Verdict: A thoughtful, non-fluffy slow burn about grief and belonging: programmer Lauren Ashburn is stuck in Vermont after her father’s death, and autistic architect Georgia Solomon is suddenly raising her autistic daughter Hannah alone after her best friend and co-parent dies. Readers praise the characters and representation; some felt the ending was rushed. Best for: … Read more
Verdict: A tender, unconventional late-bloomer romance: Laura, a 57-year-old chocolatier married to her husband for decades, meets Carina, a 53-year-old divorced single mom of a teenage daughter, and neither expected to fall for a woman. Readers praise its honesty, sensuality and mature leads; be warned that the ending is not a traditional romance HEA, and … Read more
Verdict: A breezy, low-angst vacation romance on Bonaire: Morgan, a newly full-time author stuck with a case of writer’s trickle, falls for Ash, the single mom renting across the shared yard, and her dive-mad ten-year-old son Jake. Readers love the island setting, the diving and Jake; critics found the characters thin and the leap from … Read more
Verdict: A slow-burn workplace romance with a dramatic opening: paralegal Chrissy Kramer, a single mom abandoned by her family as a pregnant teen, is hurt stopping a gunman who targets her boss, law partner Reggie Esposito, and recovers at Reggie’s home with her son Ben. Fans love the sparks, the suspense and Ben; critics found … Read more
Verdict: A funny, heartfelt second-chance romance: teenage sweethearts Poppy, a musician, and Norah, an artist, split when Poppy left without explanation for pop stardom; twenty years later, both parents, they meet at the school gates and discover their kids are best friends. Readers love West’s humour, the everyday realism and a truly hateful villain; some … Read more
Verdict: A fashion-world romance with a corporate-betrayal subplot: charming New Orleans designer Ellis Renois takes on Charlotte Hamner, a former teen mom with a ten-year-old daughter, as her summer intern, just as someone inside her company plots to bring her down. Readers enjoy the twists and adore Sawyer; many found the romance too fast, too … Read more
Verdict: A warm, funny opposites-attract romance: Eden Price, a PR guru who likes her life in perfect order and has no interest in family, keeps colliding with Heidi Hughes, a wedding photographer and single mum to toddler Maya. Readers enjoy the humour, the found family and a romance without a contrived breakup; readers without children, … Read more
Verdict: An absorbing slow-burn, age-gap romance set in a New York fine art atelier: Leighton Vaughn, a divorced artist and mom, falls for Casey Norford, her gifted new scholarship student and a single mom herself. Readers love the art detail, the palpable chemistry and a book they could not put down; a vocal minority felt … Read more
Verdict: A classic Radclyffe medical slow burn: high-risk obstetrician Hollis Monroe, who keeps every patient at a professional distance, is thrown together with midwife and single mom Annie Colfax, whose life she saved in an emergency four years earlier. Fans love the medical realism, the midwifery focus and the returning PMC cast; critics found the … Read more
Verdict: A heartwarming, low-angst age-gap romance: fitness instructor Lauren Evans takes bullied fourteen-year-old Hugo under her wing, then meets his mother, formidable barrister Allegra Whittaker, who has tracked down the stolen credit card he used to join the gym. Readers love the family warmth, Hugo and a moving final act; the chief quibble is a … Read more