Stay booked for spring break this year with this lineup of cute and charismatic vacation reads!
Join us as we highlight notable romance book releases each month to add to your never-ending TBR pile. These lists will include a range of adult, young adult, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC novels to put on your radar. They could be stand-alone books or new releases in a best-selling series.
Our March rom-com picks include a Regency friendship pack, tour guide tiffs with Scotland and Italy as backdrops, and deceptive wedding ceremonies.
In order of release date, here are 6 rom-com novels we are looking forward to reading this March:
1. An Unlikely Proposition (Unexpected Seasons, #2) by Rosalyn Eves — March 5
A stand-alone companion novel set in the Regency world of An Improbable Season, Rosalyn Eves’s An Unlikely Proposition follows Eleanor, a 17-year-old widow looking to leave her mourning period behind for fun and fake engagement schemes.
Meanwhile, Eleanor’s new friend Thalia wants to say goodbye to the London Season and focus entirely on her writing career as a poet — until a mysterious figure from her past reappears. A dreamy drama for fans of Bridgerton, this novel promises first love, a thriving London landscape, and wholesome friendships.
Book Description: Eleanor did not come to London to be proper and boring. After the death of her husband and a year of mourning, the seventeen-year-old wants nothing more than her independence and to have a little fun. She’s hardly looking to remarry, despite pressures from her late husband’s nephew, who is keen on obtaining her inheritance. Eleanor quickly devises a plan that includes a fake engagement. What’s not a part of the plan? Falling for a dashing, quiet man outside of her social circle – a man who is not her betrothed. Can she survive the Season with her heart and her fortune intact?
Thalia is determined to begin afresh after a disastrous first Season in London. No romantic distractions, but only her work as a poet and newfound companion to Eleanor. Determined to get her poems published, she struggles to be taken seriously as a female writer. As the spring progresses, Thalia does not expect to take interest in a man from her past (a man who is engaged to her employer, no less!), but some feelings demand to be felt even if the timing isn’t quite right.
2. Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley — March 5
Spend spring break in the highlands of Scotland with a charming, kilt-wearing Scotsman and his reluctant American travel companion. Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley follows Addie, a travel consultant who disdains Scotland. Despite her grudges against the destination, she takes a job with a family-run tour company.
Logan is a local who loves Scotland’s highlands and hidden gems. Determined to make Addie fall in love with his home, he orchestrates a special tour just for her — but as the two grow closer, it’s not Scotland this stubborn American girl finds herself falling for.
Book Description: Globetrotter Addie Macrae always follows her wanderlust. As a travel consultant, she jet-sets around the world — anywhere but Scotland. But when she’s sent on assignment to help a struggling family-run tour company in the Highlands — and save her own job — Addie packs away her emotional baggage and turns on the professional charm.
Rugged as the land he loves, Logan Sutherland’s greatest joy is sharing the beauty of Scotland’s hidden gems… even if it means a wee bit of red ink on the company’s bottom line. The last thing Logan wants is some American “expert” pushing tourist traps and perpetuating myths about the Loch Ness Monster — especially when Addie never leaves her desk to experience the country for herself. As they wage an office war, Logan discovers Addie’s secret connection to Scotland.
3. The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall — March 5
A teen in her senior year, Hollis is just trying to get by and ensure her relationship with Chris survives the year by learning to play his favorite tabletop game, Secrets & Sorcery. However, when her boyfriend doesn’t allow her to join his table roleplaying group, she must look to the other girls in her grade for support as she branches out and joins an all-girl tabletop group.
The No-Girlfriend Rule is perfect for fans of Julie Murphy and Casey McQuiston as a queer romance that champions fantasy roleplaying games, female friendship, and provides a safe space to explore sexuality.
Book Description: Hollis Beckwith isn’t trying to get a girl — she’s just trying to get by. For a fat, broke girl with anxiety, the start of senior year brings enough to worry about. And besides, she already has a Chris. Their relationship isn’t particularly exciting, but it’s comfortable and familiar, and Hollis wants it to survive beyond senior year. To prove she’s a girlfriend worth keeping, Hollis decides to learn Chris’ favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery — but his unfortunate “No Girlfriends at the Table” rule means she’ll need to find her own group if she wants in.
Gloria Castañeda and her all-girls game of S&S! Crowded at the table in Gloria’s cozy Ohio apartment, the six girls battle twisted magic in-game and become fast friends outside it. With her character as armor, Hollis starts to believe that maybe she can be more than just fat, anxious, and a little lost.
4. Tour Wars by Carla Luna — March 5
There’s something about spring and travel wanderlust that defrosts all the tour guide rom-coms. But you won’t hear us complaining!
A stand-alone novel in the Romancing the Ruins series, Tour Wars has all the tropes, including rivals to lovers and grumpy/sunshine dynamics. Frolick through the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy, enjoy hotel hijinks, and see what happens when a cinnamon roll nerd and a strong-willed Latina are forced into a confined space for ten days.
Archaeologists TJ and Emilia embrace their tour guide side hustle together, but they will come to unearth staggering truths about their unresolved feelings for each other.
Book Description: For archaeologist Emilia Flores, landing a fellowship to work at the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy is a dream come true. The only catch? She’ll be digging alongside her infuriating nemesis, TJ Mayer, who’s been a constant thorn in her side. TJ isn’t about to pass up the Pompeii project. Sure, he’ll be stuck working with Emilia, but he thrives on challenging her. And he hasn’t forgotten that secret kiss they shared at an archaeology conference last winter.
Though unearthing Pompeii’s treasures might be a dream, student debt is a nightmare that never takes a vacation. So, when TJ and Emilia are offered a lucrative side job to lead a ten-day tour through Southern Italy, they grudgingly agree to tackle it together.
5. Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan — March 5
The romantic premise of Women of Good Fortune is not what it seems. This crime novel masquerading as a rom-com has everything you could want: a heist, a wedding, and several compelling romantic and platonic pairings.
When three friends become fed up with society’s expectations of them, they decide to rob one of the elite Shanghai families on the day of LuLu’s wedding to fund their independence. However, as the plan gets underway and the crew the friends put together begins to turn on each other, the price for their happiness will come at too high a cost.
Book Description: Lulu has always been taught that money is the ticket to a good life. So, when Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor surprises her with a proposal, the only acceptable answer is yes, even if the voice inside her head is saying no. His family’s fortune would solve all her parents’ financial woes, but Lulu isn’t in love or ready for marriage.
The only people she can confide in are her two best friends: career-minded Rina, who is tired of being passed over for promotion as her biological clock ticks away; and Jane, a sharp-tongued, luxury-chasing housewife desperate to divorce her husband and trade up. Each of them desires something different: freedom, time, beauty. None of them can get it without money.
Lulu’s wedding is their golden opportunity. The social event of the season, it means more than enough cash gifts to transform the women’s lives. To steal the money on the big day, all they’ll need is a trustworthy crew and a brilliant plan. But as the plot grows increasingly complicated and relationships are caught in the crossfire, the women are forced to face that having it all might come at a steep price…
6. Happily Never After by Lynn Painter — March 12
Nothing says romantic like two cynics bonding over their belief that true love is a hoax.
After Sophie hires a professional objector to sabotage her wedding, she falls in love with the occupation. She follows Max on a wedding breakup spree, taking great joy in saving people from their doomed marriages. But when the chemistry between Sophie and Max escalates beyond steamy hookups, the two heartbreakers must reckon with their romantic feelings for each other.
Book Description: When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object!”
During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He’s a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in. The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts.
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What will you be reading in March? Share your picks in the comments below!
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Alicia Gilstorf
Alicia is a writer from Canada. She credits her passion for TV and film to superheroes, workplace comedies, cheesy holiday movies, and coming-of-age stories.
