A new year means a new stack of books to obsess over, and 2027 is already shaping up to be an exciting one for contemporary readers. From highly anticipated romances and emotional family stories to darkly funny examinations of marriage, motherhood and the lives we might have lived, these books are ready to make us laugh, cry and reconsider everything. Whether you love complicated friendships or suspense hiding beneath seemingly ordinary lives, these are the contemporary books we cannot wait to read in 2027.

People in Love by Claire Daverley (1/12)

After a decade of shared routines and quiet happiness, Nora accepts a surprise proposal from her longtime partner, Robin. Then Bren—the childhood best friend everyone once assumed she would marry—appears at their engagement party, reigniting feelings neither of them ever confronted. Torn between the life she has built and the love she left unspoken, Nora must decide what commitment and lasting love truly mean to her.

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Martha Wants a Baby by April Vellacott (2/2)

Martha seems to have everything she is supposed to want: a successful career, a fiancé and a beautiful home. Yet she remains convinced that having a baby is the final achievement she needs to feel complete. When she forms an unexpected friendship with Georgie, a pregnant coworker whose polished life hides struggles of its own, both women begin confronting the expectations attached to motherhood, success and happiness.

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Eat Bitter, Anastasia by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier (2/16)

Aspiring photographer and museum curator Anastasia inherits her grandfather’s aging Victorian home in Oakland’s Chinatown—along with all the overwhelming repairs it requires. With graduate school calling, she must decide whether to leave and pursue her own future or “eat bitter” by remaining to protect the family legacy entrusted to her. The novel explores ambition, inheritance and the complicated responsibility of preserving a home filled with personal and cultural history.

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The Point of It All by Laura Kay (3/16)

Ros and Holland meet as teenagers and remain tangled in one another’s lives through friendship, romance, family, betrayal and years apart. Following them across decades and between London and New York, the novel explores the ache of queer longing and the way a first great love can continue changing shape long after adolescence. Funny and tender, it asks whether growing up ever truly means growing apart from the person who may be the point of it all.

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Here We Are at the End by Sara Barnard (3/16)

Two families and their guests gather on a private Italian island for what should be a perfect destination wedding, only to learn that a comet will destroy Earth in thirty-six hours. With no phone signal and no way home, the stranded group must confront old tensions, unfinished relationships and what truly matters at the end of everything. Sara Barnard’s adult debut transforms an apocalyptic countdown into a hopeful exploration of love, connection and humanity.

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Beth March Returns from the Dead by Emily St. James (3/30)

Beth returns to Duluth for her first family Christmas in a decade, hoping she can begin healing the wounds that formed after she came out as transgender in college. Her hometown appears largely unchanged, including Tom Vega, the childhood love who broke her heart when he could not confront his own queerness. Inspired by Little Women, this contemporary novel explores family, identity, second chances and what happens when someone finally allows herself to be fully seen.

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Tech Wives by Kirstin Chen (4/13)

College friends Sam and Cecily enter Silicon Valley’s glittering inner circle after marrying two of the technology industry’s most powerful founders. As Sam struggles to keep up with their extravagant lifestyle and Cecily uncovers devastating compromises within her marriage, both women must confront the loyalty, guilt and complicity behind their husbands’ success. From the author of Counterfeit, Tech Wives examines friendship, power and the people who help preserve the myth of the lone tech genius.

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The Fire by Kristin Hannah (5/4)

When betrayal and public scrutiny dismantle Merritt Locke’s life, she begins a cross-country journey to reconnect with her estranged daughter. Along the way, Merritt encounters a group of women facing upheavals of their own, and their unexpected connections help her rediscover the voice she has lost. It is a moving story about transformation, female friendship and finding the courage to begin again after everything changes.

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Dying to Be Us by Karen M. McManus (5/11)

A group of former college friends has remained connected by more than memories: they share a deadly secret that has followed them into adulthood. When the murder buried in their past refuses to stay hidden, the lives they have carefully constructed begin to unravel. The author of One of Us Is Lying makes her adult-fiction debut with a contemporary thriller about friendship, guilt and how far people will go to protect the truth.

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Homewrecker by Becky Mandelbaum (6/1)

Broke and living with her mother in her late brother’s bedroom, Piper accepts an invitation from Aaron—the ex who ghosted her three years earlier—to move into the beautiful Victorian home he shares with his sophisticated new partner. Haunted by guilt, desire and a literal restless spirit hiding within the house’s strange murals, Piper devises a plan to reclaim the life she believes should have been hers. Darkly funny and emotionally sharp, Homewrecker explores grief, envy and the messy choices people make when they feel left behind.

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