Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
Am I saying a release that’s going to be all over the Best of 2023 lists is overlooked in summer reads round ups? Yeah, I am. It came out in February and blew up immediately (hi, book clubs everywhere) and will doubtless be everywhere again in December. But the sweet spot for me for this read is absolutely the lazy days of late summer. And not just because the hero builds docks for a living. We writers often characterise ourselves as either plot-based or character-based. Obviously, we need both elements in a story, but what is it that comes into our heads first? For Clayborn, it must be her characters. Take the titular Georgie, a young, newly unemployed woman who returns to her parents’ house in Virginia for a sort-yourself-out summer. Unlike so many main characters who charge into the opening scene of a novel, Georgie is deeply unsure of who she is and what she wants. The only thing she knows is that she doesn’t want to be the flaky screw up she was back in high school. It’s unfortunate that her first flailing visit to the local convenience store is witnessed by her high school music teacher – and a very attractive if irritated man. Another author might turn this character into a comic heroine, forever prat-falling at the moment of maximum impact. But Clayborn allows Georgie a lot more space during this long summer interstitial. Yes, Georgie tries some bucket-list style stunts – including a disastrous dock incident – to find direction in her life. But mostly we follow her renegotiating life’s bedrock relationships (parents, childhood best friend, community,) while exploring a new romance. Turns out our very attractive but irritated man, Levi, has plenty of his own adolescent baggage. Along the way, Georgie will discover that maybe, just maybe, she’s been okay all along.
How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole
Because of its amazing cover – I love a Clinch! – this book was instantly on my reading list. Yet somehow two years elapsed without me cracking the spine on this 2021 release. I’m so glad I finally rectified that error now. Because this is undoubtedly a summer read. Not just because of the settings (Atlantic City and the Atlantic Ocean) but because Cole has written a delightful twist on the classic historical romance. Ignore the contemporary category; this is a very fun send up of those old school romances that involved kidnapping and high-seas adventures. One of the very first romances I ever read was Johanna Lindsey’s Once a Princess where a golden-eyed prince abducted a very pissed off American heroine to an imaginary European country for a date with destiny. Predictably then, How to Find a Princess immediately delighted me with its battle between the overly formal (and overly forward) mystery foreigner Beznaria and the unassuming (but secretly powerful) American Makeda, the woman she’s trying to convince of her royal destiny. There are so many little Easter eggs for old school romance lovers here, from kidnapping banter, to tell-tale birthmarks, to a ‘Dimple of Doom’. But Cole delivers everything with a firm footing in the present day – even when on a rollicking cargo ship (another nice touch). Had the cargo ship been attacked by pirates, this book would have entered my pantheon of All Time Great Romps. The plot ran out of steam a little towards the end, or whatever filthy fuel cargo ships use today, but I remained absolutely invested in the characters. As always, Cole does great neurodiversity rep (Bez is on the autism spectrum) and conveys complex family dynamics with care. Ultimately, the cover’s gorgeous modern take on The Clinch is the perfect summary of a book with lots of historical-fantasy feels but a very relatable heart.
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
Full disclosure, I haven’t finished this one. After ten fizzy hours of listening to Hall’s latest release on audiobook, tragedy struck…. my library app recalled the book. Goddaaaaaamit! But because of a combination of my absolute enjoyment of 80% of the book and my complete faith in one of my favourite romance authors, I’m still eager to recommend this one. Hall is pretty much unmatched in the world of Romance both in terms of quality and range. He started with some wonderfully moody contemporaries in his Spires series, broke into the mainstream with riotous rom-com Boyfriend Material, and since then has written seemingly whatever the hell he wants: foodie romances, mysteries, and historicals. I haven’t been able to keep up. Now he’s back in the Regency, but this time with magic. Or ‘magick’ as it probably was back then. Mortal Follies is ostensibly about a pure young English girl, Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, who is very unfairly under a curse, and her entirely unsuitable – indeed unwilling – suitor Lady Georgianna Landrake whose every male relation has died under suspicious circumstances. Georgianna is the suspicious circumstance. In reality, the whole tale of young love amid the picturesque ruins is a vehicle for our puckish narrator – yes, an actual Shakespearian fairy – to keep up a running commentary on the absurdity of humanity. If you love gothic romance with a healthy side of humour – think The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels – then you are in for a treat. If possible, get this one on audio as Nneka Okoye does a wonderful interpretation of the waspish fey narrator. But listen quickly or else risk being stuck, like Maelys, in a rapidly unravelling ballgown. Or burnt by a brutal library app.
Scoring a Spouse by Liz Lincoln
Would you like to travel somewhere the USA women’s soccer team still rules the roost? No, this isn’t another historical romance (ahem), but rather Liz Lincoln’s alternate women’s soccer universe clustering around the fictional NWSL team the Milwaukee Wolfpack. Scoring a Spouse is the first in the longtime sports romance writer’s new series. It features Erika, a centre forward and all around badass, and Nate, a cinnamon-roll CEO. Erika has just discovered she has rheumatoid arthritis at only 30 and is now in debt from privately paying for her secret treatment. Enter our charming millionaire soccer fan with a solution… oh yes, romance readers, you know it’s time for a Marriage of Convenience. And thank god, because Erika is dealing with a lot: chronic pain and a whole lot of secret keeping. But this isn’t a heavy read thanks in large part to the aforementioned cinnamon roll. If you like love interests who cook favourite foods, give great massages, and provide other scientifically-proven methods of pain relief (exactly), then this should hit the spot. The romance also features lots of sports comradery, a tiny dog called Donut and, oh, the Women’s FIFA World Cup in Australia where (spoiler alert) the team doesn’t crash out in the first knockout match. There are a few loose threads as the plot progresses, but nothing I wasn’t happy to overlook. After all, summer isn’t a time for housekeeping but for kicking off your shoes and running around in the grass. Up next in the series is an enemies-to-lovers romance and the 2024 Olympics. Let’s hope Lincoln’s indomitable national team are a bit closer to the real thing this time around!
