Every summer I put together a list of my favorite teen romance novels—new and old—to read during those lazy summer days. It always has a theme—last year it was self-actualization level and in 2013 it was road trips, but this year I’m keeping it simple. This year it’s all about the boys. I mean let’s get real here, we read romance to get carried away, to feel the feels for someone in a fictional way that we might never get to in the real world. Would The D.U.F.F. be as good without charming womanizer with a heart of gold Wesley? Would we reread Anna and the French Kiss over and over again without the kind, flirtatious, sophisticated St. Clair? Would The Wrath and the Dawn have the same impact without the handsome and cursed Khalid? Sure the strong, female characters are great but it’s the boys that help make these books keepers.

So with that in mind, I give you 15 books and plenty of charming, perfectly imperfect boys (and all their best traits) to choose from. Which will be ones that you fall for?

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
After her mother dies, Lina is sent off to Italy to live with the man she's just found out is her father. There she’s given her mother’s journal from years before and now her trip is just as much about rediscovering a mother as it is about discovering herself. Luckily, she has a charming new friend to help her follow in her mother’s footsteps.

The Boy: Ren. Short for Lorenzo. A friendly Italian-American boy who takes you riding around the Italian countryside and the city of Florence on his Vespa (a motor scooter). He’ll take you clubbing, sightseeing, buy you all the gelato you can eat and comfort you when the family drama gets too much to handle.

 

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Remy has rules when it comes to dating. 1) Never get serious. She doesn’t believe in complicated love and so she always leaves before it gets complicated. 2) Never date a musician. Ever. Her deadbeat dad is a musician with one hit to his name and she's vowed never to fall for one. Then she meets Dexter, a musician who lives by no rules and loves romance and suddenly, all bets are off.

The Boy: Dexter is a sweet, funny, dorky, unapologetic romantic who will do anything to get you to smile. From writing a ridiculous song, to letting you choose the movie, to making you your favorite meal (using every pot and pan in the kitchen to do it).

 

Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider
Just before she jets off to Hawaii for the entire summer, Sloane discovers that her boyfriend cheated on her (TWICE!) with her best friend(!!) and then she breaks her arm (!!!). Luckily, there’s three months of lazy beach days in Hawaii to distract her. She vows to leave her troubles and her cheating friends behind in Seattle and concentrate on herself for a change.

The Boy: Finn is handsome, rich and an attentive big brother to his younger sister. He’ll take you hiking to a hidden waterfall for a picnic/ make out session and then curl up with you on a couch for a Netflix marathon while sharing a bag of Doritos. He certainly doesn’t care if your life is complicated because his is too.

 

Boys of Summer by Jessica Brody
Meet the boys of Winlock Harbor. Grayson, the football prodigy, Mike, the local heartthrob and Ian, the handsome musician. Best friends since they were kids, every summer they come together for beachfront barbecues, bonfires and late night swims but this summer their loyalties and bonds of friendship will be tested to their limits.

The Boys: Three to choose from! There’s Grayson, everyone’s perfect golden boy athlete but he’s tired of all the hoopla and needs someone to help him break out of the perfect box he’s stuck in. Mike, a hopeless romantic with a broken heart who takes care of everyone but himself when he clearly needs someone to take care of him. Ian who is dealing with a deep loss but talking about it is more than he can handle so he needs someone willing to distract him and listen to him.

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Perfectionist Andie ALWAYS has a plan and this summer is no different but when her father’s political scandal derails her life Andie must find her plan B. With her summer medical program no longer in the picture, she finds an unexpected job and an unexpected boy. Suddenly, her plan B summer may not be so bad after all.

The Boy: Clark is the super hot nerd of your dreams. He’s sweet, easy going, he’s got six pack abs, he’s a little awkward and weird, loves dogs and is a New York Times best selling fantasy author—at the age of 19. Get ready for in-depth nerdy discussions over midnight pancake feasts at the local diner.

 

The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han
Belly and her family spend every summer at the beach house owned by a family friend but the summer she turns 16 she feels her life changing. That summer the sons of the house’s owner are treating her differently. Her whole life they’ve been like her brothers, her friends and her crushes but that summer is the beginning of them being something more. Follow the ups and downs of Belly’s love life through 3 books!

The Boys: Jeremiah and Conrad. Oof how to choose between them? It’s an impossible choice. Jeremiah, the younger brother, easy to talk to and joke with. He’ll bring you magazines and chicken soup when you’re sick and kiss you until your toes curl. Conrad, on the other hand, is flirtatious and brooding and never lets you know how he’s feeling but when he does... watch out! He’s frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time.

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P. Nguyen
Taylor is up for valedictorian and is known as the school's Ice Queen so when she wakes up in bed (mostly clothed) with Evan, the school’s hook-up artist, after a night of partying—some damage control is in order. She proposes to Evan that he pretend to be her boyfriend and help repair her reputation and, to the surprise of both of them, he agrees.

The Boy: Evan is the ultimate womanizing, bad boy surfer with a golden heart. He’s just as adept at making you crazy with his sexy, lopsided grin as he is at playing dress-up with your little sister. He never seems to take anything seriously but then he’ll look at you with his soulful eyes, brush the hair out of your face and, and, and... ummm... where was I again…?

 

Two Summers by Aimee Friedman
When Summer doesn’t answer her phone at the airport her summer splits into two different parallel universes. In one, she doesn’t answer it and heads to Provence, France anyway and discovers the joy of French boys and fresh, chocolate croissants. In the other, she stays home takes a photography class and finally talks to her crush. In both, she must deal with a terrible family secret.

The Boys: Jacques is French, flirtatious and fun. He takes you the French Rivera, shows you fields of sunflowers and lavender and tells you that you’re beautiful in two languages. Hugh is smart, gorgeous and shy but you’ll feel rewarded when he finally opens up to you. He’ll take you to all his favorite places and always remember your Starbucks order.

Wandering Wild by Jessica Taylor
Tal and her traveler family live by hustling, conning and running scams. She calls a trailer her home—it’s all she and her brother have ever known and ever will know. But one night in a small Southern town changes all that. That’s the night she tries to hustle town golden boy Spencer Sway during a game of pool and suddenly nothing is the same.

The Boy: Spencer is confident, cocky, smart and unafraid of a bad girl with baggage (in fact he probably prefers it). He’ll sneak you into his bedroom and lend you a shirt to sleep in. And he’s got dreams, big dreams. He wants to take you traveling the world with no itinerary and no looking back.

 

A Walk in the Sun by Michelle Zink
Rose never dreamed of a future working her family farm but when her mother dies and her father descends into a deep depression it’s up to her to keep things going. Then her Aunt hires someone to help her for the summer and the new farmhand begins to help her with more than just the chores.

The Boy: Bodhi is independent, a gentleman, gorgeous (but he doesn’t know it) and has a big, open heart. He’s good with birthing calves and with skittish girls afraid of opening up to someone new. He’s calm in a crisis and is always up for a midnight swim under a full moon.

 

Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley
Sam decides to attend the boys-only Denmark Military Academy on a dare from her older brother. As the only daughter in a military family it's in her blood after all. Now she’s one of six girls, attending the school for the first time. They will have to prove themselves equal to the boys in all things and fight against a secret society that wants them out!

The Boy: Drill Sergeant Stamm is on your side but he can’t show it. He’ll stare at you with his ice blue eyes and silently root for you as you prove just how tough you are. You’ll have content yourself with surreptitious touches, stolen kisses and hidden notes.

 

Even if the Sky Falls by Mia Garcia
In New Orleans with a church youth group to build houses, Julie is desperate for a change. She wants to pretend to be someone else, pretend she doesn’t have any problems and just live in the moment. She does all this and more at a mid-summer parade as her night takes one unexpected turn after another.

The Boy: His name is Miles...or at least that’s what you call him. An anonymous night of pretending to be someone else calls for anonymity. With his blue-tipped hair and caramel skin he’s like a creature from an enchanted forest who’s emerged just for you. You’ll trade Shakespeare quotes, eat beignets, share secrets and dance in the rain.

 

Wanderlost by Jen Malone
Aubree is known as a “walking disaster” so it’s a big deal when she agrees to take her perfectionist sister’s place as a tour guide to a group of senior citizens on a bus tour of Europe. She’s literally going to pretend to be Elizabeth for a month—what could go wrong? Well, she immediately loses her phone along with the big binder of info her sister made her and now she has the tour company’s son on the trip with her. So, a lot as it turns out.

The Boy: Sam is a fast talking charmer who enjoys flirty phone conversations, is attentive to his grandmother and makes everything fun. He makes you laugh until it hurts, is up for crazy cuisine, knows Broadway show tunes and kisses you in the moonlight.

 

Just One Day /Just One Year /Just One Night by Gayle Foreman
Ally usually never leaves anything to chance and that includes her bus tour of Europe. However, when Willem, a handsome stranger, offers to take her to Paris for the day she decides to accept. It’s a whirlwind 24 hours but it’s when she wakes up the next morning to find that he’s vanished that really changes everything. In Just One Year, you get Willem’s side of the story. In Just One Night, their stories finally come back together.

The Boy: Willem is brash, handsome, spontaneous and has you doing things you never thought you’d do. One look and suddenly you’re flirting with a stranger like a pro, sneaking into art galleries after closing and seeing Paris from the back of a bicycle. He’ll have you drinking wine at a sidewalk cafe, gobbling down a baguette smothered in paté and believing in fate.

Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories ed. by Stephanie Perkins
Twelve of your favorite YA authors have teamed up for this summer romance extravaganza. It has a little bit of everything: true love, complicated love, magical love, tragic love... you get the idea. There’s a story for every mood and taste whether you’re a romantic or a cynic. Includes authors: Libba Bray, Leigh Bardugo, Veronica Roth, Cassandra Clare, Nina LaCour, Jennifer E. Smith, Stephanie Perkins, Tim Federle and more…

The Boys: Take your pick—it’s really reader’s choice. A small sample: the hot, socially awkward boy who doesn’t back down from a challenge ("A Thousand Ways this Could All Go Wrong"); the funny guy who makes you go up a mountain to win his heart ("In Ninety Minutes, Turn North"); the shy boy who shows up every summer in your lakeside town ("Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail"); the best friend who knows you better than you know yourself ("Inertia") and the annoying ex who still manages to make you melt into a puddle ("Souvenirs").