The first Summer Reading post is here!
Are you looking for a romance book to read this summer? Then this is the place for you!
Here are my recommendations:
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Thoughts: This is an amazing fall read, with mythological elements, a wonderful romance subplot, and family storylines. The Scorpio Races also has an intriguing setting, that makes you feel out of time. This is perfect for people longing for fall vibes this summer! “From the sea, to the sea.”
Review: 5 stars
Summary:
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
The Heart of War by Olivia Snow
Thoughts: The Heart of War is a feel-good Regency rom-com, with a determined, but flawed protagonist as she works through her social season. This book is full of humor and will have you giggling and swooning in equal measure throughout the entire book! “For you, Helena. I had to become the kind of man who could withstand the light you radiate.”
Review: 5 stars
Summary:
London, 1815 If love is war, then London’s marriage mart is a battlefield—and Helena Weston is its most cunning general. As the diamond of the season, Helena has never struggled to collect suitors. But when her father’s fortune collapses, she faces the unthinkable: marriage not as a conquest, but as survival. Using Sun Tzu’s The Art of War as her courtship playbook, Helena has only two months to secure a husband rich enough to save her family from destitution. She selects three candidates for her scheme, including Edmond Hawke, a handsome newcomer to London with a mysterious past and an insufferable tendency to jeopardize her carefully laid plans. With her future on the line, Helena must decide what victory truly means—and whether surrendering to love is the most strategic move of all.
Wish Upon a K-Star by Kat Cho
Thoughts: This is a fun contemporary romance that takes place in South Korea and explores their pop culture. This book features childhood friends-to-enemies-to lovers and fake dating! It also has older protagonists, 19-21, allowing for the characters to have more independence, which brought a different perspective to the story than I typically read. This is perfect for fans of K-Pop Demon Hunters!
Review: 4 stars
Summary:
Moon Minseok—or Moonster as this WDB fans know him—wasn’t born to lead. Even as part of the world’s most popular K-Pop group, he found comfort in his role as the jokester, the sidekick, the unserious one (with the cutest smile). But now WDB is drowning in dating scandals, and it’s time for Moonster to take charge of the group’s image. Shin Hyeri has been dealing with some scandals of her own. An up-and-coming K-Drama actress, she’s been labeled a “nepo baby” (with a famous idol as a big brother) and now, a bully (which couldn’t be further from the truth). Desperate to show the world that she’s earned her spot, Hyeri is determined not to let her rising star crash and burn. When these two childhood enemies get caught up in yet another scandal while co-hosting a K-Pop festival, there’s only one solution that will save both of their reputations: appear on one of Korea’s most popular variety shows, Our Celebrity Marriage (where celebrities pretend to get married and compete in ‘newlywed’ challenges). The plan is simple—pretend to get along, win back the fans, then go their separate ways. But what happens when a fake marriage leads to real feelings? Will Moonster and Hyeri bow to the pressures of their famous realities, or will they decide their love is something worth fighting for?
Never Thought I’d End Up Here by Ann Liang
Thoughts: This book has childhood enemies-to-lovers, realistic and flawed protagonists, and traveling adventures! This book takes readers throughout China on fun adventures as the main character connects with her heritage. This book also features friendships and familial relationships. This is a wonderful book to kickoff summer break!
Review: 4.5 stars
Summary:
Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA – it’s all she’s ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She’s forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can’t hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China’s most beautiful cities. To them, it’s the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it’s simply a much-needed escape. But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who’s somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other. While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody’s looking, she can’t get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life. Yet the deeper they wander into China’s provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love – with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she’d call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.
Reviews:
The Bibliophile's Bookshelf 
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