Cover of Heat Wave

Affiliate links — we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn more

Heat Wave

Nancy Thayer

338 pagescontemporary romance
(12k)Warm

A Nantucket widow turns her home into a B&B and rediscovers love amid secrets and summer heat.

Content Warnings
griefdeath of loved one

Description

Lyrical, emotional, dramatic, and packed with Nancy Thayer’s trademark warmth and wisdom, Heat Wave tells the moving story of a woman who, after her seemingly perfect life unravels, must find the strength to live and love again. After her husband’s sudden death, Carley Winsted is determined to keep her two daughters in their beloved home on Nantucket. To ease the family’s financial strain, she decides to transform their grand, historic house into a bed-and-breakfast. Not everyone, however, thinks this plan prudent or quite respectable—especially not Carley’s mother-in-law. Further complicating a myriad of challenges, a friend forces Carley to keep a secret that, if revealed, will undo families and friendships. And her late husband’s former law partner is making Carley confront an array of mixed feelings. Then, during a late-summer heat wave, the lives of Carley and her friends and family will be forever changed in entirely unexpected ways.

Books like this

Cover of The Summer We Started Over

The Summer We Started Over

Nancy Thayer

320 pagescontemporary romance
(9k)Warm

Two sisters rebuild their lives on Nantucket — and Eddie faces the past love she left behind.

5 tropes in common

Cover of The House in the Cerulean Sea

The House in the Cerulean Sea

T.J. Klune · Cerulean Chronicles #1

400 pagescontemporary romance
(1.0M)Mild

A rule-following caseworker investigates a magical orphanage — and falls for the man devoted to protecting it.

4 tropes in common

Cover of Happy Place

Happy Place

Emily Henry

388 pagescontemporary romance
(1.5M)Steamy

Broken up for five months but still pretending to be together — for one last week at the cottage they both love.

4 tropes in common

Cover of Secrets in Summer

Secrets in Summer

Nancy Thayer

336 pagescontemporary romance
(11k)Warm

A Nantucket librarian navigates her ex-husband next door and two new love interests in one unforgettable summer.

4 tropes in common

Cover of Beach Read

Beach Read

Emily Henry

400 pagescontemporary romance
(1.7M)Steamy

A romance writer and a literary snob swap genres for the summer — and accidentally swap hearts too.

3 tropes in common

Cover of Me Before You (Me Before You, #1)

Me Before You (Me Before You, #1)

Jojo Moyes · Me Before You #1

385 pagescontemporary romance
(1.8M)Warm

A quirky, warm-hearted carer takes a job with a bitter former adventurer — and changes both their lives forever.

2 tropes in common

Cover of Things We Never Got Over

Things We Never Got Over

Lucy Score · Knockemout #1

572 pagescontemporary romance
(1.1M)Steamy

A grumpy barber reluctantly helps a stranded runaway bride — and the surprise niece she's now raising.

4 tropes in common

Cover of Reminders of Him

Reminders of Him

Colleen Hoover

336 pagescontemporary romance
(1.7M)Steamy

Fresh out of prison, a mother risks everything when she falls for the one man standing between her and her daughter.

3 tropes in common

Cover of Funny Story

Funny Story

Emily Henry

416 pagescontemporary romance
(1.3M)Steamy

Dumped by the same couple, two exes become roommates — then accidentally fall for each other.

3 tropes in common

Cover of It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us, #1)

It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us, #1)

Colleen Hoover · It Ends with Us #1

352 pagescontemporary romance
(4.7M)Steamy

Lily falls for a brilliant surgeon who hides a dangerous side — and her first love just walked back in.

3 tropes in common

Cover of People We Meet on Vacation

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

382 pagescontemporary romance
(1.8M)Warm

Ten summers, two best friends, and one truth that ruined everything — can one last trip fix them?

2 tropes in common

Cover of Book Lovers

Book Lovers

Emily Henry

338 pagescontemporary romance
(1.6M)Steamy

A cutthroat literary agent escapes to a small town — only to keep running into the brooding editor she can't stand.

2 tropes in common

Cover of The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger · The Time Traveler's Wife #1

546 pagescontemporary romance
(1.9M)Steamy

She's always known him, but he keeps vanishing through time — their love story told from both sides of the clock.

2 tropes in common

Cover of November 9

November 9

Colleen Hoover

320 pagescontemporary romance
(1.3M)Steamy

They meet only on November 9th each year — but is their love story real, or just his novel's perfect plot twist?

1 trope in common

Cover of Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston

448 pagescontemporary romance
(1.2M)Steamy

The US President's son falls for the British prince they've been faking a friendship with — secretly, scandalously.

1 trope in common

Cover of Safe Haven

Safe Haven

Nicholas Sparks

330 pagescontemporary romance
(403k)Warm

A woman fleeing her dark past finds love with a gentle widower in a quiet coastal town — but danger followed her.

5 tropes in common

Cover of Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon

Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon

Matthew Norman

337 pagescontemporary romance
(28k)Warm

Two grieving spouses bond over a holiday movie marathon and discover love might be possible again.

6 tropes in common

Cover of The Husband Hour

The Husband Hour

Jamie Brenner

360 pagescontemporary romance
(8k)Warm

A grieving widow hiding at a Jersey Shore beach house gets one hour with a filmmaker — and finds a future.

6 tropes in common

Cover of Love and Other Words

Love and Other Words

Christina Lauren

432 pagescontemporary romance
(834k)Warm

A decade of silence, one chance reunion, and the first love she never stopped carrying.

3 tropes in common

Cover of Twisted Love

Twisted Love

Ana Huang · Twisted #1

343 pagescontemporary romance
(1.7M)Scorching

Her brother's best friend is cold, ruthless, and hiding dangerous secrets — and completely obsessed with her.

2 tropes in common

A work in progress, built for my wife with love. Suggestions welcome