Summer flings are the best. Carefree and passionate, they provide great memories. (If not, you can always embellish them later.) Romance novels published in the summer aren’t always about summer flings, but they tend to make good beach reads either way.
 
As part of our annual summer reading extravaganza, we’ve gathered 69 romance and romantasy titles publishing from May through August. These are the books that Goodreads members are looking forward to the most, according to early reviews and readers’ Want to Read shelves.
 
We’ve split the collection into two stacks: traditional contemporary and historical romance up top, and romantasy after that. We’ve folded subgenres like paranormal and dystopian romance into the latter category.
 
Among the season’s most anticipated books is H.M. Wolfe’s Daggermouth, a dark dystopian romance in a worst-case-scenario (but depressingly familiar) near-future setting. Self-published back in December, it’s being rereleased this July in hardcover edition. Meanwhile, celebrated author Jean Kwok (Girl in Translation) is getting into the game with Dominion, an ornate romantasy featuring battle tygers and ancient Chinese mythology. If you can’t decide between romantasy and sports romance, try Sophie Kim’s intriguing hybrid, The Winged Game.
 
Also look for plenty of series continuations from Hannah Nicole Maehrer (Adversary to the Villain), Carissa Broadbent (The Lion and the Deathless Dark), and Rachel Schneider (Light Wielder).
 
For those who still like their love stories without dragons and fae, this summer brings the usual rush of top-shelf traditional romance, with new books from Tarah DeWitt, Alexis Hall, Tia Williams, and the author team known as Christina Lauren.
 
One debut to watch for: Natalie Messier’s Every Version of You, which brings a touch of time-traveling magical realism to the genre. After all, who wouldn’t like a second try at those college relationships? Meanwhile, Heated Rivalry fans may want to check out Edward Schmit’s tennis-world queer romance, The Open Era.
 
Click on the cover art images below to get more information on each title, and use the Want to Read button to add items of interest to your own virtual bookshelf.

 

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