My reading list starts to skew toward all things magical and cozy (with a dash of spooky) the minute pumpkin-spice season begins, but this month’s reading has been a mixed bag. Instead of autumnal stories with jack-o-lanterns, Halloween, and witchy magic, I read a summer release that I’d tucked away for a beach trip and then…left at home. I also ended up devouring two books set around the winter holidays (one of them checks the “witchy magic” box, though). Romance is always in style, so here are some of my favorite reads this month.

*****

Prolific powerhouse Erin Sterling returns with The Wedding Witch (Avon), another enchanting installment in her witchy Graves Glen series.

Bowen Penhallow is a studious, enigmatic witch who lives alone in the mountains of Wales. His brothers have found love and settled down in Graves Glen, Georgia, but Bowen’s life is still tangled up in a past tragedy. For 15 years, he’s dedicated himself to hunting for answers in archaic texts that might help him undo a spell that went horribly wrong and cost him his best friend.

Tamsyn Bligh isn’t a witch, she’s an artifact hunter who lives a nomadic life, traveling the globe in search of magical objects. Bowen, who’s smitten with the snarky, beautiful American, offers Tamsyn an exclusive contract, which she happily accepts. She’s both wildly attracted to the brooding, bearded mountain man and absolutely adamant that she won’t jeopardize her job by mixing business with pleasure (though she does sneak in one magnificent kiss under the mistletoe before they shake hands on the deal).

While Bowen is off on a month-long visit to Graves Glen, Tamsyn can’t resist accepting one last high-risk commission with a million-dollar bounty. All she has to do is travel to North Wales to attend an exclusive Yuletide wedding at Tywyll House and steal a brooch. But when she arrives, Bowen is already there for his own secretive purposes.

Things quickly go from bad to worse when the distraught would-be bride casts a spell that catapults Bowen and Tamsyn back to 1957, just as Bowen’s grandparents’ have called off their own wedding. Convinced that they need to get the nuptials back on track if they want to return to the present day, Bowen and Tamsyn must pretend to be married, which also gives them lots of quality time to deal with the pent-up emotions they have for each other.

Fans of the Graves Glen series will be thrilled to get the story behind the most mysterious of the Penhallow brothers, but new readers will still love this steamy, swoony winter romance!

*****

Love happens in its own time in One-Star Romance (Berkley), a funny and thoughtful five-star romance by Laura Hankin.

Struggling writer Natalie Shapiro and Ph.D. candidate Rob Kapinsky have one thing in common: Natalie’s best friend, Gabby, and Rob’s best friend, Angus, are getting married. Despite their conflicting opinions about academia and writing, and the fact that they live in different states, there are sparks when Nat and Rob meet at Angus and Gabby’s surprise engagement party. But things take a decidedly downward turn when they’re reunited at the wedding, and Nat discovers Rob has given her recently published debut novel a one-star review.

Nat wants to write Rob off as an uptight, snobbish academic, but he had a good reason for the bad review — a reason Nat can’t admit to herself. Since their friends are now married, Nat and Rob can’t avoid each other no matter how much they might want to. But putting the rocky past behind them and finding the solid ground on which to build a future is going to take time and soul-searching.

Hankin takes a lighthearted hook and two mismatched protagonists and spins them into a lovely, memorable tale. Nat and Rob are at turns frustrating and relatable as people who haven’t yet figured out who they are but still can’t stop thinking about each other. We know they’re going to end up together, but how they get there is so much fun.

*****

I really wish I’d saved Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year (Avon) to read in those days between Christmas and New Year’s, when I’m ready to collapse from the holiday madness and just want to curl up with a book. But it’s so good, I can’t be mad at myself.

Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt are successful writers for the same publishing company. Maggie pens cozy, feel-good mysteries, while Ethan is a rugged, leather-jacket-wearing thriller writer. Maggie can’t stand Ethan, and he can’t even remember her name. (He keeps calling her Marcie.) But when they’re both invited to a Christmas party at the English estate of Eleanor Ashley, the world’s most famous mystery writer and Maggie’s idol, they hop on a plane and go.

Why the author known as the Duchess of Death wants them to join her and a handful of other guests is unclear, but neither has anywhere better to be. Eleanor is cagey about her intentions, so when she goes missing from her locked office, Maggie and Ethan are left wondering if it’s one of her notorious party games or a real crime. Either way, the snow is falling, the bridge is out, nobody has cell service, and everyone is a suspect, so Maggie and Ethan are going to have to work together to solve the mystery and find Eleanor. Along the way, they discover it’s their differences that make them so good together.                                         

Carter deftly blends romance and mystery with holiday charm to deliver a romantic whodunit that’s perfect for a snuggly night in, whatever the time of year.

Kristina Wright lives in Virginia with her husband, their two sons, two Goldendoodles, a ginger cat, and a green parrot. She’s a regular contributor at BookBub and a lifelong fan of romance fiction. Find her on Twitter at @kristinawright or on Bookshop, where she features her book recommendations.