How could someone not love romance books? If you've ever stayed up until 3am because you had to know if the grumpy hockey player and the sunshine barista finally admit they're in love, you already get it! These books are messy, swoony, and painfully relatable in the best way. Whether you're into small-town love stories, fake dating tropes, or workplace enemies-to-lovers chaos, there's a contemporary romance out there that's basically written for you. So grab your favorite fuzzy blanket, your favorite snack, and let's get that HEA!
Contemporary Romance Reads
A Season for Falling by Kate O'Shaughnessy
Some seasons change everything....
Five years ago, Claire was a child star, the goofy punchline of one of America’s favorite sitcoms. Until a series of devastating betrayals by her manager-father left her broke, humiliated, and desperate to disappear.
Now she’s just another high school senior in postcard-perfect Glenridge, Connecticut, determined to leave her past behind. Not even her best friend knows who she used to be—or that she’s scraping together every spare dollar to hopefully attend NYU.
When a movie shoot lands in Glenridge—and with it, her former co-star and ex–best friend, Luke Cordova—it threatens to stir up not only Claire's past, but also the dizzying crush she once had on Luke. He offers Claire a deal: let him shadow her to research his role, and he’ll pay enough to make her college dreams possible.
As the woodsmoke-tinged October air grows colder, and she falls for Luke (again), Claire must confront what really drove her to hide—and whether she can step back into herself without being consumed by everything she’s tried to forget.
Kissing Cowboys by Meg Cabot
Sixteen-year-old Winn Riley is a New York City girl, through and through—until her mom moves their family to Montana, where she’ll be teaching at a dude ranch. Literally: it’s a working-farm school for troubled genius boys … plus Winn, the only female student there.
Winn’s only entertainment for miles is boys: boys rustling cattle all day before attending classes at night, incredibly cute boys like Zack and Teddy. How will she endure an entire semester with so much deprivation—and temptation?
Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic by Jessica Lewis
Hallie loves romance, but it doesn’t seem to love her back. Her six-time broken heart can attest to that.
So when Hallie has the chance to attend a prestigious academic summer camp, she sees an opportunity not just to better herself, but to reinvent herself. Into a new Hallie who will succeed where the old one failed—in school, friends, and especially love.
First, a fresh start—which means no romance, all summer. If Hallie’s fortitude is immediately tested by Julia, her gorgeous camp roommate with an uncrackable icy shell, then all the better! Reinvention is never easy!
Yet as Hallie and Julia get closer, Hallie’s heart is in more danger than ever. With the prospect of real love on the line, can Hallie trust that New Hallie won’t make the mistakes that she did? Or is Julia looking for someone else—the unfiltered, unaltered, real Hallie?
The Secret Santa Setup by Sarah Hutt
Sixteen-year-old Amanda Mathers has big plans for December: Work at the Matcha-Do About Coffee pop up at Post Christmas tree farm, convince her parents to let her travel abroad this summer, and pull off a Secret Santa with her friends.
What she doesn’t plan on is Luke Post. He looks hot carrying cut trees, but he gives Amanda the cold shoulder. When she pulls his name in Secret Santa she has no idea what to give him. But getting to know each other may turn out to be all they could ever want for Christmas.
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
📚 This is in the Bellinger Sisters series!
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.
Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face in this charming fish out of water story.
Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but in this opposites attract romance, there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.
Formula He's the One by Andie J. Christopher
She’s the mechanic’s daughter. He’s racing royalty. Together, they’re leaving it all on the track.
Raised by her IndyCar legend father, Tessa James spent her childhood dreaming of becoming the first full-time female driver in Formula One. But everything changed the day a car crash took her mother’s life and ended her father’s career. Now, Tessa lives life in neutral. Her father runs a small machine shop servicing race teams, and Tessa manages the front office—safe, steady, and miles from the track she once loved.
When Tessa’s best friend drags her along to Monaco for the Grand Prix, she’s swept into a glittering world of champagne yachts, designer shoes, and racing royalty. But beneath the luxury lies the familiar pulse of the track and Pietro Deveraux, a driver who is practically Formula One royalty, whose quiet confidence reminds her what it felt like to chase something with her whole heart.
Wild Darling by Alexandra Moody
📚 This is in the Darling Devils series!
Enemies. Teammates. Something dangerously close to more...
Parker Darling is ready to take center ice, but the Ransom Devils' new coach already hates him for a dumb mistake Parker made years ago—with the help of that new coach’s daughter.
Kenzie Foster loves hockey. If only her hockey-coach dad hadn't forbidden her from playing—thanks to Parker Darling.
When the Devils’ goalie gets injured, Parker is determined to lead the team back to greatness. Kenzie, meanwhile, sees a wide-open net just waiting to prove her dad wrong.
Parker and Kenzie will need to work together to reach their goals—but does that mean risking another big mistake?
An Expanse of Blue by Kauakanilehua Māhoe Adams
Aouli Elizabeth Smith is adrift: unheard at home and an unbeliever at church, fighting her sister and losing her best friend. Overflowing with feeling, she pours her secrets and herself into her song journal when the world threatens to sweep her away. The one place she feels tied down to earth is at her Aunty Ehu’s house. Those joyous Saturdays with her extended Native Hawaiian community living in Western Washington are precious to her. Under the maple trees, the fragments of her life fit together, if only for an afternoon.
Then, an unspeakable truth about her father shatters this one perfect corner of her life.
As Aouli’s world constricts around what others wish she could be, language fails her. But when a new boy, Nalu, turns up with eyes that seem to pierce right into her soul, maybe it’s love that can give her the words to set herself free.
If You Were Here by Abigail Johnson
Lili Gardner hasn’t been back to Nantucket, her dad’s favorite place, since her parents divorced six years ago. But Dad passed away recently, leaving her a house on the island and an unsolved mystery about a maligned Gardner ancestor. Lili is determined to finish his life’s work, and convinces her mom and sister to spend the summer in Nantucket with her while she looks for answers, and for a connection to her dad.
Wren McCleave has a passion for history, but his father refuses to showcase anything real in their tourist trap of a “museum.” So when Lili asks Wren for help with her research, Wren can’t resist the opportunity to throw himself into something real, even if he dislikes tourists on principle.
Lili and Wren only have a summer to find out the truth about Lili’s ancestor. But the most surprising truths they uncover aren’t about the distant past, but about themselves right here in the present, and about what they want out of the future.
Encore! by Miles Toriko Burks
Senior year is in full swing, and Clay’s determined to have a good year filled with friends, theater dreams, and newfound confidence. But when his ex–best friend, Aron, suddenly reappears in his life—and his theater class—it throws a wrench in all of Clay’s plans. Annoyingly, the two are paired up during an improv exercise, and being vulnerable together onstage swirls up all sorts of old, complicated feelings. Even more annoyingly, Aron is acting like there’s nothing weird or confusing about being back in each other’s orbits again. Which is ironic, since Aron was the one who ghosted Clay in the first place.
As their class assignment continues and they spend more and more time together, Clay isn’t sure he can keep his old feelings buried. But can he trust Aron again, after everything they’ve been through?
The House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill
Harlowe could use a break. With his academic future over, just like his relationship with his long-term boyfriend Jackson, a suspiciously cheap summer rental on the Cape feels like just the escape he needs.
But when he arrives at the picturesque seaside cottage, he’s alarmed to find his discouraging former professor in the living room. His father making coffee in the kitchen. And a handsome young repairman fixing things in the bedroom. Worst of all, Jackson is in the bathroom. None of them will leave. No one else can see them. And they won’t leave him alone.
The house isn’t magic only for Harlowe, and as the summer grows hot and thick with tourists, old wounds and fresh secrets—both in and outside its walls—begin to transform him. It’s clear the house is trying to tell him something, and he’s sure it has to do with the mysterious repairman who suddenly seems to be everywhere he looks… But can Harlowe let go of the past long enough to listen?
Santa Maybe by Hazel Henry
📚 This is in the Holliday Girls series!
Daisy always misses her dad this time of year, especially with the big town festival looming, so she's looking forward to spending extra time with Owen—and hopefully, finally Defining the Relationship.
Georgia is ready for a fresh start, but is she brave enough to put herself first? Maybe a surprise (and annoyingly cute) Christmas guest will help.
Eden has big plans—and a holiday house guest, now that Leo is joining for Christmas. Can she make the most of the chaos, or does she need a new plan for New Year's?
Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Karthik
Krishna Kumar may have gotten into her dream college, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped being a bi disaster. Even after spending her whole summer in India flirting with her gorgeous neighbor Amrit, she has nothing to show for it. And now, her fate is sealed: she’s destined to be the only freshman who’s never been kissed.
But when her flight home is delayed right as a distinctly flirty text from Amrit lights up her phone, Krishna is determined to seize her last chance at a perfect first kiss with Amrit, even if it means asking her cousin-turned-nemesis, Priti, for help. Because Amrit is miles away at a family wedding—and Priti’s best friend, Rudra Desai, is the only one with a car.
The unlikely trio set off on a road trip to crash a wedding and save Krishna’s summer. But as she starts to fall for the quiet yet irresistibly hot and charming Rudra, who everyone knows is unrequitedly in love with Priti, Krishna realizes her heart better catch up to her head before she skips right past her first kiss and falls directly into her first heartbreak.
Royal Summer by Kass Morgan
Aspiring writer Hannah has scored the opportunity of a lifetime—escaping her sleepy Midwestern town for the summer to intern in Scotland for her favorite author. But her plan to spend the next few months being the best assistant ever is derailed when her idol suddenly decides to abscond to Japan with her boyfriend.
So it almost seems too good to be true when a mysterious stranger—a tall, obnoxiously cute stranger—she meets at the pub one night gets her job at the royal family’s castle in Inveresk. It’s only when she shows up to her first day of work that she realizes the stranger is Finnian, the prince of England.
Finn is confined at Inveresk as punishment for his party boy antics, and clearly just wants Hannah around for his own amusement. But the more she gets to know him, the more she wonders if this is just a fling or if she’s found herself in a star-crossed summer romance that she never could have imagined…
Tangled Roots & Wild Dreams by Angela Velez
Ezzie Ramos is a champion secret keeper. Her brilliant-professor mami and nosy abuelita don’t know about her daily ritual (wandering the art museum), her college applications (hopelessly blank), or her summer plans (avoiding the dreaded f-word, a.k.a. her future, at all costs).
Ezzie’s biggest secret? She’s interning at Sprout, the urban garden she’s stunned to discover her father founded weeks before his death. All she knows about Papi begins and ends with his dazzling scientific research legacy—but what if he dreamed of a different path too?
With seven weeks to uncover who Papi really was, Ezzie must chase down every lead, even if it means tangling with Sprout’s star volunteer, Gabe McCalister, who couldn’t be more off-limits—or distractingly cute. But as Ezzie begins to put down roots at Sprout, she learns that secrets, like seeds, have a way of growing toward the light. . . .
Ship Happens by Mason Deaver
A year ago, Owen Henson had a close-knit group of friends who felt like family and a boyfriend who made his heart race just by walking into the room. But now? Everything’s unraveling. His friends seem to be moving forward without him, and his happily-ever-after shattered when his boyfriend Jacob packed up and left for the United Kingdom to join a research team.
The last thing Owen needs is for Jacob to waltz back into the city like nothing happened, showing up at their friends’ annual Christmas party looking just as annoyingly handsome as the day he left. Or for their friends to spring a surprise six-day, seven-night cruise up the West Coast to Alaska as a bonding trip for the group. How is Owen supposed to keep it together around the man who broke his heart, all while pretending he’s fine? Totally fine. But then Jacob tells Owen that he’d like to be something even more complicated than exes. He wants to be friends. Skeptical, Owen agrees to the plan but as they spend time together among the gorgeous Alaskan backdrop and cruise-mandated activities, Owen feels his walls coming down and he might just discover that he can’t help but fall in love again.
Wayfarers by Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro
What do you do when there’s nothing in this world you want more than to spend two more hours with someone and nothing in the world you want less than to only spend two more hours with someone?
Sylvie said she wanted to live the van life after high school, but all she really wanted was to escape. With unlimited resources and an escape-artist golden retriever by her side, she keeps her eyes on the road to distract her from everything she left behind.
Knox grew up on the edge of society, without a phone, a school, or a real name. He’s never felt like he had a firm place to stand, but he’s done writing his story in vanishing ink. On one of the worst days of Sylvie’s life, Knox helps rescue her dog and breaks his arm in the process.
To apologize, Sylvie offers him a ride. But Knox is keeping some big secrets, and so is Sylvie. They must decide: If the other person knew the whole story, would they take a chance on—and maybe even fall for—a wayfaring stranger?
This Ain't Our Frist Rodeo by Liara Tamani
This ain’t Josie’s first rodeo. Her parents own several fancy restaurants in Houston, and they just opened a new one right outside the stadium. Josie is expected to stay inside the restaurant and help, and maybe take over their growing empire one day, but that isn’t what Josie wants. She’d rather be at the rodeo. Or eating funnel cakes and Texas-sized corn dogs at the carnival on the grounds. Or better yet, riding her horse at her grandparents’ ranch.
It ain’t Shawn’s first rodeo either. He’s been riding bulls since his mom died, doing everything he can to live up to his rodeo-champion stepfather’s sky-high expectations. But as Shawn’s stardom rises, so do tensions in their relationship. His stepfather’s drinking and gambling problems sure don’t help.
After one unforgettable night leaves Josie and Shawn wanting nothing but each other, their lives become entwined in increasingly complex ways. Can they save Josie’s family land? Or will Shawn’s stepfather and his shady plan be the ranch’s ruin? Will one wrong move cost them everything? Rodeo after rodeo, year after year, can Josie and Shawn keep their hearts open through the secrets, twists, and turns?
Snowed In at the Wildest Dreams Bookshop by Gracie Page
📚 This is in the Wildest Dreams Bookshop series!
When snow falls, sparks fly…
Ivy’s first semester at art college has left her uninspired, and she can’t wait to spend winter break hiding out at the Wildest Dreams Bookshop. But this year, her sleepy hometown is full of tourists—including the relentlessly cheerful Trip, who convinces Ivy to be his local tour guide.
Ivy has to admit, the town of Fox Bay is pretty charming … and Trip’s enthusiasm might just be the creative spark she needs.
I Hate You More by Alexandra Moody
When Ally Lockwood’s sworn nemesis moves in with her family for senior year, she’s desperate to get rid of him. Most girls would do anything to live across the hall from Chase Williams, but Ally is all too familiar with the truth behind his famous good looks. After all, girls who chase Chase never get very far.
Luckily, her friends have a plan to ensure Ally’s over-protective father kicks Chase out of the house for good. All she has to do is convince Chase to date her, then make sure they get caught… what could possibly go wrong?
Experiments in Offline Dating by Kat Mackenzie
Maya Davis is chronically terrible at dating. So much so that she's turned her catastrophic dating experiments into a full-time job. Hellbent on dating "offline" for her second podcast season, Maya travels to Ireland to meet the world-renowned local matchmaker, and gets set up on a slew of horribly funny meet-ups that are exactly the type of comedy gold she was looking for.
At the town’s annual Matchmaking Festival, Maya wins a blind date with a surly local sheep farmer. But while she's had every bad date in the book, nothing could have prepared her for the apocalyptic, full-body-cringe that is the worst date of her life!
All she wants to do is forget it ever happened, but when the mischievous matchmaker talks her into a whirlwind dating adventure, he fails to mention that it's with the one person in Ireland that she just can't stand - her blind date catastrophe!
Trapped together, Maya and Tadhg journey across picturesque landscapes and green countryside until their constant verbal sparring feels increasingly like chemistry. And the more time they spend together, the more Maya begins to wonder if perhaps she’s not so catastrophic at love after all.
Everything About You by Robby Weber
“You never know what’s going to happen, Milo. No matter how hard you try to control things, this is our summer in Paris, and it might just be unpredictable. There might just be boys.”
Milo is determined to have the most magical summer in Paris after winning an apprenticeship at a prestigious fashion house. The plan is simple: work hard, impress the team, and land a permanent job. With his best friend Celeste by his side, nothing will stand in his way of getting what he wants—especially not a boy.
Enter Rhodes Hamilton: London’s resident tabloid magnet and the son of a famous footballer. Milo is devastated to learn that Rhodes’ connections have also landed him an apprenticeship, which means he’s now the competition. Milo knows he has to win at any cost, so he can’t risk getting close to Rhodes, no matter how nice and charming and cute he is...
Game, Set, Matched by Ivy Bailey
On the court, they’re the perfect pair. Off the court, however…
Billie could win the junior doubles final at Wimbledon—but she needs a new partner. Too bad her best option is Harley, her coach’s nephew she's always hated. Billie hates Harley's lackadaisical attitude, but he's determined to teach her how to relax and (literally) take her eye off the ball. The more time they spend together, the more Billie wonders… is there more to winning than just a trophy?
All the Way Around the Sun by XiXi Tan
Stella Chen’s life ground to a halt when her brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother for years in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in the United States, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another jarring move her senior year, from rural Illinois to unfamiliar surroundings in San Diego, she is left alone and adrift in her family’s suffocating silence and the void of unanswered questions her brother left behind.
So when Stella’s parents force her to join her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao for a college tour all over California, Stella dreads it. Alan is a reminder of everything Stella wishes she could be—popular, gregarious, unburdened—and a reminder of how lost she is.
As this road trip takes Stella and Alan down beautiful coastlines and through fraught family dynamics, Stella can’t help but feel the spark of why she and Alan were once so close. Before long, they find themselves pulled into each other’s orbits, forcing unspoken feelings and long-hidden truths into the light.
Yes, Chef by Grace Reilly
If you can’t take the heat…get out of the kitchen.
After a public meltdown in the dining room of one of Manhattan’s most elite restaurants, Chef Jack Hartman is back in his South Florida hometown. Angry, grieving, and saddled with the unwanted storefront his late mentor left him, his life is spinning out of control. And that’s before Poppy Winfield—the bubbly, infuriating daughter of his former boss—shows up at his dock.
Poppy needs to escape. From her family, her ex-boyfriend, and her reputation as someone who has never taken anything seriously. But more than that, she wants to prove herself—and she has just the plan to do it. Unfortunately, that plan involves Jack Hartman, the most arrogant, intimidating man she’s ever had the pleasure of throwing a shrimp at.
Poppy proposes a deal: they work together to open a revamped version of his mentor’s restaurant. Jack will handle the menu, and she’ll use her social media influence to sell the hell out of its grand opening. If she and Jack can make it a success, it’ll be a ticket for them both to return to New York.
Jack is intrigued, but only on his terms: If Poppy’s going to do this, she must learn the ropes of the business. From him.
As sparks fly both in and out of the kitchen, Poppy and Jack are left wondering, could they be a perfect pairing? Or is this whole experiment a recipe for disaster?