Kickoff to Beach Reads Season: Summer Reading List

All that's required? Reading for pleasure!

May 20, 2025

Remember the impending dread of your school summer reading list? All summer long—if you’re like me (and you probably are!)—you’d be blissfully lost in your favorite books, until suddenly, just weeks before school starts, you realize you haven’t touched your required reading. As we enter the Official (to us) Season of the Beach Read, I thought it would be fun to make our own Beach Reads & Bubbly summer reading list!

I tried to pick books from the BR&B archives to mix things up from my recent reviews and give you some fresh recs. These are books you’ll pick up to read purely for pleasure—but consider them required reading (when it works in your favor, that is). “Sorry, hunny, I would love to wash the screens today, but I have got to work on my required reading!” Whether you’re looking to escape to the world of a romance, a thriller, or another realm of fiction, I think you’ll find something delightful to add to your own summer reading list.

Few things are lovelier to me than getting caught up in the pages of a romance while sitting beside a body of water. I read more romances than anything else during the summer!

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune: OK, this isn’t exactly from the archives, but it’s imperative you read this during the summer if you haven’t already. In my opinion, this is Carley’s best book yet (side note: I haven’t yet read One Golden Summer, as I’m saving it for a book club I’m cooking up with Caro Chambers in June!). Set on Prince Edward Island in the peak of summer, this is a love story between Lucy and her best friend’s brother. It spans years and is a little bit angsty, a lotta bit hot, and just a damn good time.
You, With a View by Jessica Joyce: This romance is simultaneously heart-achingly sweet and incredibly sexy (who knew a book involving two people’s grandparents could be sexy!?). It is a road trip, enemies-to-lovers romance about a woman who tracks down her grandma’s ex-boyfriend—only to discover her high-school nemesis is his grandson. Long story short: they decide to embark on a cross-country road trip together for two weeks.
Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore: I feel I don’t talk about this book enough, but it is SO good. It’s a fun, steamy, impressively researched, and cheeky historical romance. The story follows Annabelle Archer, one of the first females to attend the prestigious University of Oxford. In exchange for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement—specifically she must recruit the tall, dark, cold, and handsome Duke of Montgomery to champion their cause.

B.R.A.D.1

If you want something a little steamier for your summer TBR…

Three Strikes and You’re Mine by R.S. Grey: A sweet B.R.A.D. that leans a bit more into tension than straight-up spice (sometimes the tension is the best part!). Set in the Hamptons, it’s about a private chef hired to feed a hunky retired MLB widower and his daughter. Butterflies guaranteed, or your money back! 🌶️
The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland: Have you ever wondered what you’d do if an NHL player asked you to date him just for the summer? You will now! 🌶️🌶️
Broken French by Tasha Boyd: Spend your summer with a hot single dad on a yacht off the coast of France in this nanny-billionaire slow-burn romance. 🌶️🌶️

Have a YA reader in your life? Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett is the sweetest summer romance set in California. It’s a teenage spin on You’ve Got Mail!

Summer is made for ghost stories around the campfire, and these books will provide all the spooky inspiration you’ll need while snacking on some gooey s’mores.

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager: There is nothing like a thriller set at a summer camp! Fifteen years ago, Emma’s three cabin roommates went missing. Now she’s back at the camp as a counselor, hoping to get some closure and find out what really happened to her roommates.
The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen: Multiple POVs. Suspenseful writing. Edge-of-your-seat fun. A golden couple approaches a therapist to work through some marital issues. But this isn’t your typical couples counseling—this therapist lost her license, and now she’s asking her patients to trust her and her unconventional methods. What could go wrong?
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth: This quick and satisfying thriller is the perfect pick if your reading time is limited to a weekend trip this summer! It follows two sisters, it’s dark and a bit disturbing, and it’s incredibly hard to put down.

Sometimes you just want a little bit of everything in terms of genre, and these books fit the bill.

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau: Do I talk about this book too much? I don’t care! It is not discussed enough! This is kind of the novel equivalent of the song “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac—an all-ages hit (however, there is a ton of mature content, so no one under 18 should read it. LOL!). In 1970s Baltimore, straight-laced and sweet Mary Jane gets a job babysitting for a “respectable” doctor’s family, but she is shocked to discover the life they live is nowhere near as prim and proper as she’s used to. Even more disturbing to Mary Jane, this doctor is a psychiatrist (god forbid!) who has cleared his summer schedule to treat a very famous rockstar.
The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel: This is a love story between family, friends, neighbors, and strangers! Set in a historic NYC brownstone, the book follows three unlikely friends and one baby. The writing is lovely and fresh, and I smiled and laughed out loud through the whole damn thing.
Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum: Soon to be a TV series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, this is one of those books where you pretty much hate every character but still get totally sucked into the story. It is reminiscent of an episode of Desperate Housewives, if you swap Wisteria Lane for Fire Island. Expect mindless, scandalous, and over-the-top summer fun!

Elin Hilderbrand is, in my opinion, the queen of the beach read. People literally make pilgrimages to Nantucket because of the dreamy descriptors of the setting woven throughout her novels. Elin’s books contain love stories, family drama, elements of mystery, and more! I once heard her books described simply as “satisfying,” and I couldn’t agree more—from the detailed depictions of the food, the drinks, and the sun-soaked island of Nantucket, Elin leaves readers deeply satisfied. You cannot put this woman into a genre box. If you’re new to Elin, here are three books I recommend as starting points.

28 Summers: This is my favorite Elin Hilderbrand book. Inspired by the movie Same Time, Next Year, it’s a story of love and loss and joy and food (so much good food!). This book is told in the most unique way, with each chapter jumping from one summer to the next, starting in 1993. I absolutely love this one and hope you do too!
The Blue Bistro: This is the fourth book Elin published, and, to me, it is classic, must-read Elin. Set at a fancy restaurant on Nantucket, this book follows the drama of a summer on the island from the POVs of the restaurant staff. Fun fact: On my honeymoon, I went to Galley Beach, the restaurant that was something of a muse for this book! It was stunning and delicious.
The Hotel Nantucket: A rundown hotel on Nantucket is transformed into a stunning 5-star resort thanks to a wealthy London billionaire. This book dives into the stories of the staff and guests of the hotel—loosely based on the real Nantucket Hotel. Warning: There is a ghost, but not the scary kind! I am just telling you because you have to be ready to have fun with it!

When you can’t actually jet off to France in the middle of the summer, armchair travel is the next best thing. These stories with rich roots in the past are so immersive, you might find yourself telling everyone about your trip to Sicily. Whoops!

Husbands and Lovers by Beatriz Williams: Part historical fiction, part romance, this incredible book was impossible to put down. The story is told through two alternating timelines: 2022 Cape Cod and 1950s Egypt. The modern-day story made the book easy to get sucked into, and the historical fiction aspect made it utterly fascinating.
The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza: This story mixes historical fiction with elements of mystery as it alternates between two women’s POVs: one in 2016 and the other in 1906. In the present day, we meet Sara Marsala, a woman living in Philadelphia whose beloved aunt has passed away. Her aunt’s dying wish is for Sara to travel to Sicily to spread her ashes and learn what happened to Sara’s great-grandmother, Serafina. Totally captivating—plus any book that gives you an excuse to drink an Aperol spritz should not be skipped!
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman: Wow! I have two Italy-based books in this section. What can I say? My Italian roots are calling me home! This is the story of Emilia Fontana, the second-born daughter in a family where no second-born daughter has found lasting love in more than 200 years. Emilia is the baker at her family’s deli in Brooklyn, and her life is … a bit boring. That is, until her great-aunt Poppy invites her on a once-in-a-lifetime Italian adventure.

If you need a little cocktail inspiration for the season, here are three I love! Vacation in a Cup (originally paired with The Wedding People by Alison Espach) is a special-occasion favorite. A classic French 75 (originally paired with The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren) is easy to whip up, but it has that bubbly wow factor. The Basil Watermelon Margarita (originally paired with The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand) is delicious and refreshing on a hot summer day.