7 new spicy romance authors that deserve a spot on your TBR
Seven new spicy romance authors to try next, matched to the BookTok faves already living in your head rent-free.
I know you’ve had your fill of all the biggest ones, darling. Rhysand, Xaden, Ilya, Dean. But there are always some hidden gems that haven’t made it to your FYP yet, and behind them are some fabulous indie authors working away to keep our smuttiest selves well fed.
So, I wanted to dedicate a post to some of the new spicy romance authors who are new or new-ish to the smut scene but already absolutely deserve their flowers. Every download and review will mean more, and in return you’ll get to meet more delicious MCs and enjoy their juicy plots. You’ll also get to be insufferable about already reading them later when they get their TikTok moment – one of my favourite pastimes.
(You’ll find many of these emerging authors’ works on Kindle Unlimited. Don’t have it yet, darling? I’ve got you. Try KU free for 30 days with our link.)
T. Nolan
Start here: Wildflowers & Whiskey (Wildbrook Hollow)
Try her if you loved: Elsie Silver's Chestnut Springs, Lyla Sage's Rebel Blue Ranch
If your comfort read is a flannel-clad man with emotional damage and a ranch, get comfy, darling. In T. Nolan’s cowboy romance Wildflowers & Whiskey, Maeve Callaghan finds an ad for a ranch immersion scheme during a late-night doomscroll and takes it as a sign, which is exactly the kind of decision-making we endorse here. At Meadow Bell Ranch her boss, Wade, is brooding, closed off and hiding something. His son Colt is open-hearted, sensitive and carrying his own weight. Maeve, being Maeve, cannot leave either of them alone. Healing, family and learning to like yourself run right through all three of them, which is the whole smut-as-self-care thesis in a pair of cowboy boots. A debut, and a delicious one at that.
Rose Monroe
Start here: Always Mine (Kings Of New York, #1)
Try her if you loved: Ana Huang's Kings of Sin, Rina Kent's possessive MMCs
Rose Monroe is an Australian author who describes her Kings Of New York world as Gossip Girl meets Suits meets The Sopranos – a menage I cannot stop thinking about. Always Mine is brother's best friend, second chance, lawyer and billionaire, wrapped in mafia family secrets and a whole lot of longing. Marco waited six years. Six. Her FMCs are sharp and self-possessed, the found family energy is immaculate, and the men are unapologetically obsessed. Book two, Forever Yours, is already out if you finish this one at 3am and need more immediately.
Rachel Kellar
Start here: Boss Abroad (Abroad Series, #1)
Try her if you loved: Tessa Bailey's banter, Liz Tomforde's sports romance
Born in Salvador, Brazil, Rachel Kellar writes romance where laughter and lust blend effortlessly on the same page. Boss Abroad opens with the best blind date of our FMC's life and then reveals the man owns the football club that just hired her as a doctor. He also thinks she's an escort. It's a mistaken identity bosshole disaster with age gap, forced proximity and filthy dialogue, and the smut girlies are unanimous that it does not make you wait for the good bit. Book two swerves into single dad and nanny territory.
Evelyn Ward
Start here: Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia, #1)
Buy from Bookshop US // Buy from Amazon
Try her if you loved: Rina Kent's villains, the feral end of romantasy
Evelyn Ward calls herself a dark fantasy author, a lover of why-choose romance and a huge fan of feminine rage, which is the fastest way anyone has ever earned a place on my TBR. She writes across two worlds and does both deliciously. Dangerous Men is her mafia why-choose opener, all danger and possessiveness and men who would absolutely commit crimes on request. If you'd rather have your feminine rage with swords, The Queen's Blade starts her romantasy duology instead. Pick whichever version of unhinged you're in the mood for.
E. Winn
Start here: Hearts of Fortune (Heirs of Cape Canyon, #1)
Try her if you loved: Tate James's Madison Kate, why choose you can actually start with
Dempsey's mother marries a billionaire and Dempsey moves into their gated community. She acquires three new stepbrothers who are not related to her, not related to each other, and not remotely interested in behaving. One grumpy CEO, one broody artist, one jock hiding something sad. The smut girlies keep recommending this as the why-choose gateway drug: dark enough to feel dangerous, warm enough that you're rooting for all four of them. Bring snacks and emotional resilience, because it does not wrap up neatly.
Inez Ocon
Start here: Shattered Queens: Serena
Buy from Bookshop US // Buy from Amazon
Try her if you loved: Navessa Allen's Lights Out, obsession as a love language
Las Vegas-based and unapologetic about her dark romance habit, Inez Ocon writes the kind of possessive MMC that arrives disguised as protection. Serena is VP of Finance, all armour and logic and locked doors. Ian is a CEO who has already been watching her for a while and is very relaxed about telling her so. Dual POV, forced proximity, anti-hero MMC, and an FMC who refuses to be anyone's victim twice. It's the first of a trilogy, so your obsession already has room to escalate.
Dame Rho
Start here: Prince of Lust (Children of Asmodeus, #1)
Buy from Bookshop US // Buy from Amazon
Try her if you loved: ACOTAR's mate-bond pining, monster romance that doesn't apologise
Dame Rho says she lives somewhere between the unconscious and subconscious mind, where glitter falls like raindrops and the monster always gets the FMC. Reader, she was not exaggerating. Prince of Lust gives us a two thousand year old incubus-vampire hybrid, a fated pull neither of them can outrun, and prose that swings from tender to feral without losing the thread. The smut girlies who've found her are evangelical about her.
Which author has caught your eye, darling? Were there any I missed that need to be here? Spill that tea in the Smut Girlies WhatsApp group. And if you need more unhinged recommendations in the meantime, I’ve linked more of my wicked words below.
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