Looking for New Romance Books for Summer 2026? Whether you’re looking for a spirited enemies-to-lovers summer romance, a banter-filled rom-com, or an emotional second-chance at love story, my list has something for every kind of reader. 

41 New Romance Books for Summer 2026

This list is growing! It includes contemporary romances and rom coms. No dark romance, romantasy, paranormal or historical (I had to draw the line somewhere!)

The Big Buzz Books

The most anticipated romance releases of summer 2026! These are the ones I think everyone will be talking about!

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune (May 5)

Carley Fortune brings her signature emotional punch to a best-friends-forced-to-face-their-feelings story set in a paradise getaway with a heartbreaking deadline. If you loved Every Summer After, this is probably at the top of your summer to-read list.

Fever Dream by Elsie Silver (May 19)

Elsie Silver launches a new series with a bull rider on a reality dating show and a rivals-to-lovers slow burn that promises all the grumpy/sunshine vibes. Chestnut Springs readers will be very happy.

The Shippers by Katherine Center (May 19)

Katherine Center is one of the best contemporary romance authors working today. I’m hoping that The Shippers, a friends to lovers meets destination wedding cruise, is exactly the kind of sweet and funny read that her fans (me!) adore.

Score by Kennedy Ryan (May 19)

I don’t know about you, but a new Kennedy Ryan book is like music too my ears. It sounds like Score will deliver Ryan’s usual high-stakes feel with a second chance romance between a musician and a screenwriter who met in college but parted ways after graduation. Now they’ll be working together on a Harlem Renaissance biopic … if they can put the past behind them.

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan (May 26)

I’m hoping that Annabel Monaghan (Same Time Next Summer, Nora Goes Off Script) delivers another razor-sharp, warm-hearted rom-com set in a Rhode Island beach town. Fake dating + a single mom finding love = peak summer reading for me.

Someday Garden by Ashley Poston (June 16)

Did you (like me) grow up reading The Secret Garden? The Someday Garden feels to me like a Secret Garden romance for adults set in lush coastal Maine, with magical realism and a man mysteriously trapped in a walled garden. To me, this feels like the most original premise of the new summer romance books.

Don’t Sleep On These!

Not the biggest names on the list, but some of the most exciting premises of the summer.

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood (June 16)

A dumped romance novelist’s fictional hero literally walks off the page. I’m hoping that Romantic Hero reads like a modern Romancing the Stone.

Have a Great Summer by Francesca Cocchi (May 26 ) DEBUT

Jersey Shore nostalgia, millennial throwbacks, and a dual-timeline reunion with the one that got away. This book is getting compared to romance books by Annabel Monaghan, Carley Fortune, and Emily Henry. To me, that means Have a Great Summer is a debut that belongs in every summer beach bag.

Chase Me If You Can by Heather Frances (June 23) DEBUT

Two storm-chasing frenemies forced together for a competition across tornado season. People are calling Chase Me If You Can the debut romance of the summer: electric chemistry, open-road energy. And yes, we all see the parallels with the classic movie “Twisters.”

The Full Summer Romance List

New titles releasing May through August 2026, organized by date.

new summer romance novels: MAY 5

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune

• Tropes: Childhood friends to lovers, forced proximity, one-week-to-save-the-friendship tension
• Summer vibes: Best friends navigate a paradise getaway that’s equal parts beautiful and emotionally charged — pure Carley Fortune summer yearning

Rules for the Summer by Meghan Quinn

• Tropes: Neighbors, forced proximity, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine (she’s practical, he’s posh), rom-com chaos
• Summer vibes: Quaint seaside candy shop, DIY renovation romance, sun-drenched small-town setting

Summer State of Mind by Kristy Harvey Woodson

• Tropes: Newcomer meets hometown hero, second chance at life
• Summer vibes: North Carolina beach setting, slow Southern summer energy
• Check out my Review of Summer State of Mind

new summer romance novels: may 12

Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez

• Tropes: woman on the edge/ledge, friends turned to lovers, secret summer romance
• Summer vibes: Rhode Island seaside summer, opposites attract Grease Summer Loving vibes

NEW SUMMER ROMANCE NOVELS: MAY 19

Fever Dream by Elsie Silver

• Tropes: Rivals to lovers, reality TV romance, grumpy/sunshine
• Summer vibes: Bull rider on a dating show? This sounds like chaotic, competitive, sun-soaked drama

The Shippers by Katherine Center

• Tropes: Friends to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating
• Summer vibes: Setting? A destination wedding cruise. Sounds like an irl nightmare to me, but I’m so on board for this one!

Score by Kennedy Ryan

• Tropes: Second chance at love
• Summer vibes: When a pair of former college sweethearts is reunited to work on the project that will make their careers, can they put the past behind them to make beautiful music together (see what I did there?)

Soon by You by Dahlia Adler

• Tropes: Opposites attract
• Summer vibes: wedding season!

new summer romance novels: MAY 26

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

• Tropes: Fake dating, single mom finds love
• Summer vibes: Rhode Island beach town location

I LOVE Annabel Monaghan. Check out my review of Same Time Next Summer!

Have a Great Summer by Francesca Cocchi

• Tropes: Second chance, dual timeline (teen crush + adult reunion), enemies-to-something-more, female friendship
• Summer vibes: Jersey Shore boardwalk nostalgia, millennial throwbacks, beachside wedding chaos…

The Lake House by Lori Foster (Firefly Summer #2)

• Tropes: Series romance, small-town/lake setting
• Summer vibes: Lakeside summer community, book two in the Firefly Summer world

Bromantasy by Máire Roche

• Tropes: Queer romance, friends to lovers, found family, cozy fantasy elements
• Summer vibes: I’m getting quozy (queer cozy) feel-good energy from this one.

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts

• Tropes: Sworn enemies to lovers featuring a romance bookstore owner vs. a book-bashing shock jock
• Summer vibes: Summer in Seattle (hmmm, but is it Sleepless?) Love a bookish setting and some sparky banter!

Summer Share by Jenn McKinley

• Tropes: Shared inheritance, forced proximity, it-ends-when-summer-does tension
• Summer vibes: One ramshackle summer house, two unexpected co-owners — ticking clock romance

new summer romance novels: JUNE 2

Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews

• Tropes: Sisters road trip in Ireland, a quest, a mysterious painting
• Summer vibes: Open-road adventure energy from a beloved beach-read queen

I’ve been reading Mary Kay Andrews for ages! I’ve read many of her books but only reviewed The Homewreckers!

Crazy Scripted Love by Elizabeth Drummond

• Tropes: Hate-to-love, workplace romance (film set)
• Summer vibes: Hollywood glamour meets creative chaos

For the Bride by Becca Grischow

• Tropes: Hate to love, WLW (this list is oddly short of LGBTQ romance which was not my intent, so if you have suggestions, please leave them in comments!)
• Summer vibes: wedding of the season

new summer romance novels: JUNE 9

Nantucket Second Chances by Pamela Kelley

• Tropes: Second chance romance
• Summer vibes: Classic Nantucket setting. Who doesn’t love a breezy New England summer?!

Check out my review of The Nantucket Inn, a book in the same universe.

The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest (Heart Beach #1)

• Tropes: Fake dating, class dynamics (laid-off bookseller hired to pose as the heir’s girlfriend), forced proximity at family beach house
• Summer vibes: New Jersey beach house, Black generational wealth backdrop, family-filled summer chaos

Brighter Than Before by Courtney Walsh

• Tropes: Divorce reinvention, fresh start, neighbors-to-more, second chances (this one might read more like women’s fiction than romance), slow-burn
• Summer vibes: A woman in her 40s reinventing herself in Chicago.

new summer romance novels: JUNE 16

Great Outdoors by Kayla Olson

• Tropes: Opposites attract: a high-maintenance girl signs up for an outdoors adventure
• Summer vibes: A rustic yet romantic wilderness trek in the High Sierras

Someday Garden by Ashley Poston

• Tropes: Secret Garden romance for adults, magical realism, a man trapped in a walled garden
• Summer vibes: Lush Maine garden setting, whimsical and enchanted. A romantic summer in full bloom

North Country by K.A. Tucker

• Tropes: Small-town romance, opposites attract
• Summer vibes: Rugged northern setting, nature-immersed slow burn

I read ALL the K.A. Tucker books back in the day!

The Missed Connection by Tia Williams

• Tropes: A missed connection, possible love triangle
• Summer vibes: A complicated, sexy exploration of insta-lust

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood

• Tropes: A high-concept rom-com: a fictional hero walks off the page, fish-out-of-water, dumped heroine reinvention
• Summer vibes: Zany, bright premise that reads like a modern Romancing the Stone

Good at Being Alive by Elizabeth O’Roark

• Tropes: Fake dating
• Summer vibes: To save a family business, two work colleagues embark on an entire fake European honeymoon

Tropesick by Lauren Okie

• Tropes: ALL of them + brother’s best friend
• Summer vibes: Summer on a Southampton estate

new summer romance novels: JUNE 23

Chase Me If You Can by Heather Frances (Debut)

• Tropes: Enemies to lovers, forced proximity (road trip/storm season), competition
• Summer vibes: Storm chasing across the open plains, an adrenaline-fueled, electric atmosphere; Twisters meets spicy romance

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

• Tropes: Dual timeline, second chance, treasure hunt, widowed heroine, island setting
• Summer vibes: New England island estate, pirate history, sandy atmosphere with emotional depth

Reasons to Be Loved by You by Hannah Brown

• Tropes: Opposites attract, forbidden fling, secrets + family drama, reality-TV backstory
• Summer vibes: Fourth of July lakeside celebration, Georgia summer, fireworks-lit romance

new summer romance novels: JULY 7

Star Crossed Summer by Devon Daniels

• Tropes: Second chance celebrity romance, forced proximity (back in the beach town where it began)
• Summer vibes: Beachside filming location, Hollywood nostalgia, sizzling reunion energy

Summer People by Sally Blakeley

• Tropes: Secret romance
• Summer vibes: an annual summer gathering of college friends … who are in the dark about the secret romance. Sounds like a Happy Place vibe!

new summer romance novels: JULY 14

Extra Curricular by Rachel Lynn Solomon

• Tropes: Forbidden romance, age gap romance
• Summer vibes: A former child star heads to college and falls for her divorced professor

I read Rachel Lynn Solomon when she was writing YA and have happily followed her into adult romance! My review of We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This

In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto

• Tropes: A female meteorologist faces off against a flashy TV weatherman from New York
• Summer vibes: Florida in the summer: what could be hotter? Plus, it’s hurricane season

The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren

• Tropes: A grieving widow uses technology to bring her husband back to life
• Summer vibes: The perfect book to cry over on a rainy summer afternoon

I really enjoy Christina Lauren’s books. Check out my reviews of The Unhoneymooners, The Honeymoon Crashers, The Paradise Problem, The True Love Experiment, The Soulmate Equation, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, and I’m sure there are more!

Not That Kind of Proposal by Victoria Lavine

• Tropes: enemies to lovers, opposites attract
• Summer vibes: Rhode Island estate, wedding planner

new summer romance novels: JULY 28

Book Club Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

• Tropes: Enemies to lovers, grumpy writer + sunny producer, forced proximity (pool house), second act romance, older protagonists
• Summer vibes: Sunny California pool house, Hollywood setting, warm and witty

Wild Goose Chase by Sarah Adler

• Tropes: Partners in crime — an antiques dealer needs to get rid of an illegal object
• Summer vibes: A funny, romantic caper story that reads like a rom-com

Second First Dates by Gabriella Gamez

• Tropes: second chance at love

new summer romance novels: AUGUST 11

Let’s Kiss and Tell by Joss Richard

• Tropes: Fake dating.
• By the author of It’s Different This Time!

Summer of Stars by Liana Cincotti

• Tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers
• Summer Vibes: a summer of fauxmance in Hollywood

new summer romance novels: AUGUST 25

The Phone Swap by Lia Louis

• Tropes: Celebrity romance, strangers who accidentally switched phones
• Summer vibes: Late-summer read that bridges the gap into fall

---

Quizzes and Summer Romance Reading Guide!

• My Master Summer Romance 2026 Post – all the summer books in one place!
• My Find Your Summer Adventure quiz!
• Grab My Summer Romance Reading Guide with a checklist of ALL the summer romances I could find, plus a bingo card, a coloring reading tracker and more!

Love Summer Romance? Take my Quizzes and find more books that are perfect for you!