Summer Lovin’

ROMANTIC READS TO TAKE YOU BACK TO SUMMER Written by Kora Quinn, Arts Editor Graphic by Kate Madigan

Sometimes I crave romance in my life, but I don’t actually want romance in my life. I’m in love with the idea of a summer fling, of partners met on vacation when we’re unrestricted by school and stress. And with both of those things currently looming over our heads, summer love seems like the perfect escape. Here are five flirty summer reads that will satiate your need for romance when life won’t stop getting in the way of love:

“Honey Girl” by Morgan Rogers

“Honey Girl” is a contemporary romance about Grace Porter, a recent doctoral graduate who decides to celebrate in Las Vegas. Things take a turn when Grace blacks out and discovers the following day that she has married a woman she met the night before. “Honey Girl” is a sapphic love story that involves the process of healing, family drama and the unpredictable mess that is adulthood.

“People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry

“People We Meet on Vacation” is a contemporary romance about unlikely best friends, Alex and Poppy, who ended their tradition of vacationing together every year after falling out. Two years later, they reconnect and plan to take one final trip to get everything out in the open and make it right. “People We Meet on Vacation” takes “When Harry Met Sally” and updates it for modern readers, involving a friends-to-lovers romance, the process of overcoming differences and the fear of intimacy.

“If the Shoe Fits” by Julie Murphy

“If the Shoe Fits” is a contemporary romance and a modern retelling of “Cinderella.” It follows Cindy, a recent graduate student with a major in Shoe Design who volunteers for her stepmother’s reality dating show in the hopes of kick-starting her fashion career. As the only plus-size woman on the show, she unexpectedly becomes an icon for the body-positivity movement, all while finding her own inspiration and love throughout the process. “If the Shoe Fits” involves bachelor-esque tropes, body positivity and complex family dynamics.

“Of Fire and Stars” by Audrey Coulthurst

“Of Fire and Stars” is a romantic fantasy about Dennaleia, a princess meant to unite two countries with her betrothal to the crown prince of Mynaria. In the process of preparing for their marriage and keeping her forbidden magic a secret in a kingdom far from home, Dennaleia unexpectedly falls in love with her riding instructor — who also happens to be her betrothed’s sister. “Of Fire and Stars” is a sapphic love story that involves the conflict between duty and heart.

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen

“Pride and Prejudice,” you may have heard of it, is a classic following the romance of Lizzie Bennet, a woman in regency era England who would rather marry for love than for security, obligation or familial advancement — the customs at the time. However, Lizzie finds herself in an unlikely romance that sheds light on the nature of judgement, her own faults and the process of overcoming them. ■