13 New Cozy Fantasy Rom-Coms to Add to Your Autumn Reading List
All the cozy, witchy, slow-burn rom-coms you could want.
Outside it may still be 80 degrees and disgustingly humid, but in my heart, the leaves are turning, the air is crisper, and I’m ready for all things cozy, witchy, and a little creepy.
You know, more so than usual.
I’ve talked before about my newfound love for this budding genre of cozy, witchy, supernatural-tinged rom-coms. And friends, we are eating good this autumn. There are SO MANY new releases coming out August through October that look so cute.
If you, like me, could never choose between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls as your favorite ‘00s dramedy, then I think you’ll like these upcoming releases.
A Witch in Notting Hill by Alexandra Paige
When Hollywood starlet and secret witch Willow James accidentally turns her manager into a cat, she’s sure she’s hit her low point. Determined to fix her mistake, she journeys to London in search of a rare spell hidden within a famed occult bookstore. The last thing she expects? The shop’s brooding, handsome owner, Oliver Hadley, who’d rather avoid magic altogether. Together, Willow and Oliver must scour every corner of the city to find the missing pieces of the spell. Along the way, they may just find more than they bargained for…
Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton
London, 1850. Cora Hastings is the British government’s Species Ombudsman, a human tasked with keeping the peace between supernatural creatures. It’s not as exciting as it sounds… until the Devil himself decides he wants to visit London for the Great Exhibition. His arrival could upset the uneasy peace between creatures, and worse—he’s brought his demonically handsome son.
Cora navigates her diplomatic assignment as best she can, until she catches wind of a secret conspiracy set to come to fruition at the opening of the Great Exhibition. This leaves her with an impossible choice: Either Cora enters an unholy alliance with the Devil’s son, or she watches as her world is torn asunder….
(Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall
Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world’s cryptids. Now she spends her days managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.
When one of Alexys’s new Wardens goes missing, her chances of promotion disappear along with him. Determined to save her career—and her warden—she marches off into the monster-infested wilderness to find him herself, with Nic in tow. But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark. Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries…
The Farewitch of Foxe Holler by Ellen Pauley Goff
Honey Frost is Foxe Holler’s resident Farewitch—her family legacy is curing all manner of ailments with the right recipe, and a hint of magic. But her routine life is upended when the reclusive Warlock from the edge of the Holler appears for the first time in decades with a peculiar request: he needs a Farewitch to cure a mysterious curse.
Initially reluctant to get involved, Honey changes her mind when he offers compensations she can’t refuse— access to his infamous library of old texts and kitchen grimoires. Now Honey is the newest resident of his moody farmhouse, which happens to have a gorgeous kitchen. And a lot of secrets. And a Warlock that maybe… isn’t so frightful at all.
I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell by Mackenzie Reed
Out Sept. 1
Brie has mastered the art of compartmentalization to survive her mind-numbing routine as a receptionist at a life insurance company. But when she accidentally catches her hot, uptight boss, Luke, performing an exorcism on Debra from accounting, her carefully ordered world implodes.
Swearing Brie to secrecy, Luke reveals he’s from a line of demon hunters and that demonic activity is spiking. But when another coworker vanishes, Brie is determined to find her. With nothing left to lose, she convinces Luke to let her join his rescue mission. The problem? Their destination is hell.
Now Brie and Luke must navigate a corporate underworld of monsters and bureaucratic nightmares while racing to save their colleague and repair a tearing veil between worlds. All before their growing feelings become irrelevant and hell claims them forever.
Disenchanted by Lucy Jane Wood
Out Sept. 10
Sage Hemlock has no interest in embracing her witchy side. Magic has betrayed her before, and she will not let something so foolish happen again. Instead, Sage has thrown herself into her work, preferring the company of her books and her cat to other humans.
But when a strange historical book accidentally sets off a curse, Sage’s quiet small-town life is suddenly overrun with fairytale-esque magic. Now, with the threat of the coven on her tail, Sage must confront the magic she’s always denied to solve the mysteries of the book and save everyone she’s come to love from being lost to a fairy tale forever.
Damned If I Do by Alexandria Bellefleur
Out Sept. 22
Several hundred years into her tenure as a demon, Effie MacLeod’s found herself engaged to a handsome and successful Prince of Hell. It’s not a love match, but it’ll do. There’s just one little problem: She’s still bound to her sixteenth-century Scottish husband, Finn, who has been reincarnated through several lifetimes.
Effie must convince Finn to renounce their age-old vows—but when she finds him in this lifetime, Finn doesn’t remember anything, but he refuses her request for a divorce. Now she’s stuck in small-town Georgia until she can persuade Finn to abandon their marriage, and convince him that she wants to get on with her devilish shenanigans despite the physical pull she feels toward him. But while all’s fair in love and war, that’s not the case in Hell—and Lucifer may have his own reasons for wanting to keep Finn and Effie apart for the rest of eternity.
You’re the One That I Haunt by Katie Jung
Out Sept. 22
Libby Lakoski has two major problems. First, she’s secretly in love with her best friend, Carter Coldwell, and second, he’s marrying someone else. Sure, his fiancée is a British diamond heiress, but Carter and Libby have 15 years of history. Not to mention, she’s the only one who knows his family is cursed.
But then a third problem presents itself. Trip Coldwell is Carter’s handsome, smart, flirtatious cousin… who also happens to be a ghost. Trip’s “unfinished business” is to break the Coldwell curse, but the solution hinges on Carter getting married. Unfortunately, Libby is the only living person who can see him, and her objective is the exact opposite.
As they follow a trail of clues across New York City, Libby learns more about Trip and the complicated dynamics of the Coldwell family. She finds herself questioning just how much Carter reciprocated her friendship, and worse, feeling perplexed by a growing attraction to Trip. With the countdown to the wedding in full swing, Libby must choose between breaking the curse and holding tight to her best friend forever.
Spellstruck by Martha Waters
Out Sept. 29
In an alternate version of 1920s London, the use of magic has been outlawed, leading families still with powers to operate magical speakeasies. Vesper Holloway runs her family’s club, where a dash of spell powder or an enchanted cocktail can add a little extra intrigue to the evening. But when a spate of accidents strikes these establishments, she worries patrons will flee her family’s business.
Enter Maxwell Ashbridge, a onetime friend of Vesper’s brother, who has joined the government agency tasked with enforcing the ban, and who has a personal vendetta against the magical elite. But he does not have a vendetta against Vesper; in fact, he finds her rather enticing. He promises immunity for her club if she teams up with him to investigate, which does little to quell the growing chemistry they share.
The Memory of Borrowed Books by Meg Anderson
Out Oct. 6
Small-town librarian Claire Ashford keeps her life as meticulously ordered as the centuries-old library she calls home. But when the town announces plans to shut it down, the life she’s built within its walls begins to crumble.
One night, Claire discovers a door that shouldn’t exist, leading to a secret room filled with books no one else can see. Each book pulls her into the memories of those who have passed through the library’s doors—moments half-lived and stories left unfinished. Buried within these pages is a message the library has been trying to share, urging Claire to uncover the path to saving it. But one book keeps calling her back, and in its pages is a memory that could change everything. The key to saving the library may be tangled in her own past.
A Pinch of Magic by Emily Heil
Out Oct. 6
Cam Parker likes being invisible. As a cookbook ghostwriter, she lives a quiet, orderly life well behind the scenes. But when a storm destroys her beloved grandmother’s house, she’ll do anything to pay for the repairs, even returning to her small hometown of Silver Cove, VA.
Now, Cam’s predictable life is upended. She’s developing inconvenient feelings for the charming, complicated carpenter Ian McCabe. And then there’s the actual ghost Cam accidentally summons from an old cookbook, who apparently needs her help to right a century-old wrong. Cam can barely keep all these plates in the air. But the chaos just might push her to question her cautious approach to life―and finally write her own recipe for happiness.
The Haunted Librarian by Auralee Wallace
Out Oct. 6
Amelia, the newly hired librarian with a penchant for seeing departed souls, has always relished the comfort of curling up with a novel, vastly preferring it to the company of humans (alive or ghostly).
But Amelia is shocked to discover the library is full of more than quiet stories and warm cups of tea. There are curious, talkative patrons, a shy, bespectacled head librarian who makes her heart skip a beat, and three quirky spirits causing paranormal havoc that endangers the future of the library.
To help the ghosts and save the building, Amelia will have to gather all her bravery and wits, because learning to trust others might just be the first step to a happily ever after she only thought was possible in books.
Entities to Lovers by Mallory Marlowe
Out Oct. 13
Paranormal medium Rory Woods spends her days offering psychic readings at Ye Olde Spirit Shop and nights haunting the streets of Boston as a ghost-tour guide. Sure, business could be better, but she’s proud of the shop she runs with her mom.
Enter Ezra: adjunct history professor, noted thorn in Rory’s side, and—though she’d only admit it under threat of medieval torture—a distractingly handsome, charismatic coworker. Rory can’t stand Ezra’s know-it-all behavior, and Ezra loves to antagonize Rory. When the two are forced to host a tour together, it’s no wonder they end up hexed after disturbing a matchmaking ghost.
Saddled with perpetual bad luck unless they’re physically near each other, Rory and Ezra will try anything, from séances to kissing, to stop the jinx from wreaking havoc on both their lives. But in their quest to appease the spirit, they realize that growing closer might not be the curse they once thought it was.
Writing up these synopses, I’m realizing how many of these stories are about quiet, bookish girls who just want to be left alone, and are pushed out of their comfort zone and shell by magical predicaments that bring them closer to a friend, enemy, or stranger…
ANYWAYS. Enjoy!
Parenthetical is for the women who dog-ear pages, rewatch the same rom-coms every year, and want their ordinary Tuesdays to feel a little more magical. Paid subscribers get the full Well-Designed Life curriculum, access to our monthly book club, plus Debut Diaries — the unfiltered behind-the-scenes peek at writing (and querying) my first novel.
















Tripping over my own fingers to read! Figuring out if I can save on Substack. This list is fantastic!!
I'm excited for so many of these!!