15 Best Fall Romance Books With Cozy Autumn Love

Quick List

1. The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller
2. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
3. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
4. First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
5. Harvest Moon by Robyn Carr
6. The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
7. Layla by Colleen Hoover
8. Meet Me on Love Lane by Nina Bocci
9. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
10. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
11. November 9 by Colleen Hoover
12. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
13. Ramon y Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson
14. The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert
15. Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Details of the Best Fall Romance Books

I created this list of romance books with Autumn vibes to pare down my master list of Fall book recommendations for those only looking for a love story.  After all, Fall books also include thrillers, school-based reads, family drama novels, and books about Native Americans, among many other themes. Let’s talk about all the best books about love to read this Fall!

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living is one of the best cozy Autumn romance books because it just happens to be a mix between Gilmore Girls and a Hallmark movie.  If you love either or both of those things, this is the perfect book to read.

The bulk of the story takes place from Fall through Christmas, after Livvy leaves behind a fancy pastry chef job in Boston after a major blunder and visits her friend in a charming Vermont town with all the New England feels.

She takes a job at a local inn, befriends the townsfolk, and falls for a former local who comes home to care for his ailing father.  There’s a Harvest dinner, an apple pie contest, and lots of fairly light drama in this small-town romance.

Overall, The City Baker’s Guide to County Living totally met my expectations of a feel-good book with Fall vibes, and it remains popular with readers of The Literary Lifestyle. 

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

• New York Times Notable Book of 2022
• New York Times bestseller
• Good Morning America Book Club pick

The Dead Romantics is a truly unique and satisfying ghostly love story that’s nowhere near as dark as it sounds.

Florence is a big-city ghostwriter who gave up her belief in love. And then, when her editor won’t extend a deadline for her AND her father dies, she returns home to her Southern family’s funeral parlor. There, she finds the ghost of her editor, and he’s ready to challenge everything she believes about love.

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

New York Times bestseller

The Ex Hex is a really steamy cozy Fall romance book. Nine years ago, a young woman named Vivienne put a curse on her ex while mending a broken heart. When he returns to town, a quick trip to the Fall festival turns out all wrong, and Vivi realizes the curse has lasting consequences… involving everything from angry ghosts and talking cats.

Together the main characters must work to break the curse and save the town while also managing their palpable (and very physical) chemistry in this second-chance romance. Chooise this one if you like a lot of spice!

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen 

Waverley has started a healing candy company that’s destroying all of her work-life balance.  Meanwhile, her sister, Sydney Waverley, longs for a baby, and Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has fallen in unrequited love.

When a mysterious stranger arrives, they must each make choices as they await the apple tree’s blossoming during the Fall season’s First Frost.

It’s an enchanting story of love, loss, and starting all over again. And, when I say enchanting, I mean enchanting. This book is a real treat for fans of the Practical Magic series and even Gilmore Girls. It has all the magical feels of fall along with some light family drama. If you like those references, then you absolutely can’t miss this one.

Harvest Moon by Robyn Carr

Harvest Moon is part of the popular Virgin River series.  Kelly is a rising sous-chef who’s fallen, both literally and emotionally.  So she heads from the big city to her sister Jillian’s Virgin River home to recuperate.  

Amidst cooking with fresh garden vegetables there, she meets a ruggedly good-looking widower and screenwriter named Leif. The only problem is his rebellious teenage daughter.

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

The Invisible Hour is one of the most unique Fall romance books on this list because it employs magical realism.

Mia was born to a single teen mother who found an unlikely (and unhappy) home in a Massachusetts cult, where she was raised. Secretly, she became an avid reader, and she was especially inspired by one book to escape the cult — the classic novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a scorned woman who conceived a child through an affair, which is reminiscent of her own mother’s story.

Upon Mia’s escape, she finds family in the home of a librarian and her partner. Thereafter, time holds no boundaries as she travels back in time and falls in love with the novel’s writer, becoming his muse.

Besides the Autumnal magical realism elements of this novel, it’s also ripe with poetic prose about Fall in New England that gives you all the Fall feels. It’s great for fans of the classics.

Layla by Colleen Hoover

• Wall Street Journal bestseller 
• USA Today bestseller

It seems like popular author Colleen Hoover has written just about every type of love story, and Layla is her “ghost love story.”  

In this Fall thriller, Leeds wants to spend his life with Layla, but he’s torn because she was left a different woman as the result of a violent attack.  When they retreat to a “bed and breakfast,” Layla’s behavior becomes downright bizarre, and that’s not the only odd thing happening in this place.

When Leeds meets a “guest” named Willow, he starts falling for her in an eerily passionate affair, which ultimately leads to him learning the truth about what happened to Layla and the strange occurrences that threaten their second chance at love.

It’s strange and paranormal, yet, just as satisfying as all Hoover’s books. For more, read my full summary of Layla.

Meet Me on Love Lane by Nina Bocci

Meet Me on Love Lane is one of the top Fall romantic comedy books to curl up with.  

New Yorker Charlotte temporarily returns to her hometown of Hope Lake, Pennsylvania, fired and broke. It’s far more fun than she imagined, as she connects with old friends and family and gets a job running a flower store. Her only problem is a big one — a love triangle involving the small town’s high school English teacher and the doctor.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

#1 national bestseller

The Night Circus is one of the most beloved Fall fantasy romance books around.  Readers don’t just “like” this book — they are completely captivated by this mesmerizing tale of two star-crossed magicians engaged in competition in a magical, moody setting.

Celia and Marco engage in a lifelong magic competition they don’t quite understand, which becomes all the more complicated when they fall in true love.  This places the fate of the circus in question.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey is a great book for those seeking a classic Gothic novel or a more historical romance novel.  It begins when a naive young woman named Catherine Morland is swept up in high society and her vivid imagination runs wild.

After she becomes the best friend of Isabella, who shares an affinity for Gothic romance, as well as the esteemed Henry and Eleanor Tilney, she visits the Tilney estate and envisions the patriarch committing crimes in this haunting setting like those in her books.

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

New York Times bestseller

November 9 remains one of the best Fall romance books based on its Autumnal setting.

Fallon is a young woman wishing to escape from a past that left both physical and emotional scars.  The day before her big move across the country to start a new life, she has a chance encounter with an aspiring novelist named Ben, who offers her a fake relationship in a sticky situation.

Their time together that day may seem like the makings of a one-night stand, but after Fallon and Ben go in separate directions, they continue to meet every November 9, and the one-of-a-kind Fallon becomes Ben’s unexpected muse.

However, as Fallon deals with deeply rooted personal issues, she also questions Ben’s true motives and wonders how their lives and his novel will end. This is one of my absolute favorite novels of Hoover.

This one has a very emotional twist, making it a must for Hoover fans. For more, read my summary of November 9.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic is the first book in a bewitching series of cozy romance books about the Owens sisters, long cursed in love.  They live with their elderly aunts in Massachusetts, where they are taunted for living in a musty house with mysterious potions and black cats. 

As adults, they escape, but when the men in their lives die, they are brought back together and deal with their family drama, leading them back to their aunts.

Practical Magic is a long-beloved and exquisitely crafted character-driven novel that will make you want to binge the entire Practical Magic book series this spooky season.

Ramon y Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson 

• As seen in People en Español
• An NPR Best Book of 2022 and “Books We Love” Pick
• A PopSugar and BookBub Most Anticipated Romance of 2022

In Ramon y Julieta, Ramon is a lifelong achiever, working on expanding his father’s fast-food empire, when he finds himself distracted by celebrity chef Julieta, who mysteriously kissed him on the Fall holiday, Day of the Dead.

Unfortunately, Julieta’s fresh seafood taqueria is on the brink of closure, and she discovers both that her new landlord is Ramon AND that his father stole her mother’s taco recipe many years ago.  
 
Despite their business and family differences, their attraction grows and they must decide whether they can ever end their bitter feud for the sake of love.

The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert

In The Simplicity of Cider, a cider maker wants nothing more than a simple life in her family’s Wisconsin orchard, but her brother has plans to sell.

When a single dad and his young son arrive and help her run the orchard, feelings begin to run deep. To her surprise, she also makes a connection with the little boy, particularly as they both have “mommy” issues.

You probably won’t agree with all the characters’ actions in this one, but hey, that makes it true to real life. It’s a charming and light, yet meaningful story of love, family, and business that’s as sweet as the delicious Fall drink it’s named after. And I think most readers will find it to be just as satisfying.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

In Well Met, a young and single Emily’s sister becomes injured in an accident, she moves to her small town to help her recover.  She ends up volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenage niece and meeting and falling for the leader who has a complex history with the fair. 

It’s cozy and sweet, yet also unique, and the fair brings with it all the Fall vibes!