Hi everyone! How are you all?
I recently realized I’ve never done a romance recommendations post on this blog, and that doesn’t make sense since I have read my fair share of them. So I bring to you my long list of romance book suggestions. I’m going to post a second part soon so keep an eye out for that!
A Place in the Sun by R.S. Grey
The plot of this book isn’t very different from a lot of romances but what made it an interesting read was that the story took place in a town called Vernazza in Italy. This setting gave a whole other vibe to the book and I absolutely loved reading it.
Goodreads Blurb
When her mother’s incessant matchmaking hits an all-time high, Georgie Archibald does what any sensible woman would do: she flees the country.
Seeking refuge in the picturesque seaside village of Vernazza, Italy, Georgie’s only plan is to lie low, gorge herself on gelato, and let the wine and waves wash her troubles away… that is until she wakes up in a bed that belongs to the most romantic-looking man she’s ever seen.
Gianluca.
After going out of his way to rescue her, the former London financier turned mysterious recluse makes it clear that despite acting as her white knight, he has no plans to co-star in her fairytale.
But Georgie isn’t asking for his heart—she’s merely intrigued.
After all, Gianluca isn’t just gorgeous—tall and tan from days spent in the sun—his touch sets her world on fire. With him, Georgie experiences the most intoxicating passion she’s ever known, and it only takes a few steamy nights for her to realize that sometimes running away from trouble is the best way to find it.
Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
Wallbanger is one of the most hilarious books I have ever read! If you’re looking for a romantic comedy, I would highly recommend this.
Goodreads Blurb
The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she’s gaining an intimate knowledge of her new neighbor’s nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy’s athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed dating hiatus, and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly…
In a delicious mix of silly and steamy, Alice Clayton dishes out a hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight…
Leo Loves Aries by Anyta Sunday
The writing style of this author is not really my thing, but I loved the plot and the execution of this m/m romance story.
Goodreads Blurb
A new person will enter your life in the early year, Leo. Look past any moments of frustration they might bring and laugh—this could be the start of a thriving friendship.
Theo Wallace usually laughs at the horoscopes his mom sends. Still hung up on his ex-girlfriend and practically friendless, this one begs him to reconsider. Because a friendship that stuck, that thrived…
Well, that would be a reason to leave past pains behind and look to the Bright Future.
When his sister Leone challenges him to find her the perfect date for a spring wedding, Theo uses it as a chance to make new friends. Theo’s ex economics tutor and newest roommate Mr Jamie Cooper seems to be a possible and convenient match. Real convenient. Like written in the stars, convenient.
All he has to do is make sure this Jamie is good enough. Could really be the one for her, and the friend for him.
But watch out, Leo, the stars have a surprise in store…
#Junkie and the GearShark by Cambria Hebert
Cambria Hebert is my favorite romance author. The GearShark series is a sports (racing) romance series. The first book #Junkie follows Drew and Trent. I am absolutely in love with these characters and I have read this series multiple times.
Goodreads Blurb
Drew Forrester is a total adrenaline junkie.
His high of choice?
Cars.
The faster, the better.
He’s been making waves in Maryland’s underground racing circuit since he crossed the state line, and after speaking with him, we know he’s not hitting the brakes anytime soon.
So what exactly does it take to burn rubber and make a name for yourself in a world where the only rule is there are no rules?
You gotta be hungry…
You gotta have balls…
And you can never back down.
What’ve we learned here at GearShark?
Drew is all of the above.
We also know he’s got some secrets buried under his hood.
Secrets we think are loaded with octane and just might set the world of cars on fire.
Check out the full feature article inside…
Avalanche (BearPaw Resort #1) by Cambria Hebert
Avalanche is the first book in another romance series by Cambria Hebert. This one was a bit different than what I have read before from her as it was set in a ski resort. It’s not my favorite book by the author but its still a good romance book.
Goodreads Blurb
Don’t get caught in the surge.
Through a bullet hole in a wall, I watch a man bleed to death.
Those responsible think their crime died with the victim, until I identify them.
What’s a girl to do when she’s being hunted by murderers
witness protection can’t even stop?
Run.
My only refuge is a place I vowed to never go again.
When it’s do or die, an eight-year-old heartache suddenly seems trivial.
Besides, he won’t be there anyway.
But he is.
Turns out my old pain feels brand new the second his eyes meet mine.
I can’t leave. I can’t stay.
This snowy town that’s supposed to be my shelter
suddenly exposes me more than before.
With no one else to lean on, Liam becomes my lifeline.
Now we’re both running for our lives,
trying not to get swept away.
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
From what I have read so far from her, this is the only Colleen Hoover book I would recommend to someone. It is quite an intense read so if you are looking for something more than a light-hearted romance, I would suggest this. Trigger Warning for domestic abuse
Goodreads Blurb
Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up
— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
Unteachable by Leah Raeder
This is another book that stands apart from most romances on this list. It is a student/teacher romance and I would say it is far better than many such books.
Goodreads Blurb
Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.
But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
I really liked this book. Helen Hoang writes the most perfect romances. They are funny, well-written, meaningful and she manages to get us to root for the characters. I would recommend this as well as the author’s debut book The Kiss Quotient.
Goodreads Blurb
Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.
As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.
With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.
The next two books fall into the category of erotic romance.
A Lesson in Thorns by Sierra Simone
This book is a recent read. I discovered it while watching a booktube video and it was somehow exactly what I wanted to read at that time. This book is very captivating and intense. It follows a group of friends who come together after many years at a place called Thornchapel and the romance that ensues. Kinda between all of them. There is also an element of mystery surrounding the history of that place and about the parents of the protagonist.
Goodreads Blurb
When librarian Poe Markham takes the job at Thornchapel, she only wants two things: to stay away from Thornchapel’s tortured owner, Auden Guest, and to find out what happened to her mother twelve years ago. It should be easy enough—keep her head down while she works in the house’s crumbling private library and while she hunts down any information as to why this remote manor tucked into the fog-shrouded moors would be the last place her mother was seen alive. But Thornchapel has other plans for her.
As Poe begins uncovering the house’s secrets, both new and old, she’s also pulled into the seductive, elegant world of Auden and his friends—and drawn to Auden’s worst enemy, the beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian. And as Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around them, Poe, Auden and St. Sebastian start unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together, they awaken a fate that will either anoint them or leave them in ashes.
From the author of the USA Today bestselling New Camelot series comes an original fairy tale full of ancient mysteries, lantern-lit rituals, jealousy, money, murder, sacred torment, and obsessions that last for lifetimes.
Out of Uniform series by Elle Kennedy
This is a series of novellas that are enjoyable for a one-time quick read.
Goodreads Blurb
In this heat wave, anything and everything goes.
A Red-Hot Summer story – and – book #1 in the new Out of Uniform series!
Shelby Harper has lusted over Navy SEAL John Garrett for over a year, but no matter how many sexy signals she sends out, the man shows a complete lack of interest in getting naked. Then she overhears Garrett talking to his SEAL teammate–a discussion in which they conclude she’s vanilla. Stung, Shelby sets out to show them exactly how un-vanilla she is.
Garrett can’t believe it when sweet, sexy Shelby suggests a wild and sweaty menage. He’s been trying to figure out how to ask her out without coming off as a guy who only wants to get in her pants–her friendship is too valuable to him to risk it. But if a crazy, heat-wave three-way is what Shelby wants, then he’s ready and willing to give it to her.
Once she gets it out of her system, however…well, then he’ll let her know he wants her all to himself.
I hope you all enjoyed this post and got some recommendations!
Haven’t really read a lot of romances but have been wanting to check out Colleen Hoover forever now!
Start with this book or for a lighter read, Maybe Someday!