Summer is in full swing and what better way to get in the recommended 600 IUs of Vitamin D than with a great read and a beach!? According to a Google Search, there are approximately 129,864,880 books in the world and it might be a little difficult to pick a book to bring with you to the beach. Don’t worry! We have a list of 10 amazing reads to help you find your next Beach Read.
1) The It Girls by Karen Harper
The time period is 1910s. Two sisters rose from poverty to fame and fortune in Karen Harper’s latest release. Follow the engaging story of these sisters as one became a fashion designer, while the other became a novelist. Harper takes the time to thoroughly develop these characters.
Great for fans of: Historical fiction
2) Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank
Enter a beautiful South Carolina island where two former lovers are vacationing with their spouses and unexpectedly run into each other. Meeting up at this beach starts to become a tradition of sorts for these two couples as their friendships continue to grow. This moving story is very engaging and will leave you wanting to sit on a beach by the ocean.
Great for fans of: Women’s Fiction or Southern Fiction
3) Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs
Susan Wiggs is known for her delicate attention to details and how people connect with one another. This story is no different. While the main character, Camille, agrees to go with her father on a trip to visit the part of France he grew up in, she relives his childhood as he reminisces growing up during World War II. Along the way Camille encounters various surprises in this moving story.
Great for fans of: Historical Fiction or Domestic Fiction
4) Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe
Warning!!! This is Book #4 in the Beach House Series
But if you choose to read this book, that is perfectly fine!! These books are good on their own too. If you enjoy books like #2 Same Beach, Next Year, you may also enjoy this book. Based in South Carolina, you will come across some unlikely friendships in this heartwarming read. A tragedy brings the beach house owner back and she meets this summer’s current resident who offers to be her roommate.
Great for fans of: Women’s Fiction or Southern Fiction
Follow up this read with Beach House Reunion
5) The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins
This story is about four women who have friends since college come together when death strikes one of these women. This heartwarming story reflects on how everyone handles death differently but when the three each get one last request from their friend, they end up learning more about themselves and how much of a zest for life they all had.
Great for fans of: Women’s Fiction and Relationships
6) The Friends We Keep by Susan Mallery
Warning!!! This is Book #2 in the Mischief Bay Series
Staying with the theme of friendship, Susan Mallery is no stranger to writing plot-driven stories that engages you in a way to not want to put the book down. In the Friends We Keep, you return to California to meet a varied cast if Nicole, Gabby, and Haley. Each women is dealing with a different challenge, but they all support one another to stay strong. As the saying goes, “you are who you surround yourself with”
Follow this story up with A Million Little Things
Great for fans of: Romance and Women’s Fiction
7) Sunburn by Laura Lippman
This was named one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018 by Bustle, Popsugar, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Seattle Times, Book Riot, LitHub, BookPage, and Paperback Paris.
This compelling story introduces you to Polly, a woman who left her old life to start something new. Seems simple right? Well it quickly turns complicated and then there’s a death. You should find yourself quickly sucked into this story because of how complex and character-driven Lippman made the story.
Great for fans of: Noir Fiction
8) The Summer that Made Us by Robyn Carr
If you haven’t caught onto the theme of most of these stories yet, hopefully you get it now. When Charley loses her job, she returns back to her childhood summer home. While there, she reminisces about the time she spent there with family and the tragedy also associated with this house. If you enjoyed the Susan Wigg’s story, you will find this one just as engaging as it is rich with family drama but Carr still manages to keep the overall tone of the story heartwarming.
Great for fans of: Women’s Fiction and Relationships
9) Camino Island by John Grisham
Now that your heart is all warmed from some of the previous stories, you decide to pick up this thriller from John Grisham. If you are unfamiliar with his works, he is known for writing some intricately-plotted thrillers. Join the world of Mercer Mann, a writer who recently joined the unemployment force. She gets an incredible offer from a mysterious woman and finds it hard to refuse. But she soon asks herself if it is worth the risk.
Great for fans of: Thrillers
10) Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
If you have read Girl on the Train, you know what you are in for with this story. There’s a river that appears to lure people to their deaths in this small town. When a mother dies, she left behind her teenage daughter and a sister, Jules, she hasn’t spoken to in years. The story is the investigation Jules does to understand what drove her sister to her death. Hawkins has you hooked all the way through this story and keeps you going to the very last word.
Great for fans of: Thrillers
Did you read any of these titles?
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