8 More Beach Reads for Summer and Beyond

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It has been over 2 months since I shared my list of 5 beach reads for this summer. Well, the summer is indeed here and I have read another handful of books since this last article on what I would recommend.

I have to share that Pinterest and my followers seemed to adore this article so very much and sent quite a few new readers my way, because of it.

So, I decided to continue on with this beach-y vacation and beyond, reading theme and continue on by posting another edition to my beach reading list here.

Therefore, allow me to give you all a few more books to be able to add to your summer beach tote, as well as for the next few months ahead, as well, for your reading pleasure now…

1. I Let You Go by Claire Mackintosh

Thanks to Net Galley for giving me an ARC.

So, I am always intrigued to new books in the thriller genre, as I admit it is slowly, but surely becoming one of my favorites to read, especially the ones I see being compared to the likes of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

That said, I saw the description for this on Book of The Month club or the month of May and couldn’t get it out of my mind.  Then as I was scanning my Net Galley account, I saw that I Let You Go was available to request and was so happy to be given the opportunity to indeed read through Net Galley.

That said, the story of Jenna Gray, who is trying desperately to move on from one night’s tragic car accident and the loss of her child was a bit slow going at first with the first portion of the book dealing with the aftermath of this one evening and the Bristol police trying to solve this case of a hit and run accident.

However, nothing quite prepared me for the twist that came at the end of Part One or how Part Two delved deeper into the actual events that led up to that tragic and fateful night, as well as how the story was eventually wrapped up in the epilogue.

Overall, as I have read quite a few thrillers this past year alone, including All the Missing Girls, which is still by far my favorite of the year, I would say I Let You Go came pretty close once I hit Part Two and the story took on a life of its own.  So, in the end, I would totally recommend to all who do enjoy an intense thriller and who enjoy solving a good mystery.

2. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield

This was the May Book of the Month club book and couldn’t resist choosing as soon as I saw that this was a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, as I absolutely adored the original Jane Austin classic. So, I was extremely excited to read Sittenfeld’s take.

The story opens up with Jane and Liz Bennet (the two eldest daughters of the Bennet’s) returning home upon learning of their father’s having health issues.

From the inception, we learn pretty quickly how obsessed Mrs. Bennet is with procuring husbands for all her five daughter.

See not only is Jane and Liz both unmarried, but so too are their younger sister, Kitty, Lydia and Mary who all still live at home and are without employment.

It would also seem that after their father was hospitalized and having been without health insurance, the family was left with a hefty bill to pay and thus largely in debt.

So not only are their parents supporting three out of their 5 girls and themselves, but also trying to maintain their large tudor home.

But all is not lost as Lydia is seemingly dating a nice young man, who could be potential marriage material. Also, Jane recently has meet at a 4th of July party and now happily dating Chip Bingley, a handsome ER doctor who happened to appear on a recent reality TV dating show, called Eligible.

It is here that Liz meets Fitzwilliam Darcy at this same party. Liz, of course, isn’t impressed by him at all. But slowly, but surely the two can’t help but be thrown and thrust together and find themselves possibly falling in love.

But just as this is occurring, circumstances have a way of pulling both couples apart only with hopes to still find each other once again.

I don’t want to give too much away, but will say if you are a fan of Jane Austin’s classic as have been in the past, then would most definitely recommend as Sittenfeld’s version is truly a wonderful adaption that is a funny, heartwarming family and courtship tale for the modern times.

3. The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews

As soon as I saw the title and read the description, I just knew I had to read this novel on Memorial Day weekend to jump start the summer off with the perfect beach themed read.

Set in North Carolina on Belle Island, where some people vacation for the summer, while others spend their summer weekends there aka “The Weekenders”.

As the story begins, it is just so happens to also be Memorial Day weekend and Riley Griggs and her daughter Maggy are returning home to Belle Island to vacation with their family and friends for the upcoming summer season.

But in the blink of an eye, Riley’s world is upended by a mystery involving her husband’s disappearance, who was supposed to meet them on the ferry over, but clearly never did.

As it turns out, Riley’s husband, Wendell was found dead and it is believed that he was murdered.

But before he turned up dead, Wendell apparently squandered all of their money, leaving Riley and Maggy practically penniless and even having had their home foreclosed upon.

However, their marriage was sadly on the rocks anyways and pretty much all but over even before Wendell was murdered.

But now, Riley has to deal with her daughter’s anger over the loss of her father as she idolized him even as it is clear that Wendell was a louse.

Along the way, Riley also rediscovers her first love, Nate Milas and is given a chance to quite possibly find a happy ending with him this time out.

However, before she may actually find that form of happiness, Riley has to deal with her family’s disapproval of Nate, trying to indeed get to the bottom of that happened to Wendell and even a major hurricane striking.

So, honestly this book had it all from mystery, suspense, romance, drama, chick-lit and much more.  Therefore, I truly would recommend for those looking for an all-around book to read this summer.

4. Falling by Jane Green

Thanks to Net Galley for supplying me an ARC.

What can I say, but that having read and throughly enjoyed Tempting Fate by Jane Green in the past, I was excited to get to read her latest with Falling, which is the story of Emma Montague, who is a British born citizen that has recently left her fast paced NYC live behind to live in the beach suburbs of Connecticut.

Emma rents a house from Dominic, who is a single father to a little boy named Jesse.  What starts out as a friendship between the two, slowly but surely turns into more.

I will be honest and tell you the first few chapters of this book were pretty slow moving, but I then began to get more invested and involved with the growing attraction and love the two main characters had for each other.

Just when I did, without giving away the ending, I felt like the twist that came pulled the rug out from under me.  To say, I was not a fan of the ending would be an understatement and while I had a feeling about what was to come, I had hoped I was wrong. 

Sadly, I wasn’t and between the slow moving earlier portion and the ending, I can’t help, but not be able to give this one a full 5 stars.  Don’t get me wrong, would recommend still, but just have to warn the reader to be aware of my final assessment though.

5. Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews

So, after reading Mary Kay Andrews’ most recent book, The Weekenders, I couldn’t help but want to read more from her. This one just happened to be on sale through iBooks and thought “Why not?”

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book, but definitely not as much as The Weekenders. But still couldn’t help, but find the stories of the three life-long friends, Ellis, Julia and Dori, vacationing for a few weeks in North Carolina’s Out Banks fun and definitely summer, beach reading fare for sure.

That said, the plot was indeed fairly light and the mystery for this one though was a bit predictable for me.

Still though would surely recommend for an easy and fun summer, beach read if nothing else.

6. The Assistants by Camille Perri

What can I say about The Assistants, by Camille Perri that hasn’t been said in the reviews on Goodreads and more?

To be honest, I am a huge fan of the HBO TV show, Girls and as soon as I saw comparison on the back cover of her novel, my interest was heightened and piqued that much more. 

But to be even more honest, I was already contemplating reading this novel after hearing about how Tina Fontana (the main character) was an assistant (as a former assistant myself years ago) to a very powerful CEO of a huge multimillion dollar corporation, who does the unthinkable by cashing an erroneous check made out to her by mistake only to pay off her student loan debts and then becoming involved in a further financial scheme against her boss to pay it forward to others also in debt with student loans.

Here is the thing, it definitely did have a Girls feel to it, but was even more fun than the show could ever be.  Still, I kept seeing Lena Dunham as I read this so clearly that if this one ever did become a motion picture, I would totally vote for her to play Tina Fontana.

That said, this book was such a refreshing and perfectly fun read from cover to cover overall.  Truly the perfect summer read and couldn’t recommend more for all those who have been assistants or are ones now as it truly portrayed the perfect revenge for assistants everywhere.

7. Modern Lovers by Emma Straub

This was the June Book of the Month that I chose as it had been on my shortlist for summer reading for some time now.

Set in Brooklyn, NY (this NYC girl loved the setting btw) during summer time allowing us a window into the lives of former bandmates, Elizabeth, Andrew and Zoe, as well as their two coming of age kids, Ruby and Harry, who become more than just friends as the book unfolds.  These two younger lovers are fated, but also star crossed comparing themselves to a modern day Romeo and Juliet minus the murder/suicide part. We are also treated to not only how the original band members came together in their college years, but were pulled part as the years went on, as well as why this happened, as well.

While, I will say that at the onset of this book, I was a bit taken aback at how slow going the plot truly was, I plugged on reading and was happy to report that the story-line did indeed pick up and became invested in the characters as it went on more, as well as wanting to see how their stories all played out in the end.

While, I wouldn’t say the ending by any means was earth shattering for any of them, I still would recommend as it was an enjoyable and most easy read.

8. Here’s to Us by Elin Hilderbrand

Since it is indeed summer time, I have been opting for books that are set in the summer and lighter reads.

So when, I heard about Here’s to Us, which takes place over the course of about a week’s time in a Nantucket beach house bringing the three past wife’s of the now deceased master chef, Deacon Thorpe, as well as his kids to scatter his ashes, I literally couldn’t resist.

What I didn’t count on was how addictive and engrossing the actual story was that I couldn’t put it down and even when it was over longed for more.

 [Tweet “Looking for summer or beyond reading suggestions? Check out these books. #goodreads @bookofthemonth “]

Honestly, this one has become one of my favorites so far of this year and would tell all to read before this summer does come to a close.

There you have it 8 more steamy and sudsy books to give a try to now!

*Stay tuned for more book recommendations soon, as I am currently reading The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell and hope to soon start the latest in the Harry Potter (as I am total Harry Potter junkie from way back) series with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part One and two.