Summer officially begins in a couple of weeks, but it already feels like it’s hit the UK. Because of this, I felt inspired to choose a few reads for my summer to be read – all contemporary romances because that’s all I’m able to read the moment apparently.
I didn’t complete my summer to be read last year as when I went to add one of the books to my Goodreads I saw it didn’t have great reviews and it was pretty long. This year I’m determined to stick to my reading schedule. Probably not the dates/time I think the books would take to read as I’ve been way off recently, but the titles I’ve said I will check out.
The Rule Book by Sarah Adams
Apparently all I want to do at the moment is read Sarah Adams’ books, and honestly, I love that for me. I think I own all of her books, so expect to see a few of them popping up in wrap up and reviews over the next year or so. Hopefully I can get around to reading them, we all know what I’m like at this point.
I adored the Cheat Sheet and this book, which is a companion novel, has a higher average rating so that makes me very excited. I don’t think any of her books will ever compare to Practice Makes Perfect though.
Synopsis: College exes break all the rules when they reunite years later in this enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, the highly anticipated companion novel to the viral TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.
Nora Mackenzie’s entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender, who happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it has come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent, and he’s holding a grudge.
Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh, he’ll let her be his agent. The plan is simple: make Nora’s life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved—she won’t quit easily.
Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship save their careers and spark the romance of a lifetime?
The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
The first thing I have to say about The Break-up Pact is I hate the fact that it mentions TikTok by name in the synopsis. Books recently love to date themselves by talking about specific social media platforms – RIP to every book ever that mentions Twitter by name.
Anyway, I’ve read one book by Emma Lord, which was her debut Tweet Cute – again, mentioning social media by name. I quite enjoyed her debut but I’m hoping her adult novels are better. There were a few nitpicks I had with her YA novel that didn’t completely ruin the story for me but they were annoying. I do think she did enemies to lovers (which is more dislike to lovers really) quite well though.
Synopsis: Two best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral, in this delightfully fun and deeply emotional novel.
June and Levi were best friends as teenagers—until the day they weren’t. Now June is struggling to make rent on her beachside tea shop, Levi is living a New York cliché as a disillusioned hedge fund manager and failed novelist, and they’ve barely spoken in years.
But after they both experience public, humiliating break-ups with their exes that spread like wildfire across TikTok rabbit holes and daytime talk shows alike, they accidentally make some juicy gossip of their own—a photo of them together has the internet convinced they’re a couple. With so many people rooting for them, they decide to put aside their rocky past and make a pact to fuel the fire. Pretending to date will help June’s shop get back on its feet and make Levi’s ex realize that she made a mistake. All they have to do is convince the world they’re in love, one swoon-worthy photo opp at a time.
Two viral break-ups. One fake relationship. Five sparkling, heart-pounding dates. June and Levi can definitely pull this off without their hearts getting involved. Because everyone knows fake dating doesn’t come with real feelings. Right?
Wildfire by Hannah Grace
This will be my first Hannah Grace book despite owning the audiobook of Icebreaker for years now. I’ve heard very mixed reviews of her books, mostly because I think younger people/children were picking these up and they’re absolutely not for kids.
Anyway, Wildfire feels like a great book to start with. It’s set at a summer camp, which is the perfect setting for a summer read despite the fact that I’ve never been to one as it’s not something we really have in the UK. However, the Parent Trap was one of my favourite films as a kid so I have a nostalgic love for summer camps.
Now this book is going to be spicy, I’m well aware of that. Hopefully it doesn’t feel icky as they’ll be at a summer camp for kids. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.
Synopsis: The latest in the Maple Hills series follows two summer camp counselors who reconnect after a sizzling one-night stand.
Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man), Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name.
Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working. Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father’s gambling addiction, while Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her, and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.
Russ knows breaking the camp’s strict “no staff fraternizing” rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over, but unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules. Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night together start a fire they can’t put out?
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