10 sizzling Canadian romance novels to read this summer, according to genre expert Alicia Cox Thomson

Alicia Cox Thomson is a Toronto-based writer and columnist for The Next Chapter where she regularly uplifts the wide-ranging stories and issues within romance novels.

This year, she’s witnessed the publishing world fall even more in love with Canadian romance authors, as more and more homegrown works are creating buzz, making big waves and inspiring fandoms.

Thomson recently spoke with The Next Chapter summer host Christa Couture about buzzy romance books by breakout Canadian novelists — and also curated this list of 10 titles Canadians should read this season!

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Why Canadian romance titles are ‘smoking hot’, according to Alicia Cox Thomson 

There’s something about reading a romance novel from a Canadian author that adds a little extra spice to the literary experience. 

There’s a voracious readership for romance in our country: according to BookNet, sales of romance novels in Canada grew 42 per cent between 2017 and 2022 — and increased by 34 per cent year-over-year in the first half of 2023.

Bestselling Toronto-based author Carley Fortune is part of this upward trajectory. Her third romance, the Prince Edward Island-set This Summer Will Be Different, spent weeks on the Globe and Mail and New York Times bestseller lists. At one point in June, all three of her books appeared on a variety of the Globe’s bestseller lists at once. 

But Fortune isn’t the only Canadian author heating up publishing: Calgary-born author Elsie Silver has found success writing small-town spicy romances set in Alberta and British Columbia. Her April release, Wild Love, debuted at the top of the Globe’s Canadian fiction chart and was an instant New York Times bestseller, a goal she was hoping to accomplish.

Silver told me she was at home cooking to distract herself from her nerves when her phone lit up with the notification. “Being able to write about specific [Canadian] places I’ve been or views I’ve seen, it’s just so much more immersive,” she said.

Rose Hill, the small town in Wild Love, is loosely based on Invermere, B.C., where her family spent every summer.

There’s something about reading a romance novel from a Canadian author that adds a little extra spice to the literary experience.– Alicia Cox Thomson

“The lens that we’re fed media through is American a lot of the time and there’s something unfamiliar about it. For me, it’s about appreciating where I live and letting people know that it’s really great if you move a couple of degrees north,” added Silver.

“When I was in London, people told me that [Western Canada] seems so wild and rugged. It’s exotic to them.”

It turns out that Canada is undiscovered territory to romance lovers seeking new voices.

Read on for 10 new Canadian romance novels and spread the word — the Great White North is actually smoking hot.

Wild Love is the first book in the Rose Hill series, which is about a group of single dads finding love. Billionaire Ford Grant has returned to the small town of Rose Hill, B.C., to build his dream recording studio, make music with artists he loves and live a quiet life. When he runs into his best friend’s sassy little sister Rosie, however, their fiery rapport picks up where it left off.

Rosie is reluctantly back in town living at home after her life in the city implodes. Ford hires her to help him set up the studio — and then a bombshell drops. A surprise 12-year old daughter named Cora turns up on Ford’s doorstep needing his help. Between trying to dodge his chemistry with Rosie and learning to parent a preteen, Ford’s dream of a quiet life is disappearing. Or is it evolving into a new one? 

Elsie Silver is a B.C.-based writer of steamy romance novels. Her other books include the Gold Rush Ranch and Chestnut Springs series.

Diana Dixon is a busy woman with her ballroom dance competition, varsity cheerleading team and two jobs too many. When hockey player Shane Lindley moves into her apartment building, he seems intent on sleeping with her teammates and she intends to shut him down. However, Shane isn’t a player at heart. His longtime girlfriend broke up with him and he’s done with rebounds.

When his ex reenters the picture, he cooks up a fake dating plan to make her jealous and Diana, dealing with ex issues of her own, finds herself agreeing to help. What started out as fake starts to feel very real.

Elle Kennedy, queen of campus romance, has been on most if not all of the major bestseller lists in North America. She recently announced that her 2023 romance, Girl Abroad, will be adapted into a TV series by Chris Van Dusen, the creator of Bridgerton. Her newest series is called Campus Diaries — the second instalment The Dixon Rule, hit the Globe and Toronto Star bestseller lists in May. She is currently based in Toronto.

Romance lover and author Bal Khabra decided to write her own and self-published Collide in 2023. It went viral on TikTok, Khabra signed a three-book deal and her debut was re-released in May. It landed on Canadian and international bestseller lists and will eventually be published in seven languages. How’s that for a homegrown success story?

Aspiring sports psychologist Summer Preston hates hockey, but when her thesis advisor gives her a research project, she’s forced to work with the charming and confident team captain, Aiden Crawford. Summer’s a no-fun type A with big goals and capital ‘P’ plans — and Aiden’s a laissez-faire jock who takes nothing seriously.

Could their assumptions about one another be wrong? Once their fighting turns flirtatious, they must face the fact that they were wrong about how right they are for each other.

Khabra is a Canadian writer, romance enthusiast and book lover currently based in British Columbia.

While not set in Canada, or in modern times, London, Ont.-based Jenny Holiday’s sweet and funny historical romance is a hit — none other than Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton series, called it one of the “best historical romances she’s read in years.” 

Archibald Fielding-Burton, the Earl of Harcourt, takes an annual boys’ trip with his best friends, Simon and Effie. It’s the highlight of their year. When Archie is asked to rescue an old family friend from a scandal, he’s surprised to see how much Clementine Morgan has grown. And how well.

She’s smart and beautiful and against marriage, determined to be a happy spinster. With Clem and her sister Olivia joining the gentlemen on their trip, how will Archie and his pals live it up, earl-style? Then Clem shocks Archie with a proposal to teach her the ways of the marriage bed — without getting married. 

Holiday is an American writer currently based in London, Ont. 

Thirty-something Toronto novelist and barista Emily Hung’s four sisters are married with thriving careers, and her mother is obsessed with Emily finding a husband. Enter Mark Chan, a sweater-vest wearing engineer her mother hand picked herself.

When Emily and Mark meet, she’s not interested, but to get her mother off of her back, Emily suggests they pretend they’ve started dating. Mark, intrigued, agrees. Once her mother questions the truth, they begin “fake” dating for real, getting to know one another. Did Emily’s mother actually get it right? 

Jackie Lau is a Toronto-based author of over a dozen romantic comedies, including Donut Fall in Love and the Holidays with the Wongs series.She went to school for engineering and worked as a geophysicist before writing romance novels.

Dee Kwan is having a rough few months. She lost her dream job as a diversity consultant, and her parents and cranky invalid grandmother have moved into her home. She finds fun playing an online game, where the teasing rivalry she has with another player keeps her on her toes. When they meet IRL, he’s unexpectedly handsome. 

Dee lands a new job at Celeste, a luxury fashion house desperately in need of diversity training. She meets the CEO’s son Teddy Marsh  — surprise, he’s her online game rival turned crush!  And his dad isn’t interested in changing the toxic culture at Celeste. When Dee and Teddy band together to takedown his father, things get very complicated in business and love.

Lily Chu writes romantic comedies set in Toronto with strong Asian characters. Chu’s debut romance novel was The Stand-In. She is also the author of The Comeback.

The final novel in Lea’s Influencer trilogy, The Catch stars fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen whose influence is in need of a power boost. She jumps at the chance to collaborate with a quaint B&B in a small Nova Scotia seaside town — it’s fresh content for her American audience.

The owner, burly and surly lobster fisherman Evan Whaler, is not a fan of influencers, but when he’s in a boating accident she’s mistaken for his fiancee. The pair agree to fake their engagement for one week to help his family’s B and B and her social media status. 

Amy Lea is an Ottawa-based contemporary romance writer and Canadian bureaucrat. Her previous novels include Woke Up Like This, which was on the Canada Reads 2024 longlist, Exes and O’s and Set on You. 

Liz Lewis and her husband, popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis, are not in a good place. Her introverted personality never fit into the world of wilderness expeditions and she feels invisible next to Tobin’s outsized charm. When things with Tobin deteriorate and then she’s mistaken for a server at her own 30th birthday party, Liz decides to shake things up with improv classes.

For an introvert, it’s going terribly until she accepts help from natural comedian Tobin, who’s determined to save their marriage. As Liz rediscovers what she loved about him in the first place, she also discovers some truths about herself that may change everything.

Maggie North is a writer of romantic comedy currently based in Ottawa, Ont. Rules for Second Chances is her debut novel.

When fashion stylist Marley Kamal gets the opportunity of her career — to be a personal shopper for a rising movie star — she’s overjoyed until she finds out he’s the prom date who ghosted her after sleeping together. Adding to this awkward dilemma is the fact that she’s about to undergo an elective double mastectomy and breast reduction.

Actor Nikhil Shamdasani needs a stylist to boost his image and he wants Marley. He offers to move in and help take care of Marley during her recovery. The pair slowly find their way back to each other as she lets Nik into her home and life.

Farah Heron is a writer from Toronto. She is also the author of the romantic comedies The Chai Factor, Accidentally Engaged, Kamila Knows Best and the YA novel Tahira in Bloom.

Becka Mack’s series about fictional NHL team the Vancouver Vipers is peak hockey romance. Fall With Me is the fourth book in the series, featuring badboy defensive player Jaxon Riley, who doesn’t need a relationship as long as he has his cat, Mittens. Jaxon is a fighter on the ice and a playboy in the streets.

When he meets photographer Lennon Hayes on her honeymoon alone, their chemistry is explosive. What was supposed to be another one-night stand for him and a quickie rebound with a stranger for her gets complicated when Lennon accepts a job as the Vipers’ new team photographer. Various circumstances lead to her becoming Jaxon’s roommate and surrogate mom to Mittens. Will these two hurt people heal and fall in love? 

Fall With Me will be available on July 30, 2024.

Mack is an Ontario-based writer of hockey romance novels. The other books in the Playing for Keeps series are Consider Me, Play with Me and Unravel Me.