Summer Romance Must Reads
The Perfect Summer Beach Reads List
Whether you’re reading at the beach, by the pool, or at your desk during lunch, you cannot be left without a good summer read.
As the resident Queen of Summer, I’m a reliable resource for summer romances. From reading at the beach to reading in bed with the window open, there’s no wrong way to read a summer book.
I have three requirements for a summer read. These aren’t hard requirements, and a book can still satisfy without having all three, but when you hit all three on the nose, it feels like magic!
Requirements for a perfect summer read:
Unrealistic romance scenario
summertime/beach setting
YEARNING
I think it’s the yearning that makes a book perfect for summer. It doesn’t need to be summer to enjoy a nice romance, but add in yearning and the warm sun? Nothing beats it.
If you haven’t noticed yet, I tend to be a niche reader, so I’ve outsourced another writer to give some fresh insight on the must-read summer romances I might have missed.
As a pool manager for the last three years, Gretchen knows a thing or two about reading books by the pool. Gretchen is a romance girl through and through, even if she leaves out some of her romance books from her Goodreads. Her word is law, so if she says read it, well, you better.
We’ve been reading romance almost for too long, so if you find any TikTok romances on this list, and know that we read them first!
With our combined knowledge, we present to you the most thorough and reliable list of summer must-reads (better than the one you’ll find on Google).
Summer Romances You Can’t Skip
(1-5 by Julia 6-10 by Gretchen <3)
Hot Summer by Elle Everhart
Hot Summer was the addictive romance I needed in between my sci-fi series. Our main character is told she needs to go and be a contestant on a popular summer reality dating show in order to get the job promotion she wants. Unrealistic romance scenario? Check!
Cas is sent to an island for an 8-week summer vacation filled with hot men and women. Summertime setting? Check!
Cas is the first contestant to arrive at the villa, and of course, the first person she lays her eyes on instantly entrances her. Over eight weeks, we get to watch Cas and her love interest dance around the will we, won’t we question. As cheesy as it was, I was on the edge of my seat!
On top of yearning for romance, I loved the characters and friendships in this book. The author explores Cas’s commitment issues and inability to open up to people by sprinkling in sweet and affectionate friendships throughout her summer.
This book is a delicious combination of finding yourself and finding your one true love. Definitely add this one to your list!
Charmed Offensive by Alison Cochrun
When I say I read niche books, here’s another summer reality show romance!
Charmed Offensive follows our main character Dev. Dev loves romance and fairytales so much that he works on a bachelor-themed reality show called Ever After. The show is fairytale-themed and, like The Bachelor, focuses on finding the contestants’ one true love.
Dev is instantly charmed, if not a little exasperated, with Ever After’s newest prince charming: Charlie Winshaw. Charlie is a mess the minute he enters the show, and as it has to be, Dev is the only one who can calm him down enough to get the show running somewhat smoothly. Unrealistic romance scenario? Check!
Over the course of filming, Dev and the cast of Ever After fly from one picturesque destination to another. Did someone say beach setting? Check!
My favorite part of this book is how Cochrun mixes in complex plot points and personal struggles with a fun and flirty romance story. She explores anxiety disorders and depression in modern society and the stigma that comes with them. I loved watching Charlie and Dev navigate their own struggles while simultaneously helping each other work through their struggles too. The book also dives into homophobia themes and how subtle aggressions can unbalance everything.
And let’s not forget yearning. Did someone say yearning? Charlie and Dev definitely did! The lustful gazes and silent pining between these two characters make this book perfect for a light summer read!
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
We’re taking a complete 180 flip with this Judy Blume book. Truthfully, this book barely hits any of my three requirements, but it felt illegal not to include this book.
Summer Sisters is less of a summer romance and more of a summer story between two best friends. Summer brought Vix and Caitlin together, and for better or for worse, their friendship outlived their summers in Martha’s Vineyard together. Summer setting? Check!
Unlike our other books on this list, this one trickles in romance as a subplot, leaving room for complex and lengthy plotlines between our two best friends. One thing I love more than a romance storyline is a friendship storyline, and this book is all about that.
Blume wrote a story about two unlikely friends and a relationship based on lust, excitement, and lies. Everything a strong friendship needs!
This book is filled with yearning, but it’s between Vix and Caitlin. Yearning for each other, yearning for satisfaction, yearning for something to fill the large void they both feel in their chests.
This felt like a good summer read, not just because it takes place on Martha’s Vineyard, but it’s reminiscent of growing up in a shoretown. I love a summer book that makes me yearn for growing up at the beach. I loved this book and recommend it!
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
Like I said earlier, I don’t tend to read too many popular authors. Not because I want to be different, but because I’m very picky when it comes to my book choices. Elin Hilderbrand’s dozens and dozens of books are some of romance readers’ favorite summer reads, and while I can agree her stories are addictive, I haven’t felt the urge to work my way through her books.
However, I read 28 Summers about two years ago, and was seriously sucked in from the beginning.
This book hits all three requirements right off the bat: summer setting, unrealistic romance, and yearning. Gosh, the yearning.
This book follows Mallory and Jake and their friendship/relationship over almost two decades. To feed perfectly into the summer theme, Mallory and Jake meet at the beach, then every summer after meet up once a year at the beach. What could be more romantic and summery?
I loved how this was a simple romance. There weren’t any complex themes or depths to the book, which I think comes with a Hilderbrand book.
I’ve read some other Hilderbrand books and was less than impressed. Some of them really gave straight white author with nothing but straight, white stories to tell. If you needed to pick one book from her list, I’d recommend this one!
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
I figured I’d add one YA book to my list, and if there’s any I recommend, it’s this one.
This is the perfect boy next door story to make you giggle and kick your feet while lying out at the beach.
Samantha is the perfect rich girl from the perfect family. Jase Garret’s family is the opposite: loud and dysfunctional. Samantha’s mom raised her to think families should be quiet and perfectly behaved, but growing up next to the Garret’s, Samantha yearns for something different.
This book reeks of yearning between our two main characters, and it’ll make you wish you were 17 again and falling in love for the first time. Samantha and Jase fall head over heels during the summer, making this the perfect cutsie summer romance book!
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Emily Henry is definitely one of the most popular authors on this list so far, but I will never stop recommending her. While there is always an element of romance, I believe she is even better at depicting the complicated reality of familial relationships. The general writing is also gorgeous.
In this book, January, a fellow romance girly, has received her final warning from her publisher to write another book by the end of the summer. Only after discovering a jarring family secret, she’s facing major writer’s block when it comes to happily ever afters.
Enter Gus, January’s surprise next door neighbor on Lake Michigan, and past academic rival from grad school. Turns out, Gus is also trying to write his next book, and what better motivation to get writing than to have a competition to see who can write a bestseller by summer's end.
The twist is that they trade genres—January has to write some dark literary fiction, and Gus has to write a light romance. Of course, Gus believes that it will be easy.
Right, and name one straight man who has written a great romance novel. Yeah, I’ll wait.
Each week, they give each other pointers on how to find inspiration for their respective genres, and naturally, this leads to cute interactions and lots of stolen glances through the windows facing each other's kitchens while in their writing frenzy.
Gus is just the definition of a yearning man, and that is always something we love to see. The side characters are also treasures that give this a great balance of fun and introspective.
I’d recommend any of Em Hen’s books, but this is definitely the best for…I’m going to say it…a beach read!
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
I will never be convinced that there is a greater master of yearning than Mariana Zapata. This might not be a typical summer romance—it actually takes place over the course of six months—but I think the small town in Colorado still has summer vibes. There may not be a beach, but there are waterfalls and lakes, and most importantly, yearning.
And when I say yearning, I mean this book is 400+ pages of the slowest burn you will ever read, and it is glorious.
The main character, Aurora, moves back to her hometown for the first time in over a decade, her car packed with all her belongings as she creates some distance between herself and a toxic situation. With the tourists taking up all the proper AirBnbs, the only option left is a garage apartment on a remote property.
This is where the unlikely scenario comes in; you’d never catch me staying in a random man’s garage while he’s on the premises. But after a little misunderstanding with the man’s son, (this wasn’t an approved rental listing, the teenager just wanted some quick cash) the owner of the house, Rhodes, agrees to let Aurora stay.
Aurora’s goal is to follow her mother’s old hiking journals throughout the beautiful Colorado landscape, and what better person to help her prepare for the outdoors than the reluctant park ranger living across the driveway.
I love this not only for the bond that grows between Aurora and Rhodes, but also with Amos, the shy teen who accepts Aurora’s help with his music.
The author also develops Aurora really well, from her secretive past to the tragic experience of losing her mother. In the midst of the romance, it’s also just great being with Aurora while she reforges connections from her childhood and adjusts back to the outdoorsy life.
If you’re looking for a slow burn while you’re slowly burning on the beach, I absolutely recommend.
Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
This is a YA romance, and it is so cute and so summer! This takes us back to lighthearted and fun, which is always refreshing in a summer read.
Before she starts college, Bailey moves in with her Dad in California for the summer to get a change of pace in the idyllic beach town.
It also happens to be where her online best friend “Alex” lives. The two have been chatting online for years and connected over their love of classic films. Bailey hasn’t told Alex that she’s in town, but she’s hoping to surprise him at the end of the summer at the classic movie festival.
Until then, she needs a summer job, and a local museum of oddities is the perfectly imperfect place to meet other teens and discover if she wants to be a museum curator post-grad. What she didn’t expect was to meet Porter, a security guard at the museum and a surfer boy (cute) who both antagonizes her and excites her. Bailey struggles between the pull she feels towards Porter and the crush she’s had on Alex for years. One thing about a good YA is that there will always be insane yearning!
I’m going to say this meets all of Julia’s requirements, because the odds nowadays are that the man Bailey was talking to online was a 50-year-old catfishing as a high schooler. Luckily, that is not the case, but kind of unrealistic!
After the Kiss by Lauren Layne
This isn’t what I would consider to be a typical beachy “summer” romance, but it does take place over the summer! I’ll also take any opportunity to mention this because I never see anyone talk about these books. This is the first in a series by Lauren Layne about a group of women’s magazine writers in New York City. I don’t think I dislike a single one of these books, and they’re a decent length, funny, and essentially perfect for binge reading during a week at the beach.
Julie is the first character we meet, and she specializes in writing tips about first dates and the perfect start to a relationship. However, her editor challenges her to write a piece about what happens after the “honeymoon” phase of a relationship, which would be fine…if Julie had ever gotten past that point before.
Then, Julie meets Mitchell, a classic Wall Street type who screams long-term relationship (unrealistic, check!) and Julie’s friends bet that she’ll be able to instantly lock this man down for a couple of months to write her article. Unbeknownst to her, Mitchell has entered a similar bet that he could have a fun fling without getting serious. The couple is essentially working against each other, but that just makes it all the more fun.
This is just so lighthearted and easy, but also has good characters and important portrayals of insecurities in new relationships and learning how to open up with new people. The characters start out a little bit flat as they’re introduced, but that does not last long. The writing is also a hundred percent better than most TikTok-advertised books.
Some of the tropes of the other books include: fake-dating, brother’s best friend, and second-chance romance. These are some of my comfort romances for sure, and I think they’re perfect for summer! (Like please give this author some love, I’ll beg you!)
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Last, we have the final boss of summer reads. Yes, the show is coming out, so this has become much more mainstream now, but you don’t understand–we were there when this was written (way before -julia).
Every year, Belly spends summers with her family friends at their Massachusetts beach house. Every. Year. Meaning Belly had to go through every awkward phase of her life with the sons of her mom’s best friend. But this year, she’s had a major glow up, and for the first time, Conrad and Jeremiah start to notice Belly as more than just their childhood family friend.
This is the beginning of a three-book journey that is the definition of a classic summer must-read. It is full of angsty yearning, first loves, and heartbreak.
Team Conrad for life, sorry, Julia. I’m pretty sure he’s the reason I’m obsessed with brooding men in my adult romance now.
Julia's side note–Gretchen and I understand this series more than any of you will. We didn’t read this in our 20s, we read it when we were young and impressionable. This series shaped me, and I’m not even kidding.
Final Notes
We hope you like our list and find it resourceful! You’ll never find a more perfect summer beach read list because Gretchen and I really know what we’re talking about.
I’ll be traveling again this summer, so keep an eye out for new Julia Is Traveling blogs!
Love you and happy summer! xxx
