Add These Beach Reads To Your Summer Book List

A forbidden romance, a nostalgic journey through childhood memories, a return to the college campus that was home to best and worst times of your life – there are few things better than sitting out in the sun with an easy, breezy beach read.

We’ve compiled a list of a few great beach reads written by women you need to add to your “To Be Read” pile this summer so you can feel all the feels without having to leave your beach chair.

Nominated for Best Romance book, New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover’s “Reminders of Him” gives you exactly what you’re looking for in a beach read: heartbreak, hope and redemption. The story follows Kenna Rowan who served five years in prison and is returning home to attempt to reunite with her daughter. Faced with burned bridges everywhere she turns, Kenna is shut down at every turn except by the local bar owner with whom she forms a strong connection. If you’re looking for an emotional rollercoaster this summer, this book is for you.

If you’re looking for nostalgia, “Every Summer After” is the book for you this summer. This book tells the story of Persephone Fraser who has spent the last decade avoiding the mistakes of her childhood, until she’s sent right back home for the funeral of a close friend, Sam Florek. The chemistry and connection between the two of them is as apparent as ever, and the story follows them through six years and one weekend of nostalgic love and the mistake of our past. The smooth pacing keeps readers on board as we move through the years, and the drama keeps us turning pages.

Perfect for a day at the beach, the writer duo comprised of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings have served up the perfect beach read romance for 2024 with “The Paradise Problem”: a straight-laced grocery chain heir and his wild child ex fake a relationship to receive a $100 million inheritance. The pair jump through all sorts of will-related hoops as they pretend to be together in order to receive the money, realizing that the fake relationship might not be worth the price tag. If you are looking for a gentle romance with some peaks and valleys and a lot of money at stake, this is the beach read for you!

This debut novel by Essie Chambers explores race, family history, abandonment and love. “Swift River” is set in the summer of 1987, where teenager Diamond Newberry is the only Black person in Swift River and has spent the past seven years navigating the aftermath of her father’s disappearance. When she receives a letter from relatives she didn’t know she had, it reveals the stories of two generations of African American Newberry women and helps her find her place in the world. This summer read offers a dive into friendships, family secrets and an exploration into how history shapes us.

The perfect beach read for all the millennials out there navigating life post-grad, “But How Are You, Really” follows Charlotte Thorne who, despite desperately not wanting to return to her alma mater, ends up attending her five-year reunion and facing the best and worst of what college had to offer. This book has it all: college nostalgia, romance and traumatic breakups and navigating chosen family. On top of all of that is the question that haunts anyone facing a quarter-life crisis: how are you, really?