Last week, I shared a couple of books that are on my Summer TBR, which you can check out here. Today, I thought I’d return the favor for anyone looking for romance recommendations and share some of my favorite romance reads that just happen to be perfect for the summer! I’ve definitely talked about these books in previous posts but honestly, I probably still will because not only are these three books the perfect summer read, they’ve quickly grown into becoming my comfort reads as well.
Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating – Christina Lauren
This book features a pretty well put together guy, Josh, and an outgoing elementary school teacher, Hazel. Hazel is determined to make Josh her best friend and to have a bit of fun, they decided to start setting each other up on dates and go out and have a good time on the weekends. I genuinely love the transition to friends to lovers in this book.
Personally, while I still read Christina Lauren’s books whenever they come out, I’m a sucker for their older works. I feel like they’ve more or less become focused on pursuing cool and interesting plots rather than just sticking with the basic romance. Which is completely fine! I think if you love writing and are good at it, you might as well play with your skill and branch out from your comfort zone while you can.
I just have attached nostalgia to their older works because those books got me into reading adult romance, especially “Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating”. This one is hands down my favorite comfort read and I read it at least twice a year, whenever I’m feeling super low.
The reason why I think that this is perfect summer read is because it’s just so much fun. I think that last summer and honestly, even this summer, is so different from what we’re used to. That hustle bustle of beach days and fun outings with friends and families quickly changed and I think that if you’re looking for a couple of friends getting into hilarious situations, out and around town, or even at home, this is a good one to pick up and suck up that summer fun!
The Bride Test – Helen Hoang
I need to reread this book so bad. When I think about this book, I thing mangos. Mangoes and all the fruit. This book features Esme and Kai. Kai is on the autism spectrum and his mother wants him to finally settle down, get married, and have a family. Except he doesn’t want anything like that. His mother, being his mother, decides to head on over to Vietnam and brings back Esme, a single mom, who wants to go to America to make a better life for her daughter. We end up reading about the two living with each other and grow closer, whether Kai wants it or not. There’s a lot of fruit being eaten in this book so if you’re feeling thirsty or hungry for something refreshing, this book is not going to help with that, haha.
The Bromance Book Club – Lyssa Kay Adams
Romance is the genre that’s most commonly associated with the summer and I’m pretty sure the guys in The Bromance Book Club would also agree. What better way to start you summer than reading a romance book about grown men reading romance books to better their understanding on how to treat women. I love the take of this book on romance novels and I think it does a great job in defying the stereotypes that constantly invalidate romance books as well as romance readers. It talks about how these books, do in fact have depth, purpose, and a message behind them and that people shouldn’t be shamed for reading them. I like seeing how this series follows men who we normally would seen as very macho and masculine really breaking down their preconceived ideas about romance books and diving into the side of literature they used to laugh at before. So if you want to celebrate romance this summer, pick this one up! So far, I think it’ say favorite it the series even though I enjoyed all of the ones that have been out so far. I think that starting off this series with a baseball player trying to win back his wife after she asks for a divorce is such a plot line we don’t see often so it makes for a very nice, entertaining, fast paced read.