Summer Lovin’ Had Me a Blast!

Did you know August is Read a Romance Month? It’s been celebrated since 2013, and was created for readers to celebrate their love of reading about love. The first romance book was written by a man in 1740. Samuel Richardson wrote a novel called

Did you know August is Read a Romance Month? It’s been celebrated since 2013, and was created for readers to celebrate their love of reading about love. The first romance book was written by a man in 1740. Samuel Richardson wrote a novel called Pamela, a love story about a maid and her land-owning master.  Romance books have come a long way since then! There are many sub genres to choose from including romantic comedy (aka rom-coms), historical, contemporary, regency, paranormal, and fantasy. Choices that will appeal to everyone. I say there’s nothing like being at the beach and reading a fun, light hearted contemporary romance book!

Here are some of my favorite beach reads!                                                                         

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune  

"Five summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right. A magazine writer has to make a choice when she returns to the lake she grew up on, and to the man she thought she'd never have to live without. They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser that has felt too true for the last decade, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life.” -- Provided by publisher.

Every Summer After is the first book in a three book series and I recommend all of them!

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 soulmate 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. 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?” -- Provided by publisher.

Abby Jimenez is one of my favorite romance authors and this book is the third book in the series. It can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend this series and all her books!

 

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey 

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father's dive bar... in Washington. Piper hasn't even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won't last a week outside of Beverly Hills. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there's an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn't want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan -- and this town full of memories -- may have already caught her heart”. -- Provided by publisher.

If you like this novel, read the sequel Hook Line and Sinker about Piper’s sister Hannah.  

Happy Place by Emily Henry 

"A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry. Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college-they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now-for reasons they're still not discussing-they don't. They broke up six months ago. And still haven't told their best friends. Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group's yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most. Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they'll all have together in this place. They can't stand to break their friends' hearts, and so they'll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It's a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week...in front of those who know you best?"-- Provided by publisher.

Emily Henry is a fun author of summer standalone beach reads and I recommend reading all of them!

 

Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren 

"Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam "West" Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There's just one catch. Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather's will, Liam won't see a penny until he's been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he's in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he's afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents - his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie"-- Provided by publisher.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren 

Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion ... she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas. Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren't affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there's a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo. Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is . . . Olive doesn't mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.” -- Provided by publisher.

Christina Lauren is actually two best friends that write fun romance novels together. I recommend their other books too!  

Happy reading! 

-by Jodi, Hopewell Branch