Summer is coming in hot. Beach days, backyard picnics, barbeques, and too many books on your TBR. If you need a little push or maybe another book to add to the never-ending list, here are some of my top summer vacation meet-cute (and meet-hate) recommendations that will have the warm fuzzies bubble into an uncontainable grin. So, lie back in your porch chairs, smell the roses, and crack these books open!
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
What’s worse than trying to survive the great outdoors? Trying to survive it while stuck with your ex-best friend. Bradley Graeme is the epitome of perfection: a star football player who always aces his classes… besides the ones he shares with Celine. Obsessed with conspiracy theories and social media discussions about UFOs, Celine Bangura decides to sign up for a survival course in the woods. Only she didn’t expect to see Brad there as well, and especially not to have to work with him for a chance to win a grand prize.
That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey
Garland Moore is surprised with the last thing she expected on Valentine’s Day — divorce papers! Thrown into a wave of shock, she accepts her friend’s offer to spend a week at a sleepaway camp to start fresh. Camp Carl Cove provides the perfect environment to escape, and everything seems to be going smoothly until she runs into a man from her past. Except, this love story isn’t with him… but with his sister that Garland rooms with. Perhaps the stars are finally aligning in a way she never predicted.
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Two writers are given a second chance at love—Eva Mercy, a bestselling erotica author and single mother, and Shane Hall, a reclusive, award-winning novelist. The two meeting at a literary event causes sparks to fly and raises their buried traumas, but no one knows that they’ve actually spent one crazy week in love when they were teenagers; nor the fact that they have been secretly writing to each other in their own books for years. A star-crossed, albeit hilarious, romance, this story proves how impossible it can be sometimes to deny fate.
In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae
The perfect book for summertime feels, this hilarious queer rom-com follows a pastry chef as sweet as a cinnamon roll and his indie-rocker crush. Ben has been baking for his family cafe while secretly being in love with Adam Reed, but now he’s done waiting; he decides he’s going to confess on live TV! Except… when things don’t go right, Ben hides away in Maywell Bay, California, to celebrate his grandma’s birthday. Only, he never expected that the very same indie rocker crush is here, hired as the musical entertainment by his grandma.
The Summer Between Us by Noreen Nanja
A tale of childhood sweethearts finding their way back to one another after a decade apart. Lia Juma is forced to return to her family’s summer cottage; after crafting her identity as the perfect immigrant daughter dating a man her mother approves of, she finds her confidence threatened when a secret of hers begins to come to light. Now back in her childhood home, her memories resurface from her young life, including her time with the boy she left behind, Wesley. The two shared a bright young love that was cut short by family pressures. But what will happen when Wes reappears back in her life? Will she risk taking a second chance with him?
The Design of Us by Sajni Patel
Fake dating and a weeklong summer adventure? Sign us up! Bhanu is going for a promotion with her grumpy competitor, Sunny (ironic, right?). However, her plans change when she sporadically claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend after witnessing him getting berated by his ex for still being single. Bhanu only did it out of moral kindness and for peace and quiet, but now she’s stuck pretending after his ex told everybody at the wedding party she was about to attend! With Sunny and Bhanu causing tension, hilarious banter, and quarreling like a practically real married couple, the two might just let their guards down. After all, what happens on the island stays on the island, right?
Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean
Who doesn’t love a good ol’ princess-and-bodyguard romance? Except Izumi Tanaka is a freshly made princess, literally. No one told her that her previously absent father was the Crown Prince of Japan! Raised only by her mother in her small town, Izumi’s world just got bigger when she learned she had to travel to Japan to meet the father she never knew and try on ball gowns and tiaras. With suspicious cousins, aggressive press, and a handsome bodyguard, she has to learn ancient customs pretty much overnight! Grappling with new changes along with the culture shock of being raised in American California to now living with Japanese royalty, Izumi will have to give it her all to live out her happily ever after.
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Evie Thomas discovered a secret, incredibly strange power within her. After witnessing a couple kiss, she has a vision that reveals exactly how their romance began and how it will end. With her newfound ability, Evie has begun to lose all hope in love; why should she, when they all seem to end with a broken heart? That is, until she meets X at the La Brea Dance Studio. Falling for him is not an option, but no one can really escape true love.
Happy Place by Emily Henry
In Happy Place, we follow a group of old friends, gathering as they do every year, to their friend’s vacation home in Maine. However, this year is different. This couple is no longer together. As they fake their last hoorah at vacation paradise, they get nostalgic over how they first met, fell in love, and ultimately broke up. And they need to pretend not to break their friends’ hearts. Tears, laughter, and a nagging question will hang over you like a sword of “will-they-won’t-they.” Harriet only wants to go back to her happy place, but maybe Wyn is that place?
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Nora, a hard-working literary agent, is tired of always being the “mean girl” in someone else’s story. She’s convinced by her best friend to head to a small town from their favorite novel for a little break. Unfortunately for Nora, you can take the girl out of the city, but never the city out of the girl. She realizes this when she meets Charlie, a book editor who gets on everyone’s last nerves, seemingly traveling to the same town for reasons of his own. Both are stubborn, driven, and maybe just what the other one needs (even when they are itching to snap each other’s necks).
My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey
In this one, Taylor, an elementary teacher, goes on vacation with her brother and finds some interesting things. One of these very interesting things is the dead body of her Airbnb landlord. Miles, a bounty hunter, shows up to solve this case but ends up with a true-crime-obsessed sunshine girl along the way.
Tessa Bailey does not fail on the steamy meter, so you have been warned; it’s a freaking sauna in this book. If you like a strange, dark-humored premise with a ketchup drizzle of actual suspense, this one is for you!
When in Rome by Sarah Adams
Amelia is burned out. As the “princess of pop,” she has a very needy image to maintain. So, while on her way to have a short break from the spotlight, her car breaks down on Noah’s front lawn. But Noah is a pie shop owner in this small town who isn’t exactly thrilled about having a pop star live with him. If you’re into grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, and rising expectations for men to meet Noah’s standards… then read this!
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Just for the Summer is about the one before “the one.” And these two, Emma and Justin, are cursed to always be just that, before the one. After a Reddit post, sliding up into his DMs, and realizing they aren’t the only ones with this curse, they both decide to enact a plan. They will break their curses by being each other’s one before “the one.” They will go on dates, kiss, and have an amicable break-up. Simple. Easy. Except… they might be falling for each other.
Summer is full of unexpected twists and turns, and these stories are your passport to a vacation filled with love, laughter, and delightful surprises. Add these books to your TBR list and sink into the pages. Trust me, you will not regret it!
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