Add these clean YA books to your summer TBR list!
- 5 Books to Add to Your Summer TBR
- The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George
- Borrow My Heart by Kasie West
- Picture Perfect Boyfriend by Becky Dean
- Right Where I Belong by Krista McGee
- Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
- Bonus: Summer Sweethearts!
Ah summer. The perfect time to head to the beach or the lake with a cooler full of snacks and a stack of fun and flirty novels. As a writer and reader of YA, you know I love a swoony teenage romance. They’re so fun and—at least for this millennial—so nostalgic.
These summer reads are clean, fun and all have a hint (or more) of romance!
5 Books to Add to Your Summer TBR

The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George

Some memories are better left forgotten.
Darby and Morgan haven’t spoken for two years, and their friend group has splintered. But when the body of their former science teacher is found in the marsh where they attended camp that summer, they realize they have more questions than answers . . . and even fewer memories.
No one remembers—or no one is talking.
The group of reunited friends begins to suspect that a murderer is stalking the coastal highway 30A, and they must try to recover their memories as quickly as possible . . . before the history they can’t remember repeats itself.
Everyone has a secret.
As tensions rise and time runs out, Darby and Morgan begin to wonder if they can believe one another . . . or if they can even trust themselves.
Borrow My Heart by Kasie West

Wren is used to being called a control freak. She doesn’t care; sticking to the list of rules she created for herself helps her navigate life. But when a cute guy named Asher walks through the door of her neighborhood coffee shop, the rulebook goes out the window.
Asher is cute, charming . . . and being catfished by his online crush. So Wren makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision—she pretends to be the girl he’s waiting for to save him from embarrassment. Suddenly she’s fake-dating a boy she knows nothing about. And it’s . . . amazing.
It’s not long before Asher has her breaking even more of her own rules. But will he forgive her when he finds out she’s not who she says she is? Wren’s not so sure. . . . After all, rules exist for a reason.
Picture Perfect Boyfriend by Becky Dean

Aspiring nature photographer Kenzie Reed just can’t get her straitlaced family of optometrists to take her art seriously. She’s resigned to putting aside her dreams and accepting the depressing life that awaits her at the family business. She even makes up a fake, boring boyfriend—Jacob—to get her parents off her back.
But when the Reeds arrive in Hawaii for spring break, Kenzie is shocked that “Jacob” shows up at the airport—and joins their vacation. Kenzie can’t reveal him as a fraud without confessing her lie, so she’s stuck playing along while trying to find out who he really is.
No way is she going to actually fall for him—because even though he’s funny, nice, smart, and cute, he’s also a liar. Isn’t he?
Filled with warm summer breezes and salty sea air, Becky Dean’s Picture-Perfect Boyfriend will sweep you off your feet into a tropical paradise, sun on your shoulders—where love is just around a palm tree.
Right Where I Belong by Krista McGee

How do you find your place in the world?
Tired of watching her father flit from one wife to another and having formed a true bond with her most recent stepmother, Natalia decides to move with her from Spain to Florida when the divorce papers are finalized.
There are a couple things Natalia knows for sure: 1) She’s being groomed to take over her father’s international business. Success is expected. 2) There is no such thing as true love. Just look at her father. 3) Her stepmother’s faith is real. And Natalia wants more of it.
Being in a new place, though, has a way of challenging one’s preconceived notions. Natalia is still searching but before it’s over, she hopes to discover right where she belongs.
Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is go back home.
But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires her, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.
People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.
Bonus: Summer Sweethearts!

What’s sweeter than summer love?
This collection of short and swoony romance tales will take you to the mountains, beach, amusement park, ice cream shop and more, as thirteen couples find their way into each other’s arms and hearts. Featuring first kisses and second chances, heartbreaks healed and misunderstandings mended, there is something for every romance reader in Summer Sweethearts.
You can get your copy of Summer Sweethearts for FREE by click the button below and I’ll send it straight to your inbox!
Read the Latest
- Boost Your Writing With These Must-Know Literary Devices
- What to Do When Your Draft Isn’t Working
- Querying Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Have To)
- Big News! My Book is Being Published!
- How to Land a Literary Agent: Part Two
*All blurbs and images are from Goodreads. Opinions are my own.

Leave a comment