To be clear, this is a rec list for books that give me the feeling of summer, rather than books for reading by the beach. Although, nothing is stopping you reading them by the beach… this just not a ‘beach read list’.
- Just for the Summer – Abby Jimenez
– this book 3 in the part of your World Series, which can be read as standalone but if the internet is to be believed, to really care about the characters, you have to read the series in order.
Summary: This book is about two people who are cursed: whenever they break up with someone they gone on to find the love of their life. To break their curse they decide to date, just for the summer… can you guess what goes wrong here? - Seven Days in June
– The internet is really divided on this one, some people really love it, some people hate it!
They fell in love over 7 days one summer, when they bump into each other at a writers conference 20 years later, they get just seven days again to rewrite the past. This is a second chance romance, with lots of poignant points about being a black, single mother and moving on from heartbreak. - The Paradise Problem – Christina Lauren
– I love Christina Lauren, you could read my reviews of The unhoneymooners, Love and Other words and Twice in a Blue Moon, if you want to see the vibe off their other books.
This book follows a couple that married in college, so that she could get the subsides college dorms for married couples and so that he could fulfil the terms of his trust. They part ways happy at the end of college and Anna thinks that the end of that, until West shows up at her door to confess that they are still married and that the conditions for his trust is that he has to be married five years to get it. Also… his family are getting suspicious about the wife they haven’t seen for several years. So he begs for her to go to this destination wedding with him, to seal the deal and assuage his families suspicions. - Dial for Aunties – Jesse Q. Sutanto
– this is another one that people had some strongggg opinions about. Some said it was tacky, some said it was really positive immigrant family rep.
– nothing will get in the way of this family run wedding buisness’s biggest wedding yet, not even the accidental death of the blind date they set their niece up on. To save the wedding, the aunties band together to help cover up the accidental murder… which is kind of difficult when the tropical island is crawling with visitors for the wedding. This is best to a funny, sweet, rom-com, if the internet is to be believed. - The Resort – Sarach Ochs
– I’m to really a thriller girlie but I found this on multiple summery. tropical, holiday esq lists.
People come to the resort on a small island in Thailand to escape their pasts, except sometimes their pasts catch up to them. When mysterious deaths start happening on the island, Cassie knows her secret is about to be exposed and her idyllic life irrevocably destroyed. - The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren
– here’s the link to my full review but to summarise:
When the entire wedding party is struck down by food poisoning, the bride and the groom offer their all-expenses-holiday honeymoon they won to their respective siblings… who hate each other. Neither is willing to give up the trip for the other, so they go on this dream vacation together, planning to never see each other, except for when it’s time to sleep. Only when they get there, Olive bumps into her brand new boss who values strong moral, so when he overhears her being called ‘Mrs’ by the hotel staff, she panics and goes along with it. Forcing her ‘husband’ to play along. And well… you can guess where this is going. - My Killer Vacation – Tessa Bailey
– again, internet’s real divided on this one but I went ahead a bought it so stand by for a full review at some point.
When a body is found at her holiday rental house Taylor gives up her summer in pursuit of finding out what happened, with the help of the grumpy bounty hunter who comes to investigate. This is supposed to be grumpy-sunshine vibes and a silly goofy detective novel. - Summer Reading – Jenn Mckinlay
When a book worm meets a girl who doesn’t like to read because her dyslexia makes it too hard, he takes it upon himself to convince her to love books. Together she helps him search for his father and he helps her fall in love with reading. They both say it’s only temporary but they can’t ignore the growing attraction between them. - Happy Place – Emily Henry
– you can read my full review here but most Emily Henry books would fit the summery reads vibe.
Every year, no matter where they are, Harriet, her friends and their partners come together at the lake house. Except this year Harriet and (now ex) boyfriend Wyn are keeping the huge secret of their break up from everyone. When one of her friends announces that a, this is their last summer at the bake house because it’s being sold and b, she’s going to get married that week so they all have to stay for a full week. Harriet and Wyn are forced to keep up the charade and share a room, confronting what happened between them and what the future holds. - Beach read – Emily Henry
– read my full review here.
Two writers with writers block, who also happened to be professional rivals and carrying a grudge from their uni days, end up in cabins by the lake next door to each other. To combat their writers block they decide to have a competition, swapping genres and taking the other on excursions to teach them about their new genre. This just so happens to conveniently involve rom com dates… so yeah, I think you can see where this is going.
That’s the list. Got anything you would add? Feel free to comment below!
Antonia Bernardin 
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