This heartfelt modern fairy tale is set in the LA neighborhood Little Tokyo. Rika, an orphan with two bossy cousins, sets out to search for her long-lost mother after locking eyes with Grace Kimura, America’s reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival — with the help of a cute actor, of course. But will Rika finally get her happily ever after? Those who loved Belly in Han’s Summer series will adore Rika! Kuhn pens a beautiful story about family, culture, and community.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

If you’re looking for more love stories told in non-linear, past/present timelines like in Han’s series, look no further than Dwyer’s debut novel. Come for the angst; stay for the yearning — that’s something we craved in The Summer I Turned Pretty, right? Dwyer introduces us to Ellis, who has just graduated high school halfway across the country, far from the familiarities of her old life, including her childhood friend Easton. The two haven’t spoken in over a year. When Ellis receives an invitation to return to the life she was forced to leave behind, she takes it even though she’ll have to confront her messy past with Easton, the boy who once captured her heart. Through her captivating prose and achingly lyrical writing, Dwyer tells a story of found family, of privilege and opportunity, of what it means when the people who are supposed to show up for you leave. It’s a gorgeous reminder that we are deserving of love despite our messy, complex mishandling of it at times. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Looking for another protagonist who is confident and a little messy? Carmen Aguilar is your girl. Carmen’s summer consists of an unpaid internship that forces her to perform in her spoiled cousin’s extravagant quinceañera. But things get worse when she discovers her dance partner will be Mauro Reyes, the ex who caused her so many problems in the past. Is it going to be the summer of disasters, or will Carmen get her happily ever after? Carmen’s sharp, hilarious dialogue paired with an emphasis on complex family situations make this book both heartfelt and fun. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Am I recommending you a book series that was published in 2004? Yes…yes I am. Because I loved these books when I was a teen. Hear me out: Abbott’s series may pre-date Han’s Summer books, but they both have that wonderful sparkle of first love, crushes, and, of course, a beach house. Ella, Beth, and Jamie are cousins who’ve arrived at their family’s beach house for the summer. One’s crushing on her sister’s new boyfriend, another is catching feelings for her best friend, and another is trying to heal a broken heart. It’s a fast-paced, simple, and sweet read that truly captures that young summer love.

Get it from Amazon.

Bryant’s latest YA romance may not be set on a summer beach, but it’s set somewhere just as summery: on a Mediterranean cruise. Before heading to NYU in the fall, Lenore Bennett sets off on a family vacation with a pocket full of secrets. Her parents have constantly reminded her that Black kids need to be fully prepared for their future, but artistic, creative Lenore isn’t 100% sure what she wants. She’s a realist without a solid plan for her life, and she’s okay with that. On the cruise, she meets Alex, a fellow teen who seems to be everything Lenore isn’t. As the summer brings them closer together, Lenore may just find herself opening up to love. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

If you’re looking for a read with a main character that stays true to himself while unexpectedly finding love, this one’s for you. Harry plans on having a boy-free summer in order to lock down and focus on his screenwriting goals. What Harry doesn’t expect is for two boys to throw a wrench in those plans. There’s Grant, the boy who broke Harry’s heart. He’s come back to town with a secret he’s kept from Harry. Then there’s Logan, the new boy, who slowly begins to charm Harry, softening him to the idea of love and romance. With the long summer ahead, Harry will figure out that the path forward isn’t always exactly what you envisioned. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Upon researching this book, I discovered it turns 10 years old this year! Matson’s books are always thoughtful and deeply heartfelt, and Second Chance Summer is no different. Bring tissues, you’re gonna need them. Taylor Edwards is spending her summer at the old lake house with her family after her father receives life-altering news. The lake house is a place Taylor hasn’t returned to since the age of 12. It’s there that she left pieces of her life in the past: her friend Lucy and her crush Henry — both of whom are around this summer. As Taylor is forced to confront the past, she begins to understand that this summer has granted her a wide range of second chances. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. 

The Way You Make Me Feel has a lovable main character who will appeal to fans of Belly. Impulsive by nature, Clara gets herself into some trouble and, as a result, must spend the summer helping her dad with his food truck, along with her enemy, Rose. But during the summer, Clara meets a boy named Hamlet, becomes invested in her father’s business, and begins to maybe even get along with Rose. So what does it mean that Clara is beginning to feel as if she’s shedding her old self and evolving? 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Huntley Fitzpatrick passed away earlier this year, but much of her legacy lives on in her captivating and comforting writing. My Life Next Door is a personal favorite of mine, and those who enjoyed the emphasis on family in The Summer I Turned Pretty will love the bigheartedness of family in this contemporary YA novel. Seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed is an only child to an uptight mother, but she quickly becomes enamored with the chaotically loud family next door. She begins to slowly fall for one of the siblings — Jase — and is welcomed by his entire family as one of their own. But young love isn’t easy, especially when Samantha’s life isn’t as perfect as her mother would like everyone to believe. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a comfort series for so many, and XOXO brings those same type of cozy vibes. Jenny is a cello prodigy who has plans to get into a prestigious music conservatory. It’s at her uncle’s Los Angeles karaoke bar that she meets a guy named Jaewoo, and together, they spontaneously have a one-night adventure. But when family brings Jenny to South Korea, she discovers Jaewoo is a student at the same elite arts academy where she’s enrolled. Not only that, but he’s also a member of a widely popular K-pop band — and he’s forbidden from dating. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Set during the glistening summer in Tuscany, Lina is bound to fulfill her mother’s dying wish: get to know her absent father. Armed with her mother’s diary and a whole lot of uncertainty, Lina begins to discover the magic of Italy through the lens of her mother, leading her to meet the charming Ren, who aids her in uncovering a family secret. Just like a cup of gelato, this book is a perfectly sweet summer treat. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound.

Stamper’s delightfully summery YA follows four boys throughout the summer before senior year of high school. Gabriel, Reese, Sal, and Heath are all queer and from the same small rural town, but this summer, Reese will be in Paris at design school, Gabriel will be in Boston volunteering, Sal will intern at Capitol Hill, and Heath will be at Daytona beach with his aunt. It’s about to be a summer of growth and transformation, much like the characters in the Summer series.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

If you liked the tension and angst in Conrad’s character, chances are you’ll love Dugan’s latest. After a messy friendship fallout that occurred after Fallon and Chloe hooked up, they’re now reunited during the summer as they work in the ice cream truck that their moms own together. They haven’t spoken to each other since the night everything went down, which makes for some very awkward tension. Now their mothers are trying to expand the business, so it’s up to Fallon and Chloe to attend a series of food truck festivals across the country — but can they do it without letting their past get in the way of their present?

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

This doesn’t take place during summer, but it still contains a sweet, yearning romance set within the gorgeous backdrop of Paris. When Anna is sent to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year, she’s a little put off by the whole idea. That is, until she meets Étienne St. Clair — a beautiful French-English boy who is currently not single — and an unlikely group of friends who help her acclimate to a new city. (Don’t miss our interview with Stephanie Perkins here!)

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Want more messy main characters with good intentions who are just trying their best? It’s Isaac Martin’s last summer before college, and in the fall, he won’t have his best friend, Diego, by his side. But Isaac has plans to make this the best summer ever by getting passes to Legends Con. When an unexpected run-in with an old crush distracts him from securing the passes, Isaac knows he’s messed up his fantastic summer plan. As Isaac hangs out with Diego and his gamer buddies throughout the summer, things with him and his crush begin to heat up. But what happens when Diego finds out the real reason for Isaac’s blunder with the tickets? 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Mafi returns with another lyrical contemporary novel set after 9/11 in the year 2003. Shadi is a hijab-wearing Muslim American teen who tries to be good despite everything crumbling around her. Her father’s in the hospital, her mother is suffering from depression, her brother is dead, and she’s barely survived a friendship breakup. And the one boy who returns into her life — the boy who tries to understand all she’s going through — is the very one Shadi can’t open up to. This aching, emotional story is touching and heartfelt and will appeal to those who don’t mind reading stories that encapsulate grief.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Plus-size blogger Abby has never pictured herself in the limelight of her own love life. That’s reserved for her other friends. But when she falls for Jordi Perez at Lemonberry — the boutique both girls are working at over the summer — she starts to realize that maybe she can shine in her own story. Abby has her own insecurities but is ultimately happy in her own skin, often noting that fat isn’t a bad word unless you give it power to be one. Spalding’s funny and charming writing will have readers flying through the pages. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Fresh from a breakup, Meredith Fox is about to spend another summer in Martha’s Vineyard with her family — and extended family. She goes every year, but this is the first year she’s been back since her sister’s death. Her cousin is getting married, and while there are wedding festivities aplenty, it won’t stop her family’s longtime tradition of playing the game of Assassin this summer. Meredith’s target is a very cute groomsman, but she refuses to be distracted by his charmingly good looks. After all, why would she try and enter a relationship that’s bound to go nowhere? This book has all the summer love vibes with a tender and sweet romance. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound.

At the beginning of summer, Harrison’s best friend Linus reveals that he’s moving, which means he won’t attend school with Harrison in the fall — the start of their junior year. In order to take advantage of their last day together, and to fill in the gaps of all the things they’ll miss out on when things inevitably change, Harrison takes Linus on a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  adventure of a lifetime, cramming as many things as they can before they’re forced to say goodbye. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

Pan’s debut YA follows a girl’s journey as she struggles with the loss of her mother. Like Summer, this book is told in a nonlinear timeline, and there’s also a very tender love story. Leigh, half white and half Taiwanese, recently lost her mother to suicide, but she is certain of one thing: Her mother has turned into a bird. In search of answers, Leigh travels to Taiwan to visit her maternal grandparents for the first time and, while there, searches for her mother (the bird) while uncovering family secrets. Pan writes a brilliant, lyrical, heartfelt, and astounding debut about grief, love, and the complexity of family relationships.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.