S08.40: Summer 2026 Preview

We’re filling summer reading lists and making sure that you have plenty of beach reads ready for whatever your plans are! It’s hard to believe it’s July, but we’ve got another quarterly upcoming romance episode here to ease the pain of half the year already passed! Here’s a huge list of books arriving in July, August & September 2026—historical, paranormal, speculative, contemporary, a YA or two and a romantic suspense or two, we’ve got something for everyone. As a reminder, we haven’t read most of these, but we have big plans!

If you want more recommendations and more people with whom you can discuss 2026 romance novels, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along is an old school contemporary, Perfect by Judith McNaught. Sarah says it has the greatest all-is-lost moment in romance history. Read it to find out if she’s right. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

AUTHORS: Do you have a book coming out in 2026 that you’d like to make sure we know about? Or, are you a debut romance author who’d like to make sure we know about your debut? Fill out the forms here:

• 2026/2027 Upcoming Romance Novels
• 2026 Debut Romance Novels

June Releases (Better Late Than Never)

• Love is a Contact Sport by Frederick Smith
• A Deal at Dawn by Vanessa Riley

July Releases

• Seduced by the Werewolf Highwaymen by Eva Leigh
• FIRE on Fire by Lukas Gaines
• Princess Bride with Benefits by Bella Mason
• As Long as it Takes by Jill Francis
• Die For Me by Shirlene Obuobi
• Kiss, Marry, Kill by Cara Tanamachi
• The Paddock Club by Madge Maril
• Affairs of State by Calvin James
• Formula Zero by Meredith Lanzen
• A Date with Death by Kelly Creagh
• Dearest Beast by Felicia Grossman
• Falling For You by Natasha Madison
• The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren
• Eclipse of the Crown by AK Caggiano
• Their Summer Rescue by Sera Taíno
• Maggie and Arthur’s Magic Moment by Leslie Rene
• Foxx by Paisley Hope
• Ravenous by Kresley Cole
• An Education in Longing by Charlotte Stein
• One Shattered Crown by Rebecca Zanetti

August Releases

• I Punched an Alien and Now We’re in Couples Therapy by Kimberly Lemming
• Steelborn by Taylor LaRue
• Embrace by Bal Khabra
• The Cozy Nook Bookshop by Jeannie Chin
• In What World by Bridget Morrissey
• It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You by Lindsay Lewis
• Roped by Saffron Kent
• Don’t Say Mafia by CR Jane
• See you at the Sunset by Susan Lee
• Old Flames by Nadine Gonzalez
• Sex Positive by Brooklyn Rose
• International Relations by Zac Hammett
• Her Undercover Protector by Kayla Parrin
• The Marriage Rebound by Meka James
• Full Throttle by JK Maclaren
• Vow of Eternal Night by Lily Crozier

September Releases

• Love Me like a Rock Song by Shelley Jay Shore
• Hexy Beast by Avery Flynn
• You’re the One that I Haunt by Katie Jung
• A Spell of Heart and Havoc by Kristen Vale
• The Alibi Club by Carrie Talick
• The Invisible Roommate by Timothy Janovsky
• From Beijing With Love by Bei Lin
• Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton
• With all my Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling
• Isn’t He Romantic by Adib Khorram
• How to Ruin a Rake by Kate Pearce
• Ghost Me, Maybe by Manda Collins
• See you Next Tuesday by Kate Stayman-London
• Game Over by Bella North
• Formula He’s the One by Andie J Christopher
• Doomsdate by Laura Piper Lee

Sponsors

• Felicia Grossman, author of Dearest Beast, available in print, ebook, audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• Juniper Butterworth, author of The King in the Forest, available in print, ebook, audiobook from Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, or with your subscription to Kobo Unlimited.
• E. Kennedy, author of Thornbird, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• Union Square, publishers of This Blade of Ours, by Shalini Abeysekara, available in print, ebook and audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/6/30/0840-2026-summer-preview
• If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.