I was slumping hard this whole year. Audiobooks were my saving grace because my eyes were not on books (they were on movies, but that’s a whole other conversation). Even that wasn’t cutting it anymore for me though. However the last six weeks I have been ON A ROLL!!! In an effort to be my kind and generous self, I decided to share some of the books I’ve read over the last month in case you too have been hit with the non-reader bug. Save your bookworm heart with these summer romances!
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Daphne loves her fiancé Peter so much that she moved to Waning Bay, Michigan without friends or family to be with him. She did get her dream job as a children’s librarian though! Next thing she knows, Peter realizes he’s in love with his childhood best friend Petra. Now stuck in town alone and with nowhere to go, she and Petra’s ex-boyfriend Miles become roommates. “Scruffy and chaotic” Miles is completely at odds with perfectly practical Daphne, but they make it work by mostly avoiding each other. Until one thing leads to another and they hatch a plan to sort of fake date?? But is it all fake?
Let’s kick this list off with the novel that started it all. My saving grace! 🙌🏼 I absolutely devoured this book. You may or may not know that I have a… complicated relationship with Emily Henry’s novels. I started my journey off with Beach Read back in 2021 and fell in love. Since then, I’ve enjoyed her novels a little less each time, but I refused to give up! And now four novels later, that same love I felt the first time came back to me.
Funny Story is like reuniting with an old friend. It shares so much with Beach Read while remaining a beautiful love story of its own. Let’s call them siblings, shall we? They share the same DNA and they look pretty similar, but then once you get to know them you can see all the ways in which they are different and shine uniquely.
You will absolutely go through ALL the emotions reading this novel. I was screaming, giggling, kicking my feet, jumping around, and holding back tears. If you want to get the true reader experience, pick up this summer romance next because it is sure to tick all of your boxes.
I also want to give a super special shoutout to one Mr. Miles Nowak because he is so 👀!! I have a lot of really positive feelings about this particular book boyfriend so here are two quotes from early in the novel to help you get a better sense:
“Miles is the other kind. The kind that’s disarming enough that you don’t feel nervous talking to him, or like you need to show your best angle, until–wham! Suddenly, he’s smiling at you with his messy hair and impish smirk, and you realize his hotness has been boiling around you so slowly you missed it.”
–Emily Henry
“Miles looks kind of like the guy from high school who intentionally failed his senior year to stick around for awhile, then started selling bootleg cologne out of the trunk of his car in the mall parking lot.”
–Emily Henry
MY RATING: 4 1/2⭐️
You can also revisit what my thoughts and hopes were for this novel back when it was announced last year by checking out my blog post here. I titled it “Emily Henry: A Chance at Redemption?” so… am I psychic or do I just have really good book vibes?? 👀
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.
Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.
It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?
When in doubt, choose a summer romance that has the word “summer” in the title! This is actually the third installment in the Part of Your World series which I didn’t even realize until I logged it on goodreads. All the novels are standalones, so you don’t really need to read the previous two in order to enjoy this. However, I will say that the characters from the previous novels are expertly woven into the plot and I feel that you would be missing some of the impact that this story has without having the previous knowledge of Part of Your World and Yours Truly. (Yours Truly being my personal favorite of the trio–you can read my Goodreads review for it here).
So now let’s get into the novel itself. This is THE DEFINITION of “if he wanted to, he would.” Justin is truly someone special (even with, or maybe in spite of, his first name being Justin). If you’re looking to read a story with an MMC that’s giving golden retriever boyfriend energy and a “he falls first” romance, this may just be the one for you. The premise this romance is built on did take some getting used to though. I spent most of the beginning just comparing it to that movie Good Luck Chuck, which did throw me off and make me a little hesitant to stick with it. I am glad I did though because as the relationship unfolds, this novel evolves into something so much richer. You fall in love with Justin, you understand Emma and watch her blossom while dealing with the trauma of her upbringing, and you bare witness to how families can come together and strengthen.
This was, in all honesty, my least favorite of Jimenez’s series and it lacked those giddy feet-kicking, heart-pounding, and gasp-worthy moments that Funny Story had for me. However, I do think it is a solid summer romance with beautiful themes of family and friendship woven throughout. It’s worth at least checking it out and giving it a try this summer.
MY RATING: 3.75⭐️
The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
Beckett,
If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride.
My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help. So if I’m gone, that means I can’t be there for Ella. I can’t help them through this. But you can. So I’m begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family. Please don’t make her go through it alone.
Ryan
This one is for all my fellow angsty girlies!😭
I went into this novel for the cliche romance, almost stopped reading it because it seemed like a copy of The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (I didn’t read it but I watched the movie for Zac Efron), and I’m glad I continued because of all the ways it was different. This is a story of love. Love of a friend, love of a partner, and maybe even mostly the love a parent has for their kids. It was truly beautiful in so many ways.
However, I haven’t felt so betrayed since I watched The Bridge to Terabithia as a kid. The TRAUMA of it all! I was literally ugly crying and sobbing my heart out while reading this. This might be one of the most soul-crushing novels I’ve read simply for the fact that I wasn’t expecting it. (If you want to know about the actual top of the list of soul-crushing novels then go read my review of A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara. But at least with that, I knew going into that I would be devastated.) I will say I felt somewhat personally connected to some aspects of this novel so maybe it just hit me a little too close to home. If you do read it, let me know if it made you cry though! Then go read one of the other, much happier, summer romances on this list to ease the depression.
Before moving on to the next book, I want to take a moment here to share a quote that’ll either sell you on reading this or not? This is how Beckett is described early on and I was like OKAY I FEEL SEEN!😂
“He has that whole super-strong, broody, secret pain kind of look.”
–Rebecca Yarros
MY RATING: 4⭐️
Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata
Ruby Santos knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she signed up to write a soldier overseas. The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional. Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect. What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.
This one is a little different because I’ve recommended Dear Aaron before, but I just reread it after three years and it still totally hits. It might not be the most exciting novel to read, but if you’re looking for a warm, fluffy, low-stakes summer romance, this is the perfect palate cleanser! (I read this right after The Last Letter to cure my book depression.)
Most of this is written as an epistolary (through letters and emails and messages), which I enjoy and it makes this a really quick read for a 500-page book. Ruby and Aaron’s relationship develops slowly (shout out to slow-burns!), but it’s just so soft and sweet. Different from my usual cup of tea, this penpals-to friends-to-lovers romance is very much focused on the couple and the side plots are fairly minimal. Some might find this boring, but I suggest you give it a try to see what you think.
While Mariana Zapata is a popular author, this is a book I never hear people talking about. But one of her most popular novels, From Lukov with Love, is actually a sequel to this and follows Ruby’s sister Jasmine. I have yet to read it, but I look forward to picking it up at some point. If you happen to have it on your TBR, consider picking up Dear Aaron first.
I’ll leave you with a non-spoilery quote from deep in this novel that I love.
“Looking back on it, it’s weird thinking about the moments you don’t realize are important. The sentences, the touches, the actions that seem so innocent in that second, you take them for granted. The words that make water into wine in the course of your life. But I would never forget the way his words made me feel. The way he made me feel right then.”
–Mariana Zapata
MY RATING: 5⭐️
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
Annie Walker is on a quest to find her perfect match–someone who complements her happy, quiet life running the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky. But finding her dream man may be harder than Annie imagined… After she overhears her latest date say she is “so unbelievably boring,” Annie starts to think the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favorite romance movies? Maybe she only needs a little practice… and Annie has the perfect person in mind to be her tutor: Will Griffin.
Will–the sexy, tattooed, and absolutely gorgeous bodyguard–is temporarily back in Rome… He has one personal objective while on the job: stay away from Annie Walker and any other possible attachments to this sleepy town. But no sooner than he gets settled, Will finds himself tasked with helping Annie find the love of her life.
Amid steamy practice dates and strictly “educational” tutoring lessons, Annie discovers there are more layers to Will’s usual stoic attitude. As the lines of their friendship become dangerously blurred, Annie reconsiders her dream guy. Maybe her love life doesn’t need to be perfect–it just needs to be real.
This is book #2 of the When in Rome series, but I haven’t read the first book and I’m not sure I plan to. Practice Makes Perfect just called to me and I answered gladly. It was pitched by multiple people as a perfect bad boy/good girl romance for lovers of Rory and Jess from Gilmore Girls. If you know me, you know I’m a Jess girly👀 However, I was sorely disappointed by the fact that there weren’t very many similarities at all to one of my favorite childhood couples. Though I did see many sometimes very clear similarities to a few different movies: A Walk to Remember (my favorite Nicholas Sparks movie and one in which several direct scenes felt copied and pasted into Adams’ novel), Through My Window (sorry but don’t read Ariana Godoy’s painful novel when you can watch the Netflix adaptation and picture Ares as the MMC in this novel instead), and some vibes from The Duff. There also has to be a special shoutout for the VERY OBVIOUS Lorelai/Luke moment later in the novel.
Now all of this is not to say I didn’t enjoy the novel. I loved so many specific moments and the character interactions were top-tier. But I didn’t fall in love with the novel. If you go into this without too many expectations, you can enjoy the ride for what it is. Also… don’t expect a realistic ending at all because you will not get it. Who needs total realism in summer romances anyway?
MY RATING: A tentative 4⭐️
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
Anna Green married Liam “West” Weston to gain access to family housing while attending UCLA. She also thought she and West divorced as soon as they both graduated and moved out.
Three years later, Anna is an artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He also happens to be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate. She only finds out when he shows up at her door asking for her help in getting his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. It turns out his dear old grandfather’s will states that West must be happily married for five years before receiving the money. He’s been keeping up the ruse with his family all this time, but just before the five years are up he’s forced to give in to his family’s pressure to meet the mysterious spouse.
Now unpolished and almost stranger Anna must act as West’s wife and fool his entire family at his sister’s destination wedding. Can Anna play the part while among the toxic world of wealth? Can West hold it together long enough to receive his inheritance? Or will he crumble at the finish line when he starts falling for Anna?
Ah, my favorite writing duo. They rarely disappoint and this has got to be one of my favorites by them. I’m going to be 100% honest with you dear reader. I just finished writing my Goodreads review which I’m really happy with. So happy in fact that I’m pretty much just going to copy it here for you to enjoy xoxo 🙃 (Follow or friend me on goodreads for all the exclusive updates on my reading and to see all my book highlights/notes!)
Now what can I say about this book?🤔 I had an absolute blast reading it for one. There’s so much humor, off-the-charts chemistry, beautifully written heartfelt moments, and lots of sexual tension. What else could a girl ask for??? I do feel like the 🌶️ in this book went up a notch compared to some of the other Christina Laurens I’ve read. So as long as you don’t mind that, jump in with both feet!
Next let’s talk about West Weston…👀 Does he have issues? Yes, of course. Do these issues in any way hinder him from being near the top of my list of book boyfriends/husbands? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I love him period💚 Here’s a quote about him from Anna’s POV at the very beginning of the novel:
“He smiles, and his face absolutely opens up when it happens. I wonder why he doesn’t do it more. Maybe he does, actually. I barely even see him.”
–Christina Lauren
Is the plot of this book a little convoluted? Yes, but if you kind of squint your eyes through that and let yourself dive fully into the romance of it all I don’t think you’ll care all that much. The ending was all a bit rushed and too neat in my opinion, but I was too anxious about it to want it to stretch on for longer than it did so… good job?
This is once again another summer romance with a side of shitty parents and familial trauma (shoutout to Funny Story and Just for the Summer). Three books makes it a 2024 trend at this point right?
Finally, if you at all enjoy the films Pretty Woman, The Proposal, or The Wedding Date (which I admittedly haven’t watched in a decade) then YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ THIS!
MY RATING: 4⭐️ (but with like a little extra emphasis!)
I’ve had a really wonderful month and a half of reading all these contemporaries. I hope that among this list of summer romances you’re able to find a few to pick up and fall in love with as well. Please let me know your thoughts if you read any of them and also feel free to comment any summer reading suggestions below!
