I used to scoff at romance novels. I labeled them ‘fluff,’ ‘brain candy,’ ‘mindless reads,’ or when I was feeling rather pretentious, ‘a waste of time.’ I have studied and written about the literary greats, so what time do I have for archetypal love stories? This summer, apparently a lot.
This summer, I moved across the country – uprooted from a life I had painstakingly built over the last decade, full of family, excellent food and music, and a close social network. It wasn’t a perfect life – I neither loved my job nor the difficulties of finding readily available child care, but it was a life I built and was rather proud of. Months later, I am still grieving this life that I’ve lost, unsure now of my direction, my footing in this new place.
When your world is going to shit, however, there is possibly nothing more comforting than a literary happily ever after. There is immense solace in seeing the puzzle pieces of a fictional character’s life slowly fit themselves together – a feeling of finality and satisfaction at the end of the story when your life is anything but satisfactory or purposeful. While you’re writing silly blog posts and aimlessly chasing around a toddler without a single job application submitted, the female protagonists of these stories, whose lives you can slip into for a few hours each day, are ardently discovering exactly who they are, achieving their goals, falling madly in love, and having the best orgasms of their lives. I can be happy for these characters when I am having trouble finding that happiness for myself.
Maybe what I find the most gratifying from these novels is the fulfillment these women find throughout their stories. Every one of these books is inhabited by strong women – women who may be unsure of themselves, but who are strong nonetheless. I can see parts of myself in these women, and I am thus sucked into the cliched thinking: if they can achieve their deepest desires despite what their author has thrown at them, there is hope yet for me as well. As flawed and unrealistic as that thinking is, it is what I needed this summer.
So, here is what I read, in chronological order. There was no particular rhyme or reason to what I chose – some were recommendations from friends, others were stories which just spoke to that part of me in need of solace. All, however, gave me the ability to slip into someone else’s happily ever after for a short time every day – the greatest act of self-care I could have provided for myself this summer.
Funny You Should Ask by Elisa Sussman
This book first caught my attention because this is such a fantasy of mine (in an alternate universe where I’m not happily married with a kid, of course). Chani Horowitz is a journalist, hired to write a profile of the movie star, Gabe Parker, who just so happens to be her celebrity crush. Fast forward ten years from the whirlwind weekend she spends interviewing Parker – the events of which are slowly revealed over the course of the novel – she reunites with the star to write a follow-up piece and must also confront what happened between them during those first 72 hours they spent together.
I started this book shortly before I moved and it was the perfect story to retreat into as I began adjusting to a new place. This is the book that started it all – it was the feelings I got after I read this book which I began chasing for every book I read this summer.
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
These two books are part of a series focused around a Renaissance Faire in the fictional small town of Willow Creek, Maryland. I skipped the second book (Well Played) on the advice of friends who had read the series and I don’t feel like I really missed anything.
The first book focuses on Emily, who after a breakup moves to town to help her sister and her teenage niece after a bad car accident. Emily volunteers for the Renaissance Faire with her niece and in doing so she meets Simon, an English teacher who seems to immediately detest her. Emily and Simon have banter which rivals Nora and Charlie from Book Lovers (so if you’re a fan of that book, you would definitely enjoy this couple). As the Faire begins and Emily and Simon slip into character, though, Simon’s feelings seem to change, but Emily is left wondering whether this is just all part of his act. Never have I wanted to go to a Renaissance Faire more than after reading this book – I couldn’t stop thinking about this one for weeks.
In the third book, we get the story of Emily’s sister, April, a divorced mom of a teenager daughter. While it was widely refreshing to read a romance novel with a protagonist over 30, this story was not as captivating as the first. Honestly, I mostly skimmed this one – the scenes between April and her love interest, Mitch Malone (local Renaissance Faire hunk), were the only shining moments for me – everything else was just background noise. Mitch, however, is an absolute gem – he is the type of emotionally mature heartthrob every romance writer should be creating.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming
I’ll review both of these together as well because they’re also both part of a series (adorably titled Mead Mishaps) in which each book follows a different character from the same world. First, Kimberly Lemming is a goddamn queen and should be way more widely-read than she currently is. I’ve read a few other paranormal romance books, but she does more in less than 200 pages than most fantasy writers do in 400+ pages. These books are exceptionally spicy, without losing the substance of the plot. Every character is so multi-dimensional and the world-building is impressive in such few pages. I absolutely plan on reading anything and everything Lemming publishes in the future.
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
This was the only romance I read this summer that I did not love. Which is unfortunate because Thorne’s first book, The Hating Game, is the first contemporary romance I ever read (I finished it in one sitting) and is still one of my favorite romance novels to this day. The writing just didn’t flow and it was a chore to continue picking this up. Angelika is a delightful character, however (Thorne is exceptionally talented at writing women with whom it is impossible NOT to fall in love). In this twist on the original Frankenstein story, Angelika (Victor’s imagined, arguably more talented sister) has been unsuccessful in love until she brings back to life Will, a man with a past of which he has no recollection. She does help Will attempt to investigate his past, but continually, she cannot ignore the growing attraction and chemistry between them. I loved the unique premise of this book, but the story did not land for me. I do know plenty of people who love this book (and everything Thorne writes, for that matter) and I think it would be a perfect fall read for anyone looking for a romance that feels like Halloween.
A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer Armentrout
The first book in the Flesh and Fire series – a prequel to Blood and Ash series. This is the story of Seraphina Mierel, who is fated to be the Primal of Death’s consort, but who is secretly trained to be his assassin. She has to make him fall in love with her, then kill him, or else her world will fall victim to the rot that is already spreading. I actually liked this book better than any of the Blood and Ash series – Sera and Nyktos do something for me that Poppy and Casteel just don’t. Armentrout wastes no time developing the chemistry between these two (see the very spicy make out scene in chapter two), and I will almost always be drawn in by a Hades and Persephone inspired story. For readers of the Blood and Ash series, it is often recommended to read this between the third and fourth book (which is what I did) and I would agree. It provided a lot of background information referenced in the fourth BAA book and I appreciated having that context. The second book in this series will be published in November and I cannot wait.
A War of Two Queens by Jennifer Armentrout
This is the fourth book in the Blood and Ash series (it is the last one currently published, but there are more to come). The series (which I began reading at the beginning of the year) follows Poppy, chosen from birth to be the Maiden for her Kingdom. Throughout this series, she discovers everything she thought she knew is a carefully constructed lie. As the world Poppy thought she knew shatters, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery which will lead her to places and answers she never imagined. Just when you think everything has been revealed, Armentrout turns everything on its head, over and over again. This is a wonderfully spicy fantasy series with a great enemies-to-lovers trope, but the world building is unnecessarily dense and confusing. If you don’t allow yourself to get too tripped up by it though, it is difficult to not get swept up by this story. There has, admittedly, not been a single book in this series that I have loved, but I have not been able to put any of them down either.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
If you are only going to read one book from this list, I would undoubtedly say it has to be this one. I could read this book over and over and never get tired of this story. Nora Stephens and Charlie Lastra both work in publishing in New York City and both find themselves in the same small North Carolina town over the summer, brought there somewhat against their will. Despite a disastrous first meeting years ago in New York, they are continually thrown together over the summer and reluctantly find each other’s company more enjoyable by the day. A charming grump-loves-grump story with just enough spice and sexual tension sprinkled throughout. This may be a classic contemporary romance, full of tropes and hallmark storylines, but this book also has some of the best banter and chemistry between characters that I’ve ever read. It took me less than two days to finish this book (an impressive feat for the mom of a toddler) and is truly deserving of all the hype it has gotten this year.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
This was the absolute perfect book on which to end my summer. January Andrews is a romance writer who, throughout the book, fiercely defends her genre to Augustus Everett, a “serious” prize-winning literary fiction author. They (like Nora and Charlie) find themselves in the same small town for three months as they both try and write their next novel. Both suffering from writer’s block, they make a deal: January will try her hand at “serious” writing, while Augustus must write a happily ever after. The development of their relationship was so sweet and endearing. And by the end of this summer, I truly resonated with January’s defense of romance. The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that it didn’t have quite the spark I got from Book Lovers, but I devoured it just as quickly and voraciously.
I hope that something on this list resonates with you in the same way these stories resonated with me this summer. And if you do not consider yourself a romance reader, I urge you to reconsider – there is more to this genre than just an almost-guaranteed happily ever after. There is a lightness and a joy which come from reading romance, from that almost-guaranteed happy ending, which can buoy you against the unpleasantness that is often unavoidable in our lives. It took me many years to dismantle my prejudice against romance, and I did a disservice to my enjoyment of reading by not doing so sooner.
With the change of the leaves, I am now turning my literary attentions elsewhere. Though I am still in the early stages of building a life here comparable to what I once had, I will hold a special place in my heart for the summer when I felt lost, so I read romance.