APL Summer Book Recs

A Bride For Marcus by Anne Gracie. 03/25/2026

🤝 Friends to lovers 💍 Marriage of convenience 📰 Scandal

• Marcus, the handsome Earl of Alverleigh, vows never to marry for love after bitter past experiences.

• Tessa, his lively childhood friend, is twice widowed and left destitute by her ruthless brother.

• To save Tessa from a third forced marriage, Marcus offers a practical marriage of convenience for safety and companionship.

• During their honeymoon, the guarded earl and spirited widow begin to rediscover long-buried affection in this 6th book of the Devil Riders series.

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Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune. 05/05/2026

❤️ Best friends to lovers 🧳 Forced proximity 🔥 Slow burn

• Passionate and impulsive Frankie and George have been best friends since they were eight years old.

• After Frankie's fiancé dumps her on the morning of their wedding, George convinces her to go on her honeymoon with him to Tofino.

• Over the course of one glorious week, they attempt to repair their strained friendship.

• They end up unearthing long-buried feelings and secrets they don't know how to handle.

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Rules for the Summer by Meghan Quinn. 05/05/2026

😡 Enemies to lovers 🏘️ Small-town romance 🧲 Opposites attract 🔥 Slow burn

• After a drunken game of truth or dare results in a botched online engagement, posh Theo Williams escapes his controlling father.

• He ends up renting a house next door to Renley Gossage, a woman determined to independently restore her favorite candy shop.

• Between collapsing drywall and gossiping neighbors, their forced proximity turns into something dangerously close to real.

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The Dove and the Rogue by Harper St. George. 05/26/2026

💍 Marriage of convenience 🧲 Opposites attract 🔥 Sizzling passion

• To save her younger sister's future, American opera singer Jenny Dove needs to unlock their inheritances.

• She offers Lord David Felding, an unapologetic rake, one night in her bed in exchange for a marriage of convenience.

• Their wedding night reveals unexpected passion, complicating their simple transaction.

• The roguish heir follows Jenny to Paris to court his own wife in this 3rd book of The Doves of New York series.

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The Rainy Day Bookshop by RaeAnne Thayne. 06/02/2026

👨‍👧 Single dad 🏘️ Small town romance 📚 Bookshop setting 💔 Second chances

• Rosie Lucas's life is full between caring for her mother and running the family bookshop with her estranged daughter, Emma.

• She has no time for a romantic relationship, especially not with arrogant writer and single dad Andrew Morgan.

• As irresistible flirtation builds, Andrew becomes her confidante and helps Rosie and Emma navigate buried secrets.

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The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston. 06/16/2026

✨ Magical realism 🌹 Secret garden 🧲 Opposites attract

• Sophie Drear takes a temporary summer job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House in coastal Maine.

• She stumbles upon a magical, shifting secret garden with a frustrated man trapped inside.

• As the manor's foliage resists her nurturing, Sophie must work with the trapped stranger and the owner's inconveniently attractive nephew to help Lilymoor bloom once more.

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The Summer Share by Jenn McKinlay. 05/26/2026

😡 Enemies to lovers 🚪 Forced proximity ☀️ Grumpy/sunshine

• Free-spirited travel influencer Hannah Spencer and practical Simon O'Malley are shocked to discover they've inherited the exact same North Carolina beach house.

• They spend the summer tag-teaming repairs on the crumbling cottage.

• As they uncover a timeless love story hidden in the house, their own relationship shifts from enemies to friends to lovers.

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The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest. 06/09/2026

🤥 Fake relationship 🚪 Forced proximity 💸 Class difference

• Bookseller Noelle Lewis agrees to act as a stand-in girlfriend to afford her upcoming college tuition.

• Jeremiah Smith II, a wealthy baked goods heir, needs a fake girlfriend to avoid his family's scrutiny at their summer house in Heart Beach, New Jersey.

• What starts as a quick business arrangement stretches into a magical summer in this 1st book of the Heart Beach series.

• Noelle and the handsome heir are forced to keep their growing feelings in check or risk it all.

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The Summer of Lost and Found by Toni Blake. 02/17/2026

🏘️ Small town romance 👮‍♂️ Law enforcement romance ❤️ Healing and second chances

• Recovering from cancer, Cincinnati news anchor Jessica Fox takes a summer leave at her late boss's grandmother's cottage.

• In the small Kentucky town, she finds a treasure map left by Mabel leading to a collection of lost letters and mementos.

• Jessica spends her time reuniting these precious things with their distant owners.

• Along the way, she discovers an unexpected romance with the laid-back local police chief, Matt Cordray.

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Tropesick by Lauren Okie. 06/16/2026

☀️ Grumpy/sunshine 👦 Brother's best friend 🚫 Forbidden love 💔 Second-chance romance

• Childhood neighbors Katie and Tyler reunite after an eight-year estrangement caused by a shared tragedy.

• They spend the summer ghostwriting a love story for a reclusive author at a secluded Hamptons estate.

• As they write in forced proximity, they discover that the classic genre tropes they're crafting on the page are mysteriously beginning to play out in their real lives.

• They must work through the unresolved pain from their shared past to fight for their happy ending.

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West of Forever by Corinne Michaels. 06/16/2026

😡 Enemies to lovers 👨‍👧 Single dad 🤫 Secret relationship 🤠 Cowboy romance

• Tristan Stone is a grumpy, single-dad cowboy who is completely off-limits to the heroine due to a sworn family rivalry.

• Their shared sparks become impossible to ignore after he stops in the pouring rain to help her with a flat tire.

• In this 1st book of the Heartstone Ranch series, they agree to a secret, no-strings-attached relationship.

• Their secret romance quickly unravels their rules and captures their hearts despite their families' disapproval.

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Chase Me If You Can by Heather Frances. 06/23/2026

😡 Rivals to lovers 🚗 Road trip/Forced proximity 🌪️ Workplace romance

• Wedding photographer Sloane Michaels spends six weeks each spring chasing tornadoes.

• She is determined to beat her close frenemy, "Wild Wes" Talbot, in a prestigious magazine's storm cover contest.

• When an accident jeopardizes his chances, Sloane begrudgingly invites him to join her on the road.

• As they chase tornadoes across the country, their charged rivalry shifts into a dangerous and electric attraction.

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Father Material by Alexis Hall. 06/02/2026

👨‍❤️‍👨 Established couple 🐶 Pet parents 🍼 Found family

• After surviving fake dating, breakups, getting back together, and moving in together, Luc and Oliver have settled into years of perfect domestic bliss.

• Their friends begin reaching new life milestones like advancing careers and having babies.

• In this 3rd book of the London Calling series, the couple decides to open their hearts to a tiny, squirming rescue dog named Spud.

• This addition leads them to wonder if they have what it takes to be fathers and make room for something more.

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Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long. 06/02/2026

😡 Enemies to lovers ⏳ Age gap 🎩 Class difference 🤝 Partners in crime

• Gabriel Marchand ruthlessly fought his way up from the gutters to preside over London's most exclusive gaming hell.

• When her brother gambles away his inheritance, Guinevere Woodville confronts Gabriel, sparking immediate enmity.

• Gabriel offers to clear the debt in exchange for one night in his bed.

• Their seething rivalry soon gives way to sizzling attraction in this 9th book of The Palace of Rogues series.

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Happy Ending by Chloe Liese. 04/14/2026

❤️ Best friends to lovers 🤥 Fake relationship 👨‍👧 Single dad 🔥 Slow burn

• Two years ago, when their respective exes got together, divorced opposites Thea and Alex spun a spite-fueled lie about being old friends and first loves.

• Their ruse eventually blossomed into a genuine, deeply comforting friendship.

• A joint beach vacation with their exes, a daughter, and a dog forces them to spend extensive time together.

• They start to wonder if their fake story might actually lead to a real happy ending.

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Hott Hotter Hottest by Serena Bell. 06/09/2026

🛡️ Bodyguard romance 🤥 Fake relationship ☀️ Grumpy-sunshine 🛏️ Only one bed

• Grumpy bodyguard Tucker agrees to protect sunshine happiness influencer Autumn Sato at her sister's wedding.

• He accidentally ends up pretending to be her new boyfriend in front of her family and friends.

• Trapped together in a hotel room and a camping tent, Tucker struggles to maintain his professional distance.

• As sparks fly in this 5th book of the Hott Springs Eternal series, he wonders if he can keep his heart—and Autumn—safe.

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In What World by Bridget Morrissey. 08/11/2026

😡 Sapphic enemies to lovers ✨ Alternate realities 🎭 Former rivals

• Former high school rivals Marlowe and Priscilla begrudgingly reunite as adults to investigate the disappearance of their beloved drama teacher.

• They discover their mentor has found a way to explore alternate versions of reality.

• As they travel through the multiverse, they encounter versions of themselves who are deeply in love.

• Their simmering real-life attraction becomes impossible to ignore as they are forced to rely on each other.

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Mad Mabel: A Novel by Sally Hepworth. 04/21/2026

👵 Grumpy elderly protagonist 🔍 Murder mystery 🤫 Buried secrets

• Gloriously grumpy eighty-one-year-old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick minds her own business until a neighbor turns up dead.

• Elsie was once known as "Mad Mabel," Australia's youngest convicted murderer, a secret she's kept buried for decades.

• Armed with a relentless seven-year-old neighbor and a sharp wit, Mabel decides to take matters into her own hands.

• With the police and media circling, she sets out to finally tell her side of the story and prove everyone wrong.

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Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath. 07/28/2026

☀️ Grumpy-sunshine 🧲 Opposites attract 🔥 Slow-burn romance 🎩 Class difference

• Leopold Sloane, the pompous Duke of Debden, drags his rebellious siblings to Bath for the summer to keep them safe.

• He hires Portia Kendall as a new chaperone, an outspoken woman who immediately tests his patience and challenges his worldview.

• Portia only took the job to fund her radical reform newspaper, which champions the masses over the aristocracy.

• In this 3rd book of the Miss Prentice's Protegees series, Portia and the dashing duke find themselves inexplicably drawn to one another.

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Teach the Torches to Burn by Christina Dodd. 06/30/2026

🔍 Historical mystery ☠️ Murder at a wedding 🕵️‍♀️ Sleuthing heroine

• Romeo and Juliet invite guests to Verona to celebrate the union of their spinster daughter, Rosie, to Escalus the younger.

• Pre-wedding prophecies from an elderly princess predict a joyous marriage, a lost treasure, and a foul murder.

• When guests start dying and a skilled poisoner is unmasked among them, Rosie must use her sharp wit to solve the crimes.

• In this 3rd book of the Daughter of Montague series, the sleuthing bride works to stop the vendetta and save her loved ones.

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The Last Lady B by Eloisa James. 05/12/2026

🔥 Slow-burn romance 👻 Gothic mystery ❤️ Found family

• Lady Genevieve Hughes travels to a haunted Scottish abbey in the dead of winter with her septuagenarian husband and a pet piglet.

• She finds herself drawn to Sir Godric Everly, a sardonic, witty solicitor who loathes her spouse.

• When her husband abruptly dies amid secrets, multiple wills, and shocking marriage certificates, Evie relies on Godric to uncover the truth.

• Evie must figure out whose identity is false and where her heart belongs in this gothic historical romance.

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The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez. 03/24/2026

❤️ Friends to lovers 🚫 Forbidden romance 🥺 Mutual pining

• Larissa thought she had found the perfect man when she chose to ride home with her boyfriend, unaware she was meant to be with his best friend, Chris.

• She and Chris become great friends, co-parenting a rescue dog and sharing a beautiful, supportive connection.

• Chris secretly pines for Larissa from the sidelines, knowing that making a move would destroy his best friend.

• They must navigate the messy choices of life, struggling with a love that feels absolutely right but incredibly impossible.

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The One Who Saw Her: Boone by Marina Adair. 06/04/2026

☀️ Grumpy-sunshine 🚪 Forced proximity 🤠 Cowboy romance

• Dating profile writer Vivi Witmore retreats to a rundown Montana ranch to reevaluate her life of people-pleasing.

• She discovers the property comes with Boone Callahan, a grumpy ex-rodeo champion desperate to save his family's land.

• Boone wants the city runaway gone, but he desperately needs her rental fee to keep the lights on.

• Forced to cohabitate, their stubborn pride gives way to unexpected laughter and love in this 1st book of the Callahan Legacy series.

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The Open Era by Edward Schmit. 06/02/2026

😡 Rivals to lovers 🎾 MM sports romance 🧠 Mental health representation

• Austin Hardy becomes the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam tennis tournament, bringing intense media scrutiny.

• His anxiety hits a breaking point, causing him to fall at practice next to his talented and attractive rival, Diego Cruz.

• The two professional rivals start a friendship off the court filled with flirty banter and mixed signals.

• Austin must battle his anxiety and decide if love is worth risking it all during an electric two weeks at the US Open.

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Experiments in Offline Dating by Kat MacKenzie

😡 Enemies to lovers 🚪 Forced proximity 😠 Grumpy hero

• Podcaster Maya Davis is chronically terrible at dating, so she travels to Ireland for a matchmaking tour to find comedic material for her show.
• At the town's annual Matchmaking Festival, she wins a blind date with a surly local sheep farmer named Tadhg, which results in the worst date of her life.
• When a mischievous matchmaker talks her into a whirlwind dating adventure across the picturesque countryside, she is horrified to find she is trapped with her blind date catastrophe. 
• As their constant verbal sparring turns into undeniable chemistry, Maya begins to wonder if she's not so catastrophic at love after all. 

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Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts. 05/26/2026

😡 Enemies to lovers 📚 Workplace romance

• Alice Willoughby loves matching customers with happily-ever-afters at her romance bookstore.

• Her business is threatened by Parker Black, a cynical shock jock who bashes the romance genre on air after a bad breakup.

• Parker's crusade leads to spirited debates and bookstore protests.

• Unexpected sparks begin to fly between them, making Alice wonder if her favorite enemies-to-lovers trope is playing out in real life.

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Categories: : Romance book