13 cosy romances for fall-ing in love with fictional characters

It’s sweater weather again at last. The blankets are back out. Your diary’s gone quiet too (no more weddings, BBQs or last-minute guilt-trips to “make the most of the weather.”) The conditions are just right for staying inside on a Friday, brewing a fresh pot of tea (our favourite is Bird & Blend for the best flavour blends) and getting overly invested in spooky or small town romances.

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So, here are 13 cosy romances to fill those cooler, crisper evenings and commutes. Haunted small towns, rival potion shops, multiple bakeries, apple orchards and one very inconvenient Regency time slip. Every one of them will have you reading past your bedtime and becoming even more convinced that fall is the best season.

Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

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It starts with a Halloween party and two people in matching pirate costumes, and ends up being one of the most quietly devastating romances of the last few years. Win and Bo meet, hook up, and then have to work out what they are to each other when life throws them a curveball. No third-act breakup, no manufactured drama — just two people communicating like adults and being unbearably lovely about it. Bo is the reigning champion of the cinnamon roll hero category and we will hear no arguments.

If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia

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Copper Run, Vermont. Autumn 1997. A bed and breakfast the heroine has no idea how to run, and a flannel-wearing single-dad baker next door who keeps turning up with pastries. Michelle is all walls and sharp edges; Cliff is sunshine with enormous forearms. It's a slow burn that takes its sweet time, and the fall atmosphere is so thick you'll want to put a jumper on just reading it. Absolutely Gilmore Girls energy, if you're wondering.

A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick

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Ambrose has spent years building a quiet, orderly life running his potion shop. Then a charming, chaotic rival opens up directly across the street and ruins absolutely everything — including his ability to concentrate. A low-stakes, high-charm cosy fantasy romance about two men who really should stop antagonising each other and really don't want to. Perfect if you like your enemies-to-lovers served with a side of herb-drying and shop-counter banter.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

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A queensguard and the most powerful mage in the world run away together to open a bookshop that also serves tea. That's it. That's the pitch, and it's perfect. Reyna and Kianthe are already together when the book starts, which means you get all the domestic softness of an established couple alongside dragons, meddling royalty and the ongoing question of whether you can really outrun your old life. The sapphic comfort read of sapphic comfort reads.

Free Falling by Lyla Sage

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Back to the haunted town of Sweetwater Peak, where Clarke Cartwright is running a crumbling antiques shop and being pestered by the ghost of her childhood crush's father. When a clause in his dad's will threatens the family farm, Clarke and Leith agree to fake a relationship to save it — which is a lot to ask of a woman who's spent years pretending she was never interested in him. Cosy, spooky, small-town and very Lyla Sage.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

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Mika Moon has spent her whole life being told witches must stay apart. So when a letter arrives inviting her to Nowhere House to tutor three young witches, she goes — against all her better instincts — and finds a found family, a crumbling manor and a deeply grumpy librarian called Jamie who does not want her there. Warm, funny and the literary equivalent of being handed a chunky knit blanket.

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell

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Tess Bright has landed the lead in a Northanger Abbey adaptation, which would be perfect if her insufferable method-actor co-star Hugh Balfour weren't determined to make it miserable. Then a lightning strike sends them both back to 1815, and suddenly they need each other rather a lot. Enemies to lovers, time travel, and a real love letter to Austen — with all the chaos of two very modern people trying to survive Regency etiquette.

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The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn by Valerie Bowman

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In the space of about twelve hours, Ellie Lawson loses her boyfriend and her Manhattan event planning job, and finds herself back at her parents' inn on a Long Island apple orchard. The attic apartment she'd earmarked for hiding in is already occupied by Aiden, the stubbornly attractive son of the orchard's owner — and now the two of them have been handed the Harvest Festival that both family businesses depend on. Forced proximity, apple cider and a whole lot of bickering. Autumn feels in book form.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

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Evie Sage needs a job. The Villain needs an assistant. What follows is a workplace comedy set in an evil lair, complete with office politics, a genuinely funny ensemble and one of the most entertaining slow burns going. It's silly in the best way, and underneath the gags there's real warmth about family, loyalty and how far you'll go for the people you love. Made famous by TikTok and absolutely earns the hype.

Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore by Brittanee Nicole

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Penny Darling runs a romance bookshop in a coastal New England town and prefers her love stories firmly between the covers, thank you. Then her high school best friend Monty comes home — struggling author, inked forearms, terrible timing — and proposes a deal: she teaches him how to write the perfect book boyfriend, he plays her real one. Fake dating, apple orchards and kissing under an autumn moon. Chef's kiss.

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

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Ezra Friedman has seen ghosts his whole life, which made growing up in his family's funeral home complicated. When his family implodes and the business teeters, he's pulled back into it all — including a crush on Jonathan, the gorgeous funeral home volunteer, and the ghost of Jonathan's late husband, who is breaking every rule Ezra knows about how ghosts behave. Funny, tender, Jewish and queer, and quietly one of the best debuts in years.

Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison

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Darcy Moore is a Grim Reaper who is thoroughly sick of death, so she decides to save her next assignment instead of collecting him. Unfortunately that puts her in the path of Gabriel Aetos, a guardian angel who runs a faded old bar and does not trust reapers on principle. Enemies to lovers, angel meets reaper, death as a bureaucracy — Borison does whimsy, yearning and heat impeccably.

The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish

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Alex Barrow's life falls apart in the space of forty-eight hours, so he goes home to Michigan and opens the bakery he's always wanted. Then Corbin Wale walks in — strange, solitary, and utterly certain that he can never have the thing he wants most. Parrish has described this as her M/M take on Practical Magic, and that's exactly the register: woodsmoke, warm bread, old family stories and the sort of quiet, aching yearning that'll take the top of your head off.

Thirteen books, thirteen excellent excuses to stay in. Whether you want haunted, sapphic, spicy, soft or something in between, there's something here to keep you warm as the temperatures plunge.

Want more reading recommendations from the book club that takes you places? Check out the links below for more of our articles.

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