Good morning and happy Friday readers!! Welcome to the end of the week. If you, like me, have had a busy week, you might feel the strong urge to curl up with a cozy read for this chilly fall weekend. So we are rolling into the weekend with a reading list tailor made for hot cocoa and snuggly vibes.
Cozy Contemporary Autumn Reads
The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert
Focused and unassuming fifth generation cider-maker Sanna Lund has one desire: to live a simple, quiet life on her family’s apple orchard in Door County, Wisconsin. Although her business is struggling, Sanna remains fiercely devoted to the orchard, despite her brother’s attempts to convince their aging father to sell the land.
Single dad Isaac Banks has spent years trying to shield his son Sebastian from his troubled mother. Fleeing heartbreak at home, Isaac packed up their lives and the two headed out on an adventure, driving across the country. Chance—or fate—led them straight to Sanna’s orchard.
Isaac’s helping hands are much appreciated at the apple farm, even more when Sanna’s father is injured in an accident. As Sanna’s formerly simple life becomes increasingly complicated, she finds solace in unexpected places—friendship with young Sebastian and something more deliciously complex with Isaac—until an outside threat infiltrates the farm.
Bewitched by You by Kenda Mase
Luella Pierce is having a mid-witch crisis.
Her best friend is top of her class and currently on a fast track to land her dream job. Her coven members have all found their passions in life and are excited to start their next chapter. Even her arch nemesis and Barnett University’s star football player, Ryan Gardner, has future plans. Sure, they’re to become a permanent nuisance in her life, but still. Everyone else seems to have life figured out except her.
Lu’s big plans? Procrastinating the future by throwing all her energy into creating the most fantastic Samhain–Halloween–celebration BU has ever seen. That is, if she can convince the student council she won’t perform any satanic rituals.
Cue the eye roll.
But when Ryan sustains a career-ending injury and Lu receives an offer from her sweet yet meddling coven matriarch that causes her to rethink everything, Lu also begins to question if the strongest magic may be taking a chance on love.
And herself.
Awkward in October by Teresa Yea
My name is Theodora Dy.
I’m single and live with my parents.
I may be existing, but I sure as hell am not thriving.
I want more out of life before resigning myself to decrepit spinsterhood.
I want adventures and mistakes, balmy summer nights and stirring rooftop conversations.
I want a beautiful romance.
Like something ripped straight out of the pages of The Witch of Blackbird Pond, my favorite book of all time.
But that’s all wishful thinking until I commit to a dramatic change.
So I quit my job.
Purchased a cheap old house sight unseen and booked a one-way ticket to Connecticut where autumn is in full swing and Halloween is just around the corner.
I may be living my best life, but I’m in over my head.
My fixer upper is falling apart and my big stupid gesture is sucking my bank account dry.
Fortunately, my grumpy neighbor, Carter, knows a thing or two about repairing ‘money pits’ (his words, not mine).
He’s perfectly practical in every way.
I’m a hopeless romantic.
We’re as opposite as two people can be.
But unbeknownst to him or me…
In October any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible.
Even the beginning of a beautiful romance.
Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks
Falling for the wrong person?
Bury your feelings.
Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner and a movie. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business and carry on their legacy under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. So it’s out of the mortuary and into the dating scene.
Lark Thompson would rather get crushed by a falling anvil than live next to a funeral home during her stay in Galway, Ireland. The vivacious American cartoon creator and animator came here to embrace life, not be reminded of losing her husband.
When Lark learns of Callum’s dilemma and aversion to marrying out of necessity rather than love, she agrees to help the introverted mortician. Although sworn off love herself, she is optimistic that Callum can find The One and secure his inheritance.
But as the dating project progresses and their friendship grows, so does a mutual attraction. The more time she spends with serious, sarcastic Callum, the more she dreads finding him a match. And the more disastrous dates he endures, the more trepidation he feels for Lark’s imminent return to the states.
If they think it’s possible to ignore their connection, they’re dead wrong.
How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy
Magically brilliant, academically perfect, chronically overcommitted...
Shay Johnson has all the makings of a successful witch. Now that she's a junior at T.K. Anderson Magical Magnet School, she's one step closerto winning the full-ride Brockton Scholarship--her ticket into the university of her dreams. Her main competition? Ana freaking Alvarez. The key to victory? Impressing Mr. B, drama teacher and head of the scholarship committee.
When Mr. B persuades Shay to star in this year's aggressively inclusive, racially diverse musical--at their not-quite-diverse school--she agrees, wearily, even though she'll have to put up with Ana playing the other lead. But with rehearsals underway, Shay realizes Ana is...not the despicable witch she'd thought. Perhaps she could even be a friend--or more. And Shay could use someone in her corner once she finds herself on the receiving end of Mr. B's unpleasant and unwanted attention. When Shay learns she's not the first witch to experience his inappropriate behavior, she must decide if she'll come forward. But how can she speak out when the scholarship--and her future--are on the line?
Pumpkin Everything by Beth Labonte
After calling off her fall wedding, horror novelist Amy Fox is left with a broken heart, a mega case of writer’s block, and a serious aversion to all things pumpkin spice. When she receives news that her grandfather has broken his wrist driving through a Dunkin Donuts—literally straight through the front windows—five hundred miles away, in her hometown of Autumnboro, New Hampshire, Amy has no choice but to return to check on him. If she doesn’t make sure that he’s back on his feet, Grandpa may be moved into assisted living, and Amy’s beloved childhood home will be put on the market. Knowing she must return, Amy worries about the only thing worse than pumpkin spice—a reunion with Kit Parker—her childhood best friend, first love, and entire reason for skipping town in the first place. As the two reconnect, a second chance seems possible...if only Kit weren’t holding on to a secret that just might unravel everything.
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