So many books, but so little time. Don’t worry, because we’ve rounded up 20 of the best books of the year so far. Whether you’re a thriller lover, a hopeless romantic, or anything in between, there’s something for everyone! One, two, or maybe twelve of these incredible books should definitely be added to your to your summer reading list.

Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson

We’ve heard the story before; enemies turn to lovers or friends. Julieta and Ramón share a kiss on Day of the Dead, and Ramón is determined to find his new love. What he doesn’t know yet is how his father stole Julieta's mother’s taco recipe, which has been detrimental to Julieta’s restaurant. With Ramón now her new landlord she tries to push away the romantic tension. Will Ramón be able to win over Julieta, or will their parent’s rivalry keep them apart?

Red Thread of Fate by Lyn Liao Butler

After Tam and Tony find out they’ve been accepted to adopt a young boy from China, Tam is hit with the worst news possible. Tony and his estranged cousin Mia have been killed in an accident. While coping with this pain and grief, Tam finds out she now is the guardian of Mia’s five-year-old daughter Angela. Now Tam must become a parent to a girl she doesn’t know well and decide whether to still adopt from China. When a long-kept secret comes to light, Tam must dig into Tony and Mia’s past, and she ultimately learns the true meaning of love and family. 

The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn

In the best retelling of Emma since Clueless- meet Georgina Wagman a young lawyer with a seemingly perfect life. But, when she finds her husband sleeping with a junior associate, she’s shocked and divorce was never something that crossed her mind. In an effort to save her marriage she and her husband become swingers. Her friends Felix and Norah (and their partners) are all in with her. Her own marriage might be falling apart but, Georgina is determined to get Felix and Norah together. Then Georgina reconnects with her college ex and must decide whether to follow her heart or her head, all while trying to keep her perfect life-well perfect. 

The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Julia Baxter’s wedding veil was given to her great grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s. It has brought the women in her family good luck ever since, but in her heart, Julia knows the veil isn’t enough to make her marriage last, so she runs to the Virgin Islands on the morning of her wedding. Meanwhile Julia’s grandmother, Babs, still mourning the death her beloved husband, reconnects with an old flame and is forced to dredge up complicated emotions from the past. Then the reader is transported back to 1914 where they meet socialite Edith Vanderbilt, who’s struggling to maintain the grandiose Biltmore Estate after her husband’s untimely death. Edith is also committed to helping her free-spirited daughter Cornelia prepare to inherit the iconic house, despite the family’s financial troubles and Cornelia’s dream to live outside Biltmore’s gilded gates. How could this long-lost heirloom, the wedding veil, be the thing that connects these four remarkable women?

The Christie Affair by Nina Gramont

This re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries will have readers completely immersed. What did Agatha Christie discover in those eleven days she went missing in 1925 London and how is her husband’s mistress involved? Miss Nan O’Dea took a liking to Archie Christie and became his mistress, and the only thing standing in her was Archie’s wife Agatha. But, why destroy another woman’s marriage and why hatch a murder plot years in the making?

One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose

Revenge is something everyone can relate to, but for the women in Buckhead it may mean life or death. When Shannon is dumped by her famous politician husband Bryce, and replaced by Crystal, it is sure to stir some community drama. Meanwhile, Olivia is planning to take Shannon’s place as queen of Buckhead. But it is Buckhead’s best hairdresser, Jenny, who knows all her clients’ secrets and their darkest desires. What secrets could these women be hiding and who will end up dead?

Hotel Portofino by JP O’Connell

Let’s take a step back in time to the Roaring Twenties on the breathtaking Italian Riviera. After a British family, led by matron Bella Ainsworth, opens Hotel Portofino, they quickly realize the high-class guests may be too demanding for them to handle. And while Bella desperately tries to satisfy her Italian guests, she also juggles saving her marriage, helping her children recover from the repercussions of the Great War, looking for love for her son Lucian, and keeping a local politician from sabotaging her and her success. But despite her best efforts, things don’t go according to plan in this enchanting historical fiction perfect for fans of The Crown and Downton Abbey.

Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim

Matchmaking: some love it, and some think it’s fraudulent. For Sophie Go, it’s her profession, and she can’t wait to get back to work after returning to Toronto from a three-year trip to Shanghai. But when it’s revealed that Sophie never went to matchmaking school, she loses her credibility in the highly competitive market and becomes an outcast. Desperately in need of clients, Sophie stumbles on a club in her complex called the Old Ducks, a group of seven elderly Chinese bachelors who never found love. Determined to help the most difficult-to-match men of her career, Sophie learns the depths of heartbreak, loneliness, and what true love actually is as she puts her skills to the test. 

We Lie Here by Rachel Howzell Hall

Yara Gibson is a young TV writer visiting home in California to host her parents' 20th-anniversary party. When she receives a text from her mother’s estranged childhood friend Felicia begging to speak to her “before it’s too late,” Yara chooses to ignore it. She didn’t realize ignoring Felicia’s text would lead to her body being found in Lake Palmdale. But before she died, Felicia left Yara a key to a cabin, where she finds files on a tragedy from 1998. This new information leaves Yara with big unanswered questions, and the more she digs for answers, the more she realizes this information will change her life forever… Or end it.

Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering

Sexy suspense and the kind of obsessive love that keeps you coming back – Carola Lovering never disappoints. In 2013, Molly was a twenty-three-year old barista with dreams of being a writer who locked eyes with lead singer Jake Danner at a concert. Nearly ten years after their full and deep romance in which Jake wrote a hit song about her, the two are living their own separate domestic lives. But Molly is struggling and lonely. When she meets Sabrina, a newcomer in town, Molly feels relieved to finally have a friend. But there’s a reason Sabrina sought out Molly, and both of their secrets start to bubble to the surface and ask themselves: what happens when life doesn’t turn out like you thought?

The Blue Butterfly by Leslie Johansen Nack

1915 in New York, Broadway, and secret love stories galore! Marion Davies is a shy 18-year-old dancer when she meets William Randolph Hearst. Seduced by his riches and dedication to make her a movie star, Marion begins a courtship with Hearst. Then things start to go downhill after Hearst goes through a divorce with his wife and has a baby with Marion. Over the years they keep the baby a secret and gradually fade away from each other. But in 1937 during the height of the Depression, Marion lends Hearst $1M, even as she has a secret love with Charlie Chaplin. Now Marion and Hearst must work together to confront a movie that could ruin Marion’s career: Citizen Kane.

Set on You by Amy Lea

Crystal Chen is a curvy fitness influencer known for ignoring all the trolls that come her way while she conquers her workouts. After a tough breakup, the gym has brought her comfort – until Scott Ritchie walks in. Scott is a firefighter (and a Chris Evans look-alike, by the way) and goes out of his way to steal Crystal’s favorite squat rack, quickly sparking a heated competition between the two. Then Crystal is shocked to find Scott at her grandparents’ engagement party, where she gets a glimpse of how Scott’s surprisingly soft heart and the two of them form a new bond. That bond is then put to the test after the internet trolls find a picture of them together that goes viral, threatening their budding relationship in this steamy enemies-to-lovers rom-com. 

On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster 

In this captivating historical fiction novel, Everleigh “Lee” Farrow seems to have it all. An incredible fiancé named Roland, a trust fund, and a beautiful Bronxville home. When Roland whisks Lee away to the Hamptons to show her the most incredible engagement present a woman could think of, a beachside hotel located on Gin Lane, things seem perfect. But internally, Lee struggles with dark memories of her old life, where she grew up at the Plaza, taking care of her mentally ill mother. Lee attempts to ignore the flashbacks and spend the summer doing things she loves: drinking poolside, playing tennis, attending luncheons, and taking photos. But on the hotel’s opening weekend, tragedy strikes, and Lee’s seemingly perfect world begins to fall apart. Lee must decide if this life is truly what she wants, and if she even knows who she truly is.

For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa 

Nina Lyons is an incredible chef whose talents have been overlooked in the male-dominated culinary world. As a co-host on a competitive reality TV series, she has a chance to truly make a name for herself. Just one problem. She can’t stand her co-host. Leo O’Donnell is a restaurateur who never meant to irritate Nina. It just happened as a result of the anxiety and stress he deals with in his work. But when he takes a joke too far, and Nina quits the show on live TV, Leo is unprepared. With both of their careers on the line after the show’s dramatic ending, Nina and Leo discover a “secret romance” may be the most beneficial thing for both of them. They just have to pretend not to despise each other. Easy, right?  With the perfect amount of tension, spice, and banter, Erin La Rosa whisks up a delicious enemies-to-lovers romance.

You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

After Amaya receives an invitation to her former best friend’s wedding in Sri Lanka, she’s a little hurt and very surprised after years of silence. When she discovers that Kaavi is marrying Amaya’s ex-boyfriend, she’s determined to stop the wedding, no matter what. But when the wedding week commences, and rumors start to fly about Amaya’s past, she begins to feel like someone at the wedding is out to get her. When Kaavi goes missing and is presumed dead, Amaya is the main suspect. However, as each wedding guest’s dark secrets and hidden agendas come to light, it’s clear that Amaya is not the only one with a score to settle against the bride. 

Corinne by Rebecca Morrow 

Corrine Callahan has left behind the fundamentalist church and family she grew up with and built a good life for herself. While Corrine is free from the things and people that hurt her, she can’t help but miss the love she walked away from. Enoch Miller has always held a piece of her heart, and Corrine will never be truly free of him. An intimate story spanning over fifteen years, Corrine jeopardizes everything she’s created for the one man she knows she can never have.

The Marriage Box by Corie Adjmi

Casey Cohen is a sixteen-year-old Middle Eastern Jew living in New Orleans during the 1970s. After getting in trouble, her parents relocate them back to their home, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn. In this unfamiliar world, men thank God they aren’t women, and lavish parties are held at the Museum of Natural History. The Marriage Box is an actual place, a deck where teenage girls showcase themselves for potential husbands. Casey is revolted by this lifestyle, until she meets Michael. Looking for a sense of belonging, Casey marries him at eighteen, expecting to adapt to the Syrian ways. However, when she discovers that Michael is against the idea of her going to college, and instead wants her to have a baby, she begins to question her choice and her future. Will Casey be able to merge her two different worlds, or will she be forced to walk away from one in order to discover who she is? Pre-order this Summer of 2023 must-read today!

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner

For a hundred years, Bloomsbury Books has been run by men and directed by the manager’s fifty-one unbreakable rules. That is, until 1950, when three girls at the shop have ideas to keep the bookstore going amidst a changing world. Vivien Lowry, a World War II widow, has a long list of justified grievances, the most significant being Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction. Grace Perkins is a wife and mother of two sons, working hard to support her family while her husband struggles post-war. Grace grapples with balancing her family responsibilities and her own dreams. Evie Stone, a student in Cambridge’s first degree-earning female class, lost out on an academic position to a less qualified male rival, and now works at Bloomsbury Books as she plans her future. These three women all strive for a future that gives them more opportunities than what society currently permits while navigating their personal relationships, goals, and dreams.

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

At sixteen-years-old, Sara Foster ran away from home, and the trusting girl she used to be got left behind as well. Now an in-demand bartender living in Los Angeles, Sara is known for her creative cocktails and the mystery surrounding her. Emilie Dubois is living across the city where her Creole grandparents fostered a beautiful community she craves but can’t commit to. Emilie impulsively takes a job at Yerba Buena, a glamorous restaurant, and begins an affair with the married owner. There is an instant connection between Sara and Emilie when they first meet at Yerba Buena but both women have pasts that draw them apart time and time again. As Sara’s former life catches up to her and upturns everything, Emilie finally discovers her own purpose, and the two must determine if the love they hold for each other overpowers their pasts. 

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

Paris Peralta’s celebrity husband is dead in a bathtub and Paris is standing in front of him, covered in blood and holding a straight razor. She’s arrested on the spot and knows she will be charged with his murder. However, what worries her most is the media attention that now surrounds her, and Paris fears someone from her dark, hidden past will recognize her and rip apart the new life she has built for herself. Twenty-five years prior, Ruby Reyes, referred to as the Ice Queen, was found guilty of a similar murder in Canada. Ruby knows the truth about Paris and when she is suddenly released from prison, she threatens to reveal all the secrets Paris has worked to bury. Reaching a dead end, Paris is forced to face the murky past she left behind. Because even though a murder charge is bad, it’s better than two murder charges.

Image: Courtesy of Spark Point Studio

About the author: Avion Wick is a student at Arizona State University studying Journalism and Mass Communication. He is from Washington D.C but is loving the warmer weather Phoenix has to offer. Outside of being a full-time student, Avion can be found going to the movies at least once a week.