Summer is just around the corner, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get comfortable in my favorite beach chair with a cold drink and read a great book. Picking out the perfect summer read can seem overwhelming sometimes because there are just so many great options out there. In order to help with some of that stress, here are five books that I absolutely loved reading!
1. BETTER THAN THE MOVIES By Lynn Painter
This book is perfect for fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. It will give you laughs, make your heart ache, and deliver all the swoon-worthy moments that classic rom-coms give. The story itself is about Liz Buxbaum, a hopeless romantic who is just dying to live out a perfect love story. She has always imagined that this “happy ending” she has been dreaming about is with her childhood crush, Michael, who has just moved back to town. In order to win him over, she made a plan to she will get closer to him with the help of her “annoying” Wes Bennett. Wes is everything that Liz shouldn’t want, he is always teasing her. As they spend more and more time together, Liz’s dream rom-com ending might start to look a little different.
I loved this book. The title explains it perfectly; it truly feels like a love story that is better than the movies. Wes Bennett is top-tier book boyfriend material, and the character Liz is extremely relatable with her over-the-top love for rom-coms.
2. THE summer I turned Pretty by Jenny HAn
The Summer I Turned Pretty is one of my favorite books of all time! If you are looking for a book that brings good vibes, first love, and heart flutters, this is definitely the book for you. The book is about a young girl named Belly Conklin and her time spent at Cousins Beach every summer. She trips with her mom and her brother to their family friend Susannah Fisher’s house. Belly and her brother have grown up with Susannah’s two sons, Jeremiah and Conrad. This is the summer that things will be different, according to Belly, and now that she has grown up, it seems that the Fisher boys will see her in a new light. This book really expresses what it feels like going through adolescence and experiencing the complexities of love and self-discovery.
As a college student, this is still a must-read for me every summer. While Belly’s character is supposed to be a 15-year-old girl, I still find the story itself very relatable, and I think everyone knows what it’s like to feel seen by someone they like finally. Not to mention the complexities we all face growing up and discovering new things about ourselves.
3. Happy Place By Emily Henry
If you are looking for a heartfelt page-turner that will give you lots of laughs and the perfect summer escape, then this book is for you. This story revolves around Harriet and Wyn, who have been inseparable since college. However, they broke up six months before the story’s main events. Despite this breakup, they go on a trip with their friends, and they pretend they are still together because the group doesn’t know that they broke up. They wanted to be able to go on the trip and make sure their breakup didn’t ruin their time with their friends. As you can imagine, the week was filled with emotional tension, fun in the sun.
This is the perfect book to read this summer because it has the romantic tension and heartfelt moments that everyone loves, but it also has humor to keep it light and entertaining.
4. Meet me at the Lake By Carley Fortune
I flew through Meet Me at the Lake. It is such a great read! The story is about a woman named Fern who, at the age of 32, returns to her family’s lakeside resort after her mother’s sudden passing. Returning to her beloved lake home was a bit of a culture shock because she’s been in Toronto for the past few years. Fern now faces the daunting task of renovating the resort, not to mention a man from her past, Will Baxter, who shows up and offers to help. They have a complex history that involved a pact where they would meet up on a particular day, and Will never showed. As they work together, old wounds resurface, and they must confront their painful past to determine their future.
This book has so much emotional depth because it discusses themes of loss, love, and rediscovering oneself. Something that makes this book different from other books I’ve read is that I did a lot of reflecting while reading this book. I found the reuniting with someone from the past relatable, and it made me think about how that would make me feel if I had someone who came back into my life suddenly. I love a good romance book, if you can’t already tell, but definitely add this to your summer reading list! The author, Carley Fortune, has other books out as well, and they are absolutely fabulous!!
5. Girl Abroad By Elle Kennedy
Girl Abroad by Elle Kennedy is a romance novel that combines the charm of studying abroad and a compelling love triangle. The story follows Abbey Bly, a 19-year-old girl whose dad is a retired rockstar, and she goes on a year-long study abroad program in London. Abbey is eager to escape her overprotective dad and experience life on her terms, and this experience presented the perfect opportunity. When she arrives in London, she is drawn into a complicated relationship with two of her roommates, Jack, a charming rugby player, and Nate, a brooding musician with a girlfriend (eek).
Although this story is set during the school year, I really enjoyed reading this last summer because it was getting me excited for the coming school year, and who doesn’t love a good love triangle? And something else I really enjoyed about this book is that I think everybody can relate to wanting to escape our own lives sometimes, and I know personally, I have always wanted to study abroad in London, and when I did go to London for a trip, I had the absolute best time. This book transports you into the store, and I swear I could not put it down.
Overall, I love these books so much! I hope I inspired you to read at least one of these fantastic stories. If not, all of the authors listed above have many more amazing books; be sure to check those out as well. I hope everyone has a wonderful summer, and happy reading!!