Whether you are braving the beach this weekend or sitting by your own pool, romances make for wonderful summer companions. In this list, we’ve pulled together six recommendations for you centered on second chances, be they with old loves or new. Some you may already be familiar with, and others are just waiting for you to dive in and discover. So find your place in the sun and let’s get started!
Beach Read by Emily Henry (Berkley)
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Here’s a brand-new book that’s synonymous with our theme! Romance writer January Andrews begins to think happy endings are entirely fictional after her father’s secret affair comes to light and her boyfriend breaks up with her. Which is a problem, because she’s under deadline for her next novel. January sequesters herself in a house off Lake Michigan where she struggles to work on the manuscript. If it was difficult to write before, it’s near impossible now that she’s realized her grouchy new neighbor isn’t a stranger — he’s her college rival, Augustus Everett, the guy she and her best friend nicknamed “Sexy Evil Gus” after a hot and heavy night at a frat party. The man whose own literary career has been a smashing success can be seen brooding, beer in hand, from her porch. Gus suggests a wager as a remedy for January’s writer’s block: He’ll try his hand at a “Happily Ever After” if January steps outside of her comfort zone and writes his kind of literary fiction. The loser will have to endorse whomever’s book sells first. As the two spend increasingly more time together, teaching each other how to write in their respective genres, January starts to think that maybe “Sexy Evil Gus” isn’t as evil as she once thought … and she can’t help but notice that he’s still as sexy as ever. Read Chelsea Ciccone’s full review here.
And Now There’s You by Susan S. Etkin (SparkPress)
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If a more mature romance is your (beach) bag, put this one in it! Leila Brandt, now in her mid-fifties, is still reeling from the loss of her husband and best friend to cancer five years ago. While her circle of friends and family (including grown children) is close-knit, it never quite assuages her profound loneliness. To deal with her pain, she throws herself into her work as an interior designer. One day, at a new client’s home, she meets the arrogant architect Ayden Doyle, a commitment-averse divorcee who is nevertheless magnetic to Leila. There’s undeniable chemistry between the two, but Ayden is far from the kind of man she feels she can trust. Regardless, she finds herself being drawn to him as if hypnotized. Ayden, despite twenty-five years of single life and countless younger lovers, finds Leila attractive in so many ways ― her intellect, sense of humor, creativity and style add to her allure. Is it just possible that this commitment-phobe has finally met his match?
Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras (Zebra)
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One of the most highly anticipated romances of the year according to several influential publications (including us), this is the first book in a new rom-com series by a USA Today bestselling author Oliveras. Social media influencer Sara Vance’s career is on the rise, she’s finally in recovery from an eating disorder and she even has a love interest. So why do her siblings and their spouses make her feel like she’s a bystander to their “perfect lives”? When her boyfriend flakes out on joining her for a Florida family vacation in Key West, a chance meeting with a first-responder and dive captain, Luis Navarro, hatches a plan. He agrees to play the role of her fiancé for the benefit of her family. Though charmed by her spunk, he’s also harboring wounds of a past betrayal. Soon, the two are inseparable ― and not only around the family Sara is trying to appease. Touring the gorgeous scenery, sharing intimate secrets, as they draw closer together and Sara’s vacation draws to an end, a question lingers in the air. Is this just a summer fling … or the real thing? Adriana Herrera says “I’ll read anything that Priscilla writes. I love her stories and how grounded they are in Latinx culture and family.”
American Sweethearts by Adriana Herrera (Carina Press)
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And speaking of Adriana Herrara, have you read her latest yet? Part of the “Dreamers” series that took the media world by storm with its debut last summer, this second-chance romance between JuanPa and Priscilla might just make you forget to reapply the sunscreen. Juan Pablo Campos has a dream job working as a physical therapist to the New York Yankees, great friends and a loving family. He certainly has no time or room in his life for regrets. Save one: the girl who got away, his childhood friend Priscilla Gutierrez. Priscilla’s job as an NYC police detective has taught her to be decisive and take action when it matters most to her. But her confidence has been shaken lately. Her career, her relationships and frankly, her whole life, seems to be going in the wrong direction. When JuanPa and Priscilla are unexpectedly thrown together on a trip to the Dominican Republic, their love/hate relationship threatens to spoil any enjoyment they could be having. But even after all of these years, there is such a strong connection that neither of them can deny, if only they can overcome their differences and accept each other for who they really are.
The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley (Graydon House)
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If you like your romance with a side of mystery and suspense, look no further than The Last Resort. The Harmony Resort on the Mayan Riviera is a retreat where struggling spouses go to repair their relationships. Johanna and Ben are married but don’t know each other at all. Shell and Colin fight constantly, but what has really torn them apart is too devastating to discuss. When they begin Harmony’s therapy program, it’s clear that the resort is not all it seems — and neither are the celebrity power couple running the place. But just what is it that they are hiding? When a tropical storm traps the guests and their hosts on the resort, they’re about to find out. Loyalties are tested and not one single person will remain unchanged in this romantic suspense novel that “will force readers to think about what it means to be broken and made whole again” (Library Journal) while “keep(ing) readers guessing to the end (Publishers Weekly).
The Theory of Happily Ever After by Kristin Billerbeck (Revell)
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When it comes to happiness, Dr. Maggie Maguire is the go-to expert. She’s practically got it down to a science. But science just can’t account for all the anomalies that life throws at us, and Maggie discovers that lesson for herself when her fiance leaves her for an acrobat. Drowning in ice cream and chick-flicks, her friends become worried that she’ll never get out of her slump. So, in order to force her out of it, they book her as a speaker on a “New Year, New You” cruise. Still depressed, Maggie becomes determined to find happiness for herself this time, when a stranger on the cruise insists that smart women can’t be happy. By the end of this memorable and witty read, she’ll learn that the search for happiness may be futile — because sometimes happiness is already out there searching for you. —Rachel Fogle De Souza
