I’ve been a lifelong fan of Halloween, from the time I visited my town’s haunted house as a young kid in the 1980s to watching horror movies as an adult. As a writer of romance and romantic women’s fiction, love stories are also my jam. Many people think horror and romance aren’t compatible, but I combined both in my novella series Crazy, Sexy, Ghoulish, and the books in this list prove that Halloween and romance are meant to be.
If I want to get into the mood for fall, there’s nothing better than reading this Rainbow Rowell graphic novel.
Set at a Nebraska pumpkin patch where high school seniors Josiah and Deja work each year, it’s absolutely crammed with the sights, sounds, and scents of the season leading up to Halloween–not to mention a sweet, slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance between two characters I absolutely rooted for.
A 2020 Tayshas Reading List Selection A 2020 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Selection
In Pumpkinheads, beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell and Eisner Award–winning artist Faith Erin Hicks have teamed up to create this tender and hilarious story about two irresistible teens discovering what it means to leave behind a place―and a person―with no regrets.
Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.
Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is…
I can always count on Tiffany Reisz for a witty, banter-filled romance, and this sexy seasonal delight is no exception. After a bad breakup, Joey heads to her family’s Oregon cabin, where her troubles are eased by the presence of her brother’s gorgeous best friend, Chris. But this hookup with the handyman has the potential to last past October 31st.
The funny and flirtatious dialogue here kept me laughing.
This book is set in Montauk, under looming threat from a warming climate and overdevelopment. Now outsider Clancy, a thirty-six-year-old claims adjuster scarred by his orphan childhood, has inherited an unexpected legacy: the power to decide the fate of Montauk’s last parcel of undeveloped land. Everyone in town has a…
I return to this dark, sensual collection of Angela Carter stories most autumns, often through audio book. While these are not technically romance stories, they’re what I call romance-adjacent: fairy tales centered on love and passion—and their dangers—with gorgeous language and twists that subvert your expectations.
My favorite story here is “In the Company of Wolves,” but really that’s like choosing a favorite child.
With an introduction by Helen Simpson. From familiar fairy tales and legends - Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves - Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.
Short, hilarious, and sexy, this romance novella is the perfect way to spend an October night. Daisy has a thing for redheads. So when she meets a redheaded Irishman at a New York City party on Halloween night, is it meant to be?
From its funny opening pages to its thoughtful and romantic ending, this absolutely delighted me, and not just because it had the line, “If you want to impress me, you have to watch Golden Girls.”
This delightful fable about the Golden Age of Broadway unfolds the warm story of Artie, a young rehearsal pianist, Joe, a visionary director, and Carrie, his crackerjack Girl Friday, as they shepherd a production of a musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream towards opening night.
It only took a half-hour to read this webcomic-turned-book, but it was time unbelievably well spent.
In a series of illustrations, we watch Elsie the vampire and werewolf Jimmy meet, fall in love, and somehow learn to combine their different—sometimes very different!—lifestyles (not to mention diets) in an unusual and adorable relationship. It left me grinning from ear to ear.
A New York Times bestselling love story between a vampire and a werewolf by Sarah Andersen, the creator of the enormously popular Sarah's Scribbles comics.
Elsie the vampire is three hundred years old, but in all that time, she has never met her match. This all changes one night in a bar when she meets Jimmy, a charming werewolf with a wry sense of humor and a fondness for running wild during the full moon. Together they enjoy horror films and scary novels, shady strolls, fine dining (though never with garlic), and a genuine fondness for each other's unusual habits,…
Nora isn't proud of the way she treated Brendan in middle school. Now that they're both in college, she's terrified to come face-to-face with the hot horror geek—especially since Brendan has the power to make or break the haunted house where she works. The good news? She has plenty of disguises. The bad news? He's looking a bit too long at her legs under those bloody fishnet stockings...
Nora has to be everything she's not this Halloween so she can hide her true self and terrify Brendan. Not to mention protect her heart. Because what if he realizes she's a monster behind the mask?
This book is a literary historical novel. It is set in Britain immediately after World War II, when people – gay, straight, young, and old - are struggling to get back on track with their lives, including their love lives. Because of the turmoil of the times, the number of…
In Svetlana's country, it’s a felony to break a mirror. Mirrors are conduits of the Voice, the deity worshiped by all who follow Light. The Voice protects humans of MotherLand from the dangers that beset them on all sides: an invading…
