My Favorite YA Summer Romances

Read it if you like: friends to lovers & second chance romances

This book was actually the catalyst for writing this book list because it reminded me just how much I love a good YA summer romance book while I was reading it recently.

This one had a cute romance between friends, a messy (but loveable to me) main character, a beachy Florida community setting and a memorable friendship group that I grew to really love. It felt a lot like what I loved about Sarah Dessen’s books!

For Juniper Nash this summer’s plan is all about her community summer theater production and getting her friendship with Graham, one of her best friends, back on track — a friendship that went off the rails after last summer’s blossoming secret fling imploded after a decision Juniper made.

It isn’t long before the plan has some added bumps in the road — the theater production is at risk, her mom and boyfriend plan on moving things forward (meaning she has to spend time with his daughter who she can’t stand and the feelings from last summer certainly haven’t gone away which continues to threaten the barely-hanging-on friendship.

Read it if you like: summertime romances full of heart and big fictional families you will fall in love with

If you love the teen summer romance novels of Jenny Han, Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson — allow me to introduce you to this fantastic summer romance and teen beach read!

It’s about a girl who heads to Martha’s Vineyard with her family every summer but this is the first year heading there since the loss of her sister. Going there without her is overwhelming enough but it’s going to be a busy time with her cousin’s big wedding and the fact she got dumped and is now dateless.

But a summer tradition of a family-wide game of Assassin and a groomsman she tries really hard not to fall (who also happens to be her target) for provide a fun distraction as she tries to get through this summer tradition without her sister.

Read it if you like: armchair adventures and romances taking place in great locations

One of my favorite books set in Italy and a wonderful Italian summer romance! Set in Tuscany/Florence, it’s about a teen who moves to Italy over the summer (her mother’s dying wish) to get to know the father she never knew about. She ends up having a summertime adventure discovering Italy through her mother’s footsteps, meeting a charming guy and unearthing a family secret.

Read it if you: binge watched The Summer I Turned Pretty and need something to continue injecting summer into your veins

I picked this up on a whim after seeing someone talk about it on Instagram and it exceeded my expectations especially in the second half of the book!

Set in sunny Florida, it’s about a girl from Alaska who ends up spending her summer with her aunt in Florida and falling in with the hot boy next door and his group of friends who become like family as she spends a summer of adventures with them.

I LOVED the friend group just as much as the romance which is always a plus. Also grumpy/sunshine vibe in the romance.

Read it if you like: cute and fluffy summer romances

A summer camp book setting with a twist — a remote FAMILY summer camp! It’s about a girl whose summer is off to a rough start already with a friendship betrayal but then things get worse when her parents announce they are all heading to spend the summer at a remote family summer camp and she has to share a room with her sister. Things turn around when she meets a mysterious guy who works there and is definitely off limits.

Great setting, great story and I LOVED the romance. Kasie West is always a good idea for a summer read in general but when she gives us a summertime set romance it’s off the charts!

Highly recommend checking out her other YA romances and specifically Places We’ve Never Been if you want another summer setting (cross country summer road trip).

Read it if you like: hate-to-love YA romances, romance books set at a lake

This is definitely a favorite because it’s so fun

Two teens have spent the past six summers together, at the lake with their families, tormenting and pranking one another. But their feud goes a little too far which gets their families kicked out of their rental and the parents scrambling to rent one large house together for the rest of the summer.

They decide to call a truce and turn their efforts on getting back at the woman who kicked their families out and, spending all sorts of time together scheming and planning, show them just how much they really have in common when they aren’t working against one another.

Read it if you like: whirlwind vacation/travel romances, YA romances in the vein of Stephanie Perkins & Jenny Han

I LOVE a good travel/vacation-set romance (and this one did NOT disappoint. The romance is wonderful (hate to love vibes), the setting is fantastic (Mediterranean cruise!) but it also plenty of substantive fodder for a teen book club book!

A recent high school grad, who has been feeling less sure of her future than she once was, is off on a post-graduation cruise with her family and is given a deadline that by the end of the cruise she has to figure out what her major will be. A new romance, with a boy her opposite and who gets on her bad side immediately, was not on the itinerary until the two end up spending the trip together thanks to their parents newfound friendship on the cruise.

Read it if you like: cute and fluffy summer romances

Do you know how agonizing this was to choose just ONE Morgan Matson book for this list? If you’ve been around and know Morgan Matson is one of my favorite YA authors then you might have an idea. I could have gone with road tripping Amy & Roger or let you get cry and get lost in the romance in Second Chance Summer or there’s Andie’s super unexpected (and very romantic) summer.

But instantly in my gut I knew it had to be this one — Emily and Frank’s summer romance + a summer bucket list! This book made me downright giddy and I loved watching Emily and Frank complete Emily’s bucket list (left for her by her bff who took off) and watch her self-discovery without Sloane and watch that romance bloom!

Read it if you like: friends to lovers YA romances, summer job romances

Wanting to distract herself from the reality of her dreams crashing down after an injury and her stint at boarding school (after some bad decisions), Hannah decides to turn her focus on her summer job at an entertainment complex as part of her parent’s list of things she must do not to get sent back to boarding school after the summer. A fun job plus some cute co-workers (including her brother’s best friend) –and the drama of having to work with her ex best friend – might be the distraction she needs.

There are some heavier issues but I felt like it balanced everything nicely enough to be a cute summer romance!

Read it if you like: funny summer romcoms and romance at your summer job

Love a good YA summer romance that is set at a summer job! This one is about a girl who has gone one prank too far and has now had to trade in her carefree summer for one working at her dad’s taco truck all summer where her co-workers are her arch nemesis from school and a cute boy.

Fun summer romance book for teens but also really loved the growth of the main character and her relationship with her dad change over the course of the summer once she really gets involved with the family business.

Read it if you like: romances with a You’ve Got Mail vibes

One of my favorite teen summer romances of all time!

It’s about a girl who ends up on the West Coast to live with her dad in a town where her crush from an online film forum happens to also live. Reluctant to tell him she’s in the same town, she decides to lay low to see if she can figure out who he is.

In between trying to find that out, she takes a summer job at a museum and finds herself having complicated feelings for her work nemesis that have her unsure which direction her love life should go.

Read it if you like: friends to lovers romances + summer camp settings

I feel like I talk about this one but it really is a great friends-to-lovers summer romance set at a camp + a great story of two sisters finding out about each other and getting to know each other while getting to the bottom of why they didn’t know each other.

Read it if you like: super sweet YA romances

While I think Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight will still always be my favorite Jennifer E. Smith book, this one is right up there with it for me!

Hugo’s summer was supposed to be a cross country train adventure with his girlfriend before college started — until she dumps him. She lets him have the tickets, bought in her name, but lets him know the caveat is that since everything is in her name (and non-transferable/non-refundable) he won’t be able to go unless he finds someone with her same name.

Determined to still go on the trip, he puts out a search for another Margaret Campbell to take the ticket — leading him to a girl his age, nicknamed Mae, who decides to take this adventure after things in her life go awry and she decides she needs something to help inspire things back on track.

The two are attracted to one another immediately and spend a summer seeing the country and realizing this adventure is exactly what they both needed to push them forward.

Read it if you like: cute m/m romcoms

Two teens meet and find a spark as they spend the summer working at a (Dollywood-esque) country music themed amusement park — one performing to pursue his dreams of being an openly gay country music superstar at the place his idol owns and the other as a necessity to pay his mom’s medical bills despite the fact he hates country music and has personal beef with the music star who owns it.

I’m not even a huge country music gal (but I love Dolly!) and I just found this summer romance, set amidst a great backdrop, so delightful and a perfect easy read for the summer. Plus I really loved the two main characters and their journeys!

Read it if you like: sliding doors type romcoms, bi rep in YA books

A teen girl is faced with an impossible choice for how she wants to spend her summer vacation — a summer in NYC with her dad (and the girl she’s always wanted) or in LA with her estranged mom to work on their relationship (and an unexpected love). In alternating chapters, both summer timelines play out for readers.

Read it if you like: slowburn romances, low stakes romcoms

When a prank by the captain of the soccer team goes wrong, soccer star Zach Martin decides to take the fall for his mentor (for a few reasons) which lands him a summer of volunteering at a seaside conservation center instead of his summer of fun in between soccer commitments — a summer that has him crushing on a boy who doesn’t want anything to do with him knowing all about the prank that was pulled.