Sally Blakely, 2026. 4.5 Stars. Very strong summer beach read, about two people who kept their relationship a secret from the friend group until the break up isolated everyone and turned them bitterly away from each other. I was hooked reading this because the slow burn between Sutton and Everett was very heart-melting as they swallow their pride and begin to trust each other.

Kayla Olson, 2026 4 Stars for the view. In the preface, Kayla Olson says this book is meant for the girls who relate to the 80's movie Troop Beverly Hills (alongside Elle Woods of Legally Blonde) and she had me hooked. It's a light rom com version of Wild, with a determined and dumped Sadie going on a two-week wilderness hike to prove that she can handle anything. 

Katherine Center, 2026. 4.25 Stars. This is a true romp, a quick read abundant with the rat-a-tat back and forth volleying between childhood friends that are obviously meant for each other, when they are not holding each other in headlocks. Katherine Center is straight up playing in this novel, I suspect there was an umbrella in her drink and she said, why not?

Kate Clayborn, 2026. Five stars in every language. I re-read parts, I self-imposed speed bumps to not rush through this book, and I savoured every word. Griff is an incredible MMC that I've never seen before, which complements Layla as FMC, because we trust her as a well-composed physician who manages everything except her own honesty. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is tired of traditional romance and wants to spend time understanding what it means to be fully vulnerable in a relationship, at the risk of causing friction and revealing the unsorted pieces of ourselves.

Peyton Corinne, 2026 4.5 Stars for tears, swoons and sworn commitment. This series is hockey romance with deep therapy to address issues that are rising up in their college setting. It's much more personal than Off-Campus or the Icebreaker/Maple Hill books, with each character working to reconcile neglect and trauma from the adults in their life. I'm a big fan of this Peyton Corinne series because it's beyond the tropes of hockey romance without silly breakups or teams just winning cups as they commit to celibacy with the girl next door.

Catherine Walsh, 2026 Four big stars for this being a quiet but feisty escape read with a strong female lead who kept surprising me and making me laugh. This is the story of a daughter reconciling her father's death by constructing the final missing book in his fantasy series opus, and the nerd boy editor that finds her in a small Irish village and ultimately helps her reconstruct the other parts of herself, the writing and non-writing parts.

Rebecca Serle, 2026 4.5 Stars for Making Choices. This was an absolute feast of a book, with the narrating laying out almost as a suspense novel to me, with gentle notes of romance. We begin with Lauren sharing that her father died in a car accident, but he reappears at the end of the first chapter, and we learn that the females in her family receive a magical silver ticket that offer a way back to an earlier choice in time.

Kallie Emblidge, 2026. 4.5 stars. This was absolutely delightful and reminds me of Cat Sebastian's baseball MM romance series, because we spend most of the story in the inner life of the MMC as he works to unravel his feelings about remaining in the closet, while being tempted for a younger, or more junior member of his team. I really loved the local flavour of Camden's fictitious team and how much Ollie connects with the neighbourhood and his club, while still keeping or sacrificing his love life.

OTTAWA – Following a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Team USA at the Winter Olympics, viewers nationwide started a rewatch of the hockey romance series, Heated Rivalry, in search of a more uplifting version...

Carrie Classon, 2026 5 Stars This book is quietly beautiful. From the beginning when we meet our four characters and a withering dog, we are not sure where they will interact and what types of relationships they will build together. We see that Norry and Bud are caregivers and Lizzie and Wendell are in need of taking that care, but the building of those connections occurs in this light pace, moving forward and never hurried.

Mara Williams, 2026. 4.5 Stars. I devoured this in one sitting because it felt very real, very emotional and rooted in 30-something adult behaviour, my favourite sub-genre of romance. Mara Williams is a new author to me, but I was drawn into the story on the first page because we meet Eden as a bitter, lost, divorced woman who is reeling from her ex-husband's betrayal.

Isabelle Engel, 2026 3.5 Stars In the beginning, this book was delicious. It was chardonnay with an ice cube, starburst red and pink candies, and freshly laundered Roots sweatpants. For this, I recommend fans of dating shows read Most Eligible and have themselves a pj party watching her try to take down the reality relationship mafia. I was so excited to pick this book up and up and keep seeing the secrets and espionage build up (plus, everything with Olie).

Hannah Brohm, 2026 4.5 Stars for Overachieving This is the STEM-iest of STEM novels and I ate it up. It's a must-read, must-own for any fans of STEM storylines and romance. Hannah Brohm hits the beats of a rom com: fake dating, exes in the workplace, slow burn enemies to lovers, but she roots it in neuroscience and academia, and there is no frivolity here, only stern discussions on truth and experiment design while two people catch the feels, deny the feels, and then analyze the feels together.

Rachel Reid, 2021. Five Stars. This is a book about believing sexual assault victims and unpacking identity. This is a book where a professional hockey star on the first page is traded to Ottawa, one of the worst teams in the league, because he was caught on tape calling his friend a rapist at practice. The friend is Dallas Kent, known in the Game Changers series for being toxic hockey traditional trash, and Troy Barrett, the friend and main character of Role Model, believes the victims and starts to speak up.

Julie Hatcher, 2025 4.25 Stars for Independence and Pasta This book was inspiring and swoony and uplifting, and I highly recommend reading in a book club setting with other women to talk through the themes and reactions, preferably over cake. Julie Hatcher sets up the plot perfectly in the first chapter, where we learn that Sophie hates her controlling husband and is supported by her ride or die best friend Alicia, as they continue to hatch a plot for her to be set free.

Kate Goldbeck, 2025 4.5 stars for crashing into him. I cannot give this book enough credit for letting the main character fail and make impulsive choices. I think Kate Goldberg is the queen of normie romance and there is such a need (I deeply feel) for romances with lost souls who don't say, "yeah I need to grow first" before falling head over heels.

Amy Yorke, 2025 Four stars for fun that covers the bases as a book one. It's lighter on fantasy but deeper on feelings (the big squishy love ones) because it's "New Adult" (think older YA) and the seeds are there for bigger moments in magic. What I wanted was more intensity with higher questions on the morals of war, the question of trusting advisors, and one more step forward on the magical mysteries, but I attribute that to this being New Adult, and either way, I'll gladly return for the sequel.

Charlotte McConaghy, 2025 4.25 Stars for haunted, mesmerizing nature fiction. Before writing this review, I drove in the snow to the library to get one of her earlier books, because I'm just that intrigued by Charlotte McConaghy's voice and narrative style. This one is a stealthy thriller that gives you just enough information about Rowan, a woman who washes up on the shores of an isolated research base off the coast of Antartica, and the family lead by Dominic who rescue her while fearing her intrusion.

Lauren Okie, 2025 Absolute perfection and one of the top five books I've read this year. Lauren Okie pulls through on two major storylines: A wife experiencing infertility and treatments with her dirtbag finance bruh husband, and the crackling dialogue with her old work crush whom she conjures back into her life amid the crises. The infertility pieces felt extremely personal and Lauren Okie shares in the afterward about her choices bringing this storyline to a book.

Brynne Weaver, 2025 So I was not aware that serial killer love stories were a micro genre of romance, outside of some expected monster kink, but here you have it. Brynne Weaver really gives this a flow with the quirky Cape Carnage setting and Nolan as our strong dimpled male hero, hunting down Harper, the tough but loyal heroine who feeds misogynist pricks into her wood chipper.

Clare Gilmour, 2025. 5 Stars for Chemistry in Song Absolute five-star read because this defies all the tropes and slashes them to the ground to make way for a slow burning, cauldron bubbling, sweet steamer of a novel with A+ chemistry, solid partner communication, and a family dynamic that felt real and whole. Clare Gilmore immediately establishes the setting (Knoxville and Nashville, TN, USA), the characters (Paige, a young songwriter, and Liam, her ex-boyfriend, a college athlete), central plot elements (Paige and Liam reconciling for song inspiration, Paige as the youngest of five daughters), within the first few chapters, so that we care deeply for the characters and we believe that this is the right and just next move for them to get back together as a sort of poetic justice.

Ellen O'Clover, 2025 3.75 stars, not for the lighthearted.  Sometimes I wonder why do I do this, jump into books where the women are fractured and flailing about until they meet the town vet and he has this raspy voice that mutters slow, low feelings. All the insta love and he was just there! All along! And sometimes the story unearths a tragedy that really explains why the heroine was so low.

Farah Heron, 2025 3.75 Stars but damn I want to give it more. This was so close to a four-star or higher rating for me because it was escapist, it had a strong intelligent love interest, and the setting was a main character, a love letter to finding home and building joy in Toronto. Ruby is so authentically herself in enjoying the life she's chosen to live and express passion for food, fine things, celebrations and Britlit addictions.

Betty Corrello, 2025 5 Stars for Nadia, all of her Absolutely masterful writing and storytelling from Betty Corrello. I related so closely to the feelings of unhappiness, the deep blue that Nadia is trapped in, despite it stemming from a personal health issue, because the writing was so vivid. Corrello brings us close within Nadia's thin skin and we see her questioning her life, her future, and where she fits in.

Betty Corrello, 2024 4.5 Stars for Del, anytime HOW did she do that? Betty Corrello wrote one my most favourite-ever FMC and then she kept building on growth and positive decisions and made Del even more assured and confident throughout the story. This book is beautiful and simmering and fully realized. Del is back at home in seaside Evergreen while she works on her comedy material for her biggest break, running into Eddie, her old high school love or enemy or fuckboi mess.

Regina Black, 2025 5 Stars for Finesse and Craft Absolutely beautiful story of romance and beginnings and family/community. This story is a ballad, and it's told in three different timelines but it transitions between each of them with perfect timing. I was so taken by August and Luke as these imperfect characters that fight within themselves and fight against the perceptions that hold them back.

Katie Nayman, 2025 Wow - I see why this is highly reviewed because the form of this, the writing and the vulnerability (actual poems) is top notch. Leigh is the main character but her Anxiety is a supporting (unsupporting) character and this is a study in self-doubt. I really liked Will and wow again, he had some swagger when it came time for burn time, and his poems matched his characterization in such a deft way.

OTTAWA - Canadians thinking of planning a trip to the United States are being advised by the Government of Canada to perhaps consider going anywhere else on the entire fucking planet for their summer ...