Looking for the perfect books to add to your spring reading list? These 15 romance and fantasy novels are sure to make your season bloom!
This blog post is truly a perfect example of, “see a need, fill a need.” Throughout the month of March 2023, I spent hours on Google, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok, searching for spring book recommendations. Do you know what I found? Hardly anything! Unless you’re looking to brush up on your gardening skills, read a classic, or find the perfect picture book for your kiddo, there’s quite a lack of springtime reading suggestions. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and write up a list of romance and fantasy books that I think are perfectly suited to spring!
I’ll go ahead and say right now that if nonfiction or classics are your things, that’s cool – no judgment here. However, I know there have got to be other readers like myself seeking books that give them a bit of an escape during this season. If you had been a fly on the wall during my “research time,” you may have laughed at the sight of me sitting next to my bookshelves, poring over my books to determine during which seasons they occur.
I will say that not every single one of my book recommendations takes place in spring, but they all ooze “add me to your spring reading list” vibes. Enjoy escaping into these phenomenal books this spring!
related posts
All of The Best Books to Read This Summer // The Best of Cozy Books for Fall // Cozy Christmas Books to Curl Up With This Winter
15 Books That Are Perfect to Read During Spring
If you’re interested in more bookish content to bulk up your spring reading list (and all year round), follow my StoryGraph account for live ratings and reading updates, and take a look at my bookstagram – where I share aesthetic coffee and book photos!
In the Weeds (Lovelight Farms #2)
by B.K. Borison
Synopsis
Evelyn St. James isn’t the kind of woman you forget.
Beckett Porter certainly hasn’t. One incredible weekend in Maine, and he’s officially a man distracted. He’s not unfamiliar with hot and heavy flings. He knows how it goes. But Evie wove some sort of magic over him during their tumble in the sheets. He can’t stop thinking about her laugh. Her hand pressed flat against his chest. Her smiling mouth at his neck.
Also, her eyes. And her legs.
So when she suddenly appears on his farm as part of a social media contest, he is … confused. He had no idea that the sweet and sexy woman he met at a bar is actually a global phenomenon: social media influencer Evelyn St. James. When she disappears again, Beckett resolves to finally forget her and move on.
But Evelyn St. James has a problem.
Feeling disconnected from her work and increasingly unhappy, she’s trying to find her way back to something real. She returns to the last place she was happy, Lovelight Farms and the tiny town of Inglewild.
It has absolutely nothing to do with the hot farmer she spent two incredible nights with.
Nothing at all.
In The Weeds is a sweet and steamy second-chance romance about finding your happiness. It features a grumpy farmer, a no-nonsense social media influencer, a small town of busybodies, and four very cute kittens. This is the second book in a series of interconnected standalones following the three Lovelight owners.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Nature of Witches
by Rachel Griffin
Synopsis
Practical Magic meets Twister in this debut contemporary fantasy standalone about heartbreaking power, the terror of our collapsing atmosphere, and the ways we unknowingly change our fate.
For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, their power from the sun peaking in the season of their birth. But now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic. All hope lies with Clara Densmore, an Everwitch whose rare magic is tied to every season.
In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It’s wild and volatile, and the price of her magic―losing the ones she loves―is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.
In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she’s the only one who can make a difference.
In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she’s terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.
In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves…before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Wind Daughter (Echo North #2)
by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Synopsis
A hauntingly beautiful fairy tale about love and loss, this Echo North companion novel is perfect for fans of the Winternight Trilogy.
In the dark, cold reaches of the north lives a storyteller and his daughter. He told his daughter, Satu, many stories–romances like the girl who loved a star and changed herself into a nightingale so she could always see him shining–but the most important story he told her was his own. This storyteller was once the formidable North Wind, but he lost his power by trading it away in exchange for mortality–he loved her mother too much to live without her. The loss of his magic impacted more than just their family, however, and now the world is unraveling in the wake of this imbalance.
To save the North, Satu embarks on a perilous journey to reclaim her father’s magic, but she isn’t the only one searching for it. In the snow-laden mountains, she finds herself in a deadly race with the Winter Lord who wants the North Wind’s destructive powers for himself.
Satu has the chance to be the heroine of her own fairy tale, only this one has an ending she never could have imagined.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble
Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales #1)
by Olivia Atwater
Synopsis
It’s difficult to find a husband in Regency England when you’re a young lady with only half a soul.
Ever since she was cursed by a faerie, Dora Ettings has had no sense of fear or embarrassment – a condition which makes her prone to accidental scandal. When Elias Wilder, the handsome, strange and utterly uncouth Lord Sorcier of England discovers Dora’s condition, she finds herself drawn ever more deeply into the peculiar, and dangerous, faerie world.
If Dora’s reputation can survive both her curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all of high society, then she may yet reclaim her normal place in the world. . . but the longer Dora spends with Elias Wilder, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love, even with only half a soul.
Bridgerton meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this enchanting historical fantasy romance with a delightful Regency setting, where the only thing more meddlesome than faeries is a marriage-minded mother.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Weather Girl
by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Synopsis
A TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheme to reunite their divorced bosses with unforecasted results in this charming romantic comedy from the author of The Ex Talk.
Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.
In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.
Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Girl, Serpent, Thorn
by Melissa Bashardoust
Synopsis
Melissa Bashardoust’s Girl, Serpent, Thorn is “an alluring feminist fairy tale” (Kirkus Reviews) about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse.
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Garden of Small Beginnings
by Abbi Waxman
Synopsis
Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years—ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she’s just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she’s becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed.
At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks—like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there’s that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently, being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can’t be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity.
After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles botanical garden feeling out of her element. But what she’ll soon discover—with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners—is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not…
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes #1)
by Elizabeth Lim
Synopsis
Shiori’anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.
A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.
Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to forswear–no matter what the cost.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Instructions for Dancing
by Nicola Yoon
Synopsis
Evie Thomas doesn’t believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.
As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance Studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything–including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he’s only just met.
Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it’s that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Waking Land (The Waking Land #1)
by Callie Bates
Synopsis
In the lush and magical tradition of Naomi Novik’s award-winning Uprooted comes this riveting debut from brilliant young writer Callie Bates–whose boundless imagination places her among the finest authors of fantasy fiction, including Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.
Lady Elanna is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Elanna is accused of his murder–and must flee for her life.
Returning to the homeland of magical legends she has forsaken, Elanna is forced to reckon with her despised, estranged father, branded a traitor long ago. Feeling a strange, deep connection to the natural world, she also must face the truth about the forces she has always denied or disdained as superstition–powers that suddenly stir within her.
But an all-too-human threat is drawing near, determined to exact vengeance. Now Elanna has no choice but to lead a rebellion against the kingdom to which she once gave her allegiance. Trapped between divided loyalties, she must summon the courage to confront a destiny that could tear her apart.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Tea Dragon Society
by K. O’Neill
Synopsis
From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY, the beloved and charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons. After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives–and eventually her own.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Barnes & Noble
XOXO
by Axie Oh
Synopsis
Jenny’s never had much time for boys, K-pop, or really anything besides her dream of being a professional cellist. But when she finds herself falling for a K-pop idol, she has to decide whether their love is worth the risk.
A modern forbidden romance wrapped in the glamorous and exclusive world of K-pop, XOXO is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Maurene Goo.
Jenny didn’t get to be an award-winning, classically trained cellist without choosing practice over fun. That is, until the night she meets Jaewoo. Mysterious, handsome, and just a little bit tormented, Jaewoo is exactly the kind of distraction Jenny would normally avoid. And yet, she finds herself pulled into spending an unforgettable evening wandering Los Angeles with him on the night before his flight home to South Korea.
With Jaewoo an ocean away, there’s no use in dreaming of what could have been. But when Jenny and her mother move to Seoul to take care of her ailing grandmother, who does she meet at the elite arts academy she’s just been accepted to? Jaewoo.
Finding the dreamy stranger who swept you off your feet in your homeroom is one thing, but Jaewoo isn’t just any student. Turns out, Jaewoo is a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world. And like most K-pop idols, Jaewoo is strictly forbidden from dating anyone.
When a relationship means not only jeopardizing her place at her dream music school but also endangering everything Jaewoo’s worked for, Jenny has to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.
XOXO is a new romance that proves chasing your dreams doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your heart, from acclaimed author Axie Oh.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Wrong Suitcase
by Laura Jane Williams
Synopsis
When you lose your luggage, the last thing you expect to find is love…
As she touches down in Italy, Izzy couldn’t be more excited. She’s needed a reason to let her hair down, and she knows that the wedding of the year in a lavish Tuscan castle will be just the ticket…
On the morning of his best friend’s wedding, everything is going wrong for Sam. And when he finally reaches the hotel and unzips his luggage, his day goes from bad to worse…
Izzy has a case full of men’s shirts and chinos. Sam has a case full of make-up palettes and bikinis. Could a fateful meeting to switch their bags back be the start of something special? Because in losing their luggage, they’re about to find each other…
A warm-hearted novella packed with lust, longing and lost luggage, this the perfect Valentine’s day treat from the internationally bestselling author of smash-hit rom com, Our Stop.
Buy the book: Amazon | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Party Crasher
by Sophie Kinsella
Synopsis
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Your Life comes a humorous and heartwarming novel about family, set against the backdrop of the most fabulous party you’ve ever snuck into.
It’s been over two years since Effie’s beloved parents got divorced, destroying the image of the happy, loving childhood she thought she had. Since then, she’s become estranged from her father and embarked on a feud with his hot (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. And now, more earth-shattering news: Greenoaks, the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has been sold.
When Krista decides to throw a grand “house cooling” party, Effie is originally left off the guest list–and then receives a last-minute “anti-invitation” (maybe it’s because she called Krista a gold-digger, but Krista totally deserved it, and it was mostly a joke anyway). Effie declines, but then remembers a beloved childhood treasure is still hidden in the house. Her only chance to retrieve it is to break into Greenoaks while everyone is busy celebrating. As Effie sneaks around the house, hiding under tables and peeping through trapdoors, she realizes the secrets Greenoaks holds aren’t just in the dusty passageways and hidden attics she grew up exploring. Watching how her sister, brother, and dad behave when they think no one is looking, Effie overhears conversations, makes discoveries, and begins to see her family in a new light. Then she runs into Joe–the love of her life, who long ago broke her heart, and who’s still as handsome and funny as ever–and even more truths emerge.
But will Effie act on these revelations? Will she stay hidden or step out into the party and take her place with her family? And truthfully, what did she really come back to Greenoaks for? Over the course of one blowout party, Effie realizes that she must be honest with herself and confront her past before she’ll ever be able to face her future.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Act Your Age, Eve Brown (The Brown Sisters #3)
by Talia Hibbert
Synopsis
In USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert’s newest rom-com, the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard—literally.
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…
Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.
Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
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coconut wax candles (ESPRESSO10) | wooden cake tray | single-serve French press | cappuccino mugs & saucers | cotton sprigs | similar birdcage | sweater | pine cones | jute twine
Which of these books will you be adding to your spring reading list?
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I only have read one of these authors, I do love Talia Hibbert. She is such a great author to read. I have loved her since before she got popular and hope you love that one!
Oh, all of these are books I’ve already read 🙂 That’s why I’m recommending them! I wouldn’t recommend something I’ve never picked up. The last two books in The Brown Sisters trilogy are cute and I really do think Eve Brown, especially, is perfect for spring!
I love several of these books and agree that they need to be read!
They absolutely do! Which ones are your favorites from this list?
This is a great idea for a post! We usually don’t think about which books are set during spring since so many are set during the summer. Thanks for sharing!!
Right??? Like, I can EASILY come up with suggestions for every other season of the year, but spring? That one is hard! So, I wanted to put my thinking cap on and create a list that would help others who, like me, were searching for good spring recs!
Great list! Echo North is on my TBR and I’m actually reading the sequel to Six Crimson Cranes, The Dragon’s Promise right now!
I loved Weather Girl and The Party Crasher! Lots of these books sound perfect for spring x