It’s hoa hoa hoa season and have you looked at how many exciting releases are coming out? Somewhere between all the new books and continuations in series that are releasing I get paralysis and can’t pick up even one. Because how do you prioritize which books to read? So that’s why this new seasonal reading guide exists. To help you make the best out of the season, leaving the hype behind.

Fall 2026 Personal Curriculum: The Season We Stop Starting

Welcome to the fall 2026 personal curriculum for romance readers. This is where I help you pick a handful of books and themes that bring the season to life and add in some extra curriculars that are not reading as well.

This Fall’s theme is The Season We Stop Starting. Instead of getting swept up in all the new books you see on social, take this as your permission to go back to the things you’ve already started.

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Why this Fall is the season we stop starting

Starting a book is always the best part of reading because there is so much potential and each one is still capable of being the best thing you read all year. And there’s nothing quite like the high of learning about a new world or set of characters that a new series can give you. But that tends to also leave us with a pile of books and series that we mean to get back to, and never do. Only for the same thing to happen with the series that you are starting now.

I remember before bookish social media was a thing, hold on let me get my glasses so I can squint at this screen as I show my age… I would find an author or series I wanted to try and that generally meant that for the next few weeks or month, I was going down a rabbit hole. I read Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, and then I binged every book out at the time in that series. And if the author had more? Then I would go down the backlist and read them all.

So this season, give yourself the permission to take some of that and incorporate it in your reading plans. And listen, I know we like to mood read, and there’s seasonal reading, and yes, new releases we are so excited to read too. But let’s not forget about what we already earmarked before and that has been pushed down the TBR pile because something more exciting came along.

Let me know in the comments what that will mean for your reading plans: one series you finally catch up on, one author’s backlist, one older book for every few new releases. It doesn’t have to take over your whole season, but at least give you a little breathing room without pressure.

And now let’s get into the curriculum that will make your reading this season fun. Think of it like the prompts (or classes) you’ll fill in after you shop your own shelves. If you want to share your TBR or your completed season’s curriculum, you can use the template below.

Let’s start with the Required Reading Themes

These are the themes that will guide us for this particular season. I’ve picked one book recommendation for each, but let the theme guide your own TBR and shop your existing shelves as well.

Highlander Romance: Hardly a Gentleman by Eloisa James

I wanted the highlands to anchor the vibe for the season because we often rely on the gothic and paranormal (which is in this guide) but we can color outside the lines too. And also, in honor of season 2 of Blood of My Blood, the prequel series of Outlander, coming out mid September.

This pick delivers the grumpy and the laird, but also on the humor. If you’re a fan of Lisa Kleypas and Julia Quinn, you’ll want to dive into this series, or just this one as a standalone.

I talked to Eloisa about this book directly, so if you want to hear sell you on this one, Eloisa James on historical romance and Hardly a Gentleman is where to go. She does a much better job than me of course. If you need more recs, the whole list is at must-read Highlander romances.

Gothic Romance: Fruit of the Flesh by I.V. Ophelia

I remember reading this one in particular earlier this year and thinking “what a perfect Fall pick!” so here we are. I can’t think of fall without thinking of Gothic vibes and this one delivers the macabre, some of the gore, and the Gilded Age artist vibe… but make it a killer. Literally.

You can’t go wrong with gothic anything this time of year. Whether that means the original gothic romance classics of the 1960s and 1970s, the true classics of the 1800s or even the gothic romantasy of now.

This was already one of my most anticipated 2026 releases I was planning my life around if you want to see what else was on that list, and you can get more gothic romance books if you’re short on options.

Historical Mystery: A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd

Listen, as any good lover of historical romance and a bit of murder, this is exactly the vibe you want to add to the season. Some of them will double as gothic and some not. But I actually bring something fun to add to your mix.

Romeo and Juliet’s daughter, because it turns out they did not actually die. Yep, that’s all I’m going to sell you on this one. It works as a standalone, but it’s also the start of a series, and she’s an amateur sleuth of sorts. There’s humor in parts, there’s an engaging mystery, and lovable characters. For the romance lovers, there’s a slight bit of a love interest but that will have you reading into the series.

For even more recommendations, check out the historical mystery books you need on your reading list.

Contemporary Small Town: The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn by Valerie Bowman

Apples, an inn, and a town where everybody knows your business. This is the Gilmore Girls and Pumpkin Spice Cafe bit in the season to bring some softness and cozy vibes.

This is the first book in a series but can be read as a standalone and it’s the city girl meets local boy that we love in a Hallmark movie. There’s a Fall festival, a struggling orchard, and forced proximity as they are unexpected roommates. It brings humor and spice in the right amount and will have you wanting to move right into the town.

Vampire Romance: Undead and Unwed by Sam Tschida

This may not be the most recent, but I wanted to recommend something softer for vampires on this list because you can already get the badass vamps elsewhere (on the blog even). This is like a cozy mystery with vampires, part Hallmark movie, part train wreck. It’s a good time and a standalone!

It has nostalgia vibes of the funny urban fantasies of the 2000s like Molly Harper and MaryJanice Davidson.

I reviewed this one last year, so you can read my full thoughts on it at Undead and Unwed by Sam Tschida review. And you can of course, go find more vampire romance book recs because I love them.

Monster Romance: Lessons with the Mothman by Kathryn Moon

Don’t be scared, come in the water’s warm. Even if you haven’t tried a monster romance, I think you’ll find this one is all that and more. I picked it up for the unique monster (a Mothman) and ended up with a pretty deep and insightful story. I chatted about it with Becky on the Too Stupid to Live podcast.

If you haven’t tried a monster yet, I suggest you check my guide on how to start reading monster romance. This will help you figure out how deep do you want to go into it. You can take it slow.

Most Anticipated Fall 2026 Book Releases

I just told you there’s a ridiculous amount of new book releases this fall. So many I’m personally excited to read too. But let’s keep this cute and focused, shall we?

Lover Enthroned by J.R. Ward

Ward breathes new life into the war against the Lessening Society in unexpected ways while also giving readers some much needed love for some older characters. Definitely recommend. If you haven’t started the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, you need to get on that.

Queen of Lombard Street by Lisa Kleypas

Something a little different from the Queen of historical romance, this historical fiction still has the Kleypas seal and the care and research for the time period that comes through in the story that his delivers. And don’t miss my favorite Lisa Kleypas books.

Pink Ink by Avina St. Graves

If you’re in the mood for secret societies, serial killers and age gap romance, then this one will deliver the same as books like Nocticadia.

To Dream in Darkness by Ann Liang

A beautiful story about the morally grey villain but you can fix him. Love the mixing of mythology in this one. Also perfect book like Pursuit of Jade.

Swipe Bite by Alexandra Vasti

This one went on my TBR as soon as I saw it. I love Alexandra Vasti’s historical romance books so this was a no brainer.

Deep Dive

How did you start reading shifter romance? How did we go from the werewolf being the monster to being the hero? And where did the folklore even come from? Take a walk down memory lane and through the origins of shifter romance. I’ve wanted to chat about the stories that gave inspiration to the romances of today for a while. I think it’s also a great opportunity to see what you may have not read yet so you can expand your reading list.

Watch

Fall is a great time for TV and I have lots of fun things on my watchlist. Some are new and some are seasonal, so lets get into some of my top recommendations for what to add to your list too.

The Love Hypothesis (movie)

This one comes out September 23, 2026 and I am anxiously waiting for it. I really enjoyed the book and I think it’ll be a great one to adapt. The casting and the trailer both look amazing. If you haven’t read it yet, be sure you catch up and do that before it comes out. Check out my review of The Love Hypothesis.

Black Dagger Brotherhood Season 2 (show)

Rhage’s season is here, well the release date is October 26, 2026. I am really looking forward to watching this because I love Rhage and Mary, plus we have the introduction of my main man John Matthew. If you didn’t watch the first season yet, check out my review of BDB season 1.

Practical Magic 2 (movie)

As an elder millennial who loved all the witchy things since the 90s, I cannot tell you how excited I am about a new Practical Magic movie. Will it be good? Who knows? I am not going in with high expectations, but I just want to be back in the vibes.

Read with me

If you want some company for the season, you can come read with me! Here are the book clubs and readalongs you can join in on:

• Ripped & Ravished Book Club (vintage romance books): we will be discussing Love Come to Me by Lisa Kleypas
• Romanceopoly Study Sessions (monthly book club): in September we are reading Poisoned Ivy by Ava Rani
• Kushiel’s Legacy series readalong (with live discussion)

Side Quests for Fall

We can’t make it all about reading, right? So here are the side quests I plan on prioritizing:

I will for sure be working on updating my Notion reading tracker more. I recently redesigned my template and added 2026 and 2025 data, so I’ll be going back and adding more of that. If you want a glimpse behind the scenes, I wrote about how I actually use my Notion reading tracker.

I will also try to watch one more season of Buffy. A few years ago I rewatched Buffy season one as an adult for the first time, so I’d love to get back to that and watch season two this year.

Conclusion

We have a theme and we can make the season feel cozy without stressing about reading all the new books and actually finish the things we started instead.

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