I’m a voracious reader and enjoy most genres of books but sometimes (like this winter) I just need a light, entertaining read. When this mood strikes then I turn to so-called chick-lit books for diversion. And, of course, my favourites are those that take place in a destination that I love or want to visit.
These 40 books are my picks for the best rom-coms and contemporary romance novels set in fabulous destinations – mostly new releases from the past couple of years plus a few old friends. They’re all perfect for Valentine’s Day season or any time that you need a little romantic escape!
You might also enjoy 36 Books Set in Paris: A Literary Escape to the City of Light and find all of our book recommendations here!
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1. Eighty Days to Elsewhere by KC Dyer
Setting: Around the world trip
“The Amazing Race” meets Around the World in 80 Days as a woman desperate to save her family bookstore falls for her competition.
This romantic comedy is a fun read as Romy travels the globe in an Amazing Race style (mis)adventure based on Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days as part of a competition to land a job at ExLibris Expeditions and save the bookstore owned by her uncles in New York City.
Along the way, Romy discovers that her sole (rather attractive) competitor might not be as evil as she initially thought. On her madcap adventure Romy travels from New York City to Liverpool, London, Paris, the French Alps, Italy, Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Niagara Falls and more!
In the second installment in the ExLibris Adventures series, An Accidental Odyssey, Gia should be planning her wedding but a series of events result in her following her father, an eccentric Classics professor, to the Mediterranean where he will be retracing Odysseus’s famous voyage with assistance from an attractive, young archeologist.
2. The Rome Affair by Karen Swan
Setting: Rome, Italy
1974 and Elena Damiani lives a gilded life. Born to wealth and a noted beauty, no door is closed to her, no man can resist her. At 26, she is already onto her third husband when she meets her love match. But he is the one man she can never have, and all the beauty and money in the world can’t change it.
2017 and Francesca Hackett is living la dolce vita in Rome, leading tourist groups around the Eternal City and forgetting the ghosts she left behind in London. When she finds a stolen designer handbag and returns it, she is brought into the orbit of her grand neighbor who lives across the piazza – famed socialite Viscontessa Elena dei Damiani Pignatelli della Mirandola.
Mutually intrigued by each other, the two women agree to collaborate on a project, with Cesca interviewing Elena for her memoirs. As summer unfurls, Elena tells her sensational stories, leaving Cesca in her thrall. But when a priceless diamond ring found in an ancient tunnel below the city streets is ascribed to Elena, Cesca begins to suspect a shocking secret at the heart of Elena’s life.
I haven’t read this novel yet but have read several others by Karen Swan. Many of her contemporary romance books are page-turners set in fabulous destinations and usually have a bit of a mystery element to them as well. This one set in Rome is the perfect escape if you’re in need of a little Italian dolce vita.
3. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
Setting: Pakistan
Told with wry wit and colorful prose, Unmarriageable is a charming update on Jane Austen’s beloved novel and an exhilarating exploration of love, marriage, class, and sisterhood.
I loved this retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set in modern day Pakistan. Even though I technically knew how the story was going to end, I couldn’t wait to see how it all worked out for Alys, Darsee and the rest of the characters – such a fun read!
4. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Setting: London, England
Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only trouble is, she can’t actually afford it – not any of it.
Her job writing at Successful Saving magazine not only bores her to tears, it doesn’t pay much at all. And lately Becky’s been chased by dismal letters from the bank – letters with large red sums she can’t bear to read. She tries cutting back. But none of her efforts succeed. Her only consolation is to buy herself something . . . just a little something.
Any or all of Sophie Kinsella’s books could be on this list but I decided to go with the first. I read Confessions of a Shopaholic shortly after it was first published 20 years ago and was instantly hooked at Becky’s laugh-out-loud funny escapades and the London setting. I have read every book that Ms. Kinsella has written since as well as a couple that she had written previously under the name of Madeleine Wickham.
5. The Love & Series by Jenna Evans Welch
Setting: Tuscany (Book 1), Ireland (Book 2) and Greece (Book 3)
In Love & Gelato, 16 year-old Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy and a summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany following in her mother’s footsteps.
This is a fun read that both my teenage daughter and I enjoyed. Welch followed up the bestselling Love & Gelato with Love & Luck about a road trip through Ireland filled with love, adventure, and the true meaning behind the word family and Love & Olives about a teen girl finding romance while trying to connect with her absent father in beautiful Santorini, Greece.
6. Beach Read by Emily Henry
Setting: The Beach
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Although it’s not really in a particular destination, the two main characters are living next door to each other in beach houses for the summer which sounds like a fabulous destination to me! Loved the characters, the setting, the flirty dialogue and the way the author balances romance with serious issues – Emily Henry is a must-read author for me!
7. Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy by Kevin Kwan
Setting: Singapore and Hong Kong
When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.
Crazy Rich Asians is the first in a trilogy by Kwan (the others are China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems) and I loved them all! The stories are hilarious and have everything – love, romance, scheming social climbers and more. The novels are set primarily in Singapore and Hong Kong and have definitely stoked my wanderlust and desire to visit both of these incredible Asian cities. (For visual travel inspiration – watch the film after reading the books!)
8. The Flip Side by James Bailey
Setting: Bristol, England
Penny wise or pound foolish? A heartbroken young Brit decides to turn his love life over to the flip of a coin – in this delightfully British rom-com in the vein of Jenny Colgan, Rosie Curtis, Nick Hornby, and David Nicholls.
I love a British rom-com and I can’t wait to read this one that’s told from the guy’s point of view. Plus he lives in Bristol which has been on my travel wish list for quite some time!
9. The Hidden Beach by Karen Swan
Setting: Sweden
In the oldest part of Stockholm, Bell Everhurst is working as a nanny for an affluent family. Hanna and Max Von Greyerz are parents to seven year-old Linus and five-year old twins Ellinor and Tilde, and Bell has been with the family for more than two years.
One early Spring morning, as she’s rushing out to take the children to school, she answers the phone – and everything changes. A woman from a clinic she’s never heard of asks her to pass on the message that Hanna’s husband is awake. Bell is confused. She clearly just saw Max walking out of the house a few minutes earlier, but the woman mentioned Hanna by name . . . When she gets hold of her employer, the truth is revealed: Hanna’s first husband fell into a coma seven years earlier, following an accident. But now he’s awake. And life is going to change for them all.
I read this Karen Swan contemporary romance last summer and loved it! It’s set in the historic city of Stockholm and along the beautiful archipelagos of the Swedish coast. We visited Stockholm on a cruise several years ago and I have wanted to return to see more of Sweden ever since – this novel cemented that desire.
10. The Temptation of Gracie by Santa Montefiore
Setting: Tuscany, Italy
When Gracie Burton stumbles upon an advertisement for a week-long cookery course in the heart of the Tuscan countryside, she cannot resist, and ploughs her life savings into the trip. Her only family – daughter Carina and granddaughter Anastasia – are hesitant about what has prompted this seemingly random venture. But they have no sense of Gracie’s past; of what could possibly be calling her to Italy. They have no idea that Gracie is harbouring the secret of an extraordinary life that preceded them.
This was the first novel that I read by bestselling author, Santa Montefiore, and I enjoy her style of contemporary romance set in beautiful destinations. The theme of this novel is that you should never give up on your dreams no matter how long you hold onto them. I enjoyed reading about Gracie and the dreams that prompted her to visit the Tuscan countryside (a destination that I have always wanted to visit!).
11. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Setting: Australia and New York City
The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence – based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.
It has been a few years since I read this novel but the quirky romance between an awkward genetics professor and the woman who is all wrong for him is one of my all-time favourite rom-coms. The couple live in Australia but there’s also a trip to New York City in an attempt to find Rosie’s father. The book also has two sequels The Rosie Effect and The Rosie Result .
12. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Setting: London, England
Bridget Jones’s Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement.
It’s not possible to have a list of rom-coms without including Bridget Jones’s Diary as it’s widely considered one of the best rom-coms of all time. It has been 25 years since it was first published and I hold Helen Fielding responsible for my obsession with British rom-coms! It was also a wildly successful book which was followed by sequels detailing later developments in Bridget’s life as well as a series of films.
The follow-up books are: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy; and Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries.
13. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Setting: Hawaii
For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime – maybe even love – in this romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Roomies.
I have yet to read this enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy but it was on a lot of must-read lists for 2019. A bout of food poisoning takes out everyone in Olive’s sister’s wedding party except for Olive and her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.
As a result, there’s an all-expenses paid vacation in Hawaii up for grabs that Olive and Ethan decide to take together despite their mutual hatred. Posing as loving honeymooners in paradise, however, might just lead to feelings that neither of them were expecting!
14. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
Setting: England
Vivian Forest has been out of the country a grand total of one time, so when she gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie’s work trip to England to style a royal family member, she can’t refuse. She’s excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn’t expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent, and unyielding formality.
I recently read this novel, by best-selling author Jasmine Guillory, and quite enjoyed the story of the middle age romance between Vivian and Malcolm. Most of the story is set at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate and in London as Vivian travelled to England with her daughter who is styling the Duchess.
It’s set during the holiday season but most of the plot isn’t Christmas-related so it’s a fun read at any time of the year. There’s one fairly steamy scene in the book so if you’re buying it as a gift then it might not be ideal for granny or your teenage daughter.
15. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Setting: Paris, France
A teen romance about a girl from Atlanta whose father sends her to boarding school in France for her senior year. Anna is less than thrilled until she meets Étienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home.
16. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Setting: Larchmont neighbourhood of Los Angeles
Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own…shell.
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They’re all – or mostly all -excited to meet her! She’ll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It’s a disaster! And as if that wasn’t enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn’t he realize what a terrible idea that is?
I loved this quirky romance when I read it a couple of years ago – maybe because I love books and trivia and love to plan too! It’s set in the Larchmont neighbourhood of Los Angeles which is known for its historic homes on tree-lined streets and quaint shopping district with cafes, boutiques and independent stores. I hadn’t heard of this neighbourhood before but reading the book made me think that I want to visit Larchmont when I finally get to Los Angeles.
17. Simmer Down by Sarah Smith
Setting: Maui
Nikki DiMarco knew life wouldn’t be all sunshine and coconuts when she quit her dream job to help her mom serve up mouthwatering Filipino dishes to hungry beach goers, but she didn’t expect the Maui food truck scene to be so eat-or-be-eaten – or the competition to be so smoking hot.
It has been years since we visited Maui and I would love to go back so I’m looking forward to reading this contemporary romance that revolves around the Maui food truck scene.
18. The Spanish Promise by Karen Swan
Setting: Madrid, Spain
One of Spain’s richest men is dying. But as he prepares his estate, his family is shocked to discover he is making plans to give away his wealth to a young woman they have never even heard of. Who is she, and what hold does she have over him?
Charlotte Fairfax is asked to travel to the troubled family’s home in Spain to get to the bottom of the mysterious bequest.
But in Madrid, things don’t go to plan when the woman denies knowing anything about the gift. Is she lying? Looking for clues, Charlotte digs into the prominent family’s history and unearths a dark and shocking past in which two people were torn apart by conflict.
That description along with the dreamy book cover was enough to put this book at the top of my summer reading list two years ago. Spain has been on my travel wish list for some time and reading this novel provided even more inspiration so hopefully I will be able to finally book that trip to Madrid and Barcelona soon!
19. Paris is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay
Setting: Paris, Ireland and Tuscany
A thirty-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love – and herself – in this hilarious and heartfelt novel.
A popular rom-com from 2020 that I just finished reading. Chelsea’s escapades in Europe are funny and there are heartfelt bits as well as she deals with her grief over the loss of her mother and how she can move on with her life.
What I enjoyed most though was travelling vicariously to Ireland, Paris and Tuscany with Chelsea. Reading about two of my favourite places (Ireland and Paris) and one at the top of my bucket list (Tuscany) was just the escape I needed while staying at home.
20. The Switch by Beth O’Leary
Setting: London and a Yorkshire village
When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some long-overdue rest.
Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.
So they decide to try a two-month swap.
Another popular rom-com from 2020 that I have just finished reading and I loved this charming feel-good story about a grandmother/granddaughter duo switching lives and finding love and happiness as a result.
Eileen was my favourite character in this book – we all could use a feisty grandma like her – and I loved the small Yorkshire village where she lives. Yorkshire has been on my travel wish list for awhile and now I want to visit all the more!
21. Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella
Setting: Italy and London
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Owe You One, an utterly delightful novel about a woman who ditches her dating app for a writer’s retreat in Italy – only to find that real love comes with its own filters.
Sophie Kinsella is my guilty pleasure and I thoroughly enjoyed this rom-com, in no small part because it’s set at a writer’s retreat along the Mediterranean in Italy as well as in London. Plus there’s an adorable (if a bit naughty dog)!
22. Shipped by Angie Hockman
Setting: Galápagos Islands cruise
The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game in this witty, clever, and swoonworthy novel following a workaholic marketing manager who is forced to go on a cruise with her arch-nemesis when they’re up for the same promotion.
This is a cute enemies-to-lovers rom-com but what I really loved about it was the unique setting. Henley and her colleague, Graeme (who she hates), are both in the running for a promotion at the adventure travel company they work for. Their boss decides to send them both on one of the company’s small ship cruises to the Galápagos Islands and have them compete to come up with the best sales marketing campaign for that region.
A Galápagos cruise has been on my travel wish list for a very long time so the descriptions of their experiences in the islands was enough to make this an enjoyable read for me!
23. If Only by Kate Eberlen
Setting: Rome, Italy
Letty and Alf are the only English speakers in an Italian class in Rome, where they discover that the language that really connects them is dance. Alf is nineteen, a former ballroom champion who seems reassuringly confident and at ease with himself. Letty, twenty-two, is unusually reserved and studious, having been forced to give up her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer. They come from different worlds, but when they waltz around the Piazza Navona together, a passionate relationship begins.
If Only is a novel about identity, secrets, passion and dance – and the indefinable collision of physical, emotional and intellectual excitement that we call falling in love.
I haven’t read this one yet but I love anything that reminds me of my one visit to Rome almost 10 years ago already.
24. The Endless Beach by Jenny Colgan
Setting: A fictional Scottish island
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner and The Cafe by the Sea comes another enchanting, unforgettable novel of a woman who makes a fresh start on the beautiful Scottish Island of Mure – only to discover life has more surprises in store for her.
I loved this contemporary romance set on a remote Scottish Island – and the sequel Christmas at the Island Hotel is just as good!
25. Enjoy the View by Sarah Morgenthaler
Setting: Alaska
A grouchy mountaineer, a Hollywood starlet and miles of untamed wilderness…What could possibly go wrong?
If you like a well-written romantic comedy set in a great destination then you’ll enjoy this series where each book focuses on a different couple in Moose Springs, Alaska. Enjoy the View is the third book in the series and was preceded by The Tourist Attraction and Mistletoe & Mr. Right.
26. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
Setting: Nantucket Island
When Mallory Blessing’s son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he’s not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It’s the late spring of 2020 and Jake’s wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.
There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?
Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.
Elin Hilderbrand is a prolific writer of contemporary romance novels set on beautiful Nantucket Island. I have read several and found them all quite enjoyable so pretty much any of them could be on this list! A few more recent favourites are The Hotel Nantucket and The Five-Star Weekend.
27. Much Ado About You by Samantha Young
Setting: An English village
At thirty-three-years old Evangeline Starling’s life in Chicago is missing that special something. And when she’s passed over for promotion at work, Evie realizes she needs to make a change. Some time away to regain perspective might be just the thing.
In a burst of impulsivity, she plans a holiday in a quaint English village. The holiday package comes with a temporary position at Much Ado About Books, the bookstore located beneath her rental apartment. There’s no better dream vacation for the bookish Evie, a life-long Shakespeare lover.
Is it wrong for me to be jealous of a fictional character? Evie’s holiday working in a bookshop in a quaint English village does sound like a dream vacation! There’s also a flirty local farmer in the mix so perhaps a little holiday romance or maybe even something longer lasting. An enjoyable, light and easy rom-com read. Not much happens plot-wise but it’s set in a charming village in Northumberland in the north of England. Bonus points because it involves a book shop.
28. The Summer House by Jenny Hale
Setting: North Carolina’s Outer Banks
Callie Weaver and her best friend Olivia Dixon have finally done it: put their life savings into the beach house they admired through childhood summers, on the dazzling white sand of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. They’re going to buff the salt from its windows, paint its sun-bleached sidings, and open it as a bed and breakfast.
Callie’s too busy to think about her love life, but when she catches the attention of local heartthrob Luke Sullivan, his blue eyes and easy smile make it hard to say no. He’s heir to his father’s real estate empire, and the papers say he’s just another playboy. But as they laugh in the ocean waves, Callie realizes there’s more to this man than money and good looks.
Just when true happiness seems within reach, Callie and Olivia find a diary full of secrets . . . secrets that stretch across the island and have the power to turn lives upside down. As Callie reads, she unravels a mystery that makes her heart drop through the floor.
Will Callie and Luke be pulled apart by the storm the diary unleashes, or can true love save them?
I’m not familiar with this author, however, I’m looking forward to reading this contemporary romance as I have heard a lot about North Carolina’s Outer Banks and would love to visit someday.
29. The House by the Sea by Santa Montefiore
Setting: Tuscany and the Devon coast of England
Spanning four decades and sweeping from the Italian countryside to the English coast, this story by Santa Montefiore is a moving and mysterious tale of love, forgiveness, and the past revealed.
This was the second novel by Santa Montefiore that I read last year and I thoroughly enjoyed both. This one is also partly set in beautiful Tuscany as well as the Devon coast of England – two destinations that I would love to visit!
30. The Greek Escape by Karen Swan
Setting: The Greek islands
Running from heartbreak, Chloe Marston leaves her old life in London for a fresh start in New York. Working at a luxury concierge company, she makes other people’s lives run perfectly, even if her own has ground to a halt. But a terrible accident forces her to step into a new role, up close and personal with the company’s most esteemed and powerful clients. Charismatic Joe Lincoln is one of them and his every wish is her command, so when he asks her to find him a secluded holiday home in the Greek Islands, she sets about sourcing the perfect retreat.
But when Tom, her ex, unexpectedly shows up in Manhattan and the stability of her new life is thrown off-balance again, she jumps at the chance to help Joe inspect the holiday house; escaping to Greece will give her the time and space to decide where her future truly lies. Tom is the man she has loved for so long but he has hurt her before – can she give him another chance? And as she draws closer to Joe, does she even want to? As magnetic as he is mysterious, there’s an undeniable chemistry between them that she can’t resist.
But whatever her heart is telling her, she’s in over her head – another client’s wife has mysteriously disappeared and serious allegations about Joe threaten more than just her happiness. Who can she trust? And will Chloe uncover the truth in time?
If you’re looking for a novel that is pure escapism – with a little mystery and romance thrown in – then internationally bestselling author Karen Swan is for you! Another Karen Swan book that I’m looking forward to reading – this one set on a lush Greek island.
31. Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
Setting: Canyonlands National Park, Utah
From the author of the “heartfelt and funny” (Publishers Weekly) sensation The Unhoneymooners, this page-turning adventure full of second chances, complicated relationships, and the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest will take fans on one wild ride.
A fun second-chance romance/adventure novel that reminded me a bit of the movie Romancing the Stone from the mid ’80s.
Lily Wilder, daughter of a notorious treasure hunter, has resorted to leading tourists on fake treasure hunt/horseback riding trips in Utah using her father’s hand drawn maps in order to make ends meet. The current group includes Leo Grady who broke Lily’s heart after a summer working on her family’s ranch in Wyoming 10 years earlier.
What is supposed to be a fun few days on a wilderness trip takes a turn and the group embarks on a dangerous search for Butch Cassidy’s long missing treasure in Canyonlands National Park that might also lead to Lily and Leo finding their way back to each other. Just a fun escape that’s perfect for lazy summer days!
32. Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens
Setting: Channel Islands
From the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year comes a heartwarming and hilarious tale that asks: What if you picked up the wrong suitcase and fell head over heels for its mystery owner?
I picked out this book to read entirely because it takes place on Jersey in the Channel Islands and it sounded like a fun rom-com with an interesting premise.
Laura is a writer for a digital lifestyle magazine who is travelling to Jersey to write a story about how her parents fell in love on the island but when she arrives at her hotel she realizes that she has the wrong suitcase. The contents of the suitcase reveal that the owner is Laura’s dream man and she is convinced that destiny has brought them together. So with the help of Ted, a local cab driver, she sets out to find the owner of the suitcase while at the same time tracing her parents’ footsteps and learning more about her island family.
Just Haven’t Met You Yet is a sweet romance that’s laugh-out-loud funny in places and I’m still keen to visit the Channel Islands after reading it but it’s also a much deeper heartfelt story about grief and family memories that left me in tears as often as it had me laughing. And I absolutely loved the sentiment from the last line of the book: “I have no illusions about happily ever afters – I know life will bring its challenges and nothing is forever – but I hope we might be happy today, and for as many todays as we are lucky enough to have“.
33. Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras
Setting: Key West, Florida
From the USA Today bestselling author of West Side Love Story, an acclaimed romantic comedy series with its own set of complex family dynamics set in Key West, Florida filled with humor, fake dating, Latinx culture, and perfect for summer beach reading…
When social media influencer Sara Vance is stranded sans her flaky boyfriend just before a Key West family vacation, a meet-cute with Cuban-American firefighter Luis Navarro in the parking lot of the airport is the answer to her prayers. With Luis as her fake fiancée for the week, Sara can maintain her “perfect” image IRL. But what happens when the fake starts feeling so real?
This first in Oliveras’s Keys to Love series was an enjoyable read so if you’re looking for an escape to a beautiful sunny destination then this sweet yet steamy contemporary romance set in beautiful Key West will be the perfect addition to your beach bag this summer! Anchored Hearts is the second installment in the series and is the story of the firefighter sister of the male main character in Island Affair.
34. People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
Setting: Various destinations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers and Beach Read comes a sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex don’t hit it off when they meet during first year university but develop a friendship on a road trip home to their small town in Ohio at the end of the year. Over the next decade, they get together for a week long vacation each summer until an ill-fated trip to Croatia ends their friendship.
It’s now two years later and Poppy contacts Alex and invites him on another summer vacation. The two meet up in Palm Springs and the novel then alternates between this summer’s trip and each of the previous vacations so that the reader experiences the development of Poppy and Alex’s relationship, discovers what happened on the trip to Croatia and roots for them to get together now that they have reconnected.
This book was the perfect escape for me. I easily related to Poppy, a small-town girl with insatiable wanderlust, who starts out as a travel blogger and becomes a writer at a well-known travel magazine and I loved vicariously experiencing the destinations that they visited which include Vancouver Island, Nashville, San Francisco, New Orleans, Colorado, Sanibel Island, Tuscany, Croatia and Palm Springs.
Likeable characters, witty dialogue, bucket-list settings and some emotional bits that left me in tears make People We Meet on Vacation an engaging and entertaining read!
35. Two For the Road by Chantel Guertin
Setting: England
Fans of Sophie Kinsella and Christina Lauren will adore this touching and witty novel about a woman who takes an impulsive trip to England to meet the man behind the audiobook narrator she’s fallen for.
This is the Canadian title of Chantel Guertin’s book – in the US it is called Gigi, Listening.
Gigi has been running her family’s bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan since the death of her parents several years earlier. She avoids dating in favour of reading but is obsessed with Zane, the narrator of her favourite audiobook who also works for his family’s tour business. When her friends find out, they gift her a 10 day coach tour through England for her 30th birthday so she has the opportunity to meet him in person and discover whether he actually is her soulmate.
A light-hearted romance and armchair travelling all in one! Gigi’s obsession with Zane’s voice which is the premise for Two for the Road is a bit cringey but once you get past that then it’s quite a fun read.
Gigi seems a bit flaky but she hasn’t recovered from the tragic loss of her parents and her travels across England become a journey of self-discovery. A great cast of supporting charaacters and I loved vicariously travelling around England with Gigi and the rest of the group. Two for the Road is a charming rom-com (more sweet than steamy) and a fun escape!!
Thank you to NetGalley for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
36. Ciao for Now by Kate Bromley
Setting: Rome, Italy
When an American interning at a fashion house in Rome butts heads with her professor’s surly son, sparks fly!
A cute, lighthearted rom-com set in one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
Violet is a 29 year-old design student from New York City, deeply in debt and plagued by self-doubt, who has landed a coveted internship in Rome that will have her competing with two classmates for a job at a New York fashion label. Shortly after arriving in Rome, Violet falls in a cafe spilling coffee everywhere and breaking a man’s laptop. Although she tries to make things right, he’s not impressed with her profuse apologies and she later discovers that he is her professor’s son, Matt.
Violet needs to win this competition to launch her fashion career but sparks fly as she spends more time with Matt and the distraction might cost her the prize. Fun banter and chemistry, fabulous setting (Rome and a weekend trip to Capri), and interesting secondary characters (especially her friend and fellow student Marco) – Ciao For Now is a fun read that will be perfect for the beach bag this summer!
Thanks to NetGalley for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
37. Love Me Do by Lindsey Kelk
Setting: Los Angeles, California
Greetings card copywriter Phoebe Chapman knows a good romantic line or two – and it makes her a fantastic Cupid.
So when she lands in the Hollywood Hills – a place that proves film stars, golden beaches and secret waterfalls don’t just exist in the movies – she can’t resist playing matchmaker for her handsome neighbour, carpenter Ren.
But you can’t hide from love in La La Land.
And isn’t there something a little bit hot about Ren, her own leading man next door?
I enjoyed this fun friends to lovers rom-com and especially the nod to Cyrano de Bergerac! There’s more than just romance here – the story also touches on family, friendship and toxic relationships plus there’s some exploring of the hidden gems of Los Angeles as Bel and Ren take Phoebe to the beach, hiking, and to a Dodgers game so she gets to know the real LA. Loved the British humour and the secondary characters – Phoebe’s relationships with Bel, Myrna, and Suzanne are every bit as much fun as the one with Ren.
This is a fun, feel-good read – perfect as a summer beach read or when you need an escape to sunny California!
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
38. The Second Chance Hotel by Sierra Godfrey
Setting: Greece
It’s all fun and games until you accidentally marry a stranger in Greece and inherit a hotel.
A fun rom-com set in a beautiful destination!
Amelia and James have both fled problems at home in the U.S. to travel in Europe for several months when they find themselves as the only guests at a hotel on a small Greek island that doesn’t get much tourist traffic. In a strange turn of events, they find themselves married and owners of the hotel.
Amelia agrees to stay and run the hotel through the busy summer season with James but as she finds her attraction to him growing she begins to wonder if she should be returning to her real life as a project manager in San Francisco or whether the universe has presented her with a second chance to start over and live a different sort of life.
I thought this was an enjoyable read – funny with quirky secondary characters and a great sense of place – The Second Chance Hotel made me want to run off to Greece and run a hotel!
Thank you to NetGalley for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
39. Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat by Sonya Lalli
Setting: Alaskan cruise
An impulsive decision to join an Alaskan cruise getaway brings the chance for an onboard romance in this new enemies-to-lovers romance from the author of A Holly Jolly Diwali.
An enjoyable romance that takes place on a 10 day cruise to Alaska from Seattle.
Jasmine Randhawa is 33, newly single and a bit of a mess. She has had a rocky relationship with her parents for years because she was rebellious as a teen and considered a bad girl in their South Asian community but decides to travel with them on this cruise in an effort to mend their relationship.
Jasmine expects that many friends from her younger days will be on the group cruise but it turns out that it’s a senior’s cruise and she and childhood acquaintance and golden boy, Jake, are the only two under ’50s on the ship.
I was a couple of chapters into this book when I realized that Jasmine is the older sister of Niki in Holly Jolly Diwali which I had read previously and I enjoyed that connection. This is a romance but it’s as much about Jasmine’s growth and the mending of her relationship with her parents. I loved the descriptions of the ports-of-call as it reminded me of the Alaskan cruise we went on years ago and reminded me that I would love to cruise there again!
40. The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown
Setting: Paris, France
In this witty and heartfelt debut love story for fans of Josie Silver’s One Day in December, a woman stranded in Paris for the day discovers that the wrong road can sometimes lead us in the right direction.
A fun, light, enjoyable read. Hannah and her boyfriend, Simon, have been on a romantic getaway in Venice and are on their way to Amsterdam for his sister’s wedding. They accidentally get separated on the overnight train and Hannah ends up in Paris instead where she spends the day seeing the city with Léo, a young Parisian man who she met on the train.
I love a book set in Paris and the best part of this book is exploring Paris with the two as Léo takes Hannah to see all of his favourite places in the city. The descriptions of the city made me want to hop on a plane and return to la belle Paris!!
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Colleen Lanin
Lately, I’ve only been reading memoirs (travel and chef memoirs, usually). But these look super fun. I loved Bridget Jones’ Diary years ago. Will pin these books for later!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Colleen! Lately I’m enjoying alternating between serious books and lighter reads but I should probably work a few memoirs into the rotation too!
Isabella C.Y.
Your book lists are brilliant! My TBR-list is growing and growing. I love it! Thank you so much for sharing so many great reads with us. I’ve recently discovered a lesser known Irish author whose books I fell in love with. Her name is Amelia Doyle. I highly recommend her work!
Have a lovely day!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thank you!! 🙂 And thanks for the recommendation – I love Irish books so I’ll have to check her out!!