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It’s that time- time for the best beach reads for your upcoming vacations!
Imagine this with me, dear readers. You finally make it to the beach (or pool, lake house, deck, or just in front of the AC if you have it), roll out your fluffy towel- the smell of sunscreen permeates the setting- and you pull out your book.
You know the one, the book that just screams “READ ME for an ESCAPE”.
Summer is stretching out its’ rays to you and all you have to do is slip on your shades and dive into your best beach reads (or summer reads, lake house reads, etc.)
But where do you dive?
Are you feeling a light and fluffy romance?
A gritty and dark thriller?
Or something even-keeled and steady- contemporary fiction?
You can have it all, my friends!
I’m here to share with you my own personal “Best Beach Reads” list for 2021- one that could never be comprehensive, but will at least get me started.
Summer is reading season for me, and I’m the hungry shark- devouring anything that I can get my hands on and swimming fathoms on, looking for the next bite.
Throw These in Your Beach Bag!
Here’s my Best Beach Reads for the year- I’ll be throwing one of these in my bag each day during the summer. Hopefully you’ll find something for your bag!
Best Beach Reads for 2021:
A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” (!) set in upscale Georgetown.
Daisy’s family is mired in scandal and has to downsize; she and her sister Wallis deal with these changes while also dealing with some inconveniences in the romance department.
Okay, I know that Anne and Alice have been LOVING Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy- and I just finished Chloe Brown 2 days ago.
I’ve ordered the next two (one of which is Eve Brown) and I’m SO EXCITED. (Steam alert for these!)
This book focuses on free-spirited Eve Brown and her love interest, the uptight owner of a BNB. Can’t wait for it to get here!
Jasmine and Ashton are looking to revamp their acting careers by costarring in the newest bilingual rom-com.
All they need to do is to convince their audience that their chemistry is off-the-charts… should be easy enough, right?
Lizzy Dent
Birdy has done something a little strange- she’s taken over her best friend’s life after Heather ditches an amazing job at a Scottish highland hotel.
Now she has to keep up the pretense that she IS Heather- even to her new love interest.
First off, this is based on Byron Lane’s real-life experience as Carrie Fisher’s assistant. That should be enough to convince you right there. “
Charlie” gets an amazing assistant job to Hollywood royalty in this finding-yourself story.
Okay, I devoured the entire Crazy Rich Asians series, loved the movie, the whole nine yards.
So I was sold alone on the fact that Kevin Kwan has a new book out- one that promises even more luxury, romance, and drama- all the ingredients for a perfect beach read, right?
A book with multiple timelines- Miranda is a school girl in the early 1950s becomes integrated in the tight-knit island society of the New England elite.
She returns in the late sixties to the island- ready to discover the dark secrets the society is hiding and to help the man she used to love find justice.
Delta Dawn (what a name!) is a family photographer for the New York elite. As she takes photos of these seemingly perfect family, she becomes more entranced by them.
Her opportunity to become one of them comes when she photographs the Straub’s daughters’ birthday party. She gets pulled in and tries to get closer… and closer.
This is a pre-order, btw! Ships May 25th 🙂
Further Reading about the author: My Name by Mary Dixie Carter
Admittedly this book is from 2019, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading it until now.
Lucy had an uneasy relationship with her mother-in-law Diana- but then Diana was found dead with a suicide note found next to her. An autopsy report shows that this was not suicide though- it was poison. Added to that, Diana’s will was recently updated… to exclude all of her children.
Lexie Gordon heads back to her hometown in 1978 Loch Ewe (Scotland) with her daughter after her singing career and relationship stalls.
As she tries to find connection with her mother Flora and the town, we are also given Flora’s perspective in 1940- falling in love with with someone whose family deems her unsuitable. As Lexie uncovers more of her family’s past, she rekindles herself and her identity.
A thriller that asks what if the college admission scandal had gotten a little out of hand?
Three mothers are fighting for the one spot at Stanford allotted to their daughters’ elite prep school. Things get deadly and you don’t know how far they’ll go for their daughters…
An elite and exclusive NYC women-only club is turned on it’s head when the glamorous founder winds up dead.
Now everyone is a suspect- including the secretive women of ‘The Herd’.
After reading “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley, I was so ready for this ‘death-at-a-wedding’ thriller.
This one is set on an island off the Italian coast… need I say more?
In the late 30’s, women in search of divorces head to a dude ranch in Reno to wait out residency requirements for their separations.
In this hilarious setting, we see ranch-hand Ward make connections with two women who have come for a new start.
Cinderella has found that the fairy-tale life isn’t what it’s cracked up to be and makes a deal with a witch… to kill Prince Charming. Dark, twisted fairy-tale?
Yes, please!
Further Book Ideas: More Thriller Book Recommendations
Summer 4-EVA!
It seems so weird that we’ve made it to summer already. It seems only yesterday (and the day before that, the week, month, year before that,) that we were all at home in quarantine.
I’m so grateful that my whole family and my group of friends are vaccinated and safe and for the most part have come out the other side of Covid.
I hope the same for all of you- get outside, get some sun. You deserve it!
Check out Alice’s guide to 2021 New Releases For Summer for more book ideas for your bag.
So go on, go get your own best beach reads, and I’ll meet you on the sand (heavily sunscreened.)
-Jane
