Amanda Diehl

Zoey Castile returns to her aptly named Happy Endings series with Hired, in which two people learn that sometimes you have to break a few rules for the sake of finding true love.

Aiden Rios was supposed to be spending a week in New Orleans as an escort to a married woman. Unfortunately, she bailed, and now he’s celebrating his 25th birthday alone. While nursing his disappointment at a hotel bar by drinking one too many hurricanes, he meets Faith Charles. Their attraction is immediate, and one night gives way to yummy brunches, New Orleans sightseeing and so much more. But with Aiden contracted through the week to his married lover and Faith being the daughter of a popular mayoral candidate, their romance is riddled with complications.

Aiden is in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. A bad business decision caused him to jeopardize the male revue show he was part of with his friends, and he isn’t quite sure how to repair those relationships. While his original client, Ginny, hired him for a week of fun in New Orleans, issues with her husband caused her to leave Aiden hanging, an important detail that he keeps from Faith.

Meanwhile, Faith’s anxiety and stress have reached a new high while working on her mother’s campaign. Her relationship with her mom is strained at best, and she feels like every slight action is harshly judged. All she wants is her mother’s love and acceptance, though she fears those things are out of her reach. The way Aiden and Faith find a moment’s respite in one another is incredibly sweet. While they have some sizzling chemistry, they also genuinely like each other. It’s impossible not to smile when they’re together, especially when they’re flirting over a delicious stack of banana chocolate chip pancakes.

Hired is also a love letter to New Orleans. It’s imbued with drool-worthy food descriptions and portrays the city’s fascinating dichotomy between historic locations and humid bayous. Even if you’ve never been, you’ll feel like you can taste the warm beignets coated in powdered sugar and feel the thick heat of the afternoon sun on your neck.

Faith knows that being seen with Aiden could be a problem, both for her mother’s mayoral race and her own fractured familial relationship. Aiden has his own set of rules when it comes to women, knowing that attachments only breed more problems. But the two of them just fit, and despite the fallout from bending and breaking these rules, they’re willing to take a chance to see if it’s all worth it.

With a contemporary romance series that just keeps getting better, Castile is becoming a surefire bet for readers in search of adorable, emotionally fluent romances that will undoubtedly trigger a happy cry or two.

New York Times bestselling author Roni Loren returns to her emotional series about the survivors of a school shooting with The One You Fight For. This third installment might just be Loren’s most heart-wrenching romance yet—it will undoubtedly bring you to tears.

Psychology professor Taryn Landry is still haunted by her sister’s death during a horrifying mass murder at Long Acre High School’s prom night. Motivated by her grief, Taryn devotes her career and research to the prevention of gun violence, determined to make sure no one else has to lose their little sister like she did. Wracked with guilt over her sister’s death and the way it destroyed their family, Taryn becomes consumed with trying to establish preventive measures to combat future shootings. But a chance encounter at an open mic night leads to an unexpected and complicated romance.

Shaw Miller is desperately trying to rebuild his life after establishing a new identity. His brother was one of the perpetrators of the Long Acre massacre, and the fallout from his actions destroyed Shaw’s Olympic dreams, his family and nearly himself. Treated as a villain in the media after the incident, Shaw struggled daily, but nearly fifteen years later, he hopes he can finally have a normal life—until he meets Taryn.

Neither Taryn nor Shaw immediately realize how the two of them are connected, and that sense of dread hangs over their initial romance, making The One You Fight For an addicting and tense read. When will they find out about their pasts? How will they handle it? By the time they connect the dots, it’s too late. Though Taryn and Shaw acknowledge their chemistry, they’re soon faced with bigger issues of forgiveness and whether their families can accept a relationship so fraught with emotional baggage.

It’s truly a feat to address the issue of gun violence with the delicacy, care and realism of Loren’s series, which somehow gets better with every new release. Loren does an outstanding job crafting romances that balance love, grief and a whole slew of other messy, complicated emotions. Tissues are a must for this book. At times, The One You Fight For can be painful, but the beauty of romance is that there will always be a happy ending, and its one that Taryn and Shaw definitely deserve. Two people whose lives have been consumed by loneliness and forever marked by tragedy learn to open themselves up to love, instead of continuing to punish themselves. It’s a beautiful sentiment and is couched in a romance that is seriously worth the read. Full of complex relationships and friendships forged through trauma, this is an unforgettable addition to an equally unforgettable series.

Stefanie London continues her Bad Bachelors series with Bad Reputation, a romance between a ballerina who fears vulnerability and a man struggling to establish independence from his family.

Remi Drysdale has given up on dancing. She had a promising career in the Melbourne Ballet Company that ended in scandal and a heartbreaking miscarriage. After getting involved with a fellow dancer and getting pregnant, she was ousted from the company while her lover chose his career over whatever feelings he had for Remi. Now, she lives in New York, teaching barre classes. Ballet is a thing of the past until Wes Evans walks into the studio with his niece.

Wes is the son of dancing royalty, and his parents currently own one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the country. But he wants to do more than just get by on his family’s name and influence. He wants something for himself. Wes has lofty ideas for a show that combines modern ballet, audience participation and other forms of dance. There’s just one thing he’s missing: his lead ballerina. To complicate matters, the money his investors are willing to provide is jeopardized when a dating app begins publicizing his . . . gifts in the bedroom, granting him the nickname “Anaconda.”

It takes some convincing for Remi to partner with Wes, and she makes it clear that she won’t be mixing business with pleasure. She made that mistake before and refuses to make it again, though it’s clear that Wes and Remi’s chemistry transcends more than just a working relationship. Remi is a woman whose experiences have left her broken. She hasn’t danced professionally in years, and it’s incredibly sad to see her be so hard on herself. Meanwhile, Wes is just doing his best to get out from his parents’ thumb. His mother, in particular, isn’t too fond of his idea to strike out on his own and do something in opposition to her traditional ballet teaching.

But it is because he grew up in a family that puts such a focus on dance that he knows a good performer when he sees one. Wes is able to recognize Remi’s fear, hesitancy and the slew of complicated emotions that prevent her from being the magnificent dancer he knows she is. With each page and each practice, Remi gets better and more confident, building herself back into the beautiful, confident dancer she once was. It’s a Cinderella story in pointe shoes.

London deftly balances light-hearted, smile-inducing, shameless flirting with explorations into relatable and deep-rooted insecurities: Am I good enough or just an imposter? Am I more than just my family name or my shameful past? How far will I go to reach my dreams? What if I fail?

Bad Reputation is sweet. It’s sexy. It’s full of heart. The dance nerdery is just a bonus.

Debut author Helen Hoang knocks it out of the park with The Kiss Quotient, which follows a romance between an analytical heroine and the gorgeous escort who teaches her all about the benefits of falling in love.

Stella Lane is in love with data and numbers. As an econometrician, she’s most comfortable when poring over statistics and finding anomalies or trends. Stella also has Asperger’s, a fact of which her mother, between her unceasing requests for grandchildren, constantly reminds her. But romance and a relationship hold very little appeal to Stella, especially after some lackluster experiences. And since Stella never does anything halfway, she’ll only accept the best “tutor” she can find.

Enter Michael Phan, an escort whose looks could easily grace any fashion magazine. Though he really needs the money, he’s also charmed by Stella’s checklist of things to tackle. Any romance reader knows where this is going, and things between Stella and Michael start to stray from strictly business.

This book is a unicorn. It’s magical and one of a kind. Stella’s Asperger’s isn’t talked about in veiled or coded language. It’s very much part of who she is, and she’s learned to live her life in a way that suits her and makes her (mostly) happy. Though uncomfortable when it comes to the realm of social interactions, Stella is self-assured about her work ethic. She really loves her job and finds comfort in the work she does.

Michael is a great foil for Stella’s awkward moments. He’s smooth and effortless in how he handles her nervousness, inexperience and everything in between. Michael fully embodies the romance hero ideal, and he’s set the bar high for all other heroes to come.

While the notion of getting better at sex and dating may seem like a thin plot device, the interactions between Stella and Michael is so much more than that. The love scenes explore human connection, belonging and the expectations we and others put on ourselves. They are both adorable and sexy, all at the same time.

Hoang has a fresh, contemporary voice that’s easy to fall into for hours at a time, and The Kiss Quotient will undoubtedly create a fandom of readers who will read whatever future books she writes. But be warned, this reading experience is one that requires preparation. You will smile so hard your cheeks will ache. You’ll subconsciously start to fan yourself. You’ll look at the clock and realize it’s way past your bedtime.

The Kiss Quotient is the perfect balm for any reading slump and a wonderful palate cleanser for the summer. It also might just be the best book you read all year.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Go Behind the Book with Helen Hoang.