New Queer Romance Books for Summer
Looking for New Queer Romance Books to Read? Summer 2026 has a spectacular lineup of LGBTQIA romance, ranging from a small-town girl fighting to save her uncle’s gay bar to a diplomat fake-dating in Athens. When you’re looking for your next favorite summer read, these new releases deserve a spot on your list.
🌈 New Queer Romance Books: Quick Picks
| Title | Author | Pairing | Age | Perfect If You Want… |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This Must Be the Place | Kelly Quindlen | F/F | YA | Girl inherits a gay bar, falls for her enemy’s daughter |
| Good Luck Babe | Erin Baldwin | F/F | YA | Fake dating your ex-best friend on a reality show |
| But I Hate Him | Page Powars | M/M | YA | Academic rivals in a cutthroat competition |
| The Open Era | Edward Schmit | M/M | Adult | First openly gay Grand Slam player + attractive rival |
Find Your Read
Table of Contents
New Queer Romance: F/F Reads
Girls kissing girls. Women loving women.
- Lake Life : Fake-dating scheme at Spruce Lake goes exactly as sideways as you’d hope (YA)
- This Must Be the Place : Gay bar + enemies-to-lovers + small town Alabama queer community (YA)
- Good Luck Babe : Fake dating your ex-best friend on an Amazing Race–style reality show (YA)
- Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic : A six-time heartbreak survivor at summer camp meets someone extremely inconvenient (YA)
- I Kissed Her First : A chef, a popstar, and a European tour (New Adult)
- Awkwardly Ever After : A cursed woman and a skeptical data analyst turn dating into a research project (Adult)
- In What World: High school rivals reunite in their thirties with a lot of unfinished kissing (Adult)
- Mead Cute: summer romance on a honey farm (Adult)
- Love Notes and Lattes : small town romance at the coffee shop (Adult)
- Ice Princesses : former skating star faces off against a skating coach (Adult)
- The Whole Truth : can rival country pop sweethearts make beautiful music? (Adult)
- The Marriage Rebound : can a pro basketball player and her wife fall in love all over again? (Adult)
New Queer Romance Books: M/M Reads
Boys falling for boys
- But I Hate Him : Academic rivals, the most cutthroat summer camp in the country, a terrible plan (YA)
- Bromantasy : Best friends to lovers, cozy, low-stakes, maximum feels (Adult)
- Father Material : Luc & Oliver get a dog and discuss another addition (Adult)
- The Open Era : First openly gay Grand Slam player + his very attractive rival (Adult)
- The House of Now and Then : Queer healing story wrapped in a Cape Cod time-loop haunting (Adult)
- International Relations : Diplomat hires an actor to fake-date his way to an Athens ambassadorship (Adult)
- In Your Court: Can rival tennis players find love off the court? (Adult)
- Still Here : Queer punk record store employee finds love with his new boss. This has queer You’ve Got Mail vibes to me! (Adult)
- Trick Shot : An NHL captain is drawn to a new player on his team. (Adult)
- 25 Days in Athens : A man invited to his ex’s wedding in Athens catches some feelings. (Adult)
- More Than Meets The Eye by Mara Lovelle: Hate to love between two rival lawyers. (Adult)
- All Booked Up by A.J. Stoll: A burned-out lawyer building a new life in Vermont offers his best friend’s hot brother a place to stay. (Adult)
- The Punk’s Mafia Prince by Alex and Nick Prince. Motorcycle gang member. Mafia Prince. Secret, forbidden romance. (Adult)
🌊 New Queer Romance Books: Summer Settings
- Lake Life: Spruce Lake, fake-dating, protest subplot (YA)
- This Must Be the Place: Small town Alabama, a gay bar, a summer of fighting for something (YA)
- Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic: Academic summer camp, no-romance rules, immediately broken (YA)
- But I Hate Him: The most competitive academic summer camp in the country (YA)
- The House of Now and Then: Mysteriously cheap Cape Cod rental with visitors only you can see (Adult)
- All Booked Up: summer at a Christmas-themed town in Vermont. (Adult)
✈️ New Queer Romance Books: Adventures Abroad
- Good Luck Babe: An around the world reality competition with an ex. (YA)
- I Kissed Her First: European tour with a popstar New Adult)
- International Relations: Athens, diplomacy, and one very convincing fake boyfriend (Adult)
- In What World : Rivals investigating a disappearance through possibly alternate realities (Adult)
- 25 Days in Athens: the title says it all! (Adult)
🎾 Sports Romance (for fans of Heated Rivalry!)
- The Open Era: Tennis rivals at a Grand Slam (Adult)
- But I Hate Him: Luca is a hockey player… who also wins every academic competition (YA)
- In Your Court: tennis rivals at Wimbledon (Adult)
- Trick Shot: NHL captain drawn to a new teammate (Adult)
- Ice Princesses: a former skating star vs. a no-holds-barred coach (Adult)
- The Marriage Rebound: can an WNBA player and her wife recapture their mojo? (Adult)
📅 The Full List of New Queer Romance Books
Every new LGBTQIAP+ romance releasing this summer, organized by date.
Week of May 19
In Your Court by Kit Haley | Adult
Matteo Russo, the only openly gay tennis pro, was slated for a bright future until an accident derailed his career.
After losing to his old rival (the rich, arrogant, American superstar Miles Callahan) Mat sets a challenge for Miles. Can he travel to Wimbledon on a tight budget, with no support team, no coach, no fancy hotel. What starts as a dare becomes a searing off-court fling.
- Tropes: sports rivals romance
Love Notes and Lattes by Ellie Harper Smith | Adult
In her small town, Noah is the go-to for all the latest gossip, but has lived her life making sure she’s not the next topic. Until she steps into her family’s rival business for one chance with the woman she’s been admiring from a distance for years.
Gwen never strays too far from her routine. No one knows she’s been fighting against an obsession with the one woman she can’t have. Then one day she risks all with a scribbled note on the side of a latte.
- Tropes: small town romance, forbidden romance
Still Here by A.J. Knight |Adult
The queer punk record store where Ellis works is a refuge. But when the store is sold to weathy, charming Issaky Jones, known for buying up independent record stores, Ellis is certain this is how his safe place will die.
But as Issaky renovates and restructures, he also insists that Ellis stay on. Attraction sparks where resentment should be, and soon Ellis finds himself drawn into something he never planned.
- Tropes: workplace romance
Week of May 26
Lake Life by Tanya Bateau | YA
Maya is stuck at Spruce Lake for the summer, unable to avoid her lifelong best friend Rashida after confessing her feelings last year. Gabe was sent to the lake by her mom to stay out of trouble. Their solution: a fake-dating scheme to make Rashida jealous and give Gabe a wholesome reputation. The plan goes sideways in the best possible way.
- Tropes: Fake dating, unrequited love, slow burn
- Summer vibes: Lakeside community, small town, protest subplot, summer of revelations
This Must Be the Place by Kelly Quindlen | YA
When Louisa Wade inherits a gay bar from her late great-uncle (a beloved and closeted hometown football legend) she’s determined to keep it open for the queer community that calls it home. Standing in her way: the college football coach whose sharp-tongued daughter, Aubrey Calhoun, keeps showing up in Louisa’s orbit. A battle over the bar becomes something much more complicated.
- Tropes: F/F enemies-to-lovers, found family, legacy and identity
- Summer vibes: Small town Alabama, queer community, summer of fighting for something
Bromantasy by Máire Roche | Adult
Best friends fall for each other with found family cheering them on and cozy fantasy elements woven throughout.
- Tropes: M/M best friends to lovers, found family, cozy fantasy elements
- Summer vibes: Warm, glow-forward, low-stakes
Trick Shot by L.A. Jasper | Adult
NHL captain Nick Tiernan has always played it safe. He’s responsible for leading his team to victory, and that’s all that matters.
Then Matt bursts into Nick’s world. Charismatic, openly gay, and gorgeous, Matt is the frontman of a rock band who lights up every stage he steps on. Their chemistry is impossible to ignore, even as Matt challenges everything Nick thought he knew about himself.
Tropes: sports romance
Ice Princesses by Maria Rigou | Adult
Former skating icon Isabella Pierce, now a successful commentator, knows how to perform under pressure. Coach Cecilia Montenegro is fighting for her athlete’s future with nothing but stubborn determination and raw talent.
When the two are forced into the same professional orbit, the friction between them sparks into something dangerous.
- Tropes: sports romance
The Whole Truth by Haley Cass |Adult
Country music sweetheart Juliet Jacobs has spent almost a decade building her reputation and a perfectly-crafted image.
Darcy Kincaid is the industry’s breakout star. Bold, magnetic, and impossible to ignore.
Even before they meet, their mutual rivalry quickly becomes infamous. But when Darcy and Juliet have to collaborate in person, the tension between them explodes.
Knitting Needles by Ezra Wren |Adult
Oscar meets Aaron at the gender clinic on the morning of their top surgeries. In a twist of luck, Aaron tracks Oscar down on a gaming server and they start texting back and forth.
Several dates later, Oscar and Aaron still can’t get enough of each other. But when hardship comes knocking on their door, Oscar must decide whether he’s in this for the long haul; in sickness and in health.
More Than Meets The Eye by Mara Lovelle |Adult
Baz Hadley is focused on becoming the youngest partner yet at his elite law firm. Enter Sami Adam: cocky, gorgeous, and right-hand man to Chicago’s most dickish legal shark.
Baz despises Sami on sight. But then the sparks of loathing turn into something far more dangerous. As the two entangle in a secret affair that threatens to torch the career Baz has worked so hard for, Sami challenges every one of his snap judgments.
- Tropes: hate to love, workplace rivalry, opposites attract
Week of June 2
The Open Era by Edward Schmit | Adult | DEBUT
Recently-turned-pro tennis player Austin Hardy has been out since high school. But when he becomes the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam tournament, being gay is suddenly a very big deal.
Unprepared for the spotlight, his anxiety disorder hits a breaking point and he trips at practice. Right next to Diego Cruz, ranked second in the world, very talented, and probably straight. A friendship develops off the court: flirty, complicated, and increasingly impossible to ignore. Heated Rivalry readers: this one’s for you.
- Tropes: Sports rivals, slow burn, anxiety rep
- Summer vibes: Grand Slam season
Father Material (London Calling #3) by Alexis Hall | Adult
Luc and Oliver have been through it all: fake dating, real dating, a spectacular blowup, getting back together, moving in, and years of perfect domestic bliss. Now, as their very grown-up friends start hitting new milestones, Luc and Oliver decide it’s time to open their hearts to something new. Something tiny, squirming, and furry, named Spud. And maybe, with hearts already open, there’s room for something more. If you haven’t read Boyfriend Material yet, now is absolutely the time to start.
- Tropes: Established couple, found family, next chapter romance, poly-curious
📚 Start with Boyfriend Material
25 Days in Athens by Jack Strange |Adult
Three years ago, Will turned down Ollie’s proposal. Now, he’s been invited to his ex’s wedding in Greece. Will has twenty-five days to figure out whether to tell Ollie he made a mistake. But a chance encounter with his childhood friend Sam, who just happens to be impossibly handsome, complicates everything.
- Tropes: Destination romance, second chance romance
- Summer vibes: summer loving in Athens
The House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill | Adult
Harlowe could use a break. With his academic future over and his long-term boyfriend Jackson gone, a suspiciously cheap summer rental on the Cape sounds like just the escape he needs.
But when he arrives, his discouraging former professor is in the living room, his father is making coffee in the kitchen, a handsome young repairman is fixing things in the bedroom, and Jackson is in the bathroom. None of them will leave. No one else can see them. And they won’t leave him alone.
- Tropes: Queer healing fiction, time-loop/haunting elements, ensemble of the past
- Summer vibes: Cape Cod, sea air, confronting every version of your life at once
All Booked Up by E.J. Stoll | Adult
Nix left a high-powered law career to small town Vermont and is now renovating a house he inherited and opening a bookstore. He reluctantly agrees to give Chase, his best friend’s older brother, a place to stay after his divorce. But as summer heats up, so does the chemistry between them.
- Tropes: forced proximity
- Summer vibes: summer in small town Vermont, bookstore
Week of June 16
Mead Cute (Roll for Romance 3) by Sam Parks |Adult
Chloe wishes real life was as exciting as her weekly roleplaying games. So when a mead making workshop leads to a new opportunity on a beautiful rural honey farm, she can’t believe her luck. That is, until the owner’s niece shows up for the summer…
Teddy spends her life on the road, so when she finally gets back to her home away from home, she’s less than pleased to find a new hire poised to take her place.
- Tropes: workplace rivals
- Summer Vibes: summer on a honey farm
Week of June 23
Good Luck Babe by Erin Baldwin | YA
Reality TV superfans Noelle and Yumi spent ten years inseparable, until one awkward kiss ended their friendship after junior year. A year later, fate throws them back together with a last-minute spot on their favorite show, an Amazing Race–style competition.
Dream come true, except for a few complications: it’s an all-couples season, filming starts in two days, and Noelle hasn’t spoken to her “girlfriend” in a year. Noelle needs the prize money for her father’s medical bills. She’ll do anything for him, including fake date her ex-best friend on national television.
- Tropes: F/F fake dating, ex-best friends, reality TV, race competition
- Summer vibes: International travel, high-stakes competition, best friendship on the line
Week of July 7
Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic by Jessica Lewis | YA
Hallie has had her heart broken six times and is done with romance — so naturally she arrives at a prestigious academic summer camp and immediately meets Julia, her gorgeous, icy roommate who is absolutely a problem. A story about reinvention, the rules we set for ourselves, and why the heart is terrible at following instructions.
- Tropes: F/F no-romance-pact (broken immediately), opposites attract, summer camp
- Summer vibes: Academic summer camp, slow defrosting, found confidence
📚 Noteworthy by Riley Redgate, another queer academic romance
Week of July 28
Awkwardly Ever After by Lindsay Maple | Adult
Aubrey is cursed. One spell gone awry in high school landed her with the most embarrassing love life ever. Then she meets Lex, a skeptical data analyst who doesn’t believe in curses. Together they design a series of data-collecting dates to figure out what makes the curse tick. The problem: what if neutralizing it requires facing the most awkward situation possible?
- Tropes: Slow burn, magical curse, opposites attract, romance-as-research
- Summer vibes: Bisexual rom-com with a speculative twist
Week of August 4
International Relations by Zac Hammett | Adult
As a diplomat, Max has never had time for a relationship. But when a high-profile ambassadorial position opens up in Athens, he’s quietly advised that his single status isn’t helping. Determined not to lose his chance, Max hires Hunter, a charismatic actor, to play the perfect boyfriend. Fake dating at its most sophisticated, in the best possible setting.
- Tropes: M/M fake dating, rivals, slow burn, high-stakes professional setting
- Summer vibes: Athens, diplomacy, gorgeous backdrop, everything to lose
Week of August 11
In What World by Bridget Morrissey | Adult
Marlowe and Priscilla hated each other in high school. Now in their thirties, Marlowe is barely scraping by while Priscilla is wildly successful.
Their rivalry should be long dead — yet both women remain connected through their mutual mentor, drama teacher Dallas Winthrop. Their unending tension has nothing to do with the fact that they’ve kissed before. More than once. When Dallas goes missing, each woman believes she can find him. The investigation takes them somewhere neither expected.
- Tropes: F/F enemies with history, sapphic rivals-to-lovers, adult romance
- Summer vibes: Reunion energy, years of unresolved tension, big feelings finally running out of room
Week of August 25
But I Hate Him by Page Powars | YA
Rory is academic royalty, heir to the most successful tutoring company in the world, he studies harder than anyone and never loses. Except to Luca Melendez, the infuriatingly good-looking hockey player who wins every academic competition without even trying.
When both of them land at the most cutthroat academic camp in the country, Rory hatches the perfect plan: make Luca fall in love with him, then break his heart right before the final competition. You can probably see where this is going.
- Tropes: Enemies to lovers, rivals, fake feelings gone real, summer camp
- Summer vibes: Competitive pressure cooker, the worst plan that becomes the best thing that ever happened to you
I Kissed Her First by Betty Cayouette | New Adult
This is Riley’s last summer as a chef. So she goes big and auditions for a position as private chef on a singer’s European tour.
When she lands the gig, she’s thrilled. When she finds out the singer is Luna Leya, her and her sister’s absolute favorite popstar, she almost can’t believe it. As the two get closer, Riley starts to wonder if Luna is actually flirting with her.
- Tropes: F/F celebrity romance, chef + popstar, slow build, European summer
- Summer vibes: European tour life, dreamy summer job, falling for someone who seems unreal
The Marriage Rebound (Atlanta Cannons 2) by Meka James |Adult
Atlanta Cannons star Courtney should be soaring after a winning season. However, off the court, things are falling short.
Courtney loves Sasha, her gorgeous, fiery wife, but the passion that brought them together seems to have waned. Sasha gave up her life as an exotic dancer to become a doting housewife. When an injury forces Courtney to sit out the European League, Sasha finally has the one thing she’s longed for. But is it a case of “be careful what you wish for”?
Which of these are you adding to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!
