Beach Reads
Summer seems to just fly by, especially when you spend it at the beach. Lazy days are spent lying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and making plans according to the tides. Now it’s time to get ready to head back to school, back into a routine, and back to reality. But there’s still time to enjoy those last days of summer, and fall is a beautiful time to be here. Enjoy the beach while the sun is still hot and the water is exceptionally warm. Take a walk through the town and visit every restaurant and store you stayed away from earlier because it was too busy. And pick up a few of these summer titles to help you hang on just a bit longer like the rest of us!
“Every Summer After” by Carley Fortune
“Every Summer After” is told over the course of six years and one weekend. Percy and Sam spent six summers together. Six summers in the water, working at his family’s restaurant, and six summers of curling up together with books. Their friendship turned into something more until it totally fell apart. A decade later, Percy is spending her summer in the city hanging out with friends, rather than on the lakeshore where she spent those six magical summers. Then she receives a call that sends her racing back to the place she thought she’d never return to. She returns for the funeral of Sam’s mother, and their connection is as strong as it ever was. Before Sam and Percy can determine if they have a future, she will need to forgive herself for the past.
“One Italian Summer” by Rebecca Serle
Katy has been waiting for years for her mother, Carol, to take her to the magical spot where her mother spent the summer just before she met her father. Finally, they are getting ready for their mother-daughter trip to Positano when Carol dies. Katy is a mess. Her mother was her best friend, and just when Katy feels like she needs her the most, she’s gone. As soon as Katy gets to the Amalfi Coast, she knows she made the right decision to go through with the trip. She can feel her mother’s spirit and is mesmerized by the beautiful water, breathtaking cliffsides, and incredible people she meets. Then, Carol appears … except she is 30 years old. Katy is so confused and has no idea how this is happening, but somehow, she has her mother back. Over the summer Katy gets to know Carol – not her mother, but the woman she was before – and she isn’t what Katy expected. Somehow Katy has to help this younger Carol catch up to the person Katy remembers her to be.
“The Summer Place” by Jennifer Weiner
Sarah Danhauser is blown away when her 22-year-old stepdaughter, Ruby, announces she is engaged to her pandemic boyfriend. Everything is moving along, and fast! The wedding is just three months away and Ruby already asked Sarah’s mother, Veronica, if they could have the wedding at the family’s beach house in Cape Cod. Veronica thinks one last big get-together before the house is put on the market is a great idea, but Sarah is worried. There are always hiccups before the big day and Sarah isn’t sure if everyone can handle the stress of it all, especially herself. As the day gets closer, secrets are revealed, confrontations take place, and everyone wonders if things will ever be the same.
“Summer Island” by Kristin Hannah
Nora Bridge made the difficult decision to walk away from her marriage and leave her young daughters behind. Years later, she is a popular radio talk-show host who is loved for the moral advice she gives. Ruby, her youngest daughter, has struggled to grow up without her mother and is now a comedian using Nora as material for her act. When Nora is in an accident, a magazine offers Ruby a great sum of money to write a tell-all book about her famous mother. It’s been over a decade, but Ruby goes home to take care of Nora. The two go to Summer Island, back to where Ruby grew up. Summer Island is filled with all of the family’s happy memories and a time where life was good, before Nora left and devastated them all. Ruby is united with her first love and his brother, which brings back even more memories. As Ruby writes the story about her family and her mother, she realizes that Nora isn’t at all who she thought she was. As her deadline approached, Ruby begins to feel that this story is a horrible betrayal, and she must grow up and see things for what they really are.
“Summer Love” by Nancy Thayer
They started the summer as strangers, all renting rooms in the basement of the same hotel, out on their own for the first time, not realizing how life-changing it could be. Ariel Spencer has dreams of becoming a writer. She hopes she will be inspired by the people in Nantucket. Sheila Murphy is a good Catholic girl from Ohio who wants to take on the world but is afraid to. Wyatt Smith is from a small town in Missouri, and he falls for Ariel almost instantly. Finally, Nick Volkov is here to have fun and somehow make a name for himself. The group gets closer and closer enjoying beach days, Wednesday night dinners and just everything Nantucket. Fast-forward 26 years and the group has reunited in Nantucket. Life didn’t turn out the way most of them wanted it to. Reuniting brings up the past and forces them to move on so they can find happiness in the future.
“The Summer Getaway” by Susan Mallery
Robyn Caldwell is a single mom planning for the future. She selflessly raised her kids and now needs to find something for herself. But her now-grown-up children are still a problem. Her daughter has turned into a bride-zilla, and her son won’t even think about going to college. Now her best friend’s marriage is a mess, and her ex-husband is about to make a decision that could ruin things for everyone. What do you do when it all is just too much? Go on vacation, and that is exactly what Robyn does. Her great-aunt Lillian invites Robyn to come to Santa Barbara for the summer and Robyn can’t pack her bags fast enough. And then, one-by-one, everyone Robyn holds dear comes to join her. All of their problems don’t seem as bad when they are soaking in the sun outside of Lillian’s mansion. Robyn realizes there just may be a chance for her to have everything she ever wanted, if she has the courage to try!