BEACH READS

The Proposal

“I loved Guillory’s debut The Wedding Date so much that I jumped at the chance to read The Proposal. The story starts with the Most Awkward Meet Cute, then blends together hilarious dialogue and steamy sexy times. Guillory gives Nik fantastic girlfriends who are there for her but will not let her get away with anything. This is the romcom we’ve been waiting for. Someone call Shonda Rhimes and make this a movie.”

Karena, Bookshop Santa Cruz

There are three things you need to know about Preston “PK” Kingsley: He’s a writer, toiling in obscurity as an editorial assistant at a New York City publishing house. He is not a cliché. No, really. He’s been secretly in love with his best friend, Art, since they once drunkenly kissed in college. When Art moves in with PK following a bad... Read more »

The Love Hypothesis

“If, like me, your catnip is the taciturn, brainy, hot hero who is secretly a big squishy marshmallow at heart, look no further than this awesome debut!”

Angela Trigg, The Haunted Book Shop

The Charm Offensive

“Cochrun expertly captures the nuance of falling for someone with mental health issues, while navigating your own identity, sexuality and neurodivergent revelations in way I have never seen before. This book had me all up in my feelings. I've read it all the way through multiple times (maybe six).”

Zinna, A Great Good Place for Books

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

“This is a beautifully inclusive novel that made me cry and laugh harder than I’d like too. Chloe and Red were amazing characters that I didn’t want to leave when the story ended. I can’t get over Chloe being a larger lady and the story not focusing on that. I was bracing myself so many times for her to feel sad about her weight or talk about how much she might eat to de-stress herself but the story never gave me that, and I appreciated it so much. She was fine with her appearance and it’s that type of attitude and writing that made me love Chloe even more. I also loved how determined Chloe was to not let her disability take over her life. It’s important to me to see stories like this getting written because representation is huge as a bookseller. I believe everyone deserves to be seen and this was a pure gem.”

Macey, Penn Book Center

The Last Chance Library

“This is an engaging tale of loss, grief, regret and loneliness, and how community, shared purpose and compassion can lead the way to healing and new starts. June is grieving the loss of her Mother and living in the home they shared that serves as a memory bank of her youth. The library, where her Mother worked, and June now works is the only other place she is comfortable. An odd assortment of people use her library on a daily basis, some to work, some to read, some for companionship and some for escape. When that refuge for so many is threatened facets of all their personalities emerge that are so deeply buried, the person had no idea of their capabilities. You will laugh, become exasperated, shed tears, and possibly plan a trip to your local library when you finish this book. A heartwarming read that will engage you from beginning to ending.”

Jackie, Fiction Addiction

A USA Today Best Book of 2021!

"Bromley does a deft job at keeping the twists and turns of this reunion realistic and utterly romantic.” —USA Today

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely—and inconvenient—sources.

Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, she’s fine... Read more »

Opposites attract in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about a free-spirited lawyer who is determined to find the perfect match for the grumpy bachelor at her cousin's wedding.
 
After a devastating break-up, celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is determined never to open her heart again. She puts her energy into building her career... Read more »

A Marie Claire Book Club Pick!

Even with a step-by-step plan, these fake fiancés might accidentally fall for each other in this hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedy from the author of The Marriage Game.

Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no... Read more »

If you enjoyed Take a Hint, Dani Brown, then you’ll love Beach Read.

“2020 is apparently the year I start reading romance novels and loving them. Maybe it's my need for a little lighthearted fluff in quarantine, but straight fluff isn't really my jam no matter the day. I want fluff with meat on its bones. I want fluff with substance.

As for Beach Read... Did I just give a romance novel ALL THE STARS? Why yes. Yes I did. And if I could give it a few more, I would. Because Beach Read is just the kind of substantial 'fluff' I needed to read. It's the kind of book that flips the patriarchy on its head, the one that has told readers like me that romance novels can't be good literature. Because at the end of the day, my preference for anything *but* romance had little to do with the writing quality, and everything to do with social biases. Henry attacks those head on. And then she goes leaps and bounds further, delving into grief and love and identity, and how we understand each other.

This book is therapy. It's a book about writer's block in the best of ways - not just the literal premise of swapping stories, but that of feeling stuck in a rut and not knowing what to do to move forward with life. I felt completely and utterly seen in its pages. I cried ugly tears until I had none left. And then it lifted me up in a bucket full of swoon. Reader, I adored every minute. And with Julia Whelan to narrate, what more could you ask for?”

Britt, Second Star to the Right

If you enjoyed Practical Magic, then you’ll love The Ex Hex.

“This book elicits the perfect cozy, witchy vibe that you crave in October (or all year round). It's the mashup of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Melissa Joan Hart edition) and Hocus Pocus that I didn't know I needed. It's silly but narrator Caitlin Davies had me smiling on my work commute and immediately magicked up a kitschy Halloween movie marathon after I finished the book. Now I just need Erin Sterling to release a sequel every October until I die!”

Kimi, Buttonwood Books and Toys

The Rehearsals

“I enjoyed having both Megan and Tom’s perspectives, especially in an audio format with 2 narrators. I enjoyed the magical realism of the day before their wedding repeating. The place was an excellent character itself (San Juan Island, Washington). The rest is complicated. The characters were flawed and frustrating at times, but I appreciated the complexity of what was revealed about their pasts and how it was affecting their behaviors and actions throughout. Not 100% a romance, but there was a HEA of sorts with an ambiguous ending. You will like it or hate it. I liked the character growth and felt like they were headed toward the right sort of redemption that was for each other and themselves instead of everyone else in their lives.”

Cori, Bright Side Bookshop

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting it, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things... Read more »

When Paige Danvers isn't managing events for the Whitman Street Cat Café, she is busy navigating dating disasters as a single woman in Brooklyn. Urged by her boss and best friend, Lauren, to find a distraction from ineffectual dating apps, Paige volunteers with a cat-rescue organization, where she actually meets a guy with some real relationship... Read more »

Whip-smart, heartfelt and joyful, Alison Rose Greenberg's Bad Luck Bridesmaid is a celebration of complicated women and a power-anthem to live your truth.

This is not a rom com. You’ve been warned.

It’s official: Zoey Marks is the cursed bridesmaid that no engagement can survive. Ten years, three empire waist dresses, and ZERO brides have walked...

Sweet Home Alabama?meets?Emily in Paris?in this hilarious romp through the world of extravagant southern weddings.

Ringless, jobless, and hopeless, Lottie Jones commits to doing the only thing she truly studied in school: wedding planning. 

When floundering and unlucky-in-love twentysomething Lottie Jones lands a new career as a wedding planner at...

Love & Other Disasters

“I’m not a huge romance book person but I really enjoyed this one! This queer love story between a quirky self–taught cook and her seasoned (haha) nonbinary rival on a cooking show is incredibly charming and the perfect amount of hot, too. London’s quest to come out isn’t easy but ultimately validating. I hope to see more stories like theirs center-stage in romance and beyond!”

Sam, Phoenix Books

If you enjoyed We Met in December, then you’ll love Meet Me in the Margins.

“Savannah is secretly writing a romance novel—something that the highly selective Nashville publishing house that employs her as an editor would never deign to pick up—but after a chance meeting with the editor-in-chief of her favorite romance imprint, Savannah thinks she might actually have a chance at getting published. In a cutthroat environment with looming budget cuts and a new boss fresh from New York, everywoman Savannah can’t risk a misstep at work, but she’s also on a tight deadline for revising her manuscript. She hides it in a secret room in the building’s attic, thinking it will be safe from prying eyes, but when she returns to retrieve it, an anonymous editor has left jarring, albeit sometimes reasonable, critiques in the margins. So begins a back and forth dialogue filled with clever banter and personal confessions. This adorable workplace romance includes a few love notes to librarians as well as an inside look at the book industry and is totally PG, but it’s so gosh darn sweet and satisfying that fans of spice may not even mind.”

Mary, Raven Book Store

The Spanish Love Deception

“After getting burned in a relationship with a power differential, Catalina flees Spain for New York, starting over, climbing the misogynistic corporate ladder, and vowing not to make the same mistake twice. Her family’s pity is suffocating as Lina struggles to trust and avoids romance, but now her sister’s getting married, and the whole family can’t wait to meet Lina’s new American boyfriend…whom she may have made up at the thought of facing her family, and her newly engaged ex, who is also the best man. ¡Ay, Dios! When her irritatingly handsome work nemesis, Aaron, overhears her predicament, he offers himself as her wedding date, and no matter how much she wants to, she can’t turn him down. And that’s how Lina and Aaron end up fake dating, in Spain, amidst the lovefest of wedding festivities and the chaos of Lina’s family. But their Spanish love deception turns into a sexy and intoxicating slow burn romance that has Lina wondering, Is it love, or is it just pretend?”

Mary, Raven Book Store

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new steamy, STEMinist novella…

Nothing like a little rivalry between scientists to take love to the next level.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on... Read more »