10 Must-Read Summer Romance Books of 2024
There’s nothing like falling in love in the summer or reading a summer romance book to give you all the feels. If you’re looking for the must-read summer romance books of 2024 then I’ve got the ultimate list for you.
These are my top 10 summer reads of 2024 that should secure a place on your TBR list whether you take them along with you to the beach, the pool, a trip or just crack open for a summer staycation this year.
Check out the best summer romance books of 2024 or the podcast episode below and then visit my Summer Reading Hub for even more romance book recommendations to read this summer.
Podcast Episode 52: Best Summer Romance Books of 2024
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Be sure to also join the She Reads Romance Books Book Club where you can participate in Passport to Romance – a fun game to encourage you to read summer romances all season with a chance to win my A Year of Reading Romance Card Deck.
Happy reading…because life is better with a love story!
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Best Summer Romance Books of 2024
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?
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: This is a must-read for the summer because Abby just slays with this book. I love a good fake relationship romance but she packs a lot into this one that will have you feeling all the feels.
The adorable book cover may give off cute summer romcom vibes, but it’s actually a heavier story if I’m being honest. I loved the idea that these two characters have a curse that they want to break and they think they can break it by fake dating for the summer and of course not catch feelings for one another in the process.
This book is about one special summer that completely changes Emma and Justin’s lives forever. It was one of my most anticipated romance books of 2024 and it totally delivers. I cannot recommend it enough.
Check out my book review of Just for the Summer.
Related: Best Guardian Ward Relationship Books
This Summer Will Be Different
by Carley Fortune
This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won’t give into temptation. This summer will be different.
Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.
It’s easier said than done.
Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.
If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.
When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to.
But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: If you’d like to take a staycation to Canada, specifically Prince Edward Island then this is your book. This is on my list of must-read summer romances because that’s what Carley does, she produces the must-read book of the summer.
Plus, this one takes you to a cool location and includes a love story where the heroine and hero fall for each other every summer they are together when they’re trying not to be.
If you love forbidden romance, forced proximity or just want to find out how this summer will be different for Lucy and Felix then check out Carley Fortune’s latest.
Check out my book review of This Summer Will Be Different.
Related: Carley Fortune Books in Order
Seven Summers
by Paige Toon
Six summers to fall in love. One summer to change everything.
Liv and Finn meet six summers ago working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably.
But Finn’s life is in LA with his band, and Liv’s is in Cornwall with her family – so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.
This summer Liv crosses paths with Tom – a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn’t broken every autumn.
Now Liv must make an impossible choice. And when she discovers the shocking reason that Tom has left home, she’ll need to trust her heart even more.
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: I have a feeling this is going to be a summer romance that seriously tugs on the heartstrings. First because of the tragedy that bonds Liv and Finn together and then because of the flashbacks to the previous six summers and the heartache that probably follows when it’s time for them to say goodbye.
Plus, this sounds like it’s going to be a love triangle romance and gosh those just rip my heart out. But, I’m so down for it and hope this one consumes me for a bit this summer.
Lies and Weddings
by Kevin Kwan
Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel has a problem: the legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending, and behind all the magazine covers and Instagram stories manors and yachts lies nothing more than a gargantuan mountain of debt.
The only solution, put forth by Rufus’s scheming mother, is for Rufus to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort, a veritable who’s-who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs, and seduce a woman with money.
Should he marry Solène de Courcy, a French hotel heiress with honey blond tresses and a royal bloodline? Should he pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door, the humble daughter of a doctor, Eden Tong?
When a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans—and their reputation—go up in flames.
Can the once-great dukedom rise from the ashes? Or will a secret tragedy, hidden for two decades, reveal a shocking twist?
In a globetrotting tale that takes us from the black sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Los Angeles to the inner sanctums of England’s oldest family estates, Kevin Kwan unfurls a juicy, hilarious, sophisticated and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, and the lies we tell about them all.
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: This book made my summer romance list because it’s about weddings and summer is such a popular wedding season so I thought it would be appropriate to read a romance with weddings in it for the summer.
Plus, this book is perfect for a staycation. The setting will take you from Hawaii to Morocco to England and Los Angeles and who knows, maybe more places. So you can live vicariously or envision being in those locations while reading this book this summer.
Related: Romance Books That Inspire Travel
Summer Romance
by Annabel Monaghan
Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.
Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.
No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her…by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there?
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: I’m already loving this summer romance because I have a total soft spot for heroines who are in midlife and their life is imploding. Ali seems to be a mess, and rightly so, and I get how even trying to dress is probably something that’s a chore and that she really doesn’t care about any more.
And not that she needs to change for a man but I really want to see how meeting Ethan kind of gives her a new kick in her step even if she thinks it’s only for the summer.
I read Monaghan’s summer romance of 2023 last year, Same Time Next Summer, so I have a feeling she’s going to be one to watch for summer romances each year like Carly Fortune.
This is the She Reads Romance Books Book Club pick for August 2024. Check out my book review of Summer Romance.
The Summer Escape
by Jill Shalvis
Anna Moore didn’t just wake up one day and decide to go on a wild quest—especially since her life no longer lends itself to wild anything—so how in the world does she end up racing against the clock with Owen Harris, a sexy adventurist, to prove her beloved dad innocent of stealing a million-dollar necklace?
It’s all Wendy’s fault. Her older, bossy sister, who’s seven months pregnant and on bed rest in their small Lake Tahoe hometown, is desperate to clear their departed dad’s name. Owen, though, is convinced he’s guilty as hell and wants to return the jewelry back to its rightful owner—his elderly great aunt.
Together Anna and Owen go on a scavenger hunt for clues to the past (with Wendy remotely along for the ride via an earbud, supplying a running wry commentary to boot).
On opposing sides and suspicious of each other as they are, Anna and Owen still can’t deny the inexplicable and explosive chemistry between them on this heart-stopping adventure, the outcome of which will prove the necklace isn’t the only thing stolen—their hearts have been as well.
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: This book sounds like such a fun summer romance book I had to add it to the list. This is book six in the Sunrise Cove series but can be read as a standalone.
So many of Shalvis’ would make great summer reads because they just suck you into the setting she creates and the characters really draw you in as well.
The Summer Escape has that and more including a great, enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance. Anna and Owen are stuck together but on opposing sides of this mystery to solve. Plus this book summary had me at scavenger hunt. I cannot wait to see the adventures they go on this summer.
Related: Best Forced Proximity Romance Books
The Rom-Commers
by Katherine Center
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care.
Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up.
Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.”
Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script—it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it.
But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true?
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: This summer read now my new favorite Katherine Center book! It’s A rom-com about rom-coms that hit with all the feels.
It’s a perfect summer romance because it will sweep you away to Los Angeles along with Emma who gets to meet her screenwriting hero. Emma’s staunch love and defense of the beloved rom-com in cinema is THE best part about the book and worth reading it for that alone. It’s really Center’s love letter to the genre and I love her for it.
But I not only loved this story for its obsession with rom-coms, and trust me when I say you’ll be wanting to binge watch all your favorite rom coms this summer after reading it, but I loved it for its amazing characters AND secondary characters.
If you want a summer read that is low on the steaminess factor then this is your pick. Center is known for her closed-door romances and this is definitely a book that is very low on steam with only one kissing scene. Either way steam or no steam this is a must-read summer romance for 2024.
Check out my book review of The Rom-Commers. This was the She Reads Romance Books Book Club pick for July 2024!
Related: Best Romcom Books Worth Reading
One Last Summer
by Kate Spencer
Clara Millen’s life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she’s resoundingly single, and it’s been years since she’s taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix—this year she’ll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.
But when Clara arrives at Pine Lake Camp, she faces yet another unwelcome change: the owners are retiring and selling the property.
The news turns her plans for revelry into a night of reminiscing . . . and prompts a surprise heart-to-heart between Clara and Mack, her old camp nemesis and constant competitor, who’s still just as annoying (and annoyingly handsome).
Soon the campfires aren’t all that’s throwing off sparks. And when one wildly passionate night turns into two (then too many to count!), Clara begins to wonder if she and Mack could have a future together.
But when Clara’s boss finally offers her everything she’s worked so hard for, Clara will need to decide if the life she’s always wanted is the life that makes her feel truly alive.
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: If you’re looking for a book to make you nostalgic for youthful summers spent at summer camp or a book to inspire you to finally seize the life you’ve always wanted then this is it.
I think a lot of readers may be able to identify with Clara who’s in mid-life, struggling with burnout and realizing that her life isn’t necessarily falling into the plan she had set for herself.
Throw in a “forced” opportunity to spend a week with her friends including the guy she had a crush on at summer camp and there’s a lot of fun and introspection that goes on in this novel. Plus, it totally sweeps you away to Boston and the beautiful lakes of New Hampshire for the perfect summer staycation!
Check out my book review of One Last Summer.
Related: Best Friends to Lovers Books
The Art of Catching Feelings
by Alicia Thompson
Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball.
Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.
Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.
Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: This book made my list of summer romances because it’s about America’s favorite pastime and sport of summer – baseball.
I think it’s hilarious though that Daphne attends a game and dares to heckle a player and that that player gets visibly upset. I can’t stand hecklers so I really hope she grovels and apologizes well to him but I’m intrigued that she ends up working for the team.
If you don’t like lying then you might not like this book because she doesn’t come clean that she’s his heckler from that game for quite awhile. You know that when that shoe drops things are going to get very messy so I’m hoping that the resolution makes up for that period of lying and that it makes me feel like running out to see a baseball game this summer.
Related: Best Baseball Romance Books
The Pairing
by Casey McQuiston
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other’s lives once and for all.
Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers.
Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It’s in the past.
All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.
It’s not until they board the tour bus that they discover they’ve both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they’re trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It’s fine.
There’s nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?
But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can’t have.
Why It’s One of This Year’s Summer Reads: It’s been over a year since Casey McQuiston released a book and I’m really hoping that I love The Pairing just as much as her MM romance, Red White and Royal Blue. I hope she brings that same magic to this one about two exes who accidentally take the same European food and wine tour.
I’m so excited to travel around Europe with these two if I cannot do that in real life this summer. I have a feeling this is going to be a big hit this summer so be sure to add it to your 2024 summer reads list!
Check out my book review of The Pairing.
Related: Best Gay Romance Novels
Related Book Lists:
- Best Books About Summer Romance
- Best Beach Reads in Romance
- Best Summer Gifts for Readers
- Best Summer Reads of 2023
- Romance Books That Inspire Travel
- Summer Reading Hub
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