We can all agree 2020 has been a rough year. While the realities we face are unavoidable, sometimes you need to escape the craziness of it all. What better way than with a good-old romance novel? Whether or not you will be able to take that dream beach vacation, these new novels will help transport you into your own personal oasis. Below are the top 10 romance books released in 2020 that offer diverse, refreshing stories to the genre while promising to deliver every time.
**We read each and every book we review thoroughly and only give top place to the books that deserve it; we offer honest reviews. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed in our posts are our own. We do receive compensation from the links found in this article.**
1) Beach Read – Emily Henry
The title says it all: Two famous authors suffering from writer’s block end up renting neighboring beach houses for the summer. This is where all similarities end. While January is a best-selling romance author, Augustus is a renowned American writer known for killing off all of his characters. Broke and desperate, they make a deal to overcome their writer’s block: Augustus will write something happy while January creates the next critically-acclaimed novel. Love is not in the bargain…or is it?
2) The Worst Best Man – Mia Sosa
This is a fun novel about a wedding planner who is ironically left at the altar at her own wedding. Moving beyond her painful and embarrassing failed engagement, she is offered an opportunity that will advance her career. The only problem? She has to work with the smart, stunning marketing expert Max Hartley: AKA her ex-fiancé’s brother who encouraged him to split. See sparks fly in this enemies-to-lovers story that will surely steam up your weekend wherever you are.
3) Party of Two – Jasmine Guillory
Career-driven lawyer Olivia Monroe ends up falling for a man at a hotel bar. Little does she know this man turns out to be the up-and-coming young senator Max Powell. Despite her resistance to dating someone in the limelight, their fling quickly turns into something more. Read how these lovers struggle through the obstacles of dating under the media’s sharp eye. Scrutinized for her job, her past, and her suitability, will Olivia allow her love for Max to overcome the pressures of dating a politician?
4) The Marriage Game – Sarah Desai
Two strong-willed careerists, a slew of blind dates, a chaotic family restaurant, and one small office: the perfect formula for a romance. After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel moves back home to San Francisco, where she tries to set up a new business in the office above her father’s restaurant. Enter Sam Mehta, a CEO who, after major downsizing, happens to have his eyes set on the same office above the Patel restaurant. Due to a string of miscommunications, Layla and Sam are forced to share the office. Sam’s carefully ordered life begins to unravel amidst the frustrating yet beautiful Layla, the chaos of the Patel family, and the string of suitors sent by a well-meaning father. Despite their clash in a battle of wills within close quarters, their attraction for each other soon becomes too real for them to ignore.
5) Something to Talk About – Meryl Wilsner
Emma is nothing more than an assistant to Hollywood legend Jo Jones. However, a picture of Jo making Emma laugh on the red carpet goes viral. A whirlwind of rumors begins to affect all areas of their lives and even threatens their careers. Trying to prevent a scandal, the two women nevertheless begin working more closely with one another and realize the rumors may not be so off-base.
6) Recipe for Persuasion: A Novel – Somali Dev
A modern take on Jane Austen, Dev’s new novel follows Chef Ashna Raje who joins reality show Cooking with the Stars to save her restaurant and prove to her mother she is not a failure. Things are looking up for Ashna until the show pairs her with Rico Silva, FIFA-winning soccer star and Ashna’s first love. Rico is not thrilled about the pairing either and uses this as an opportunity to prove to Ashna he has moved on. Surrounded by the show’s competitive intensity and close working environments, old feelings for one another begin to brim to the surface.
7) An Island Affair: A Fun Summer Love Story – Priscilla Oliveras
Social media influencer Sarah Vance wants to avoid scrutiny from her married, successful siblings. When her boyfriend does not show up for a family vacation, Sarah convinces guarded yet caring firefighter paramedic and dive captain Luis Navarro to pose as her significant other. In the beautiful backdrop of Key West, Luis and Sarah become experts at impersonating the perfect couple. However, somewhere during the false stories and daily excursions, the feelings they express seem less and less like pretend.
8) Chasing Cassandra – Lisa Kleypas
For those of you who are historical romance fans, Kleypas is the author who should be next on your list. Chasing Cassandra is the sixth installment in Kleypas’s popular Victorian romance series, The Ravenels. Follow the last Ravenel daughter, the beautiful, ladylike yet strong-willed Cassandra as she is pursued by ruthless railway magnate Tom Severin. Due to an unexpected enemy who seeks to destroy Cassandra’s reputation, Tom uses the opportunity to lure Cassandra into his trap. However, Tom soon realizes he may have underestimated this young Ravenel.
9) Swimming in the Dark: A Novel by Tomasz Jedrowski
O, The Oprah Magazine, compared this novel to the critically-acclaimed Call Me By Your Name. A story of first love, this novel follows two young men in 1980’s violence-torn Poland. After meeting at an agriculture camp, the two men fall into a deep passionate affair in the Polish countryside before returning to Warsaw, where they are met with the realities of inequality and unrest in a crumbling Communist country. The two lovers slowly begin to drift apart as they assume roles on different sides of the political strata in this poignant novel about heartbreak, postwar politics, history, love, and desire.
10) Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon
A romance that is perfect for all book nerds. The story follows Jordan Collins, a young man who fears interest in his romance book club is waning and finds unexpected help from fellow bookstore employee Rex Bailey. Rex, the handsome yet irritating employee who has incessantly teased Jordan for his book tastes, wants to join Jordan’s Meet Cute Book Club? Despite Rex’s arrogance and Jordan’s reluctance to accept his help, Jordan can’t help but be drawn in by the other book lover as the two team up to reignite the failing book club. An entertaining, sweet yet sexy novel about an unlikely romance between two very different men.
11) What’s Left of Me Is Yours by Stephanie Scott
Scott’s new novel tells the story of a passionate romance and its violent consequences. When Satō hires Kaitarō to have an affair with his wife Rina in order to get the upper hand in divorce proceedings, both men think this will be an easy open-and-shut case. Kaitarō is a professional “wakaresaseya,” or a hired Japanese “breaker-upper,” so the last thing he expects from his job is to fall into a passionate love affair that spawns acts of violence which will haunt Rina’s daughter for years to come. This psychological and morally thought-provoking novel follows different narrative perspectives and generations to explore the darker side of love and family in a story you won’t forget after turning the last page.
Whether you actually get to go to the beach this summer or you’re just cranking up the heat for your staycation, these books will have you feeling summery in no time!
Have a better steamy beach read? Comment your recommendation below! It just might make our next list!
