The days are growing shorter, and I don’t mind one bit. This time of year encourages me to slow down, get cozy, and make more time for the things I enjoy — including curling up with a good romance. There’s something especially appealing about reading as the leaves change, the evenings get cooler, and a little bit of fall magic (and maybe some spooky-season fun) creeps into the air. The books I’m reading this month are perfect companions on those crisp autumn nights. Happy fall!

*****

Danielle McKechnie explores first love, second chances, and the ways relationships change as we grow in This Changes Everything (Harper Perennial), a heartfelt romance told across two timelines.

In part one (“Everything Before”), Ellie McCain is 20, living in Vancouver, and preparing to leave for acting school in New York. She has shared a long, complicated history with Rory Campbell, the boy she first met at 12 and for whom she has carried a torch ever since. But just as their relationship finally becomes something more, Ellie heads to Manhattan to pursue the life she’s always dreamed of. There, she meets Ben Winters, her roommate and best friend, and their friendship gradually develops into something more. As Ellie struggles to find her footing in the entertainment industry and faces difficult choices about her career and future, both her dreams and relationships evolve.

In part two (“Everything After”), Ellie is 29 and unexpectedly reconnects with Rory, now a professional golfer. Moving between past and present, the plot isn’t a love triangle with an obvious “right” choice. Rory represents Ellie’s first love and the person who has been part of her story for years, while Ben offers another kind of love and becomes the person she needs during another stage of her life. Both relationships feel meaningful and important, and the narrative shows how the people we love can meet us where we are at different points in our lives.

What makes This Changes Everything stand out is how much it’s really about Ellie — her ambition, heartbreak, resilience, and determination to build a life on her own terms. There’s plenty of banter, yearning, and romance, along with a thoughtful look at the challenges women face in the entertainment industry. Funny and wonderfully messy, this is a love triangle that made me care about both relationships and completely understand why Ellie struggled to choose.

*****

Martha Waters delights with an alternate 1920s London in Spellstruck (Atria Books), where magical speakeasies, enchanted cocktails, and a cozy mystery set the stage for a charming romance.

Vesper Holloway is determined to keep her family’s supernatural club thriving despite the government’s ban on magic. When patrons at several magical clubs begin suffering strange and dangerous side effects from their potions, Vesper realizes her family’s business could be at risk. Her best chance of protecting the place is an unlikely alliance with Max Ashbridge, a former friend of her brother who’s now a government agent tasked with enforcing the very ban that threatens her livelihood.

Vesper is flirtatious and clever, while Max is serious and reserved, making their opposites-attract chemistry and playful banter a highlight. As they visit magical clubs and investigate the tainted potions, they begin to uncover who is behind the mishaps while discovering that they understand each other better than either expected. Their investigation also gives Max a chance to see that Vesper is more capable and thoughtful than her carefree personality suggests, while Vesper discovers the softer side of Max.

What makes Spellstruck stand out is the way Waters balances the romance, mystery, and mystical Jazz Age setting without letting any one element overwhelm the others. The mystery has a cozy, low-stakes feel, while the world of magical Prohibition gives the story lots of whimsy. Add a sweet romance, entertaining characters, and just enough spooky-season magic, and this is an especially fun fall read.

*****

Gillian Daniels serves up a bloody, funny, surprisingly tender monster romance in Jenny Will Eat You Now (Gallery Books), in which an ancient river monster discovers that falling in love with a human can be almost as confusing as resisting the urge to eat him.

Jenny Greenteeth has lived for centuries beneath Boston, happily keeping to herself and surviving on rats — and the occasional person. But when Zeke, a graduate student at Harvard researching the legend of Jenny, stumbles into her underground lair, Jenny finds herself torn between two very different appetites. Instead of devouring him, she becomes determined to find him again, enlisting her new cryptid friends Faun and Clive to help her navigate the baffling human world.

Jenny’s outsider perspective is where much of the book’s humor comes from, but there’s plenty of heart here, too. Jenny is ancient, blunt, intimidating, and completely unfamiliar with modern ideas about dating and relationships. Her attempts to understand flirting, clothing, coffee, and conversation are both hilarious and endearing, while her growing feelings for Zeke force her to question what she really wants. Zeke is fascinated and terrified by Jenny, but as he gets to know her, he also recognizes her vulnerability and appreciates her honesty. It’s an ultimate opposites-attract relationship that doesn’t shy away from the question of what actually makes someone a monster.

I’ll admit that monster romance is not my go-to, but this delightful debut has me rethinking that. Daniels skillfully balances horror and romance, somehow making the story tender, funny, and, yes, a little steamy. Jenny never has to become less monstrous to be worthy of love, and the story doesn’t ignore her very real appetite for human flesh. This creepy, campy, heartfelt gem is a perfect choice for anyone looking for a romance with bite.

Kristina Wright lives in Virginia with her husband, their two sons, two Goldendoodles, and a ginger cat. She’s a regular contributor at BookBub and a lifelong fan of romance fiction. Find her on Bluesky at @kristinawright.