The top 10 summer romance books of all time

The weather isn’t the only thing heating up this summer. As the temperatures increase, summer reading lists should follow suit. And what better way to spend your sun-drenched days than by reading a romance book?

There are romance books , and then there are summer romance books. The latter takes place during the hotter weather months, transporting readers anywhere from the coast of New England to tropical resorts. Protagonists typically fall in love with each other amid a breezy seaside atmosphere or against the backdrop of a woodsy lake house. Whether you’re into second-chance romances or the enemies-to-lovers trope, the following 10 titles all have one major thing in common: they undoubtedly deserve a spot in your beach tote bag this summer.

For our top 10 picks of the best summer romance novels of all time, keep scrolling.

The Paradise Problem, by Christina Lauren

The Paradise Problem will appeal to anyone who A) loves a well-executed fake-dating scheme and B) can’t get enough of rich people drama à la Succession or The White Lotus. As students at UCLA, Anna, an unemployed artist who lives paycheck to paycheck, married Liam, now a Stanford University professor whose family runs a mega supermarket dynasty, to receive subsidised housing. After graduating, the two parted ways, with Anna believing that she had signed the divorce papers to legally end their marriage. Three years later, Liam is hoping to inherit $100 million from his grandfather, but a stipulation that requires him to be married for five years complicates matters. Now, Liam must convince his entire family that he and his not-exactly-divorced wife are happily together.

Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry

Alice Scott, a staff writer for a buzzy digital publication, thinks she has finally hit the jackpot after she tracked down Margaret Ives, an heiress and former tabloid princess who suddenly disappeared from the public eye decades ago. Armed with her signature charm and optimistic attitude, Alice believes she can convince Margaret to let her write her official biography. The only problem? Hayden Anderson, a writer with a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography under his belt, is also vying for the job. Margaret decides to put Alice and Hayden on a trial period, meaning that the two will be forced to live in Margaret’s secluded Georgian community on Little Crescent Island for at least a month.

Never Been Shipped, by Alicia Thompson

Childhood friends and musicians Micah and John used to be inseparable, until romantic tensions broke up their band—and their friendship. Over a decade later, the band decides to get back together for a special one-time reunion performance on a cruise ship. Now, it’s up to Micah and John to decide whether or not the spark between them can live on land, or if they should let their relationship sail away into the sunset.

One Last Summer, by Kristin Keppler

As Emerson waits to hear back about her application for an internship at a prestigious architectural studio in Paris, she decides to spend the summer with her aunt and uncle in North Carolina, where she knows she can reliably count on a waitressing job at the beach and a casual fling with a townie named Peyton to distract her. Increasingly anxious about her future, Emerson turns to her coworker, Alice, for surfing lessons. What was meant to be a summer distraction spins out into new and surprising feelings for Emerson, who must now decide how her relationship with Alice fits into the future she initially dreamt of for herself.

Every Summer After, by Carley Fortune

Persephone “Percy” Fraser spent her summers at her parents’ lake cabin, where her best friend, Sam Florek, lived next door. Over the course of six summers, their friendship eventually evolved into a meaningful and intense relationship—until, one day, it all came crashing down. More than a decade later, a tragic event compels Percy to finally return to Barry’s Bay, where she must come face to face with the decisions that wrested her apart from Sam.

Park Row Honey Girl, by Morgan Rogers

Whoever thinks coming-of-age stories can’t happen to people in their late 20s needs to read Honey Girl. After earning her PhD in astronomy, Grace Porter decides to celebrate her achievement by embarking on a girls’ trip to Las Vegas. The trip has a slight hiccup when Grace wakes up from a drunken night out, married to a girl whose name she hardly remembers. The matrimonial mishap drives her off the tracks of the life her ex-military father had planned for her. Instead of facing reality, Grace heads to New York with Yuki Yamamoto, her newly-minted wife, where they spend the summer falling head-over-heels for each other.

It’s a Love Story, by Annabel Monaghan

Former-childhood-star-turned-studio-executive Jane Jackson is desperate to get her film green-lit—so desperate, in fact, that she’s willing to lie to get the project off the ground. Jane claims that she can get an original song from Jack Quinlan, the hottest pop star on the scene, who just so happened to be Jane’s first kiss, for the soundtrack. Now, Jane must track down Jack and convince him to help her out, despite the fact that they haven’t spoken in years. To make matters worse, Jane must seek assistance from the arrogant cinematographer Dan Finnegan, whose Long Island hometown is the site of a music festival Jack is scheduled to play.

The Summers Between Us, by Noreen Nanja

This dual-timeline novel follows Lia and Wes, former childhood best friends who used to spend their summers together at the lakeside community of Pike Bay. When Lia returns to her family’s cottage in order to care for her niece, she unexpectedly comes across Wes once more. The reunion dredges up old memories and feelings, forcing Lia to learn how to balance familial expectations with her heart’s greatest desires.

Sourcebooks Fire The Summer of Broken Rules, by K L Walther

Meredith typically spends her summers with her family at Martha’s Vineyard, but this summer is especially strained for three major reasons: 1) the entire family is reuniting for her cousin’s wedding, 2) her boyfriend just dumped her, and 3) it’s her first time back since her sister died. While navigating this rocky emotional landscape, Meredith can at least look forward to Assassin, a multi-player game that has become something of a family tradition. As the game gets played throughout the week, she finds herself targeting—and getting drawn towards—one particular groomsman.

Just for the Summer, by Abby Jimenez

The third standalone instalment of Abby Jimenez’s Part of Your World series follows Justin, an engineer who finds that every woman he dates ends up meeting their soulmate right after they break up. Justin takes his dating predicament to Reddit, where he catches the attention of Emma, a travelling nurse who just so happens to have the same problem. Emma reaches out to Justin with a proposal: they should date each other and break up, thus cancelling out each other’s respective bad luck. Instead, the two find that maybe they’re exactly what the other person has been looking for all along.

Lead image collage by Sarah Olivieri

This article first appeared on www.harpersbazaar.com

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