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New Summer Book Releases You’ll Want on Your TBR Right Now
Looking for new book releases to add to your summer reading list? This is the perfect time to find stories that feel easy to get into, fast-paced, and hard to put down. Summer reading is all about books you can take on vacation, read by the pool, or finish in a few days. So, check out this highly anticipated romances that I think you should add to your beach reading list 2026.
25 Best Beach Romance Novel To Read
37 Best Books Set in Summer For Beach Vacation
17 Beach Reads That Everyone’s Raving About on Goodreads
The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren
The instant New York Times bestselling authors of The Paradise Problem and The Unhoneymooners return with an unforgettable novel in which one fateful accident erases a troubled marriage from memory—and love gets one extraordinary do-over.
Three years ago, Emery Finch did something completely out of character: She got married. To Luca—the impossibly charming landscaper she met on one blistering night in Vegas who made her laugh, made her dance, made her feel.
But now, Emery is consumed by her top-secret job, missing dinners, forgetting anniversaries, and promising herself Luca will understand once her cutting-edge research comes to light. Until the unthinkable happens: A tragic accident takes Luca from her.
Desperate not to lose him, Emery breaks every rule to bring him back. And Luca would probably thank her for it, if only he could remember her. Their first kiss, their Sunny Sundays at the beach, the life they built together…all of it is gone.
It may be a miracle of science, but for Emery it’s her one shot at a second chance. And this time, she won’t waste it—because true love is always worth reviving.
Lost and Found by Tarah DeWitt
A stunning novel of romance and redemption set in the Spunes, OR world, filled with heartbreak and hope from “master of emotion” (Rachel Lynn Solomon) USA Today bestselling author Tarah DeWitt.
Bea always wanted to be a mom, but she never expected she’d have to lose her best friend to do it. Armed with nothing but her best friend’s eggs and a bucket list to complete, Bea’s world is a sea of changes.
When Silas steps in to give her a place to live when she needs it, Bea is half-relieved she has a longtime friend in her corner. A firefighter living in the wake of an accident, Silas has his own challenges to work through that have left him cautious and vulnerable in equal measure. At first, they expect nothing. But as these two former sunshines knit together in a love that has been unfulfilled till now, a new beginning comes out of the ashes of the past. One that will lead to a love that can withstand all the slings and arrows, joys and triumphs, that life can throw.
Falling into You by Jill Shalvis
Some love stories don’t stay buried, no matter how far you run.
Hazel Pierce has three goals for coming back to Star Falls:
1. Help her estranged dad.
2. Keep things strictly temporary.
3. Absolutely, under no circumstances, fall for Tucker Colburn again.
That plan dies a dramatic, soggy death when a rogue wasp sting sends Hazel swerving off the road and into the river—only to be hauled out, half-drowned and furious, by the Star Falls Fire Department’s finest. Unfortunately, “finest” is ex–best friend, ex–one-night mistake, and the man she’s been avoiding for a decade.
Tucker’s always had a way of getting into her head. And now between a family that thrives on gossip and a town that’s way too small for all this chemistry, Hazel’s running out of ways to avoid the truth. As sparks turn into late-night confessions and slow, toe-curling kisses, Hazel has to decide if she’s done running—from her past, from this town, and from the only man who’s ever made her feel like home. And Tucker has to prove that this time, he’s not just her safe place to crash—he’s her always.
Thighs Wide Shut by Hayley Fleming
When Emma hits her quarter-life crisis and moves back to the city where she went to college, she finds herself neighbors with the boy whose heart she broke five years earlier in this heartfelt and witty second-chance debut romcom.
Emma thought her late twenties couldn’t get more complicated after she quit her teaching job and moved across the country to figure out what comes next. Her new life in Boston is filled with more than enough to worry a basement apartment full of disorganized boxes, a resistance to finding love, a medical condition that holds her back from putting herself out there, and on top of it all she hears a familiar voice from the apartment above …Harrison.
Emma hasn’t seen Harrison since an explosive fight ended their college friendship and closed the door on anything more between them—and now she can hear the details of his active dating life one floor above her. Emma only has herself to blame; her inability to be vulnerable with Harrison drove him away, and now, he’s a guinea pig-owning pediatric nurse in a well-decorated apartment. Harrison has grown into someone else, but those old feelings are, somehow, stronger than Emma remembers.
Despite the opportunity of a second chance with Harrison, Emma remains wary of romance until she figures out how to manage the painful and involuntary pelvic floor contractions caused by her condition, so she doesn’t have to fear physical intimacy. She hopes to avoid ever having to open up emotionally about the condition – but can she learn to let her loved ones in?
Equal parts humor and heart, Thighs Wide Shut is a love letter to anyone who’s ever felt their body is a barrier to their happiness and a charming exploration of the beauty of allowing vulnerability to take the lead.
In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto
From USA Today bestselling indie author Chelsea Curto comes an academic rivals-to-lovers romance about storm-chasing meteorologists during hurricane season in Florida—perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood and B.K. Borison.
Nothing can rain on Quincy Monroe’s parade. She’s a woman-in-STEM with a PhD in atmospheric sciences, the host of a successful online weather show, and has one million followers on her meteorology Instagram.
Quincy has spent endless hours forging her path in this male-dominated field, becoming one of the best in the industry. And with a new job opportunity, nothing can derail her success. Except for the ill-timed arrival of Sebastian Dunn.
Sebastian is her best friend’s brother, her long-suffering academic and professional rival, and a flashy TV weatherman from New York City that everyone swoons over. Everyone but Quincy.
Over a scorching Florida summer and record-breaking hurricane season, Sebastian and Quincy are forced into close proximity. Setting aside their grudges to chase storms and stay alive is one thing, but can they weather the inevitable collision of their hearts?
Maggie and Arthur’s Magic Moment by Leslie René
A dangerous spell gone wrong forces the passionate professor of incantations to share tight quarters with her magical college’s leading—and most brooding—alchemist.
Despite the college’s budget cuts that slashed her syllabus, Linguistics and Incantation Translation professor Maggie Linden has almost made it to the end of the spring semester. To celebrate, Maggie attends a magical masquerade on Beltane. Maybe the end-of-year frenzy explains why she kissed a masked stranger at the festival, though her celebration may have come too soon….
An accident in the lab of famous (and famously broody) alchemist Arthur Taliesin sets loose a dangerous, haunting magic called a pall that renders the nicer parts of their academic building uninhabitable. Maggie is assigned to share her tiny basement office with none other than Taliesin himself. With his insufferable attitude and unfortunate good looks, Arthur makes it impossible for Maggie to concentrate on anything—her research, her students’ final exams, or tracking down her mysterious Beltane suitor.
She’ll do anything to get Arthur out of her office, including offering to help him reverse the magic that threatens the school. But Maggie is starting to realize her officemate may not be the conceited grump he pretends to be. In fact, much of what she thinks is true about Arthur is merely a mask
Not that Kind of Proposal by Victoria Lavine
From the internationally bestselling author of Any Trope but You comes an enemies-to-lovers rom-com about a hopeless romantic wedding planner and the cynical divorce lawyer forced to help her plan her ex’s wedding.
Gracie Holland lives for Happily Ever Afters—just not her own. After a crushing breakup, she’s thrown herself into planning weddings at Larkwood, the ivy-covered Rhode Island estate where she also lives in the guest cottage. But when her beloved boss passes away and leaves the estate to her grandson, Gracie’s carefully rebuilt life is suddenly on the line. Jude Larkwood is everything she’s sworn ruthless, practical, and immune to romance—he’s a divorce lawyer, for crying out loud! Worse, he plans to sell Larkwood by the end of the summer.
Jude has spent his life cleaning up other people’s romantic disasters—and he has no interest in watching another love story fall apart on his family’s lawn. But inheriting Larkwood comes with one its maddeningly optimistic wedding planner. Gracie’s sunshiney faith in love unsettles Jude almost as much as her ability to push through his defenses. He’s built a life on keeping emotion out of the equation—but something about her keeps slipping past his guard.
When Gracie’s ex calls out of the blue asking her to plan his wedding, she sees an unexpected opportunity. Jude reluctantly agrees to give her until the wedding to change his mind, and in exchange, she drags him into a two-month crash course in love to make even the most hardened cynic start to wonder if love might not be such a scam after all.
But as cake tastings and vendor emergencies give way to late-night confessions and undeniable chemistry, Gracie and Jude must confront the fears they’ve spent years avoiding. But can a hopeless romantic and a confirmed cynic find a future they both believe in?
Extracurricular by Rachel Lynn Solomon
When a former pop star enrolls in college, the last thing she expects is A-plus chemistry with her psychology professor in this sexy and tender romance from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lynn Solomon.
Ramona Wilder has spent her whole life in the spotlight. After a hit kids’ TV show, she transitioned into music, singing in arenas around the world and becoming an icon for millions of teenage girls. Now at age twenty-six, exhausted by the inhumane lack of privacy, she’s done—with all of it. She wants a chance at normal, whatever that might mean for her. And she’s starting with college.
Professor Nick Navarro is recently divorced but determinedly optimistic, allowing himself a very reasonable ten minutes per day to wallow. When his department calls a meeting about a celebrity enrollment, he plans to treat whoever it is like any other student. Except when Ramona blazes into class and causes an uproar, the typically easygoing professor is rattled, maybe for the first time in his career.
Ramona loves the way she flusters him, taking every opportunity to push Nick’s buttons, though what she really wants is to unbutton them completely. When a crisis brings them closer outside of class, they begin a tentative friendship amid an undeniable attraction. But Ramona can’t be so easily finished with her old life, and they’ll both have to confront their pasts if they want a chance at something real.
Yes, Chef by Grace Reilly
The Bear meets It Happened One Summer in this delicious new romance from USA Today bestselling author Grace Reilly, in which a down-on-his-luck chef and a determined social media maven strike a reluctant deal to bring a beloved restaurant back to life.
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 blond, bubbly, utterly infuriating daughter of his former boss, shows up at his dock.
Poppy needs to escape. From her disapproving family, her horrible 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, prickly, intimidating man she’s ever had the pleasure of throwing a shrimp at.
She knows Jack is desperate to come back from his unceremonious firing, so she proposes a deal: working together to open a revamped version of his mentor’s restaurant. He’ll handle the menu, and she’ll use her skill as a social media influencer to sell the hell out of its grand opening. If she and Jack can make the restaurant a success, it’ll be an accomplishment no one can deny—and a ticket for them both to return to New York.
Jack is intrigued, but only on his terms: if Poppy’s going to work for him, she must learn the ropes of the entire business. Including how to cook. From him.
As sparks fly both in and out of the kitchen and tensions reach a boiling point, Poppy and Jack are left wondering–could they be a perfect pairing? Or is this whole experiment a recipe for disaster?
Wild Goose Chase by Sarah Adler
An antique dealer and his inconvenient(ly irresistible) new colleague must contend with an illicit stuffed goose and their sizzling attraction, from USA Today bestselling author Sarah Adler.
Antique store owner Callahan Leitner has an illegal taxidermy goose in his living room.
Why? It’s…complicated.
But it may end his career unless he finds a legitimate way to dispose of the bird ASAP. Unfortunately, there’s an unexpected wrench in his plans—the frustrating, effervescent Annie O’Neill.
Annie is happy to fill in for her uncle at his antique store; it’s the perfect opportunity to gain more experience before opening a shop of her own, and to finally meet his handsome young business partner. Unfortunately, Cal is nothing like the charming man she expected. She’s tempted to take his apparent dislike personally, until she stumbles upon the source of his the contraband waterfowl hiding upstairs.
When the goose goes missing, it puts both of their professional reputations on the line. As Cal and Annie attempt to track down the bird before it can be traced back to the store, their tentative alliance turns into something much deeper. Will the hunt for their felonious fowl lead to true love, or end in ruin?
Summer People by Sally Blakely
One week. No drama. And absolutely no dating each other.
After graduating college, five friends make a pact. Every summer, they’ll meet for one week at the same beach house on the California coast to relive the golden days of college. There’s just one no dating within the group.
Simple enough, except Everett and Sutton already broke the rule before summer even began… and couldn’t seem to stop. What started as a one-time fling turned into an annual habit neither of them could quit, until the night everything fell apart.
Five years later, Sutton has no interest in seeing Everett ever again. Until one of their friends, newly divorced and looking for an escape, calls everyone back to the beach house. She expects awkward silences and forced smiles, but nothing could prepare her for Everett–still infuriating, still magnetic, and still capable of unraveling her with a single glance.
As the week stretches on and every re-lived tradition, shared meal and outing bring a flood of sun-soaked memories that feed the spark between her and Everett, Sutton begins to wonder if the promise that broke them apart was worth keeping in the first place… and if breaking it again will ruin the delicate balance their friend group has finally started to reclaim.
25 Best Beach Romance Novel To Read
37 Best Books Set in Summer For Beach Vacation
17 Beach Reads That Everyone’s Raving About on Goodreads
Stephy George
