AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Oh, my, it's getting hot in here. And I don't mean just because of the weather. Our colleagues are about to recommend some steamy romance novels from Books We Love, NPR's list of best reads.
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WAILIN WONG, BYLINE: My name is Wailin Wong. I am the co-host of The Indicator from Planet Money, and I'm here to recommend the book, "The Paris Match" by Kate Claiborne. This is a romance novel about a woman who goes to Paris to attend the wedding of her former husband's sister. And even though she's been insisting that the divorce was amicable and everyone still gets along, her carefully constructed defenses really start to get dismantled by the broody, mysterious best man that she meets in Paris.
And I love this novel because, in addition to the very romantic setting of Paris, this is a book about two people falling in love who are doing some real work to overcome emotional pain, physical pain, some very personal demons. And the emotional payoff from all of this work and all of their conversations is so wonderful.
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KALYANI SAXENA, BYLINE: Hey, my name is Kalyani Saxena, and I am an associate producer with Here And Now.
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SAXENA: The book that I'm here to talk about is "Into The Blue" by Emma Brodie. Now, I know that everybody loves a rom-com, but this book is for all of us who secretly hunger for the rom-traum (ph). Yeah, you heard that right. A rom-traum is the kind of romance that makes you suffer a little or, realistically, a lot. "Into The Blue" is the perfect blend of sexy, angsty and gut-wrenching. It follows AJ Graves, an aspiring comedy writer, and Noah Drew, who's the broody scion of a acting family, as they fall in love in the summer of 2000.
This duo is unfortunately doomed to sort of feel the ache of that connection between them for the decade to come. Their journey is twisted over tangled years of yearning and seemingly insurmountable external challenges. It's tragically compelling and deliciously poignant. And I think angst lovers are really going to feast away.
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BRITTNEY MELTON, BYLINE: Hey, my name is Brittney Melton, and I am the Up First Newsletter writer.
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MELTON: If you're like me, you might romanticize your life a little bit. I have dreamed of being just like Sasha in Tia Williams' "The Missed Connection," where she sits on a plane and falls smitten with the person next to her. The only issue here, she gets off the plane without exchanging info. We are talking phone numbers, emails and even names.
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MELTON: This drew me in immediately. If you're like me, you might be wondering, what does she do next? Well, she enlists the help of a private detective who helped her through a traumatic event before to find this mystery man. And that journey leads to love and recovery from one's past in this witty, fun and steamy romance.
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LAUREN MIGAKI, BYLINE: I'm Lauren Migaki. I'm a senior producer, and I read "Enemies To Lovers" by Alisha Rai. Pick this one up if you're looking for a gulpable (ph), plotty adventure.
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MIGAKI: Meet the unlikely crime-solving duo. Krish is an upstanding citizen, while Sejal was born into a crime family, and she makes a living running small cons on bad men. Their worlds collide when Krish's FBI agent brother disappears while investigating a crime syndicate. Sejal is his only lead in the case, and the two reluctantly team up. Romance and high jinks ensue as they embark on a cross-country road trip filled with car chases and shared hotel rooms. Pair this one with popcorn.
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RASCOE: Those romance recommendations again were "Enemies To Lovers," "The Missed Connection," "Into The Blue" and "The Paris Match." For more books we've loved so far this year, you can head to npr.org/books.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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