Each year, the book girlies get fixated on a new romance novel that becomes the must-read book of the summer season. Trust our favorite female authors to come through with the perfect books to take on your next summer vacation or to simply help you get into the spirit.
One author you can always trust to deliver the perfect summer-read is none other than Emily Henry. In 2024, she was already on our must-reads list for the girlies and I think it’s safe to say she will be a permanent resident for years to come. Since 2020, Emily has blessed us with one romance novel a year – with an exception of this year – with talks of a new one coming in 2027. The film adaption of People We Meet on Vacation is a must-watch, with the highly-anticipated Beach Read adaption coming to theaters in May 2027. Her latest book Great Big Beautiful Life, with the Reese’s Book Club stamp of approval, was recently released in paperback, just in time for the summer season.
Great Big Beautiful Life is about two writers who are brought to a small coastal town to compete for the chance to tell the story of a famously private heiress. What starts as a professional assignment quickly turns into something more complicated as secrets, history, and unexpected feelings start to surface. It’s very much giving slow-burn romance, emotional tension, and that classic Emily Henry mix of heartbreak and humor that keeps you turning pages way past midnight. Seeing this book resurface this year made me pick it up at the book store, I just started reading it and can’t wait to find out what the fuzz is all about.
And while we love anything Emily Henry has written so far, I recently picked up the newest Carley Fortune book and I am officially obsessed.
Carley has become one of my personal favorite romance novel writers after finishing Our Perfect Storm in only a few days. It’s the kind of book you can’t put down, you are fully invested in the story and simply captivated by the entirety of it. After closing this masterpiece, I went and ordered two of her previous publications and will most certainly get through the rest of it by the end of this summer.
Our Perfect Storm tells the story of two childhood best friends, Frankie and George, who embark on an adventure to the beautiful Tofino, Vancouver Island, after Frankie was dumped by her fiance a day before her wedding. To not let her honeymoon go to waste, George takes his best friend on the trip, with a well researched plan to help her get over her breakup in just seven days. Instead, they break down the friend-zone and take their relationship to a whole new level. The way Carley teases us, makes us read with anticipation, impatience and excitement and gives the reader every backstory necessary to understand the circumstances, is absolutely genius. It might be the best book I have read in the past decade. If it’s not on your must-read list yet, add it right now and thank me later.
As much as these two authors have basically secured summer reading season for us, there’s something special about the way romance books hit differently this time of year. Maybe it’s the slower days, the vacations, or just having the time to actually sit outside and get lost in a story without rushing anywhere.
Either way, the girlies know the assignment: a good romance, a little emotional damage, and at least one book that makes you kick your feet and text your friends about it immediately. That’s really the whole vibe of summer reading.
So if your TBR is looking a little empty right now, take this as your sign to grab one of these books, find a sunny spot, and disappear into a story for a while. Summer is officially booked.
ROARA Magazine 