of such freedom and self-love, particularly in this era, will be seen as fantasy by some, but it's also joyously defiant — and we can't think of anything more fabulous.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: A

04 of 08

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka — Penguin

This first adult romance novel from married writing duo, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, is a meta-magic trip executed on a high-wire. They, a couple turned writing duo turned husband and wife, have crafted a book about two writing partners, Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen, who are themselves in denial about their romantic feelings for each other all while they write about other complicated couples. Does your head hurt yet? The solution is simply to read this balm of a novel that lingers in your head and your heart long after turning the final page. Four years ago, Katrina and Nathan were on the brink of explosive literary success when their writing partnership went up in flames. Only they know what really happened. But when they're forced back together to create their final book on contract, will the passion of their prose and the oppressive Florida heat ignite old wounds and desires? Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka clearly know the ecstasy and agony of writing — their innate understanding of the blood, sweat, and the tears of the process seeps from every page. But The Roughest Draft is predominantly about surrendering to success and accepting happiness. It's rife with angst, as Katrina wrestles with her floundering engagement, Nathan with his divorce, and they both face the gauntlet of writing another novel together. Their love story is not an easy one, and there is emotional infidelity — but Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka write with such empathy and care, it's easy to get as sucked into the writhing morass of emotions as the characters do. Katrina's problems all stem from one overarching anxiety — her fear that once she has everything she's ever wanted within her grasp, the only thing left is to lose it. The fear sucker punches her and robs of her joy, all while she pours everything into her prose (as does Nathan). But Katrina has to decide that the risk of losing the things she loves is worth it. The Roughest Draft is a book about books, and a breathtaking meditation on the ways in which fiction can be a space to expose and write large our must vulnerable truths. Katrina and Nathan are so emotionally blocked they can only communicate through their prose, but it's a resounding reminder of fiction's magic and the transformative power of words. Complex and achingly romantic, The Roughest Draft feels as if it's a palimpsest for Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka's most deeply held beliefs about writing and each other — a profound collective story inked out for all of us to find ourselves on its pages.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥

Grade: A+

05 of 08

The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh

Eva Leigh kicks off a sinful new series with this exploration of debauchery that is really a metaphor for women's independence and freedom. When Kieran Ransome is presented with an ultimatum to find a respectable wife or forsake his inheritance, he recruits Celeste Kilburn to assist him. The sister of his rakish friend, Dom, she is the picture of propriety — but Celeste has a request of her own. She'll help reform Kieran's reputation if he'll show her all the forbidden delights London's nightlife has to offer. As the two traverse society events and secret parties, they fall for each other, all while exposing their truest selves to each other. Celeste disguises herself with a wig and make-up, transforming into Salome, but she gradually realizes that she is most herself when she's pretending to be someone else. Both Kieran and Celeste have suffered under the weight of family expectations, and they help free the other from the suffocating cage they've found themselves in. Eva Leigh is an author who never fails to provide scorching love scenes and deliciously filthy dialogue, and this is no exception. Kieran and Celeste are made for each other precisely because they're both decadent, dirty souls, their wickedness forging a common ground for their inherent decency to shine brighter together. There's poetry battles and artful deception, and all the things one could possibly hope for from a historical romp. But Leigh is never afraid to underscore the limitations women face, and she makes Celeste a beautiful bird straining against her gilded cage. There's a sexiness in Kieran unleashing Celeste's true nature, allowing her to indulge her capacity for pleasure in a way that foregrounds her desire to lead an unapologetic life of her choosing. Leigh captures something critical to the essence of romance — good sex on the page is fun to read, but great literary sex comes with something to say about power, pleasure, and rebellion.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: A-

06 of 08

Electric Idol by Katee Robert

Katee Robert returns to her Dark Olympus series with a modern-day retelling of the Psyche and Eros myth. When a moment of care and vulnerability between Psyche and Eros captures tabloid attention, Aphrodite demands her son (and longtime muscle), Eros, bring her Psyche's literal heart. But when he confronts Psyche, intending to poison her, he instead finds himself offering to marry her in a bid to keep her safe. As the line between pretend and passion blurs, Eros realizes he wants to claim Psyche's heart after all, only for himself. Having needed to establish the world of Olympus in her first novel, Robert writes with a greater sense of abandon in Electric Idol, relieved of that obligation. Psyche and Eros are a crackling couple, their electric chemistry hot enough to singe even cupid's wings. Psyche is a beauty and social media influencer, who has learned how to play the Olympus game and ignore the trolls who criticize her curves by crafting and manipulating her image. It's enticing to watch her slip headlong from playing her masterful game into an all-consuming passion for Eros. Eros has spent his life being groomed by his mother to be her executioner, and Robert plucks at the heartstrings with her depiction of his gradual realization that love can come without conditions or manipulations. As they connect emotionally and physically, they both fear risking their hearts — and paying the ultimate price. Both Eros and Psyche are sexually fluid, and Psyche is fat, all of which plays a central role in the novel. Robert is a master of representation, weaving it into her storytelling in a matter-of-fact way that interrogates societal intolerance without ever casting judgment herself. There's a lot to be learned from her approach. But what makes Robert's writing — and this book in particular — such a delicious escape is that she layers in questions of sexuality, power, dominance, and emotional abuse under a sinfully hot romance. Robert's ample, highly erotic sex scenes are essential to the action, not only deepening the connection between her lovers but serving as the arena in which they battle for their hearts and upend their beliefs about family and love. Pulses of want and need permeate the book, but they're never purely sexual. Myths exist to explain our own humanity — our basest desires and our noblest natures — to ourselves. Robert inherently understands that in this series and exploits it to her own fabulously smutty ends. She can steal our hearts — and a place on our shelves — any time.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: A

07 of 08

D'Vaughn & Kris Plan a Wedding By Chencia C. Higgins

D'VAUGHN-AND-KRIS-PLAN-A-WEDDING — Carina Press

Reality show fake relationships are certainly a trend in romance this year, but this might mark the most outrageous interpretation thus far. D'Vaughn Miller and Kris Zavala are contestants on Instant I Do, a TV show that challenges its contestants to plan a wedding in only six weeks, all while convincing their loved ones that their romance is for real. Couples who manage to hoodwink their families stay in the competition, while those who can't sell the lie are out. Both D'Vaughn and Kris come on the show with more complex motivations than merely winning the $100,000 at stake. D'Vaughn is still not out to her family, and she wants to use the show to rip the band-aid off and tell them she's a lesbian. Meanwhile, Kris, who is a social media influencer, is out, but she's tired of all the flings slipping into her DMs. She wants something that will last and is eager to come on the show to find true love. However, improbable that may be. D'Vaughn and Kris have an instant connection, an attraction and care underlining their every interaction. The way Higgins probes the fraught task of navigating not just coming out, but feeling heard and truly supported is profoundly moving. Kris has D'Vaughn's back in a way no one ever has before, helping her proclaim her identity in a way that doesn't necessitate she manage the feelings of others or give in to their emotional manipulation. Higgins calls out such behaviors, while still granting characters grace, painting a very complex portrait of the ways in which we navigate sexuality, identity, family, and love. She creates a rich cast of supporting characters, the colorful and deeply caring members of both women's families. And amidst reality TV drama, she finds subtle, meaningful ways to address questions of race, ethnicity, and colorism. The notion that filming a TV show would not make the family raise eyebrows more than once strains credulity, and the concept of Instant I Do isn't one that actually feels feasible. But the novel is really more about being willing to let oneself fall, to know what it is to give oneself over to the care of another no matter how terrifying the prospect. It's not about how long D'Vaughn and Kris know each other, but rather how they refuse to let the other live any other way but as the loudest and proudest version of themselves they can be. It's a beautiful distillation of the ways love can come if you simply open your heart, your arms, and fall, trusting the other person to hold on while they fall alongside you.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: B+

08 of 08

The Rebel and the Rake By Emily Sullivan

At a time where historical romance should be thriving in the wake of Bridgerton, it feels like it simply isn't? That's not through any fault of the abundance of great writing out there. One particular gem of a new voice is Emily Sullivan, whose 19th century tales of romance and intrigue are designed to keep a reader on the edge of their seat. Rafe Davies has maintained his role as a spy for the crown hiding behind a public persona of rakish debauchery. But when his latest mission sends him to a Scottish house party and thrusts him into the company of the mysterious and prickly Miss Sylvia Sparrow — a lady's companion with secrets of her own — he finds himself wanting to expose his true self in her company. Trapped in the throes of a blackmail plot, Sylvia doesn't have any interest in a romance. She's been burned trusting the wrong man before. But the two cannot resist their attraction and the thrilling compulsion to be their truest selves in each other's company. The espionage plot is a real corker, packed with twists and turns and satisfying reveals, even if some moments are easier to foresee than others. But Sullivan's real gift is how she layers in heartfelt connection amidst all the intrigue. In keeping with her assumed surname, Sylvia is very much a wounded bird. But one who is passionate about women's rights, so much so that she even convinces Rafe to see the active harm of his work. It's rare for a historical romance to grapple with the implications of the British aristocracy and crown building their wealth on the backs of colonialism and slavery. But Sullivan does, interjecting plenty of heartfelt speeches about suffrage and more, without ever feeling heavy-handed in the process. The Rebel and The Rake will steal readers' hearts before they even realize it's gone, entangling them in the storytelling with much the same stealth as Rafe's investigations.

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Grade: A-

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