Books
With Memorial Day Weekend right around the corner, we can finally say that summer has begun. It's time for frozen drinks at sidewalk restaurants, it's time to dig all of your favorite summer clothing items from the back of your closet, and it's most definitely time to make a summer reading list that will carry you from the beach to the pool to weekends away or just wasting the hours on a blanket at the park. Of course, summer reading is different for everyone — some readers love to get lost in a good thriller, while others live for historical fiction. But one genre no one can deny is just tailor made for the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer is the rom-com novel.
Even the coldest of hearts can't help melting over the heartwarming romances and sweet rom-coms once summer rolls around. Sunshine and good vibes were just made to be paired with a rom-com. And luckily there are a ton of recent releases that will start your summer off right this Memorial Day weekend. Whatever your plans are, make sure to leave some time aside for lazing around with one of these entertaining, feel-inducing books. And bonus? Choosing which one to get to first is super easy: there's a tailor-made book recommendation based on your Zodiac sign.
Aquarius: 'Grace After Henry' by Eithne Shortall
Grace sees her boyfriend Henry everywhere. Only Henry died two months earlier, leaving a huge hole in Grace's life. But then Henry turns up to fix the boiler one evening, and Grace can't decide if she's hallucinating. But the man in front of her is not Henry at all, just someone who looks uncannily like him. Grace becomes captivated by this stranger, Andy. Reminded of everything she once had, can Grace recreate that lost love — or does loving Andy mean letting go of Henry?
Pisces: 'August and Everything After' by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Graduation can't come soon enough. Quinn is eager to escape to her aunt's beach house for the summer…away from teenage drama and having to answer everyone's questions about "what comes next" after high school. Quinn can't bear to focus on the future. She doesn't even think she deserves one — not after her best friend died in a car accident that Quinn feels responsible for. But when Quinn meets Malcolm, a musician who has been trying to escape his own demons, she starts to believe in second chances.
Aries: 'Family and Other Catastrophes' by Alexandra Borowitz
Emily Glass knows she’s neurotic. But she’s got it under control. Sort of. Thankfully, she also has David, the wonderful man she’ll soon call husband — assuming they can survive wedding week with her wildly dysfunctional family. As the week comes to a tumultuous head, Emily wants nothing more than to get married and get as far away from her crazy relatives as possible. But that’s easier said than done when Marla’s meddling breathes new life into old secrets. After all, the ties that bind family together may bend, but they aren’t so easily broken.
Taurus: 'Stay Sweet' by Siobhan Vivian
Summer in Sand Lake isn’t complete without a trip to Meade Creamery — the local ice cream stand founded in 1944 by Molly Meade. Seventeen-year-old Amelia and her best friend Cate have worked at the stand every summer for the past three years, and Amelia is “Head Girl” at the stand this summer. When Molly passes away before Amelia even has her first day in charge, Amelia isn’t sure that the stand can go on. That is, until Molly’s grandnephew Grady arrives. But he's got some changes in mind.
Gemini: 'My Oxford Year' by Julia Whelan
American Ella Durran has had the same plan for her life since she was thirteen: Study at Oxford. At 24, she’s finally made it to England on a Rhodes Scholarship, and she’s ready to enjoy her Once in a Lifetime Experience. That is, until a smart-mouthed local ruins her first day. When Ella discovers that one of her professors is none other than that same local, Jamie Davenport, she worries that Oxford might not be all she’s envisioned. But a late-night begins a casual fling soon develops into much more.
Cancer: 'Always Never Yours' by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
All of Megan Harper's exes find their one true love right after dating her. But Megan refuses to feel sorry for herself. Instead, she focuses on directing theatre, and fulfilling her dream school’s acting requirement in the smallest role possible. But her plans crumble when she’s cast as Juliet in her high school’s production. It’s a nightmare. Megan’s not an actress. Then she meets Owen Okita. Throughout rehearsals, Megan begins to notice Owen and wonders: shouldn’t a girl get to play the lead in her own love story?
Leo: 'Starry Eyes' by Jenn Bennett
Best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together. With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world?
Virgo: 'The Theory of Happily Ever After' by Kristin Billerbeck
According to Dr. Maggie Maguire, happiness is serious science. But science can't always account for life's anomalies — for instance, why her fiancé dumped her and how the breakup sent Maggie spiraling. Concerned that she might never pull herself out of this nosedive, Maggie's friends book her as a speaker on a "New Year, New You" cruise. When a handsome stranger on board insists that smart women can't ever be happy, Maggie sets out to prove him wrong, discovering that happiness has far less to do with the head than with the heart.
Libra: 'From Twinkle, With Love' by Sandhya Menon
Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy — a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2. When mystery man “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that she’s fallen madly in love with Sahil.
Scorpio: 'Love And Other Words' by Christina Lauren
Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away. But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos — the first and only love of her life — the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world — growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother... only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.
Saggitarius: 'The Way You Make Me Feel' by Maurene Goo
Clara Shin lives for pranks but when she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not exactly the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?
Capricorn: 'Do This For Me' by Eliza Kennedy
Raney Moore is a ruthlessly ambitious, successful lead attorney who is the envy of all in her firm. That is until all hell breaks loose. When Raney finds out that her beloved husband, Aaron, has slept with another woman, she wastes no time downshifting to hating the man, while unraveling in quite the spectacular fashion. But as time marches on, Raney realizes that she still loves Aaron and might want to find a way to repair the damage done, redefining in the process what she thinks of as a "happy marriage."
