7 Swoon-Worthy Romance Books Releasing In 2021
2021 Romance Books
Romance is my second favorite genre and I’ve been on such a fantasy kick lately that my contemporary romance TBR is starting to really pile up! Give me all the snarky banter, heated tension, and swoon-worthy moments, please. There are so many good ones releasing this year too! So, today, I’ve rounded up just a few that I’m looking forward to that have just released or are coming out in the next few months! Most of them are steamy, all of them are heartfelt, and 100% swoon-worthy!
Blog Contents
meet me in paradise
a pho love story
The Spanish love deception
People we meet on vacation
The Dating Playbook
A Lot Like Adios
The Sweetest Remedy
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1 // Meet Me In Paradise by Libby Hubscher
I found out about this gem thanks to a couple of book besties! Based on their reviews, it’s a swoon-worthy and hilarious rom-com that has all the Beach Read and Unhoneymooners vibes. And just look at this cover!
The Unhoneymooners meets Beach Read
Marin Cole has never:
Seen the ocean
Climbed a mountain
Taken a risk on love
....But if her sister's plan works, she just might do all three.
Ever since her journalist mother died on assignment, Marin has played it safe, refusing to set foot outside the state of Tennessee. Her wild-child younger sister, Sadie, has trotted the globe as a photographer, living off of art and adrenaline.
When Sadie returns from a tough assignment abroad and looks a little worse for wear, Marin reluctantly agrees to a sisters' spa weekend on the tropical island of Saba. But her lifelong fear of travel is affirmed when Sadie misses the flight, Marin's luggage gets mixed up with another passenger's, and an episode of turbulence sends her hurtling into the lap of Lucas Tsai, the handsome stranger who stole her sister's seat.
For the first time in a long time, Marin has to step outside of her comfort zone as she explores the island with Lucas and learns what she's been missing out on. With each breathtaking new experience, Marin gets closer to her real self, the man she's falling for, and the heart-wrenching truth about why she's there in the first place.
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: March 23rd 2021
This is libby’s debut novel!
2 // A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
I discovered this beauty browsing around Goodreads late last year! I’d been wanting to include more Asian voices in my reading endeavors and this seemed like the perfect option. I also love pho! How about you??
When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious
If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.
If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams of pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.
For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.
But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.
Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: February 9th 2021
This is Loan’s debut novel!
3 // The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
This is another one that a bunch of my book besties have been raving about! A wedding, a trip to Spain, and fake-dating rom-com?! I mean, come on, what more could you ask for. Synopsis below!
An enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romantic comedy
Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister’s wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.
That would certainly be tomorrow’s headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call.
Four weeks wasn’t a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic–from NYC and all the way to Spain–for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along with my charade. But that didn’t mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6’4 blue-eyed pain in my ass standing before me.
Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra-large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister’s wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic-induced lie?
Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: February 23rd 2021
This is also elena’s debut novel!
4 // People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
Oh man, I don’t think you understand how excited I am for Emily’s next novel!!! I read Beach Read last summer and ABSOLUTELY ADORED IT. It was so well done - a second chance, steamy rom-com about two rival writers that was just to die for. If you haven’t read that one, you should definitely check it out. I can’t wait for Emily’s next friends to lovers steamy romance. Gimme, gimme! If you’re interested, check out my review of Beach Read here!
A friends to lovers steamy romantic comedy
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She's a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart--she's in New York City, and he's in their small hometown--but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she's stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together--lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: May 11th 2021
other books by emily:
5 // The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon
Ahhh, this is book 2 in Farrah’s The Boyfriend Project series! I read book 1, The Boyfriend Project, last year and it was so refreshing. Think fremenies to lovers with a workplace mystery and fierce female friendships. I can’t wait to see what book 2 has in store!
A fake dating romantic comedy
When it comes to personal training, Taylor Powell kicks serious butt. Unfortunately, her bills are piling up, rent is due, and the money situation is dire. Taylor needs more than the support of her new best friends, Samiah and London. She needs a miracle.
And Jamar Dixon might just be it. The oh-so-fine former footballer wants back into the NFL, and he wants Taylor to train him. There's just one catch -- no one can know what they're doing. But when they're accidentally outed as a couple, Taylor's game plan is turned completely upside down. Is Jamar just playing to win . . . or is he playing for keeps?
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: August 17th 2021
other books by Farrah:
6 // A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria
So, I’ve been dyyyyyyyying to read You Had Me At Hola which I’ve only heard amazing things about and A Lot Like Adios is Alexis’s next romance novel. Cue squeals! A seductive, second-chance romance? I am here for it! Check out the synopsis below.
A seductive second-chance romance
Hi Mich. It’s Gabe.
After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago.
It’s been a long time.
Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place in the world Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new branding campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him.
I’ve missed you.
Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As old feelings resurface while they work to make the new gym location a reality, their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adios again?
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: September 14th 2021
other books by alexis:
7 // The Sweetest Remedy by Jane Igharo
Oh my gosh. So, I read Jane’s debut novel, Ties That Tether, last year and holy moly did I love it. It was a swoon-worthy second chance, steamy romance with strong family ties, Nigerian heritage and culture with an MC that found her voice and came into her own. It was a beautifully stunning tale. Check out my review here!
Found family & new romance
Hannah Bailey has never had a relationship with her father, the Nigerian businessman who had a fling with her white mother, so she's always felt clueless about part of her identity. When her father dies, she's invited to Nigeria for the funeral. Though she wants to hate the man who abandoned her, deep down she can't help feeling curious about where he was from and what he was like. Searching for answers, Hannah boards a plane to Lagos, Nigeria.
In Banana Island, one of Nigeria's most affluent areas, Hannah meets the Jolades, her late father's prestigious and famed family--some who accept her and some who think she doesn't belong. But in the chaotic days leading up to the funeral, Hannah is shaped by a family she never thought she would have, a culture she never thought she would understand or appreciate, and a love interest who makes her see herself in a new light.
Synopsis from Goodreads
release date: September 21st 2021
other books by Jane:
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Hey y'all, I'm Leah!
Cozy connoisseur and bountiful book buyer. I have a minor obsession with getting lost in the pages of a good book, guzzling coffee, and thriving at home. Yoga pants, wine, and essential oils are also my jam. I'm truly just a homebody at heart with a knack for content creation, flatlays & cozy shots. This is my creative space.
