While many of us are still digging ourselves out of some major snowfall this winter, we still are taking some time to get ready for cozy reads that are coming just time for the warmer weather. And although Brittanée Nicole is welcoming us into spring with her next book, Darling Daffodils Farm, we’re going to skip over autumn for a bit with this brand new reveal that brings her second book in her upcoming Hope Harbor series to our shelves.
Cosmopolitan has an exclusive first look at Brittanée Nicole’s Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore, which is set to be released on August 11, 2026. While the first book in the series won’t be out for a few more weeks—March 17, 2026 to be exact—she’s giving us a glimpse into the second book which features a struggling author and a bookstore owner with some major history together. While it makes it easy for them when they start a fake relationship, as leaves start to fall, everything starts to blur and suddenly they find themselves wondering what’s the real truth behind it all. Here’s some info from our friends at G.P. Putnam's Sons:
Sparks fly as the leaves fall this autumn…From the superstar romance author of The Boston Bolts hockey series comes a swoony friends-to-lovers fake dating delight.
These old flames are ready to catch fire.
For Penny Darling, love is best enjoyed between the pages of a book. After a very public failed engagement, she’d rather cozy up by the fire with a book boyfriend than a real one any day. And as the owner of Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore, she has her pick.
Then Jake “Monty” Montgomery returns home. Her high school best friend, now a struggling author with inked forearms and wicked green eyes. And he needs her help.
His proposal is simple: She’ll teach him to write the perfect book boyfriend and he’ll pose as her real boyfriend, keeping Hope Harbor’s busybodies—and their obsession with Penny’s love life—at bay.
But when their lessons begin, the line between fiction and reality grows dangerously thin. As pretend kisses in the apple orchard turn into searing ones beneath the autumn moon, Penny begins to wonder if Monty could really love her, or if she’s destined for another broken heart.
And now you get to see these two in action thanks to the book’s cover that definitely feels like there are major sparks flying between Penny and Monty. Oh, and you won’t believe the stunning sprayed edges that not only match the fall vibe, but also Penny’s dreamy bookstore. The book’s jacket cover art is by Sarah Jane and the design is by Sanny Chiu.
We also sat down with Brittanée Nicole to learn more about the series, her journey into traditional publishing, and the hardest part about the series that will completely surprise you.
Just make sure to pre-order Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore and Darling Daffodils Farm so you don’t miss your big move-in to Hope Harbor.
This is the first time I’m doing a cover reveal for a sequel when the first book isn’t even out yet.
Book one comes out in the UK two days after we do the cover reveal. So I was like, This is so fun. We're releasing a cover, and then we're releasing a book, and then we're releasing the book again!
That must be overwhelming but in the best way possible!
Trad does things so differently than indie. It's funny, because with my indie covers, I'm now doing this as well. I have some so many things that are ready and now I just have to sit with them.
It must be a fun learning experience now also being traditionally published.
It's been super cool. I was actually approached by the editor in the UK for this project, so I hadn't actually been querying. It wasn't in my wheelhouse at all. I was like, As long as I can still do the indie stuff that I do, I'm excited to try it. I think that I can meet some new readers. The readers in the trad world are a little different, because they're mostly in bookstores, whereas the readers that are indie are mostly in KU, so it's a different audience, which has been super exciting. Just even being tagged in videos from influencers in the UK that I didn't have connections with previously…it’s been interesting to meet new readers in that way.
You also go from doing everything yourself to suddenly having a giant team behind you on everything. And, often times, authors don’t even have a say on their own covers.
I was super lucky, because both Tara, who's my editor in the US, and Jess, who's my the editor in the UK, were very much like, We want you involved in this. You obviously understand the business aspect of the romance reader and what they're looking for. So what do you want in a cover?
I actually sent them some designs that the cover designer we used had. I always loved BK Borison’s covers and I had used some similar artists in the past. I really like that style. I was on vacation last year when they sent me this email where they were like, We have a surprise for you. We got the artist that you wanted, and she actually did a bunch of mock ups. So like, you get to choose which one do you like best. I got to be very involved, and I know that not that doesn't always happen. It's been a very collaborative process, which has been really amazing for somebody that is used to being in charge of everything.
Tell us more about Hope Harbor!
It’s fashioned off the town that I raised my family in, which is Bristol, Rhode Island, and it's a quintessential New England town on the water. Everybody's in everybody's business. There is a group called the Liberty Ladies, and they just want to control everything in town. They have the town meetings, they have a town chat, which is, quite frankly, very on point with what happens in the small town that I live in. All of the local establishments are supposed to have alliterations. So like Darling Daffodils and Bonfire & Bliss. Some of them don’t follow it and they get in trouble because the Liberty Ladies are very on top of them. They want to see everybody happy, so it's all very in good nature.
There is a lot of swoony moments and heartfelt moments, because you're dealing with, life, and I like to write longer books that really capture some of those bigger moments in life. And there’s a lot of spice.
Which alliteration was harder to come up with?
Oh, goodness gracious. It started as my own fault. It started with Twisted Tea Time in chapter one. There’s Wicked Wine & Cheese. I don't even think Darling Daffodils was the original name of the book. And because we were tryin to capture the season of the romances, trying to come up with fall things that go with bookstore was not as easy as you'd think. There’s not a lot of B words that work. But when we said bonfire, I was like, Oh, that's it. And it has a special connotation for the couple, which is always fun for me.
What’s one thing you want readers to know before they pick up this book?
If you like strong women who are trying to find their way and where everybody is kind of lifting up each other's crowns and helping one another, then you’re gonna love this book. You're always going to get the banter, whether or not they’re best friends that fall in love or their enemies to lovers. I love a good back and forth, very much Gilmore Girls. And swoony men who fall first! It's always a down, bad man who falls first!
Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore, by Brittanée Nicole will be released on August 11, 2026 from G.P. Putnam's Sons. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice:
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