Don’t let your summer slip by without reading these must-read young adult summer romance books about falling in love in summer.
These are the YA romance books that will make you feel like a young adult falling in love for the first time when school’s out and your summer is full of crushes, first kisses, and epic first loves. Check out my list and then share your favorite young adult summer romance books below!
If you want even more books about summer romance or young adult romance, be sure to check out these lists:
*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Best YA Books About Summer Romances
The Summer I Turned Pretty
by Jenny Han
Belly measures her life in summers. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad.
They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between.
But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
Summer is where the magic happens in this young adult romance and it may make you nostalgic for yours. Read The Summer I Turned Pretty book series first and then binge the TV series on Amazon Prime!
Related: Romance Books to TV Shows and Movies Releasing in 2022
The Summer of Broken Rules
by K.L. Walther
When Meredith Fox lost her sister, Claire, eighteen months ago, she shut everyone out. But this summer she’s determined to join the world again. The annual family vacation to Martha’s Vineyard seems like the perfect place to reconnect.
Her entire extended family is gathering for a big summer wedding, and although Meredith is dateless after being unexpectedly dumped, she’s excited to participate in the traditional Fox family game.
But when Meredith forms an alliance with a cute groomsman, she finds herself getting distracted.
Meredith tries to focus on the game and win it for her sister, but she can’t help falling for him. And as the week progresses, she realizes she’s not only at risk of losing the game, but also her heart.
This YA romance book became a #Booktok sensation, especially for fans of Taylor Swift as it is inspired by her songs!
Weddings are such a great backdrop for summer romances but I’m excited to see how this game brings everyone together too.
Love & Gelato
by Jenna Evans Welch
Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape.
She’s only there because it was her mother’s last wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.
But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries.
A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long.
It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.
People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.
Escape to Italy in this young adult romance about finding love while also finding your found family. It’s a super cute and fun coming-of-age story that you can also watch on Netflix.
Related: Books With the Found Family Trope
The Matchbreaker Summer
by Annie Rains
Sixteen-year-old Paisley Manning has been attending Camp Starling since she was a little girl, when her parents ran it together. For the last few years, since her father’s passing, she’s been the one helping her mom run the camp behind the scenes.
This year, however, will be Camp Starling’s last hurrah because Paisley’s mom has met a guy online and they’re getting married.
Enter Hayden Bennett, who is working alongside Paisley. Paisley and Hayden are like oil and water. She follows the rules, and he seems to live to break them all.
But when Hayden catches wind of Paisley’s predicament, he has an idea. If a matchmaker in some computer algorithm caused the issue, a couple of real-life matchbreakers can fix it.
As they work to break up the happy couple, Paisley discovers that maybe Hayden’s not so bad after all. Has she met her own perfect match in her fellow matchbreaker?
I love that this young adult romcom is set at summer camp and brings two opposites together in a task to break up a happy couple.
I’m hoping there will be some crazy shenanigans reminiscent of The Parent Trap that Paisley and Hayden get themselves into.
Along for the Ride
by Sarah Dessen
It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started.
Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live. A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes.
She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town.
Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the loss of a friend.
This young adult romance book about finding love over the summer is maybe a bit heavier than others because Auden and Eli are both struggling – not only with insomnia but with recent changes in their lives.
But it’s one summer that they not only find each other but freedom from the heartaches they’ve carried. Read it first then watch the movie on Netflix!
That Summer
by Jillian Dodd
Devaney Diamond’s summer break was shaping up to be the best one ever. Her longtime crush was finally interested in her, and by the time school rolled around in the fall, she knew he’d be her boyfriend.
Just when their relationship is getting started, she finds out that she’s leaving on a three-week vacation to the Ozarks for some “good old-fashioned fun” with three generations of the Diamond and Mackenzie families.
She’s not thrilled about being gone for that long, but she is looking forward to spending time doing nothing but getting a fantastic tan, finally learning to slalom ski, and hanging out with her best friend.
She and Chase have always been close. He’s cute and sweet. Smart and responsible. He’s always there when she needs him. She loves him dearly, and if it wasn’t for their age, things might be different between them.
But when Chase returns home from football camp with new muscles and a new attitude, she realizes something.
Chase Mackenzie has gotten hot. And he doesn’t look like her little brother’s best friend anymore.
Will this be the summer that Devaney and Chase fall in love, or will it be the summer that everything falls apart?
Either way, it will be the summer that changes everything.
There’s just something about summer being the perfect time for friends to become more and I love the forced proximity situation that Devaney finds herself in with Chase – the younger boy that she just happens to be developing feelings for.
For a different scenery to your books about summer romance, escape into this one and head to the Ozarks!
Related: Best Age Gap Romance Books
Sunkissed
by Kasie West
Avery has always used music as an escape. But after her best friend betrays her, even her perfectly curated playlists can’t help her forget what happened.
To make matters worse, her parents have dragged her and her social-media-obsessed sister to a remote family camp for two months of “fun.”
Just when Avery is ready to give up on the summer altogether, she meets Brooks–mysterious, frustratingly charming Brooks–who just happens to be on staff–which means he’s off-limits.
What starts as a disaster turns into. . . something else. As the outside world falls away, Avery embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
And when Brooks offers her the chance of a lifetime, she must figure out how far is she willing to go to find out what she wants and who she wants to be.
This YA romance book is totally giving me Dirty Dancing vibes where the whole family is off to family camp. Plus, you’ve got the annoying older sister and the crush on the off-limits boy who works at the camp. I adore it already!
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This
by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour’s families have been in business together for years: Quinn’s parents are wedding planners, and Tarek’s own a catering company. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her crush on him in the form of a rambling email—and then he left for college without a response.
Quinn has been dreading seeing him again almost as much as she dreads another summer playing the harp for her parents’ weddings. When he shows up at the first wedding of the summer, looking cuter than ever after a year apart, they clash immediately.
Tarek’s always loved the grand gestures in weddings—the flashier, the better—while Quinn can’t see them as anything but fake. Even as they can’t seem to have one civil conversation, Quinn’s thrown together with Tarek wedding after wedding, from performing a daring cake rescue to filling in for a missing bridesmaid and groomsman.
Quinn can’t deny her feelings for him are still there, especially after she learns the truth about his silence, opens up about her own fears, and begins learning the art of harp-making from an enigmatic teacher. Maybe love isn’t the enemy after all—and maybe allowing herself to fall is the most honest thing Quinn’s ever done.
I adore Rachel Lynn Soloman’s writing and this is the perfect young adult summer romance that centers not only around young love but also weddings!
I love that this is a sweet, friends to lovers romance where feelings are finally shared and hopefully finally reciprocated!
When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon
Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though.
If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?
Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.
The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?
Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.
I already adore this young adult romance centered around a summer program that’s the perfect set-up for one unsuspecting and one on-board character.
It’s the perfect opposites attract love story that looks at tradition and familial expectations wrapped up in the best YA romance package!
You Have a Match
by Emma Lord
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.
But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.
When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.
The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.
But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.
Emma Lord tackles more than just young adult romance in this YA novel that also looks at friendship, family, sisterhood and secrets.
I love that it takes place at summer camp which is just the best setting for a young adult romance to devour!
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