Sunscreen? Packed. Cute sundress? Ready. Next-level book boyfriend? Say less. This summer’s romance lineup is serving swoony small towns, secret royals, forced proximity, fake dating, and at least one shape-shifting love triangle — basically everything you need to make your beach chair feel like a front-row seat to someone else’s best summer ever. Whether you’re into slow-burn enemies-to-lovers, sun-drenched second chances, or a good old-fashioned “there’s only one bed,” we’ve rounded up ten new releases that are hot, hopeful, and made for reading with sand between your toes. Grab your tote, pick your favourite, and soak up the season.
The Summer Share by Jenn McKinlay
Free-spirited travel influencer Hannah Spencer has spent five years touring the country in her vintage van, alone save for her hulking Great Dane, Dude. Until an unexpected inheritance from her pops has Hannah thinking about putting down roots in Cape Split, North Carolina, where she’s the new owner of a worse-for-wear seaside beach house. Or, rather, fifty percent of one. Turns out Simon O’Malley inherited the other half from his gramps.
As Simon and Hannah spend the summer tag-teaming repairs on the crumbling cottage, they discover it was once home to a timeless love story. As their own relationship shifts from enemies to friends to lovers, they begin to wonder if the house’s romantic past might be a good omen for their future together. But there’s one problem—Simon is set on selling the property at the end of the summer.
For Hannah, the Split isn’t like anyplace she’s ever been, and Simon isn’t like any man she’s ever known—she doesn’t want to let this new life go. She just needs Simon to see their budding relationship and this newfound community in the same way, or their first summer share might also be their last.
Chasing Summer by Frankie Scott
When down-on-love screenwriter Elise Hunter moves to idyllic Prince Edward County for the summer, the last thing she expects is to fall for not one but two attractive suitors. But will she find the kind of romance she’s so good at writing about? And if so, who will she choose?
Elise’s passion is making movies, but while she excels at writing romance, she’s not interested in dating losers just so she can be in a relationship—she has bigger plans.
Unfortunately, those plans fall through when she’s unexpectedly fired on set, right in front of Ben, the charming star. But a chance encounter with him during her sister’s bachelorette party presents an Ben offers to be her fake wedding date to appease her nightmare mother, if Elise will be the writing teacher at Ben’s family theatre camp in beautiful Prince Edward County. The deal is on!
She gives herself the summer to figure out who she wants to be, not to mention have some sexy experiences to fuel her writing. But on the day she moves into the idyllic lakefront summer cabin, she discovers that her neighbour is the first man she ever fell in love with. Dave is just as handsome as she remembers, but he also once ghosted her. Can she trust him again? Or is Ben the better choice?
As Elise tries to work through her unresolved feelings for Dave, her fake feelings for Ben start to feel real, leaving her torn between the love of her life and the opportunity to start over with someone new.
Rules for the Summer by Meghan Quinn
Renley Gossage has one shot to prove she’s more than Cape Meril’s favorite cautionary tale: restore her favorite candy shop before the town writes her off like they did her father. No help, no shortcuts, and definitely no rich men wielding engagement rings and making things messy.
Theo Williams never planned on ending up in Cape Meril. A drunken game of truth or dare turned into a botched online engagement, and now he’s across the ocean, escaping his father’s control with nothing but designer shoes, misplaced confidence, and a rental next door to Renley.
She’s practical, stubborn, and covered in paint. He’s posh, persistent, and willing to use a sander if it means earning her trust.
Between collapsing drywall, gossiping neighbors, and the chaotic schemes of Renley’s aunt, their forced proximity turns into something dangerously close to real.
Our Secret Summer by R.S. Grey
I’ve spent years stuck behind a desk, always doing the practical, predictable thing. But when my sister’s untimely death leaves me with her unfinished bucket list, I have no choice but to throw caution to the wind and hop on a flight to sunny Ibiza. Attempting to carpe my diem on the shores of the Spanish Mediterranean, I waste no time making new friends and finding work at a popular nightclub.
Living out my sister’s dream summer shouldn’t be hard with her bucket list as my guide:
Go surfing? Done.
Get a tattoo? If the list says so…
Fall in love?…Sorry, sis. No luck on that front.
That is, until I meet my surprisingly sexy boss Cristiano Moreno Winthrop. He’s completely off limits, but we can’t seem to stay away from each other. And between late-night talks, glittering parties on his yacht, and steamy stolen moments, I’m starting to think that I just might have found a way to finish that bucket list after all. But summer won’t last forever. Is what Cristiano and I have just a fling, or will it last beyond the season?
The Summer of Second Chances by K.L. Walther
Olivia Lupo feels stuck. All her friends have gone on to their first year of college while she’s still at home with her family. There’s a good reason though, her beloved grandmother, Annie, has dementia, and Olivia can’t bear the thought of being so far from home when Annie needs her the most.
So when her stepmother asks the family to spend three weeks of the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, Olivia plans to say no…until she discovers an old box Annie filled with photos and memories from her own time there. Olivia decides to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and spend some time on the island that Annie describes as magical.
When she arrives, she meets Connor, a boy from her past who really wants to be a part of her present… and future. Olivia’s never thought about forever with someone until meeting Connor…and it scares her. How can she make plans when all she wants to do is keep close to her grandmother before she’s gone forever? As she recreates the memories Annie made a lifetime ago, she has to decide if she’s finally willing to give someone her heart, just when she needs it the most.
Scandal of the Summer By Alexandra Vasti
Eccentric heiress Lady Ruby Ballimore has had enough of the Marriage Mart. After offending yet another Very Important Marquess―and imperiling her father’s diplomatic career―Ruby flees London for the holiday house of a glamorous (and better yet, absent) princess. Armed with a forged invitation and accompanied by her like-minded friends, Ruby arrives at the Cornwall estate expecting a summer of blissful freedom.
Instead, she discovers a derelict mansion and the most suspiciously charming man she’s ever met.
Former privateer and current con artist Captain Malcolm Archer has dragged his ramshackle crew into a new life. Posing as staff at a princess’s abandoned estate provides the perfect cover for Archer’s smuggling scheme (not to mention free rent). Everything’s going according to plan―until an unorthodox London heiress crashes the party.
But when Archer and his crew attempt to frighten off their uninvited guests, Ruby’s unfazed by insect invasions and sham sea monsters. Harder to ignore? The scorching heat between the rakish pirate and the debutante who can see right through him. As sparks fly, deceptions run wild―because in this Great Cornish Fake Off, the only thing riskier than telling the truth is falling in love.
The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest
Noelle Lewis doesn’t have time for long walks on the beach, brunch with the girls, or summer vacations. She’s too busy saving up to go back to college. After recently getting laid off from her bookseller job, her main gig is now serving as a “stand-in” bridesmaid, which doesn’t pay enough for the upcoming semester’s tuition. But then the perfect, if not unconventional, opportunity arises…
Jeremiah Smith II, grandson of the founder of Smith’s Sweets—a well-known baked goods company—once lived a life of frivolity. Since his grandfather’s death, Jeremiah’s tried to clean up his act, but it’s hard to focus when his family requests that he join them at their summer house in Heart Beach, New Jersey, where his most painful memory lies. To avoid going there, Jeremiah claims he already has plans with his girlfriend, and of course, his family tells him to bring her. The problem? Jeremiah doesn’t have a girlfriend.
After a chance meeting, Noelle and Jeremiah come to an agreement. He’ll hire her to be his stand-in girlfriend for the weekend, and she’ll use that money toward her tuition. She figures it will be quick, easy money, but as it turns out, Jeremiah’s family is lovely, and Jeremiah is even lovelier. Soon, a weekend agreement turns into an entire summer, and Noelle and Jeremiah will have to keep their hearts in check, or else it’s sink or swim for them both.
A Pack for Summer by Eliana Lee
The four of us. Under one roof. It’s going to be one hot summer.
Summer Pham has never been shy about going for what she wants. She’s just moved into a cute apartment and fulfilled her dream of opening her very own Vietnamese bakery.
Everything is perfect . . . as long as you ignore the fancy new patisserie next door and the water pipe that’s just burst and flooded her building. Faced with the prospect of no home and no bakery, a town meeting offers a lifeline: an offer to work and live alongside the Beaufort pack brothers, who are only in town for the summer.
Lucien, a high-powered executive and eldest alpha brother.
Mercer, the grumpy beta pastry chef she now has to share a kitchen with.
And Jae, her tattooed alpha childhood crush, all grown up.
It’s the first time the brothers have been together since the breakdown of their childhood pack. With temperatures soaring and chemistry sizzling with the omega in their home, it doesn’t take much for the temporary living situation to turn into a friends-with-benefits arrangement.
But hazy summer days are fleeting and when tragedy strikes, Summer may need what they cannot give her—a pack.
Three Summers by Karen Swan
Tricase Porto, Puglia, Italy
1957: The summer of innocence
Amongst the lemon trees, Rafaella Parisi impatiently waits for the summer visitors to arrive in her small fishing village on the coast of Puglia. She may be dating Fon Gianelli, but there is one person she longs to Cosimo – son of the wealthy Franchetti family.
1958: The summer everything changed
After a devastating accident at the lavish Franchetti villa, Rafa makes a vow that changes the course of all their futures…
1961: The summer they met again…
And when Rafa and Cosi’s lives collide, Rafa must decide if she’s willing to risk the life she has built for the future she might have had…
Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez
Four years after graduation, life isn’t going the way Camille Luna expected. Her corporate career is soul-sucking, she’s in debt from student loans, and her breakup with her ex has created a serious rift between her college best friends. When her spiraling lands her in jail for the night, it’s Danny Brennan —the lovable burnout from their college clique— who bails her out and offers the perfect solution to her quarter-life crisis: a summer by the beach.
Cam is whisked away to Elswick, Rhode Island, where former slacker Danny has taken over his uncle’s restaurant and turned it into a seaside hotspot. But while Danny has grown into a devoted boss and dog dad, his carpe diem life philosophy is still as fiery as ever. The hazy summer days start to blur between shifts at the restaurant, dips in the ocean, and a reignited passion for writing, all alongside Danny who makes her laugh like nobody else. Cam can’t help but wonder —is it the salty waves that have her feeling so renewed, or is it the carefree friend she always overlooked? But summer can’t last forever, and Cam’s looming student debt reminds her at every turn that the frigid air of corporate office life is waiting.
As September approaches, Cam must decide between snuffing out the flames with Danny in order to keep her beloved friend group together and return to the corporate grind—or falling into his forbidden arms and setting her old life ablaze.
