The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

Spend Election Day with Marva and Duke in this young adult novel about the importance of casting your first vote. Marva has been looking forward to voting in her first General Election, since, well, forever. She is passionate about social justice and has worked hard canvassing and helping to get people to the polls. So when she sees Duke get turned away at her polling place, she considers it her civic duty to make sure his vote is counted. No matter what obstacles get thrown in their way.

This book tackles issues of voter suppression, being a Black teenager in America, grief, social justice, and privilege balanced by Duke and Marva’s developing romance, typical high school struggles, and Marva’s insta-famous cat. Especially recommended for people of all ages feeling burnt out by politics, as well as anyone who loves a cute, quirky rom-com!

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

Just when she thought things were finally moving in the relationship direction, Millie Quint finds her best friend/almost girlfriend kissing someone else. Faced with spending her senior year in a completely awkward place, Millie decides to apply to boarding school… in Scotland. Where her roommate turns out to be an actual princess.

An enemy-to-lovers, will-they-won’t-they story with the added benefits of rebel royal teenagers and beautiful Scottish scenery. Will Millie and Princess Flora find love at boarding school, or will they kill each other during a school-wide camping challenge? If you’re looking for an easy, fun read and you loved Red, White and Royal Blue, this is the book for you!

The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert

Idun’s Orchard has been in the Lund family for five generations, and cider-maker Sanna Lund can’t imagine living anywhere else. She’s perfectly content spending her days tending the orchard with her father and experimenting with new blends of cider made from their heirloom apple trees. But Sanna’s cider isn’t selling like they’d hoped and business isn’t exactly booming at the orchard. With only the two of them, and Sanna’s father getting on in years, can they really keep going the way they always have?

Enter Isaac and his son Bass (full name Sebastian, but he answers to any fish). Originally from California but spending their summer driving across the U.S. (and away from heartbreak at home), the pair end up as hired hands at Idun’s. Sanna is less than thrilled at the prospect of having a ten-year-old boy underfoot and tries to ignore how distracted she is by Isaac’s presence. But as her life gets more and more complicated, Sanna relies on the relationships she’s forming with Bass and Isaac, especially when the orchard seems to be slipping further and further out of her control.

The Simplicity of Cider is a heartwarming story of love, family, cider, and a little bit of magic. Set in Door County, Wisconsin, the author perfectly captures the feel of a small Midwestern town, where your neighbors might be nosy but they’ll be there for you at the first sign of trouble. The characters are authentic and real, and so are their struggles. There is an overall theme of healing in this book, from Sanna's father after a fall, to the heirloom trees after an accident, to the relationships both Sanna and Bass have with their parents, particularly their mothers. Recommended for fans of Jenny Colgan and Sarah Addison Allen.

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Tiffy needs a new flat, and preferably one without suspicious mold growing behind the toilet. Leon, a nurse on the night shift, has a flat he’s rarely in and could use some extra cash. Why not rent out the apartment overnight to someone with a regular 9 to 5? Someone like Tiffy? They share a flat. They share a bed. But they’ve never met. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it works for them. Tiffy leaves for work before Leon gets off of his shift, and Leon, in turn, leaves to start his day right before Tiffy comes home for the evening. They leave notes throughout the apartment; Tiffy bakes, Leon occasionally makes dinner and leaves leftovers. They become close, as two people who share a space are bound to do-- even if they’re never in the same place at the same time.

This is, of course, a romance, so the pair do eventually meet. As life throws them curves in the form of manipulative ex-boyfriends, a wrongfully imprisoned brother, sick patients, and demanding clients, Tiffy and Leon learn to lean on each other until they can’t imagine making it through without the other person there.

An emotionally resonant story disguised as a fluffy meet-cute, O’Leary touches on themes of emotional abuse, violence, and gaslighting. And yet, there is humor and light and romance to carry these characters through to a very promising end. Recommended for fans of Marian Keyes or Christina Lauren.

The Lido by Libby Page

Kate is a twenty-six-year-old reporter working for the local neighborhood newspaper in Brixton, London. After writing mostly about lost pets and trying (unsuccessfully) to keep her anxiety and panic attacks at bay, she is assigned to write about the closing of the lido, or local swimming pool. At the lido, she meets Rosemary, an eighty-seven-year-old widow who swims at the pool every day, and has for most of her life. Kate asks Rosemary for an interview, to which the older woman agrees only if Kate goes for a swim in the pool. Together, the women begin not only a friendship, but a campaign to save the lido.

This novel is a touching tribute to relationships and community. Through flashbacks, we see Rosemary fall in love with and lose her husband George, the presence of the lido all the while in the background. As Kate spends more time with Rosemary, she is able to find confidence and strength, create new friendships, and reach out to family she hasn’t spoken to in a while. Between the two of them, they bring a community together with a common purpose, in an effort to save one of the last true community centers in the neighborhood.

For fans of heartwarming, character-driven fiction, and authors like Fannie Flagg and Sophie Kinsella.

One Day in December by Josie Silver

On a snowy December night in London, Laurie James looks out the window of her bus and sees him-- the man she's convinced, in that split second, is the one. Their eyes meet, he makes a move in her direction... and then the bus drives away. Laurie becomes obsessed, spending months scanning every face at every bus stop and every cafe in the hopes that it's him. But it never is.

That is, until her best friend and roommate, Sarah, introduces him to Laurie at a Christmas party a year later as Jack, the man of Sarah's dreams.

One Day in December is a tense but moving romance spanning almost a decade as Laurie and Jack try to navigate life with each other... but not with each other. Theirs is not the only love story, though. The relationship between Laurie and Sarah is just as, if not more, important than whatever Laurie and Jack may or may not have. It's why Laurie keeps Jack's identity as "bus boy" a secret, so as not to break Sarah's heart. And it's why the ultimate climax of the book takes on an even deeper meaning-- Laurie and Sarah's relationship has to be solid before any relationship between Laurie and Jack can begin.