Lifestyle / MAGIC, ROMANCE & DRAGONS: 8 Summer Books By South Asian Authors We’re Excited About

MAGIC, ROMANCE & DRAGONS: 8 Summer Books By South Asian Authors We’re Excited About

Lifestyle Jun 22, 2026

by Kiran R. Khan | Culture & Lifestyle Editor

From romance and dragons to family secrets and murder mysteries, these 8 summer books by South Asian authors deserve your attention.

Okay, I am actually excited about this one. Like proper “save these, add them, forget your current reading list” excited. Because these 8 upcoming 2026 books are giving everything. Magic, romance, chaos, tension, emotional damage. All of it.

And here is the part that makes this list even better. Every single one of these books is written by a South Asian author. From dragons and time gods to matchmaking agencies and murder mysteries, South Asian storytellers are showing up across every genre and giving us characters and worlds we absolutely cannot wait to get lost in. Needless to say, our TBRs are thriving… and our sleep schedules are not.

If you are anything like me, you do not need more books. But that has never stopped us before, right? These are the kind of stories that take over your brain and suddenly you are thinking about fictional people at random times of the day. The kind where you tell yourself “just one chapter” and then it is suddenly 2am. So yes, consider this your warning. Let’s get into it because I cannot wait.

This Blade Of Ours

Author: Shalini Abeysekara | Release Date: June 30th, 2026 | Genre: Romantasy

Photo Credit: Goodreads | DRAGONS, CURSES & EMOTIONAL DAMAGE: 8 Summer Books By South Asian Authors We Are Already Obsessed With

Sarai thought exposing the government during what became known as the Great Unravelling would bring peace, but instead she has become the target of public outrage. As strange omens spread, people descend into madness, and whispers grow that she has angered the gods, Sarai returns to Ur Dinyé hoping to clear her name. Instead, she uncovers even darker secrets, including those surrounding Kadra, who is struggling to control dangerous new powers while trying to protect her. With the country on the brink of collapse and a ruthless religious order rising to power under a leader whose voice can kill, Sarai and Kadra must fight to save each other, survive a crumbling world, and confront the terrifying possibility that something far greater is watching them both.

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This River She Became

Author: Emily Varga | Release Date: July 2nd, 2026 | Genre: Fantasy

Yaseema lives a dangerous double life. By day, she works for the Empire cataloguing stolen fae relics. In secret, she steals them back in a desperate attempt to save her dying kingdom. Everything changes when she discovers a mysterious key that grants her access to the fae world, a realm where nothing is safe and everyone seems to be hiding something. Least trustworthy of all is a cold and enigmatic captain who should be her enemy, but who is secretly working to destroy the Empire from within. Bound by a shared mission to find the crown of an ancient fae queen, the two are forced to journey through cursed lands and face nightmarish creatures. But with danger around every corner, resisting their growing feelings for each other may prove to be the greatest challenge of all.

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The Bad Boyfriend Curse

Author: Farah Heron | Release Date: July 7th, 2026 | Genre: Young Adult

Meera Noorani has always tried to do everything right, partly because the Noorani women are supposedly cursed when it comes to love. And honestly, it is hard to argue with family history when she gets dumped, arrested, and shipped off to small-town Canada all in the same week. Stuck doing community service under her mother’s watchful eye and desperate to reclaim her old life, Meera comes up with the perfect plan: date the town’s notorious bad boy, Noah, to shake things up. The only problem? Noah turns out to be far sweeter, kinder, and more complicated than his reputation suggests. As sparks begin to fly, Meera soon realizes that her carefully laid plans, and her heart, may be heading in a completely unexpected direction.

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Embrace

Author: Bal Khabra | Release Date: August 4th, 2026 | Genre: Romance

Kian is all hockey, parties, and living like there’s no tomorrow until he realizes he’s actually about to go pro without finishing his degree, which was his late dad’s biggest wish. So he joins a study group and meets Scarlett, who is smart, focused, and also very much his coach’s daughter. She’s also trying to prove she’s more than her mistakes while keeping her dad’s reputation intact, but the more she helps Kian, the more their study sessions turn into something else completely. Now he’s stuck choosing between the future he’s always wanted and the girl he definitely didn’t plan on falling for.

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Eternally Yours

Author: Anika Hussain | Release Date: July 16th, 2026 | Genre: Young Adult Lit.

Poppy isn’t really into love or romance or any of that, she just wants to get her mom into this super exclusive matchmaking agency and figures a summer job there will help. The problem is her ex, Salman, is also working there and somehow still has this way of making her laugh even when she’s trying to stay mad at him. As they end up planning other people’s perfect dates, all their old history starts creeping back in, and suddenly Poppy has to figure out if what they had is actually over or if they’re just pretending that it is.

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My Killer Family Reunion

Author: Dinesh Thiru | Release Date: August 11th, 2026 | Genre: YA Mystery

Jay already knows her family reunion is going to be chaotic. Between cousins who barely acknowledge her and relatives who can turn anything into an argument, dysfunction is practically a tradition. What she does not expect is for her grandmother to end up in a coma, throwing the family fortune into question. As Jay begins investigating, she starts to suspect that what happened was no accident. With the help of her equally chaotic cousins and an annoyingly attractive friend, she finds herself untangling decades of secrets. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes that maybe, just maybe, she has finally found where she belongs.

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The Carousel Of Forgotten Places

Author: S. Hati | Release Date: August 25th, 2026 | Genre: Romantasy

For centuries, Ryka has lived by three simple rules: fix the time knots, never tamper with timelines, and absolutely do not spend time alone with Everest, an infuriatingly attractive time god. But when her magical fair begins malfunctioning and a mysterious woman falls from a broken carousel, those rules quickly unravel. Forced to team up with Everest, Ryka finds herself leaping through fractured timelines in search of answers. Yet amid the chaos, magic, and growing tension between them, she begins to realize that the greatest threat may not be the broken timelines at all, but the truths she has spent centuries avoiding about the life she has built and the people she cannot bear to lose.

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Rider Of Dragons

Author: A. T. Qureshi | Release Date: September 1st, 2026 | Genre: Romantasy

Genevieve refuses to abandon her dream of competing in the dragon races, even if her family wants nothing to do with the dangerous sport. Desperate for a chance to prove herself, she strikes a risky deal with Qais, a talented trainer with ties to a notorious dragon poaching gang. As Qais teaches her how to survive a world where sabotage and violence are part of the game, Genevieve quickly learns that victory demands far more than speed and skill. With the stakes growing higher and her feelings becoming increasingly complicated, she is forced to confront a painful question: how much is she willing to sacrifice to win, and will she still recognize herself when the race is over?

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TBR Chaos!

Okay no seriously. That was a lot. In the best way. I am obsessed with how unhinged and good these all sound and I already know I am going to lose sleep over at least half of them.

If you read any of these summer books before I do, you need to come back and tell me everything immediately. Like no holding back. Because we are all about to suffer together in the most fun way possible and honestly I am so ready for it.

Kiran R. Khan | Culture & Lifestyle Editor

Author

Kiran R. Khan (@kiranrkhanandco) is a journalism graduate from Sheridan College, possesses an extensive freelance portfolio encompassing various topics, including lifestyle posts and profile stories. Kiran loves to craft engaging content that resonates with readers, aiming to leave a lasting impress...

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MAGIC, ROMANCE & DRAGONS: 8 Summer Books By South Asian Authors We’re Excited About

by Kiran R. Khan | Culture & Lifestyle Editor

This Blade Of Ours

This River She Became

The Bad Boyfriend Curse

Embrace

Eternally Yours

My Killer Family Reunion

The Carousel Of Forgotten Places

Rider Of Dragons

TBR Chaos!

Kiran R. Khan | Culture & Lifestyle Editor

COMMENTS

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