5 Romances We’re Looking Forward To in 2022

And What You Can Read in the Meantime

Reading Ahead

As we usher in the new year, we are—as ever—eagerly anticipating the new books this year will bring. And 2022 is not letting us down! Every day this week, we're featuring genre-specific lists of five upcoming books we can't wait to get our hands on.

Yesterday's focus was literary fiction and poetry. Today, we cover romance! Here are five volumes available for pre-order, plus a previously published book with a similar vibe you can enjoy in the meantime.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (May 3)

Following bestselling rom-coms in 2020 and 2021, Henry's newest centers on Nora, a cut-throat literary agent who has little time for a personal life. Cajoled by her little sister, Libby, to join her for a month's vacation in a sleepy North Carolina town, Nora is rankled to run into Charlie, an editor she has never gotten along with. And no matter where she seems to go, he keeps turning up. Is life trying to tell her something?

What to read now: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover (Jan. 18)

Keep the tissues handy for this new heartbreaker by the wildly popular Hoover. After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But she's burned a lot of bridges. Her only remaining link to her daughter is local bar owner Ledger Ward. As the connection between them grows, Kenna is forced to confront the mistakes of her past.

What to read now: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (Mar. 1)

After her beloved mother dies, Katy finds herself alone on the two-week vacation the two had planned to take together to the Italian town where Carol spent a magical summer before she met Katy's father. Then Carol appears—as the thirty-year-old she was back then. Katy doesn't understand what's happening, but she can't pass up the chance to get to know this vibrantly young version of her very favorite person.

What to read now: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper (May 17)

Wild child Issa nurses a secret dream of ditching her family's witchy business to become a fashion designer. But when her family is wrongly accused of injuring a member of the rival Thorne family, Issa agrees to help investigate things—with none other than Rowan Thorne. He and Issa have been archenemies for years. But as they work together to track a perplexing trail of clues, they start to realize how little they really know about each other.

What to read now: Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

The Horsewoman by James Patterson and Mike Lupica (Jan. 10)

Mother and daughter Maggie and Becky, both champion riders, have vowed to never go up against one another. Until the tense, harrowing competitions leading to the Paris Olympics. Cowritten by a bestselling novelist and a hall-of-fame sportswriter, this is a white-knuckle thriller about the bond between horse and rider and a mother and daughter who share the dream of being the best horsewoman in the world.

What to read now: The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes

Hopefully there's something here that makes your dreams come true! Next up: Five mysteries that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon