Girls Just Wanna Have Sun

by Rachel Lacey

While vacationing at a lakefront house with her friends, a woman prepares to risk it all for the one that got away, in this second-chance sapphic romance from award-winning author Rachel Lacey.

All Morgan wants is a relaxing day on the water. Instead, she accepts a “yes day” challenge that results in a series of increasingly flirty encounters with the beautiful woman she kissed eight years ago. This challenge—and Juliette—will push Morgan out of her comfort zone, but if she succeeds, she might get to say yes to something even more unexpected: love.

Rachel Lacey’s Girls Just Wanna Have Sun is part of Summer Lovin’, a sweet and sultry collection of short summer romances that turn up the heat—and the heart. Read or listen to each short story in one easy, breezy sitting.

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Novella, Short Stories, LGBT, Contemporary, Summer

57 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2026

About the author

Rachel Lacey is an award-winning contemporary romance author and semi-reformed travel junkie. She's been climbed by a monkey on a mountain in Japan, gone scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and camped out overnight in New York City for a chance to be an extra in a movie. These days, the majority of her adventures take place on the pages of the books she writes. She lives in the mountains of Vermont with her family and a variety of rescue pets.

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but this wasn't particularly romantic... I loved the fact that she was her bisexual awakening and it really did have so much potential, but it needed to be developed better.

Juliette spent half of the novella annoyed with Morgan and that made their connection completely unbelievable for me. I just don't see them lasting. I really wanted to like this, but I don't think they are suited for each other and them talking about their history when all they did was kiss, once, years ago, is ridiculous.. Also, if both of them are a part of the same friend group, how come they didn't see each other sooner?? It just doesn't make sense. 

At this point, I'm beginning to lose hope I'm going to like any novella in this collection.. I have never in my life given so many two stars..

[aira · Rating 2 out of 5]

cheesy, but get it girl ig 😵‍💫

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

girls just wanna waste their time apparently

[ren ౨ৎ (rozanov's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

i usually adore second chance sapphic romance with a touch of bisexual awakening. but... the way that juliette absolutely seemed disinterested in morgan really took me out of this story. 🫠

[kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 stars

no cause i actually wanted to love this one a lot but for some reason i just ended up not wanting to follow along with the story :(( i can see the potential, maybe it couldve been better if it was a longer novella?? idk

[Mai H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pride Month 2026 #2

I love a bisexual awakening

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a sapphic romance, but this was just boring. Juliette came across as very standoffish, hot and cold, and Morgan was just a bit of a wet blanket. I was more invested in the dog than the relationship. I liked the bisexual rep though.

[Alya ( 20 comments restriction ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who reads across all genres I somewhat enjoyed this cute sapphic romance despite being cheesy

My Bookstagram

[mandie ੈ♡˳ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i love a good sapphic romance but this just was not it. these two women were kind of annoying.

[Vanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

too insta-lovey to me

[Emmi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute read for a sunny day this was not. Dull, no chemistry, and their feelings towards each other were in such stark contrast that I saw no point in rooting for them. Morgan was smitten and often relived the kiss they shared eight years ago, while Juliette was annoyed but then all of a sudden shifted gears. I am fully aware that it's not uncommon for novellas to be insta-love, but Juliette suddenly doing a 180 and then yearning on top of that? Tsk. Sure, Jan. Unfortunately, I would not recommend it.

[paula ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐

For my first FF romance, it was pretty cute. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was a little bit longer

[Kayla | Kayla Reads Smut · Rating 1 out of 5]

I LOATHE third person. It really takes me out of the story. But you know what else takes me out of the story, insufferable characters. Both of these women were so annoying. With Juliette playing it like she had no clue who Morgan was and also rolling her eyes. And then Morgan just being a scaredy cat about every little thing. These two should have taken the sign from Roux the dog who very clearly did everything in their power to keep these two apart.

[Gabrielė|Kartu su knyga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Visai trumputė, vos 57 puslapių istorija, kuri pasakoja apie Morgan ir Juliette.
Morgan su kolegomis atvyksta prie ežero, kur ketina nerūpestingai praleisti dieną. Visas nerūpestingumas išgaruoja, kuomet ji sutinka su kolegės pasiūlymu, viskam tą dieną sakyti "taip". Taip susikerta jos ir Julliete keliai, nors kadaise jie jau taip pat buvo susidūrę. Ir Morgan to negali pamiršti jau aštuonerius metus..

Tai buvo lengas, neįpareigojantis skaitinys. Nesu skaičiusi daug short story, tačiau ši istorija man pasirodė tikrai kiek per trumpa. Neįtikino manęs ir tai, jog Morgan kadaise pabučiavo Julliete ir to bučinio nepamiršo tiek metų. Na, visa šita dalis manęs visiškai neįtikino 😜
Tad kažkokių didelių emocijų man ši istorija nesukėlė, kaip ir minėjau prieš tai, lengva bei trumpa istorija ✨️

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Anna Moss shout out!! Love that 😍
This was such a cute novella! I really enjoyed it and tandem read with the audiobook (which is included with the KU book) this is part of a Summer Lovin’ series and I think the rest in that series are MF.

Written in Third Person with 2x POV’s. Narrated by Quinn Riley & Emily Lawrence. Sapphic Romance, Second Chance, Summer Vacation, “Yes Day”, Dog Companion, One Tent.

[Robin ❤️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and cheesy but just not a favorite of mine at all.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

the fmcs just werent likable imo

[casey ౨ৎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

tropes
💋 second chance ish
🐾 found family
🩵 sapphic romance

this one fell short for me because morgan just idk annoyed me?

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girls Just Wanna Have Sun
Summer Lovin’, Book 4

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the collection
Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Dates Read: 6/2/26 - 6/2/26
Rating: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Quinn Riley and Emily Lawrence

The Characters:

Morgan:
Juliette:

The Story:

I really liked Morgan and Juliette and their island adventure. This might have been my favorite of the series. Lots of yearning and tension.

[Olga Rudnitska · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay-ish, but I didn’t believe in that story

[Lia Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too cheesy for me. I was excited for it to be a sapphic romance but for me the story left a lot to be desired.

[Bookmark and Blush · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not a fan of stand alone novellas I’ve come to realize. There’s not enough time to set everything up.
Are they really a match, they have nothing in common.

[lauraღ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was fine, but ultimately... meh. I wish I'd liked it more, especially because it's the first one of these Amazon romance short stories to be sapphic. I usually don't have much luck with romance novellas or short stories, because it's never enough time/words (in my opinion) to show two people falling for each other. However, I thought I might have better luck with this, since it's second chance. I assumed that we would be following a couple who already had a history and a connection, and we would see them rekindling their romance. That's something that could definitely hold up for a novelette.

Unfortunately, no. Morgan and Juliette's history together is just a shared kiss from eight years ago. That would be fine, except for the part where we're supposed to believe that that was enough of a foundation for them to become infatuated in the present day. Especially since the events of the story take place in like, one day. It was fun and cute, but only that. So yeah, while there's nothing wrong with this, it didn't move me in any way. Listened to the audiobook as read by Quinn Riley and Emily Lawrence, which was the only reason my rating ended up being this high, because they were great.. (And I'm still probably being overly generous.)

Don't start here with this author! She has much better books in her backlist. Or again, I might be biased, because I just don't seem to click with really short romances.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm generally not a fan of short stories, but I do enjoy Rachel Lacey's books, so I went into this one with some optimism.

Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. The story felt very superficial, and not much actually happened. I also didn't feel any real chemistry or spark between the main characters, which made it difficult to become invested in their relationship.

One thing that confused me was why the characters didn't seem to know each other, even though they had supposedly been on vacation with the same group of friends. That detail never really made sense to me.

While the story was short, it certainly wasn't powerful. Overall, this one just didn't leave much of an impression on me.

[Tierney Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

It pains me to be down on a Rachel Lacey story. I adore her work. But this was a good idea suffocated by necessarily being pruned to the bone to fit a short-story word count, making this feel underdeveloped.

Don't let this put you off every other sapphic romance Rachel Lacey has written. She's normally great.

[labibliofille · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine, but kinda "meh". :/

[Kimmy’s Reads! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Girls just wanna have fun !

This was a cute little novella. It fell in line with the theme and I really liked the dog. The dog was a top tier character forreal.

[Lindsay (pawsomereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5✨
I listened to this on audio and ended up having a kind of hard time keeping track of which character was which. I wish they had just met for the first time in the present timeline of the story instead of trying to have them have a shared moment in the past. This was a cute story but it didn't really stand out to me very much.

[chey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

i love love love that they included a sapphic romance in this collection!!! i always go into these blind, so this was a very nice surprise. the addition of a bisexual character was great too. i loved the story of their shared kiss years ago and sexual awakenings. this made me feel great about my decision to never try paddle boarding. wlw with summer vibes and a cute dog, what more could you want? this was a very fun listen.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I swear I'm not trying to be a hater, I usually like the Amazon Original Stories themed collections but I feel like Summer Lovin' is gonna be the exception because this is the 4th book in the collection and so far none of the books did it for me.
This is already a novella, why the unnecessary drama of Juliette pretending not to recognize Morgan? And on top of that Juliette spent most of the story being annoyed with Morgan than "falling in love".
Also Morgan was so bland it's tragic.
The only good thing about this was the dog 🤷‍♀️