Summer is just about here, and the best romance books of May 2026 are the perfect way to kick off vacation season! Fan-favorite authors like Eloisa James, Kennedy Ryan, and Rachel Linden all have new titles coming out. And they’re far from the only ones! We can’t wait to read this month’s sweetest, spiciest, and swooniest books — here’s what we’re recommending all month long.
Out of Her League by Ava Rani
Release date: May 12
Read it if: You want billionaires and fake dating in the best romance books of May 2026. A surgeon enlists a soccer star to be her date to the wedding of the season.
Publisher’s synopsis: Dr. Isabelle Mercado is this close to having it all. Top of her class at the country’s most competitive orthopedic surgery residency, a dream career within reach, and a golden ticket to the wedding of the year in Paris.
There’s just one problem. Her ex—the one who got away—is going to be there… with his perfect new fiancée.
Desperate to save face (and maybe spark a little jealousy), Isa enlists soccer legend and global heartthrob Austin Cade to be her fake date. It’s the perfect match. After an injury and some unfortunate encounters with the press, he needs good PR and the kind of elite connections this wedding will attract. Plus, her ex just so happens to be his #1 fan. Win-win.
But between champagne toasts, macaron baking classes, and stolen glances under the Parisian stars, pretending starts to feel a lot like the real thing. Isa’s always been all-in on her career. Love was never the goal.
But maybe, just maybe… this time, the heart has its own agenda.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Last Lady B by Eloisa James
Release date: May 12
Read it if: You’d like a touch of Gothic mystery in the best romance books of May 2026. A young widow navigates both ordinary and paranormal secrets with the help of a sarcastic solicitor.
Publisher’s synopsis: In the depths of winter, Lady Genevieve Hughes, her pet piglet, and her septuagenarian husband travel to a haunted abbey in the Scottish Highlands. Evie is excited to meet a ghost (perhaps one of her husband’s three previous wives), but didn’t expect the funny, quirky guests to become the friends she’s never had. And she certainly didn’t imagine meeting Sir Godric Everly, a sardonic, witty solicitor who loathes her husband.
Yet as secrets and lies turn Evie’s world upside down, Sir Godric becomes the one person whom she can trust.
When ghosts, multiple wills, and a shocking marriage certificate bring Lord Burnsby’s past crashing into his present, Burnsby promptly dies, leaving Evie free to remarry…though as a virgin wife, now a virgin widow, she is more unnerved by the marriage bed than a spectral visit.
More importantly, she has to figure out whose identity is false, whose vows are dishonorable, whose truths could destroy her reputation—and where her heart belongs.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
How to Find a Guy in Five Weddings by Cynthia Timoti
Release date: May 12
Read it if: You the best romance books of May 2026 to have a premise straight out of a ’00s rom-com. A single cynic who “has to” marry meets a true romantic determined to prove her wrong? We’re so in.
Publisher’s synopsis: Kimiko Halim thinks happy endings only exist in fairy tales. But her late grandmother’s will specifies settling down as a condition to inherit her yarn store, and the family’s legacy is the only thing that matters. Kim’s plan is find a guy, date him until the store is hers, then gently uncouple from the poor, unsuspecting victim.
But the clock is ticking, and her dates have been more frogs than princes. When Rob Carmichael, a perpetual groomsman and self-proclaimed proponent of happily-ever-afters, overhears Kim’s cynical view of love, he’s baffled. Having been surrounded by happy relationships all his life, Rob convinces her that he can find her a soulmate in one of the next five weddings he’s going to.
What can possibly go wrong?
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Daisy Chain Flower Shop by Laurie Gilmore
Release date: May 19
Read it if: You’re a sucker for sweet, small-town romance. A newcomer to town reluctantly enters a reportedly-cursed flower shop and falls for its owner.
Publisher’s synopsis: Daisy is fed up with being unlucky in love. And since Mayor Kelly declared her beloved flower shop cursed in one of his infamous visions, business has been slow.
Dream Harbor newcomer Elliot has been adjusting to small-town life following his own relationship turmoil. And until now he’s avoided the flower shop at all costs. If the mayor is correct, he doesn’t need any more bad luck in his life.
When he finds himself walking through the door of the Daisy Chain Flower Shop, he doesn’t expect it to be a life-changing moment. But as the petals blossom in the sunlight, might the unluckiest woman in Dream Harbor finally find that love comes when you’re least expecting it?
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Fake Divination Offense by Sara Raasch
Release date: May 19
Read it if: You’d like a nerdier take on the sports romance trend in the best romance books of May 2026. Two polar opposites find themselves in a PR-perfect fake relationship, only to develop real feelings.
Publisher’s synopsis: Orok Monroe: Half-giant. Rawball defensive tank on the Philadelphia Hellhounds. Follower of Urzoth…only Orok’s tired of following the god of aggression.
Alexo Warden: Cheerleader. Human? A dancer with a stadium’s worth of secrets.
When Orok saves Alexo at a bar, fans go feral for the star athlete protecting the pint-size dude-in-distress. The Hellhounds propose that Orok and Alexo start a PR relationship to put a positive spin on Orok’s god. Orok is set to refuse and renounce Urzoth―but that wouldn’t let him see Alexo again.
So, like a sap, he agrees.
As Orok tries to drop the fake part of their fake-relationship, Alexo’s dangerous truths emerge. To save him, Orok will have to sacrifice far more than his divine association.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
A Sprinkle of Sweet Serendipity by Rachel Linden
Release date: May 19
Read it if: You need a touch of cozy magic in the best romance books of May 2026. A chocolatier gets a glimpse of her fated future — including a proposal from her celebrity crush.
Publisher’s synopsis: Paris trained chocolatier and single mother Emmie Wynne gave up her own dreams six years ago when she returned to her Pacific Northwest coastal tourist town to run her family’s struggling candy store. Now on her thirty-fourth birthday, Emmie has only one wish, to be granted the vision that every Wynne woman is given once in her lifetime—a shimmering glimpse of her true destiny. This year, when she blows out her candles, it finally comes true.
Her vision is more delectable than she could’ve imagined—her very own artisanal chocolate shop filled with decadent truffles and caramels, and her celebrity crush, Henry Summers, down on one knee. And when Henry suddenly arrives in town for the summer, offering Emmie the opportunity of a lifetime, the future in her vision suddenly seems possible.
But a rekindled connection with Jakob, her former high school best friend turned hunky, brooding tattooed baker, forces Emmie to grapple with the bittersweet realization that her destiny may not be what her heart truly longs for. As the culmination of her vision draws nearer, can Emmie find the courage to create a happiness of her own making?
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Score by Kennedy Ryan
Release date: May 19
Read it if: You still think about a long-ago crush. Years after their college breakup, a screenwriter and a musician reconnect on a film set.
Publisher’s synopsis: You never forget your first love. Isn’t that what they say? Verity Hill knows this truth intimately. She didn’t simply miss Wright “Monk” Bellamy when they parted ways in college. She’s haunted by his touch. Every kiss, any lover since—it’s a shadow of what they had.
Time heals all wounds. Isn’t that what they say? Monk doesn’t believe that for a second. He wasn’t simply betrayed when he and Verity split. He was devastated, with parts of him left behind in the ruins of all that was destroyed.
More than a decade after their disastrous breakup, Verity and Monk must work together on the set of an epic Harlem Renaissance biopic. With Monk, now a world-class musician, creating the score, and Verity, an award-winning screenwriter, penning the script, there’s Oscar buzz before shooting even begins. This once-in-a-lifetime project could catapult them both to new heights. But can they can put the past behind them for the sake of the film … for the sake of something more?
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Second Chance Prince by Sara Bennett
Release date: May 19
Read it if: You want the best romance books of May 2026 to include a little royal mayhem. Following an assassination attempt, a foreign prince agrees to propose to his childhood friend in exchange for British protection.
Publisher’s synopsis: Prince Nikolai of Holtswig has journeyed to London with one purpose: stay out of trouble until the unrest in his country dies down. But after an assassination attempt at the season’s first ball, he has no choice but to accept a deal from the British government. They will offer him protection … if he gets engaged to a proper Englishwoman. Niki isn’t interested—until they suggest his childhood friend, Lady Roberta Ashton.
Lady Roberta couldn’t help being a bit infatuated with Niki in the summers they spent together all those years ago. Faking an engagement would definitely liven up the season—but there’s a difference between lively and deadly. As the threats increase along with their attraction, Roberta and Niki must learn to trust each other to protect themselves—and their hearts.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Dove and the Rogue by Harper St. George
Release date: May 26
Read it if: You can’t wait for the next season of The Gilded Age. And the cliffhanger leading into this book? We wouldn’t miss it!
Publisher’s synopsis: Jenny Dove has spent her life training to become an opera singer, determined not to repeat her mother’s mistake of sacrificing her career for love. But when her younger sister needs her help, Jenny strikes a daring bargain. To save her sister’s future, she’ll marry a titled gentleman long enough to unlock both their inheritances, then return to Paris to live out her dream.
Lord David Felding, heir to a dukedom and unapologetic rake, has no interest in finding a wife, until Jenny walks into his life with an audacious marriage proposal. She’ll give him one night in her bed in exchange for the protection of his name. It’s supposed to be a simple transaction. No emotions, no complications. But when their wedding night reveals unexpected passion and a startling connection, walking away is anything but easy.
Instead of continuing his roguish life in London, David follows Jenny to Paris—and begins to court his own wife. As their sham marriage deepens into something real, Jenny glimpses the wounded man behind his charm and feels her carefully guarded heart begin to yield. But falling in love means a slow, irresistible unraveling of everything they thought they wanted…and trusting in something neither dared to hope for.
Get it on Amazon.
The Summer Share by Jenn McKinlay
Release date: May 26
Read it if: You want the best romance books of May 2026 to feel like an HGTV show with romance added in. Two total opposites inherit a beach house that they fix up together over the course of a summer.
Publisher’s synopsis: Free-spirited travel influencer Hannah Spencer has spent five years touring the country in her vintage van, alone save for her hulking Great Dane, Dude. Until an unexpected inheritance from her pops has Hannah thinking about putting down roots in Cape Split, North Carolina, where she’s the new owner of a worse-for-wear seaside beach house. Or, rather, fifty percent of one. Turns out Simon O’Malley inherited the other half from his gramps.
As Simon and Hannah spend the summer tag-teaming repairs on the crumbling cottage, they discover it was once home to a timeless love story. As their own relationship shifts from enemies to friends to lovers, they begin to wonder if the house’s romantic past might be a good omen for their future together. But there’s one problem—Simon is set on selling the property at the end of the summer.
For Hannah, the Split isn’t like anyplace she’s ever been. And Simon isn’t like any man she’s ever known. She doesn’t want to let this new life go. She just needs Simon to see their budding relationship and this newfound community in the same way, or their first summer share might also be their last.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
