Kelly Collins | Updates

London Signing

Kelly Collins — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I'll be at the London Suite inside the Mercure Hotel, Earls Court on September 12th.

Tickets: https://fbbfsmalltown.eventbrite.co.uk

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The Hole That Made It Perfect: Food, Found Family, and the Best Romance Series for Foodies

Kelly Collins — Fri, 5 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

National Donut Day is June 5, and I want to tell you about the most important hole in the history of pastry.

In 1847, a sixteen-year-old sailor named Hanson Gregory got frustrated that the center of his fried dough cakes never cooked through. So he punched out the middle with the top of a tin pepper shaker. The hole he created, the part nobody eats, turned out to be the thing that made the donut iconic. Its most recognizable feature is an absence. (I’ve spent considerable time deciding whether that’s a baking fact or a philosophy, and I’m going with philosophy.)

Because here’s the thing about the hole in the donut: it’s not a mistake. It’s the shape that made everything else work.

Romance novels run on the same principle. Every great love story has a wound at its center. Not a flaw but a shape. Something the heroine has built her whole life around because she stopped believing it could ever be filled. The woman who learned that trusting people was expensive. The man who confused control with safety for so long he forgot there was a difference. They carry these absences around like they’re just who they are, not realizing they’ve been the exact outline of someone they haven’t met yet.

The love interest doesn’t fix the wound. (Romance writers who know what they’re doing know better than that.) They just stand next to it and refuse to look away. Which is, if you think about it, the harder thing.

This is why food romance works on me the way it does. (That and food is basically how I process all of my emotions, which is something I’ve made peace with.) A kitchen is where people make something out of nothing and call it care. That’s the same engine.

If you want a series built exactly on that, recipes, found family, and the kind of love that sneaks up on you through a shared meal, start with A Taste of Temptation, the first in my Recipes for Love series. Seven books. All the feelings. Possibly some actual baking inspiration.

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Three Days, a Bottle, and a Book: Small Town Romance Picks for Memorial Day Weekend

Kelly Collins — Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Memorial Day arrives on May 25, which is also, somehow, National Wine Day. The universe has gifted us a long weekend and a wine holiday in the same 72 hours. I consider this a personal message. (Who am I to argue with the universe?)

Before I get to the wine, I want to pause on Memorial Day itself. It’s a solemn holiday at its heart, a day of remembering people who gave something we’ll never be able to give back. That matters. If you know a Gold Star family, call them. If you know a veteran, thank them. Then go forward into your long weekend and live well. That’s the point.

Okay. Wine.

National Wine Day has been around since 2009 and has absolutely no pedigree, which I respect. Somebody decided wine deserved a day, and here we are. The national drink of basically everyone who has ever been handed a glass at a wedding, a book club, or a Tuesday. Wine Day lands on the unofficial kickoff to summer, which feels wildly appropriate. There’s something about a long weekend that demands a good bottle, a good book, and at least one nap between them.

Here’s what I’ve learned about the perfect long weekend reading experience. You don’t want anything too heavy. (Save the 800-page literary epic for winter when you’re already locked inside.) You want something with momentum. A town you can step into, a couple you can root for, and an ending that won’t ruin your Sunday.

If you’re in the mood for a little glamour with your weekend, my Wilde Love series is set in Las Vegas and delivers on high-stakes, fast-paced, couldn’t-put-it-down energy. Start with Betting On Him here. Mafia. Casinos. Forbidden love. A book that pairs nicely with a bold red and a porch.

Whatever you choose, carve out the hours. Long weekends don’t come around often.

Happy reading.

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How to Spot a Beach Read: The Best Small Town Romance Series for Summer

Kelly Collins — Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Memorial Day weekend is almost here, which means summer reading season is officially about to kick off. (May is also Get Caught Reading Month, by the way, so consider yourselves warned. I’m watching you in public, waiting to catch you in the act.) If you’re anything like me, you’ve already started triaging your TBR for beach season.

Here’s the thing about a true beach read. You can spot one from forty feet away. The cover is usually pastel, or cerulean, or that specific shade of coral that doesn’t exist anywhere except on beach read covers. There’s probably a woman facing away from the camera. There’s probably a cursive title. There’s a very high chance the word “summer” appears somewhere, even if the book takes place in January.

I love this. I love that we have collectively decided a beach read has a visual grammar. A beach read makes promises: the stakes will be emotional but not devastating, the heroine will have at least one excellent friend, someone will get their heart broken, and everything will work out by page 300. You get to exhale. That’s the whole point.

Summer is the season that makes reading feel, briefly, like a legal obligation. Pool. Book. Lounge chair. Iced tea. We’ve all been conditioned. I start planning my summer TBR in May and overbuy every single year. (The stack on my nightstand is taller than the lamp. I will read twenty percent of it. I know this about myself.)

This summer my unsolicited advice is to lean into the small-town coastal romance. Anything with a beach, a boat, or a character who owns an unreasonable number of flannel shirts.

My Port Promise series delivers on all three. Start with Heart’s Haven here. Small town. Coastal setting. A whole village full of people you want to move next door to.

Where’s your reading happening this summer? Beach? Porch? The floor of your kitchen because the kids won’t leave you alone? (Guilty, on occasion.)

Happy reading.

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The Cookie That Changed Everything: Why Food and Romance Belong Together

Kelly Collins — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

National Chocolate Chip Day is May 15, which might be the most important holiday of the entire month, depending on your priorities. (Mine are: book, blanket, snack. Everything else is negotiable.)

Here’s something I learned that delighted me. The chocolate chip cookie was an accident. In 1938, Ruth Wakefield ran the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. She was making a batch of chocolate cookies and didn’t have time to melt the baker’s chocolate, so she chopped up a Nestle bar and tossed it in, figuring the pieces would melt into the dough. They didn’t. The chocolate stayed in gooey little pockets. She pulled the sheet out of the oven, shrugged, and served them. Her guests lost their minds.

Nestle eventually bought her recipe for the rights to print it on every bag of chocolate chips forever. Her payment? One dollar and a lifetime supply of chocolate. (A dollar. I sincerely hope the chocolate was a LOT of chocolate.)

This story stays with me because it’s the most romance-novel setup imaginable. A woman, convinced she’s failing at the thing she meant to do, accidentally creates something the world falls in love with. Her supposed mistake becomes a household staple. The thing she made outlives her by a century and counting.

Readers know this story in their bones. We meet book after book where the heroine thinks she’s in the middle of a disaster and it turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. The botched plan. The wrong order at the bakery that leads to meeting the guy behind her in line. The recipe that flops at the worst possible moment, before the judge she’s trying to impress.

Food and love are twin engines in the best romances. The meal made for one that becomes a meal for two. The kitchen where two people who shouldn’t be talking end up talking. The cookie that, accidentally, changes everything.

If you want a romance that runs on that exact engine, my Recipes for Love series lives and breathes this. Start with A Taste of Temptation here. Seven books of food, chemistry, and people who had no plan to fall in love.

Happy baking.

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The Woman Who Tried to Cancel Mother's Day: Small Town Romance Books with Unforgettable Mother Figures

Kelly Collins — Fri, 8 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It’s Mother’s Day week (Sunday, May 10), which means flowers, brunch reservations, and a guilt-induced rush on greeting cards. But here’s a story I bet you didn’t know. The woman who fought to make Mother’s Day a national holiday spent the rest of her life trying to destroy it.

Her name was Anna Jarvis. In 1908 she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration to honor her own mom. By 1914 it was a federal holiday. By the 1920s, Hallmark had entered the chat, florists were marking up carnations, and Anna was losing her mind. She called commercial Mother’s Day cards “a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write.” She was arrested in 1948 protesting a Mother’s Day festival. (Arrested. At a Mother’s Day event. This woman committed to the bit.)

I love her. I love her because she understood something romance readers understand on a cellular level. The feeling matters more than the packaging.

Think about it. Our favorite romance moms aren’t the picture-perfect ones. They’re the complicated ones. The meddlers. The ones who raised the grumpy hero wrong or the ones who saved the heroine’s life a hundred different ways without anyone noticing. The ones who had their own love stories once. The ones who are gone from the page but still shape every choice the protagonist makes.

Found family is the other side of that coin, and we love it for the same reason. Small-town women who adopt the broken ones. The aunties and neighbors and diner owners who show up with casseroles and unasked-for advice. Women who aren’t your mother by blood but would fight a bear for you anyway.

So this Mother’s Day, skip the commercial card if you want. Anna Jarvis would be proud. Call your mom. Tell her what she actually did right. (She might cry. That’s allowed.) Then pour yourself a glass of something and pick up a book where the mother figures aren’t perfect but they’re yours.

If you want to visit a whole town full of those women, I’d start with Aspen Cove. You can grab One Hundred Reasons here. The residents of Aspen Cove know a thing or two about the mothers who show up, blood or not.

Happy Mother’s Day.

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The Big Confession Scene: Why Honesty Is the Heart of Small Town Romance

Kelly Collins — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

April is almost over, but before we move into May, let’s talk about something that happens on April 30 and matters far more than most people realize: National Honesty Day. And yes, there’s a whole day dedicated to this. (Presumably so we can all feel guilty about the little lies we tell ourselves.)

Here’s the thing about honesty, especially in romance: it’s terrifying. It’s the moment a character stops hiding. It’s the instant they admit the thing they’ve been denying for pages, chapters, sometimes entire books. “I’ve been lying to myself about my feelings for you.” Words that crack open everything.

We love this moment so much. The confession. The vulnerability. The raw admission that somehow changes everything because it’s finally true, finally said out loud. There’s no more hiding behind fake dating scenarios or witty deflection or “I’m not interested” when clearly someone is very much interested.

That’s the real power of honesty in romance. It’s not about coming clean. It’s about the relief of it. The exhale after holding your breath for too long. The moment when the walls fall away, and two people finally see each other clearly.

I’ve always believed that romance readers understand this instinctively. We’re not in it for the pretty words on the page (okay, we are a little). We’re in it for the moment when someone is brave enough to admit the truth. When vulnerability becomes strength. When saying “I love you” costs everything and is worth everything.

Have you noticed how the best romance scenes aren’t the grand gestures? They’re the quiet ones. The honest ones. The moment someone stops running from what they feel and says it.

If you love that exact moment, when all the walls come down, and honesty finally breaks through, you might find yourself in the small town of Aspen Cove. The residents there know a thing or two about keeping secrets and finding the courage to let them go. One Hundred Secrets is about exactly this: the moment someone stops hiding and the other person hears the truth they’ve been hoping for. Find it here.

Happy (almost) May.

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Why Independent Bookstores Matter: A Romance Reader's Love Letter to Small Town Bookshops

Kelly Collins — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This week is a straight-up love letter to books and the places we find them. World Book Day lands on April 23, Earth Day reminds us to care for our world on April 22, and Independent Bookstore Day hits on April 25. So basically: peak bookish season.

Here’s the thing about independent bookstores that chains will never understand. It’s not the books. It’s the smell. It’s that specific mustiness and paper and hope that hits you the second you walk through the door. It’s the careful hand-lettered recommendations on the shelf. “If you loved this, try that.” It’s the bookseller who, after three minutes of conversation, puts a book in your hands and says, “Trust me.”

And it changes your life. Not every time, obviously (sometimes that recommendation sits on your TBR for three years), but sometimes it becomes your favorite book. The one you reread. The one you shove into people’s hands and say, “Read this. I’ll wait.”

Independent bookstores are the beating heart of reading culture. They’re where you can linger for hours without anyone giving you the side-eye. Where the owner knows their inventory like it’s their own bookshelf. Where there’s actually room to browse, not grab and go. They’re gathering places, community anchors. Small towns especially need these spaces. They’re where friends meet, where authors do readings, where belonging happens.

The “I’m only getting one book” lie is sacred in bookstores. We’ve all said it while standing by the new releases, hand hovering. We all walked out with three (or five, or seven). There’s something about being surrounded by possibility that makes your brain say, “Actually, let’s reconsider.”

Supporting independent bookstores isn’t about books alone. It’s about choosing community over convenience. Choosing conversation over algorithms. Choosing the person behind the counter who genuinely loves what they sell over a warehouse that ships in two days.

If you have an independent bookstore in your town, go visit it this week. Buy something. Ask for a recommendation. Let someone else’s passion for books infect your TBR pile. That’s what April is for.

Happy reading.

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The TBR Pile Audit: Every Romance Reader's Book Budget Confession

Kelly Collins — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tax Day is coming (April 15, in case you’ve been living under a rock), and I’m sure many of you are having the annual panic of gathering receipts and trying to remember which deductions are legal. But I’ve got a different kind of audit on my mind: the one where we all confess how much we actually spent on books this year.

Go ahead, do it. Open your Goodreads, your Amazon history, your bookstore app. Add up those purchases. Now add up the number of books you’ve actually read from that pile. Sit with that number for a moment. (I’ll wait. And judge you. Lovingly.)

Here’s the thing: every single reader has told themselves the same lie. “I’m going to read all of these.” You buy the book because it’s pretty, or because the premise is irresistible, or because it was on sale, or because your bookish bestie said it was life-changing. You stack it on your TBR with genuine, unshakeable faith that you will devour it within weeks. Months, maybe. You wouldn’t buy it if you didn’t plan to read it.

And yet. The TBR pile grows. Month after month. Year after year. It becomes a physical manifestation of optimism, ambition, and denial all rolled into one towering monument of glossy spines and beautiful covers.

I know this intimately, because I’m sitting here in my office surrounded by books I have written (yes, that’s my claim to fame) and books I will probably never read but bought anyway. (The irony is not lost on me.) My TBR is less a pile and more a small library. A beautiful, guilt-inducing small library.

The real audit, though, isn’t about the money. It’s about the hope. Every unread book represents a version of yourself who had time to read, energy to focus, and the luxury of being transported. That’s not wasted money. That’s an investment in the person you’re becoming, or at least the person you’re desperately trying to convince yourself you still are.

So this Tax Day, skip the calculator (or don’t, that’s between you and the IRS). Instead, pick one book from your TBR that’s been calling to you. And read it. One.

(The other 47 can wait until you’re caught up. Probably.)

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Protective Brothers and Black Sheep: Small Town Romance Tropes That Work Every Time

Kelly Collins — Wed, 8 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

April 10 is National Siblings Day, and if you’re anything like me, it’s probably an excuse to send your brother a text that says “happy siblings day” and then not hear from him until Christmas. (The one I have is perfect, thank you very much.)

But here’s what got me thinking: readers absolutely eat up a good band-of-brothers romance. There’s something irresistible about the protective older brother, the black sheep who finally gets redeemed, the found-family dynamic where loyalty runs deeper than blood. Why is that?

Maybe it’s because sibling relationships are complicated in ways we all recognize. There’s rivalry and unwavering support living in the same space. There’s knowing someone’s worst moments and loving them anyway. There’s the person who’ll argue with you about everything but wrecks anyone who messes with you. That’s powerful stuff for a story.

Protective older brothers are a romance staple for a reason. Readers want to watch these guarded, careful men finally let their walls down for the right person. They want to see the guy who’s been taking care of everyone else finally get taken care of. And there’s something deeply satisfying about a love story where the hero not only wins his girl but gets to keep his bond with his brothers intact.

The black sheep brother hits differently too. He’s the one who screwed up, who doesn’t fit the family mold, who’s been written off or is convinced he deserves to be. Watching him come home, make amends, and find love because someone sees past his mistakes? That’s a redemption arc that gets me every time.

If you’re craving that band-of-brothers energy, Cross Creek has everything you want. The Hart brothers will steal your heart in the best way. Start with Broken Hart if you want a second-chance romance with real depth, or jump in anywhere because each book stands on its own. Find it here.

Happy Siblings Day. Go text your brother.

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Fake Dating, Secrets, and the Best Romance Tropes Built on Deception

Kelly Collins — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It's April, and that means April Fool's Day is right around the corner. Did you know that the origins of April Fool's Day are kind of chaotic? Some say it started in the 16th century when France switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, and anyone still following the old calendar became the butt of jokes. Others claim it's even older. Either way, people have been pranking each other for centuries (which is somehow comforting in a weird way).

But here's the thing that gets me as a romance writer: deception in real life sucks. Deception in books? Deception in books is romance gold.

Think about fake dating. Two characters who pretend to be together, lying to their friends, their families, maybe even themselves about what they're really feeling. Or the con artist who falls for the person they're supposed to be scamming. Or the character keeping secrets because they think they're protecting someone they love, and instead they're just building a wall between them. These tropes work because there's real tension in deception. Real stakes. And when the truth finally comes out, the relief and vulnerability hit like a punch to the gut.

The romance reading community has embraced deception as one of our favorite playgrounds. We love characters who are hiding something. We love the slow burn of watching two people peel back each other's layers. We love the moment when a character realizes they've been fooled by their own feelings.

And speaking of new love stories, tomorrow marks the release of my new book, "Taming Mr. Wilder" (part of the Billionaire Hearts Club series, published by Oliver Heber Books). If you love a story with secrets, false assumptions, and the delicious tension that comes before the truth spills out, this one's for you.

So this April Fool's Day, celebrate the best kind of trickery: the kind that ends in happily ever after.

Happy reading!

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