After being buried under an overwhelming pile of new books in September, we're taking a bit of a breather in October.

As we hurtle toward a life-changing election here in the States, I hope you're able to find some time to recharge between actions. I know we all hate phone calls, but consider what you might be able to do to get out the vote, to support candidates who aren't authoritarian toadies and to help protestors who are risking their lives to fight for justice. One of my neighbors makes a lot of lasagna these days.

If you are sick and terrified and exhausted, you're not alone. But please, if something good happens to or for you? Take a minute to celebrate. You deserve to enjoy that promotion, to dance around the kitchen with your just-published book, to eat birthday cake.

Now, before I go off and write more postcards, here's a list of our October anticipated new releases (and a bunch more you might be interested in).

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Mini-reviews of Best Laid Plaids, Lovewrecked, The Switch, Charming as a Verb and Kiss My Cupcake. That's an m/m historical, a contemporary (women's?) novel, two f/m contemporaries and an f/m contemporary YA.

I'm pretty amped for Smash It! Here's why:

In case you missed my squee of spooky delight these last two years, I've loved both of Hester Fox's gothic historicals. While her debut, The Witch of Willow Hall, leans more into the "what the hell is happening?!" style (with an HEA), her second novel, The Widow of Pale Harbor, has a more prominent romance to go alone with the dead birds and scary happenings. As I get into more of my Spooky Season reading, I'm looking forward to the third gothic from Fox, The Orphan of Cemetery Hill, out September 15.

Mini-reviews of More Than Maybe, Hairpin Curves, I Think I Might Love You and The Fell of Dark. That's an f/m contemporary YA, an f/f contemporary, an f/m contemporary and an m/m YA contemporary fantasy.

Kate Stayman-London's debut novel One to Watch falls neatly within the bounds of "women's fiction," focusing on Bea's character arc as she's propelled from her popular plus-size fashion blog to the role of first-ever plus-size star on a Bachelorette-esque dating show.

September. WTF.

Sorry, that wasn't terribly inspiring or coherent.

Anyway... Here are some books we're excited about that release this month!

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Tools of Engagement is the third and (as far as I know) final book in Tessa Bailey's Hot & Hammered series, following Fix Her Up and Love Her or Lose Her. I enjoyed Fix Her Up but skipped the second because I don't think Bailey has the tools to write outside her lane with two POC protagonists.

It's been a while since I shared any of these, so here are a few of the romance reviews I've written for Shelf Awareness!

Mini-reviews of The Girl Next Door, Conventionally Yours, You Should See Me in a Crown and Wrong Bed, Right Brother. So that's four contemporary romances: two f/f, one m/m and one f/m.