Looking for hot romance novels to fill your summer days at the beach? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Here are six page-turners, including tales about a bad boy, red-headed prince (sound familiar?), a wedding party tryst for the ages and an oldie but goody that you may have missed.
Before We Were Wicked
Eric Jerome Dickey
You will need your hand fan to keep cool for this one. Ken Swift’s swagger is hard to defy in this explosive tale of sexual chemistry, where the protagonist learns that the love of a bad girl is the root of all evil, not money. Swift was ruthless in his endeavor to make money until he met Jimi Lee, who changed the course of his life after a brief encounter led to tale of star-crossed lust. Award-winning romance novelist Eric Jerome Dickey sizzles on the page in this must-read that comes complete with tawdry sex scenes that make the book hard to put down. Released in April.
Patsy
Nicole Dennis-Benn
You will admire Patsy’s will and determination in this love story for the ages. But you may not like the protagonist’s decision to leave her 5-year-old daughter behind in her Jamaican homeland to move to America in a quest to finally put herself first. That’s not all she hoped for. She also wanted to rekindle a relationship with an ex-lover, Cicely, in a riveting look at the complexities of LGBTQ love that unfolds as Patsy and her daughter, Tru, fight to find their way back to each other. Patsy is a captivating story about the survival of an undocumented immigrant in America, womanhood and the ups and downs of romantic and familial love. Released in June.
Queen Sugar
Natalie Baszile
In case you missed it, Queen Sugar is a remarkable story of tenacity and hope that was adapted for television by OWN. Charley Bordelon, a widowed, single African American mother, inherits a Louisiana sugarcane plantation from her father in a trust that makes it difficult to sell. As a result, Bordelon learns that cane farming is always going to be a white man’s business. But she also finds surprising desires when she starts a red-hot romance with Remy Newell, a white sugarcane farmer. By the end of the novel, we witness the strains of interracial relationships. Not just that, we also see a strong heroine balancing the overwhelming challenges of a farm in decline with the demands of family amid a steamy romance. Released in 2015.
A Prince on Paper
Alyssa Cole
If you love Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s real life romance, you will enjoy Avon Romance’s steamy novel about a good girl struggling to find her place in the world. Nya Jerami meets a handsome red-headed paparazzi, Johan von Braustein, who is actually the step-prince working undercover to protect his brother, the heir to the throne. Nya and Johan’s night of lusty sex in New York City leads to a fake romance that turns into a quest for happily-ever-after. Released in April.
The Wedding Party
Jasmine Guillory
Jasmine Guillory, a New York Times bestselling author and one of romance’s hottest voices, returns with The Wedding Party, the story of Maddie and Theo, who are besties with Alexa, the heroine from her first novel, The Wedding Date. But when Alexa’s besties first meet, they actually hate each other, threatening to derail the wedding party. But a night of passion leads to a sizzling but tumultuous affair that has an expiration date: Alexa’s wedding day. Can they stick to the plan or is the heat too much? Released on July 16.
The Right Swipe
Alisha Rai
You will find the sexual tension in this novel hard to resist. Even if you’ve never delved into the online dating world, you will want to read award-winning author Alisha Rai’s page-turner about a dating app creator, Rhiannon Hunter, who finds herself in a dilemma after she is ghosted by a right swipe. She thought she had moved on when the handsome ex pro-football player reappears. This time, he works for her business rival but he promises to stick around romantically. Should she block him, or not? Release date: August 6.
