book reviews

If you are in need of a new book to read on your summer vacation, here are some great beach read recommendations:

12 Best Beach Reads

1. Just For the Summer

This is a really fun beach read though it got a bit more deep than I anticipated. LOL Justin posted on a Reddit thread how every girl that he dates breaks up with him and then finds her soul mate right after. He is convinced that it’s a curse and doesn’t know how to break it. Emma reads the thread and realizes that she faces the same issue. So Emma DM’s Justin on a whim to laugh about the fact that she has the “curse” too. They begin talking and both decide to try and break the curse with each other. It’s a light hearted fun read that does get deep at times but overall I really enjoyed it.

2. The Secret Love Letters of Olivia Moretti

I am more of a fan of mysteries and thrillers, but I do love a feel good book from time to time. Priscilla, Devon and Bailey are sisters mourning the recent loss of their mother. And while settling her estate, they discover that she had a home on the Amalfi Coast that they never knew about. Along with the ownership papers, the sisters find a love letter from a complete stranger that seemed to have a relationship with their mother years ago. Though the 3 sisters have grown apart, they decide to travel to Italy to settle their mother’s estate and get answers about her past. They discover things about their mother that they never knew and a romance that shaped the course of their mother’s life. A tad emotional from time to time, but it’s a cozy read that gives you a nice boost of serotonin.  

3. Remarkably Bright Creatures

ALL THE WARM FUZZIES! I loved this book and it made me feel all the feelings. Tova is a retired widower who works at the local aquarium helping maintain the exhibits and surrounding areas. One of the exhibits that is especially appealing to her is the octopus who she realizes is sneaking out every night trying to escape. Tova forms an unusual bond with Marcellus, the Octopus. And their “friendship” brings so much unexpected joy and love into Tova’s life.

From the unexplained disappearance of her son many years ago to the loss of her husband, Tova has been through unimaginable trauma. But when a new employee begins at the aquarium, Tova is tasked with training him and showing him the ropes. Tova and the new young man bond over so many things, one of them being their fascination with Marcellus. So many lives are woven together in this book and it’s beautiful to watch them come together. And I fell in love with Marcellus and his beautiful soul.

4. Nora Goes Off Script

One of those feel good cheesy romance books that you need to read every once in a while to make you feel hopeful about the world, amiright?!

Nora is a single mom of two and opening her home up to a Hollywood movie crew to shoot the film adaptation of the book she wrote. She wrote the story of the demise of her marriage and how she found solace in the small tea house at the back of her property that the former home owners built. The book became a bestseller and quickly attracted a film adaptation. And the person playing her ex husband is the uber famous and ultra handsome actor Leo Vance. Once the movie wraps, Nora is happy to get her home back and resume normal life. But Leo Vance is not yet ready to leave. He shows up and asks to stay for the next week to get a break from the public. Nora allows him to stay never thinking anything could happen with this a-list megastar. But of course it does and that’s why we love reading books like this! Ha!

5. Every Summer After

One of those feel good romantic beach reads that you need to read after a slew of terrifying thrillers. That is this book. LOL A palette cleanser of sorts. Persephone’s parents buy a lake house to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life in Toronto. She isn’t thrilled to spend her summers in this sleepy town but meets Sam on her first day there and they become fast friends. Sam is a local and works at his mom’s local restaurant and has dreams of becoming a cardiologist some day. Percy and Sam spend their summers playing, laughing and bonding and feelings begin to develop between the two. But something happens between the two of them that causes their relationship to fall apart. Nearly a decade later, Percy gets a call that Sam’s mother has passed and she comes back to attend the funeral. She wonders if she made the biggest mistake by leaving Sam and longs for the possibility of a reconciliation.

6. Book Lovers

A predictable rom-com type book that is an easy read but won’t be your favorite book of the year. Something easy to read on vacation. Nora lives a fabulous life in NYC as successful literary agent navigating the demanding publishing world and trying to fight for her author clients. When her sister, Libby, suggests they take a vacation together to a small town in North Carolina to get away for some quality sister time, Nora agrees. When she gets there, she feels like she is living in one of her client’s novels – a stereotypical big city gal comes to a small town narrative. While there, Nora runs into an editor who she worked with in NYC though she was never his biggest fan. It’s inevitable that they will have to cross paths in this small town. And Nora needs to figure out how to coexist with this man whom she does not like. The ending is predictable but leaves you feeling good which is always nice.

7. The Soulmate Equation

This was not my favorite Christina Lauren book but I did really enjoy it. All of her books have a similar feel to them and they are comforting to read. Jess and her best friend frequent a coffee shop every day and see the same gorgeous man come in every morning for his coffee. Her best friend initiates a conversation with him one day only to find out his name is Dr. River Pena and runs a DNA-based matchmaking company. He invites both Jess and her friend to come to their corporate headquarters and try the service. When Jess takes the test, she finds out she is nearly perfectly compatible with Dr. Pena himself! The company asks Jess if she will be willing to see if the matchmaking service is accurate and get to know Dr. Pena. She agrees though hesitantly because Dr. Pena is not the most engaging nor warm person. However what develops is surprising to them both and may just indicate that the matchmaking algorithm is correct.

8. The Hotel Nantucket

I enjoy Elin Hildebrand’s books and this one was a light and easy feel good read. A newly renovated Hotel Nantucket hires Lizbet as its general manager. A London billionaire bought the hotel and wanted to turn it into one of the east coast’s most luxurious and well renowned resorts. However, Lizbet must start from scratch in hiring all the staff and with that comes a ton of different personalities and experiences. Hopefully Lizbet and her newly appointed staff can bring the hotel to the level of charm and sophistication it once was years ago. And it is said that a ghost haunts the hotel which could either be a draw or deterrent for guests. It can be a tad confusing at times because the story flip flops between all the characters but eventually I was able to follow along.

9. Summer of ’69

I really enjoy Elin Hilderbrand books and this one was no exception. The story is told from the various perspectives of the Levin family, a wealthy family from Boston living in Nantucket for the summer in 1969. The struggles, family secrets and massive change that the country was going through really shaped their lives and who they were becoming. 4 siblings all at different stages of their life are grappling with personal issues. And trying to figure out how to navigate their life apart from their wealthy upbringing.

10. Funny Story

A light hearted easy read that was really enjoyable. Daphne and her fiance Peter moved back to Peter’s home town to get married and start their life together. But after the night of Peter’s bachelor party, Peter comes home and tells Daphne he has fallen in love with his female best friend Petra and is leaving. Daphne has no choice but to move out and into an apartment with Petra’s now ex-boyfriend Miles. Daphne and Miles become jilted lovers and must live together until they find new arrangements for each of them. A friendship grows between them and they become vital to each other’s post breakup recovery. Could it evolve into more? I’m sure you can guess what happens next but regardless, it’s such a cute heartwarming story.

11. The Night We Met

I am a huge Abby Jimenez fan, so I had to read her newest book. It’s similar to most of her other stories so if you love her books, then you will enjoy this one. Larissa meets Mike at a concert one night and falls for him immediately. But dating Mike means that you will have to get along with his very close group of guy friends. When Mike is unable to help Larissa drive her mom to the hospital for a scheduled surgery, he enlists his friend Chris to help her.

Chris is responsible, kind and the complete opposite of Mike. After a few times of Mike cancelling on Larissa for different reasons, Chris often steps in to help or meet her in place of Mike. It’s inevitable that feelings develop between Larissa and Chris which they both realize could devastate a lifelong friendship. Even though Abby Jimenez’s books follow the same type of storyline with the same level of predictability, I still LOVE them so much!!

12. These Summer Storms

I love a messy wealthy family story so this book was an immediate yes when I read the synopsis. Alice Storm has been apart from her family for the past 5 years after a devastating argument with her father where he told her to leave and never come back. But after a tragic accident takes the Storm patriarch’s life, Alice must return to her family home for his funeral. Time with her family is not something Alice enjoys. And the relationships she has with her mother and siblings are all strained due to years of complicated and dysfunctional family dynamics.

Her father’s immense wealth and status guarantees that his funeral will be a worldwide news event which adds only more stress to the brittle family bonds. Throw in a “game” of sorts that her father imparts upon them in his will which requires all her siblings and mother to complete a set of tasks in 7 days in order to receive their inheritance. Tempers flair, old grudges resurface and secrets buried for decades come to light which threaten to destroy everyone in the Storm family.

Everything I Read in May 2026

1. Dear Debbie

I’m hit or miss with Frieda McFadden books. Some I love and others are not for me. This was a quick and easy read that keep me guessing until the end. Debbie is the perfect housewife. She has dinner on the table each night, keeps herself involved in her daughters’ activities and writes an advice column in the local newspaper. No one would ever suspect she has another side to her. But when her husband begins acting strange, she loses her job and then things begin happening to her daughters, Debbie decides she needs to take things into her own hands. Rating: 8.5

2. It’s Not Her

I was pretty stumped throughout this entire book. LOL A gruesome murder occurs during a family vacation but the details of exactly what happened are a mystery. Usually I can piece it together halfway through but I was just as confused as the characters. Ha! Courtney and her family are vacationing with her brother and his family. Enjoying time at a remote resort where they can all spend quality time together. Except that her brother’s marriage is on the rocks and their kids seem to be stuck in the middle.

But that all changes when Courtney finds her brother and his wife dead in their cabin and their oldest daughter missing. Did the daughter commit this horrific crime? Or was it a random attack? While the authorities try to find answers, Courtney wonders about her own family. Her husband has been acting strange and her nephew has been exhibiting some alarming behavior since the murders. Could it be her own family who committed this atrocity? Or were they targeted? It did drag on during certain chapters but definitely picked up towards the end. I was shocked by the ending! Rating: 8

3. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

This book is LONGGGGGGG. That can either be a great thing or a challenge. Ultimately this fell right in the middle for me. There were times that I wanted to speed things up and others that I appreciated the long winded story. The premise of the book is very heavy and I had so many emotions throughout that made me feel exhausted by the end. In a moment of pure desperation to escape an arranged marriage, Addie sells her soul for a lifetime of freedom though everyone she ever meets will forget about her in 24 hours.

She will live forever and never be tethered to a man or a family, but no one will ever know her. After midnight, all memory of her will be erased from everyone she meets. The story spans hundreds of years until the present day when Addie finally meets a man who shockingly remembers her the next day. She doesn’t understand what is different about him until he confides in her that he also sold his soul to the same dark entity in order to find love. The book is intense and emotionally draining but I had to know how it ended. Rating: 7.5

4. The Vacation

I almost quit this halfway through but there were SO many different characters with their own storylines that I had to keep reading in order to find out how it all came together. The ending was ok but overall the book was not a favorite. The story takes place at a hostel in Los Angeles and follows all the different guests staying there as well as the employees. All have various plot lines that do merge together much later in the book but it was too difficult to follow for most of the book. Rating: 5

5. All The Lonely People

I loved this story until the very end. The ending frustrated me so that did knock off some points for my review. LOL Hubert Bird is an elderly gentleman who lives alone and stays to himself. The only person he talks to is his daughter who calls him regularly but other than that, he keeps himself isolated. That is until a single mother and her young daughter move in next door. In a moment of desperation, she asks Hubert to watch her young daughter for an hour while she goes on a job interview.

Hubert begrudgingly agrees hoping this is the last time he will have to interact with his neighbor. With more persistence and determination, the new neighbor continues to engage Hubert, inviting him to social gatherings and trying to include him in the community. Hubert ultimately allows for his world to open to these new strangers despite the pain and loss he has been through all the years leading up to his current life. It’s a bit more emotional than I anticipated and the ending left me bummed but overall I did enjoy the story. Rating: 7.5

6. The Secret Lives of Murderer’s Wives

Another housewife turned vigilante story much like Dear Debbie but set in the 1960’s. And the twist at the end was so good!! Three housewives all connected because of the crimes of their husbands. Beverly, Elise and Margot lived vastly different lives but all found themselves friends when their husbands were all convicted of various murders. They found each other and created a bond that no one else could understand. When the news breaks a string of local killings, all three women decide they are going to help figure out who is terrorizing their community. They were all married to monsters, so they realized that no one understands how a killer thinks better than they do. I love when a book keeps me guessing all the way up until the end!! Rating: 8.5

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