Looking for the most anticipated, new romance books releasing this May 2024 that you need to add to your TBR list? I’ve done the work for you in checking out what new books are heading our way next month and picked my top 9 favorites I cannot wait to read and suggest you go ahead and preorder as well.
A few of these new romance books are from my list of most anticipated romance books of 2024 list and there is so much variety no matter what romance book tropes you enjoy.
If you like marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, paranormal romance and more, you’re sure to find a book to add to your TBR list this month.
If you’re eager to add even more books to your reading list, then check out my upcoming releases page or my previous monthly release book posts for more amazing titles.
Happy reading, because life is better with a love story…
Podcast Episode 48: My Most Anticipated New Romance Books Releasing in May 2024
*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
May 2024 Must-Read New Romance Books
Band Together
by Piper Sheldon
Small Town Romance
Releasing May 2, 2024
Leo Cooper is back in Green Valley to hide. Not fall in love with the tenacious band director who’s determined to drag him into the light.
After being kicked out of his massively successful rock band, Leo is content to spend Bunco nights with his mom, lay low making snacks, and lick his wounds. He’d rather work in his garden than give any attention to his failed music career.
Cut to the gorgeous high school band director relentlessly popping up in his life, making demands, and talking about giving back to the community.
Mari Mitchell knows what it’s like to be overlooked. She’s determined to do whatever it takes to ensure her students get the best shot possible even if that means running herself ragged. And when a former rockstar returns to town, who could be better to help her favorite student make their dreams come true?
Does it matter that he’s a moody musician who reminds her of a handsome tragic hero of an old-timey movie? NO! She’s too busy for things like burning hot physical attraction and chemistry that won’t quit. She needs Leo for more than his irresistible drummer arms. No matter how amazing they feel wrapped around her.
But what nobody knows is that the hit to Leo’s pride was a big one, and Mari might be asking too much. Can these two band together? Or will their painful pasts prevent them from having the future they deserve?
Why It’s a Must Read: I’m so ready to dive into the Smartypants Romance spring releases starting with Band Together. I adore that it features a rock star (even if he got kicked out of the band) and the teacher who falls for him when he just wants to be left alone.
I’m actually excited to learn more about the student that Mari is so desperate to help too. If you’re looking for a new grumpy sunshine romance to read, consider adding this to your must read list.
This Summer Will Be Different
by Carley Fortune
Contemporary Romance
Releasing May 7, 2024
This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won’t give into temptation. This summer will be different.
Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.
It’s easier said than done.
Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.
If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.
When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.
Why It’s a Must Read: This book had me at Prince Edward Island. I am a bit obsessed with the small Canadian island and have dreams of visiting it one day. But…until that day comes I can visit it through the pages of this book this summer.
Carley has the market on summer romance books but I haven’t wanted to read her prior books given the themes in them so I think this is the one to try for me. Here’s hoping it lives up to the hype!
Check out my book review of This Summer Will Be Different.
Related: Carley Fortune Books in Order
Mistakes We Never Made
by Hannah Brown
Enemies to Lovers Romance
Releasing May 7, 2024
Emma Townsend can sum up her situationship with hot-as-hell romantic red flag Finn Hughes in one word: almost. They almost dated in high school. They almost hooked up after college. They almost took things too far one magical night. Their whole story is one series of “almosts” and “nearlys,” and now they just kind of can’t stand each other. Like, at all.
But this weekend, one of their mutuals is getting married . . . and Emma and Finn will have to pretend they don’t remember how disastrous it was the last time they were in a room together.
Emma’s doing a stellar job of playing it cool—until the bride goes missing. Now, with two days before the wedding, Emma and Finn are hitting the road in a sweet vintage sports car in hopes of salvaging someone else’s happily-ever-after.
Yet somewhere between Emma’s breakfast burrito throw down, a high-stakes kayak chase (it can happen), and an outrageous Vegas detour, these sworn enemies are crossing more than just state lines. As old feelings spark once more, Emma begins to question whether risking your heart is ever really a mistake.
Why It’s a Must Read: I honestly hate reality TV so I never saw Hannah on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette but I’m anxious to see what she has to bring to the romance genre with this debut fiction novel.
I love how Emma and Finn almost hooked up or dated several times in the their past. I’m so curious to know why they never got it right and if it’s worth them trying in the present. Plus, it sounds like a fun, forced proximity romance while they look for a runaway bride.
Related: Best Enemies to Lovers Books
Love at First Book
by Jenn McKinlay
Contemporary Romance
Releasing May 14, 2024
Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.
Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.
Emily persists, and spending her days bantering with the annoyingly handsome mercurial Irishman only makes her fall more deeply in love with the new life she’s built – and for the man who seems to soften toward her with every quip she throws at him.
But when she discovers the reason for Kieran’s initial resistance, Em finds herself torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her now undeniable feelings for Kier. As Siobhan’s novel progresses, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.
Why It’s a Must Read: I love romance books that sweep you away to a new location and I love romance books set in Ireland which is why this book caught my eye. I also love that it’s a grumpy sunshine romance. I just hope that McKinlay writes the best barbs when it comes to Kiernan and his grumpiness toward Emily!
The Paradise Problem
by Christina Lauren
Marriage of Convenience Romance
Releasing May 14, 2024
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
Why It’s a Must Read: When the author duo Christina Lauren delivers a fun and engaging romcom each and every year, you better believe that their newest release is going to be on my TBR list.
I’m anxious to see how they take on the one-percenters and the world of toxic wealth in this marriage of convenience romance. I never expected them to write about an heir of a grocery chain but I love fake relationship romances and hope they deliver one of the best books of 2024 with this one.
Check out my book review of The Paradise Problem.
Truth or Wolf
by Anne Marsh
Paranormal Romance
Releasing May 16, 2024
Twin brothers Atticus and Ford Boone may share the same face and the same supernatural secret, but where Atticus is charismatic and charming, Ford is grumpy and reserved… and that’s before he shifts into his wolf.
When hardworking citizen scientist Alice Aymes reluctantly returns to Green Valley to restart her stalled life, she’s sure she knows what to expect. She’ll save up the money she needs to escape to Nashville while nursing her secret infatuation with the ever-popular Atticus Boone—and fighting with her high school nemesis, his twin brother.
Alice hates Ford, and he’s always hated her right back. But after a case of mistaken identity has Alice kissing the wrong twin, she does what any good scientist does and analyzes the facts.
Fact #1: It’s time to revisit her unrequited crush on Atticus. Who needs a white-knight fantasy man when there’s a rock-solid, beaded lumberjack in your personal space?
Fact #2: Stimuli and sensory input ahoy! Growing up, Alice saw Ford as the grumpiest, sternest guy in town. They fought for years. Apparently that now sends her amygdalae into sensual overdrive.
Fact #3: The more bearded the wolf, the more protective and possessive.
As Alice finds herself irresistibly drawn to the man she loves to hate, the question lingers: How much of her level-headed heart is she willing to risk in the face of newfound desires and supernatural secrets?
Why It’s a Must Read: I cannot tell you enough how excited I am for this new release. It was brilliant how Laney Hatcher adapted Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City series into a must-read historical romance series and now we have ‘Truth or Wolf’ kicking off the new Wolf Brothers series that adapts Reid’s beloved Winston Brothers series as paranormal romance books. YES PLEASE!
Join me in exploring Moonlight Valley, Tennessee which is the secret paranormal sibling of Penny Reid’s Green Valley and a small town where bearded werewolves outnumber the unsuspecting human inhabitants. I’m so here for it.
Related: Best Werewolf Romance Books
Lies and Weddings
by Kevin Kwan
Contemporary Romance
Releasing May 21, 2024
Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel has a problem: the legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending, and behind all the magazine covers and Instagram stories manors and yachts lies nothing more than a gargantuan mountain of debt.
The only solution, put forth by Rufus’s scheming mother, is for Rufus to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort, a veritable who’s-who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs, and seduce a woman with money.
Should he marry Solène de Courcy, a French hotel heiress with honey blond tresses and a royal bloodline? Should he pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door, the humble daughter of a doctor, Eden Tong?
When a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans—and their reputation—go up in flames.
Can the once-great dukedom rise from the ashes? Or will a secret tragedy, hidden for two decades, reveal a shocking twist?
In a globetrotting tale that takes us from the black sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Los Angeles to the inner sanctums of England’s oldest family estates, Kevin Kwan unfurls a juicy, hilarious, sophisticated and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, and the lies we tell about them all.
Why It’s a Must Read: While we wait and wait and wait for the movies that are slated to be made to follow up Crazy Rich Asians, I’m also anxiously waiting to read Kwan’s newest romance release in four years that tackles a forbidden affair. And volcanoes! I’m absolutely reading it for the volcanic eruption and the craziness that is going to ensue.
Related: Romance Books That Inspire Travel
Savor It
by Tarah Dewitt
Fake Dating Romance
Releasing May 21, 2024
Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants.
But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win—something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.
Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening.
But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.
A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like.
Why It’s a Must Read: There is so much to unpack about this new romance release that I have a feeling I won’t be able to put it down. From a cute, small town competition, to two wounded characters recovering from loss, I’m excited to jump into my first Dewitt romance this year and see what this author has to offer!
Check out my book review of Savor It.
Related: Best Fake Dating Romance Books
Tate
by Victoria Denault
Single Dad, Hockey Romance
Releasing May 28. 2024
I’m the only son of one of the best forwards in the history of hockey. I play for a team on the brink of winning the Cup, and I’m about to break one of my dad’s league records. Life is absolutely golden.
Until Mallory Echolls comes to my game in Los Angeles with a baby. She says the little guy is mine, and as soon as I see his green eyes and the dimple in his pudgy chin I know she’s not lying.
The tragic twist? He’s not Mallory’s baby. An awful accident on the other side of the world took his birth mom, and now I’m all he’s got. Well, me and my ninety-seven relatives… once I find the guts to tell them.
Mallory offers to stay in L.A. and help with the baby until I can wrap my head, and my life, around him. She’s amazing with my son. She always knows what to do and what to say and… was she always this gorgeous?
Our families back home hate each other so just being friends with her was always a risk. Now the stakes are higher than ever. My son needs her. And I can’t stop the feelings I have from growing stronger.
I always take my shot on the ice, but do I dare take this one?
Why It’s a Must Read: If Victoria Denault is writing a hockey romance then I’m definitely checking it out. This is actually book two in her Hockey Royalty series.
I haven’t yet read the first but this one is on my radar and maybe I’ll circle back to the first after reading it. I’m not usually a fan of the surprise baby romance trope but something about this one screams different to me.
What new romance book are YOU most excited to read this May 2024? Share in the comments below!
Related Book Lists:
- Most Anticipated New Romance Books of 2024
- Upcoming New Romance Books List
- Top 10 June 2024 Romance Book Releases
- 11 New Romance Books Releasing April 2024
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