20 Best Summer Beach Reads of 2021
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry
What It’s About: Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends…Publication Date: May 11, 2021
4.33 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance 2021 releases contemporary
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid
What It’s About: Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit…Publication Date: June 1, 2021
4.29 out of 5 on Goodreads
historical fiction 2021 tbr contemporary
Golden Girl
Elin Hilderbrand
What It’s About: In this satisfying page-turner from “the queen of beach reads” (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.
On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket…Publication Date: June 1, 2021
4.43 out of 5 on Goodreads
elin hilderbrand 2021 releases chick lit
The Soulmate Equation
Christina Lauren
What It’s About: Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born…Publication Date: May 18, 2021
4.24 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance 2021 releases contemporary
The Heart Principle
Helen Hoang
What It’s About: A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected—and the man she enlists to help her—in this heartfelt new romance by USA Today bestselling author Helen Hoang.
When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment…Publication Date: August 31, 2021
4.15 out of 5 on Goodreads
2021 releases contemporary contemporary romance
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave
What It’s About: An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.
We all have stories we never tell.
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her.
Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey…Publication Date: May 4, 2021
4.13 out of 5 on Goodreads
mystery botm thriller
To Sir, with Love
Lauren Layne
What It’s About: Love Is Blind meets You’ve Got Mail in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy following two thirty-somethings who meet on a blind dating app—only to realize that their online chemistry is nothing compared to their offline rivalry.
Perpetually cheerful and eager to please, Gracie Cooper strives to make the best out of every situation…Publication Date: June 29, 2021
4.20 out of 5 on Goodreads
2021 releases contemporary arc
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
Elle Cosimano
What It’s About: Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors…Publication Date: February 2, 2021
4.04 out of 5 on Goodreads
mystery 2021 releases mystery thriller
That Summer
Jennifer Weiner
What It’s About: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Summer comes another timely and deliciously twisty novel of intrigue, secrets, and the transformative power of female friendship, set on beautiful Cape Cod.
Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content…Publication Date: May 11, 2021
4.01 out of 5 on Goodreads
chick lit 2021 releases contemporary
The Newcomer
Mary Kay Andrews
What It’s About: Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads delivers her next page-turner for the summer with The Newcomer.
In trouble and on the run…
After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya’s ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield…Publication Date: May 4, 2021
4.21 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance mystery arc
Shipped
Angie Hockman
What It’s About: Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.
The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position…Publication Date: January 19, 2021
3.73 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance contemporary 2021 releases
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston
What It’s About: For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that…Publication Date: June 1, 2021
4.42 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance lgbtq contemporary
Good Company
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
What It’s About: A warm, incisive new novel about the enduring bonds of marriage and friendship from Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Nest
Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five…Publication Date: April 6, 2021
3.55 out of 5 on Goodreads
read with jenna audiobooks audiobook
It Happened One Summer
Tessa Bailey
What It’s About: Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town… where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels…Publication Date: July 13, 2021
4.26 out of 5 on Goodreads
2021 releases contemporary contemporary romance
The Summer Job
Lizzy Dent
What It’s About: Beach Read meets Sweetbitter in this laugh-out-loud and ultimately heartwarming debut of a good friend’s very bad decision and the summer job that stands to ruin or make her life.
What if you could be someone else? Just for the summer…
Birdy has made a mistake…Publication Date: April 15, 2021
3.92 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance contemporary 2021 releases
Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty
Lauren Weisberger
What It’s About: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and When Life Gives You Lululemons comes a highly entertaining, sharply observed novel about sisters, their perfect lives . . . and their perfect lies.
A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin…Publication Date: May 18, 2021
3.61 out of 5 on Goodreads
chick lit contemporary 2021 releases
You Have a Match
Emma Lord
What It’s About: A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she’ll never forget.
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie … although ever since the B…Publication Date: January 12, 2021
3.69 out of 5 on Goodreads
young adult 2021 releases romance
Second First Impressions
Sally Thorne
What It’s About: Distraction (n): an extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
Ruthie Midona has worked the front desk at the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa for six years, dedicating her entire adult life to caring for the Villa’s residents, maintaining the property (with an assist from DIY YouTube tutorials), and guarding the endangered tortoises that live in the Villa’s gardens…Publication Date: April 13, 2021
3.79 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance 2021 releases contemporary
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry
What It’s About: Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends…Publication Date: May 11, 2021
4.33 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance 2021 releases contemporary
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid
What It’s About: Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit…Publication Date: June 1, 2021
4.29 out of 5 on Goodreads
historical fiction 2021 tbr contemporary
Golden Girl
Elin Hilderbrand
What It’s About: In this satisfying page-turner from “the queen of beach reads” (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.
On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket…Publication Date: June 1, 2021
4.43 out of 5 on Goodreads
elin hilderbrand 2021 releases chick lit
The Soulmate Equation
Christina Lauren
What It’s About: Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born…Publication Date: May 18, 2021
4.24 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance 2021 releases contemporary
The Heart Principle
Helen Hoang
What It’s About: A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected—and the man she enlists to help her—in this heartfelt new romance by USA Today bestselling author Helen Hoang.
When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment…Publication Date: August 31, 2021
4.15 out of 5 on Goodreads
2021 releases contemporary contemporary romance
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave
What It’s About: An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.
We all have stories we never tell.
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her.
Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey…Publication Date: May 4, 2021
4.13 out of 5 on Goodreads
mystery botm thriller
To Sir, with Love
Lauren Layne
What It’s About: Love Is Blind meets You’ve Got Mail in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy following two thirty-somethings who meet on a blind dating app—only to realize that their online chemistry is nothing compared to their offline rivalry.
Perpetually cheerful and eager to please, Gracie Cooper strives to make the best out of every situation…Publication Date: June 29, 2021
4.20 out of 5 on Goodreads
2021 releases contemporary arc
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
Elle Cosimano
What It’s About: Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors…Publication Date: February 2, 2021
4.04 out of 5 on Goodreads
mystery 2021 releases mystery thriller
That Summer
Jennifer Weiner
What It’s About: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Summer comes another timely and deliciously twisty novel of intrigue, secrets, and the transformative power of female friendship, set on beautiful Cape Cod.
Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content…Publication Date: May 11, 2021
4.01 out of 5 on Goodreads
chick lit 2021 releases contemporary
The Newcomer
Mary Kay Andrews
What It’s About: Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads delivers her next page-turner for the summer with The Newcomer.
In trouble and on the run…
After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya’s ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield…Publication Date: May 4, 2021
4.21 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance mystery arc
Shipped
Angie Hockman
What It’s About: Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.
The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position…Publication Date: January 19, 2021
3.73 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance contemporary 2021 releases
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston
What It’s About: For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that…Publication Date: June 1, 2021
4.42 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance lgbtq contemporary
Good Company
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
What It’s About: A warm, incisive new novel about the enduring bonds of marriage and friendship from Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Nest
Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five…Publication Date: April 6, 2021
3.55 out of 5 on Goodreads
read with jenna audiobooks audiobook
It Happened One Summer
Tessa Bailey
What It’s About: Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town… where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels…Publication Date: July 13, 2021
4.26 out of 5 on Goodreads
2021 releases contemporary contemporary romance
The Summer Job
Lizzy Dent
What It’s About: Beach Read meets Sweetbitter in this laugh-out-loud and ultimately heartwarming debut of a good friend’s very bad decision and the summer job that stands to ruin or make her life.
What if you could be someone else? Just for the summer…
Birdy has made a mistake…Publication Date: April 15, 2021
3.92 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance contemporary 2021 releases
Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty
Lauren Weisberger
What It’s About: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and When Life Gives You Lululemons comes a highly entertaining, sharply observed novel about sisters, their perfect lives . . . and their perfect lies.
A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin…Publication Date: May 18, 2021
3.61 out of 5 on Goodreads
chick lit contemporary 2021 releases
You Have a Match
Emma Lord
What It’s About: A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she’ll never forget.
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie … although ever since the B…Publication Date: January 12, 2021
3.69 out of 5 on Goodreads
young adult 2021 releases romance
Second First Impressions
Sally Thorne
What It’s About: Distraction (n): an extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
Ruthie Midona has worked the front desk at the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa for six years, dedicating her entire adult life to caring for the Villa’s residents, maintaining the property (with an assist from DIY YouTube tutorials), and guarding the endangered tortoises that live in the Villa’s gardens…Publication Date: April 13, 2021
3.79 out of 5 on Goodreads
romance 2021 releases contemporary
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