what's in a beach read?

I’ll be honest, I am a summer person. I like to feel like a lizard roasting on a rock. I like the warm weird thrum I get through my chest when I am standing in direct sun. I want to be squinting at someone as we talk outside, sweaty drink in hard, and shorts on. Other than the fact that barometric pressure changes can often trigger migraines…I love a spooky late afternoon storm. Summer is ironically when my brain gets to slow down. I am so busy! I am outside! I am concerned about adequate sunscreen and bug spray. You can find me at someone’s pool, on a boat, strolling outside somewhere where there are restaurants with patios, ice cream parlors, and book stores. I am in the hammock! Therefore, I haven’t been here gushing about books. You could not find me in my Google docs working on my open drafts. Sorry! Next week, I’ll be on vacation so I am leaving you with a list of what I am packing and some of my most memorable beach reads.

Packing:

A Tempest of Desire - Lorraine Heath: Yes, there was a new Lorraine in 2024 and yes, I am finally taking it out of my Break In Case of Emergency box. Famous courtesan stranded on private deserted island after hot air balloon accident meets traumatized man who came to his private island to scream about life. You know I love a depressed hero. Masculinity is a prison! Luckily, he is stuck in it with this super hot lady. Bonus that this book continues a second generation series by Heath, meaning they are the children of the characters in a previous series. Hard to pull off! Mass markets are perfect for the beach and I will be packing a few. Shoving The Captive Duke in my bag as well based solely on the below review.

Dragon Bound - Thea Harrison: I only know about this book because of a Fated Mates episode. Essentially, a scrappy woman robs a dragon shifter and he starts to haunt her in her dreams? Seems very let’s make Nightmare on Elm Street a romance. I am just here trying to find weird paranormal romance to fill the Kate Daniels sized hole in my heart. 

It’s a Love Story - Annabel Monaghan: To know her is to love her. I have already written a lot about Monaghan and this is like the beach read of the summer.

KD Casey’s baseball series - This series is super popular with the bookstagrammers. Every summer needs a sports romance and maybe even specifically a gay sports romance. I’ve already read The Prospects, all available Rachel Reid, Chloe Liese, and Riley Hart, Cleat Cute, and Cat Sebastian’s entire backlog so thank god I found these. 

The Pairing - Casey McQuiston: On my TBR for much too long. Competing exes on a European vacation of my dreams. I will be traveling domestically but I look forward to the sheer lushness this book seems to promise. 

Naturally, I have packed entirely too many books for one week of vacation so I also have Slipstream, Promise Me Sunshine, and A Quick Bite along for the ride.

Recommended beach reads! I am thinking about books I have clear memories of reading outside. On a boat or in a beach chair. Sheer sensual delights. Bear with me as the list is as kooky as you can expect. 

The Bride - Julie Garwood: This feels like the OG RomCom. When the heroine walks out to her arranged marriage in a black dress and Alec, her conquering Scottish laird groom, does a huge booming laugh…I knew the vibe would be just right. There’s external suspense conflict which I find is a good fit for a summer read. There’s crackling chemistry. There’s witty dialogue. 10/10. Follow up with The Secret if Garwood hooks you. 

My Season of Scandal - Julie Anne Long: Hey so, you should always read a JAL if you want to experience sheer delight. This Palace of Rogues series takes place in a bed and breakfast run by a widow and her husband’s mistress. My Season of Scandal is an age gap, young debutante attracts the attention of an experienced player in the sheets/respected lawyer in the streets AGAINST HIS WILL. This man makes several fatal errors of judgment which is great because all of England thinks he is the smartest man alive. A good pairing with the new Hazelwood if that’s your vibe. 

The Dragon’s Bride - Katee Robert: Hot and bonkers is an easy bar to clear with Robert. This series has several books and they are all about 200 pages long. Yes, she really does marry an actual dragon. Yes, it really is quite a BIG story. 

Cold As Ice - Anne Stuart: In an effort not to recommend White Out for the millionth time, may I present this spy series by Anne Stuart. Everyone makes bad choices, they are always in danger, they are always finding ways to feel each other up. This is like the romance novel equivalent of every Jason Statham movie. I read this series while learning to sail and while it did not hit as famously as Elizabeth Kingston (WHO COULD), I had a blast. 

Mila Finelli mafia series - Again, summer is for being hot and bonkers. Mila Finelli is the dark romance pen name of Joanna Shupe. Start anywhere. There is the Kings of Italy series and a newer set involving Italian mafia kingpins in small town New York. Ridiculous opinions about wine and chicken parm abound. Things get pretty dark in these novels but not so dark that I was uncomfortable. Fair warning: reading these and then having your child be like “HEY MOM!” makes you feel like you are waking up from a fugue state. 

Take the Lead - Alexis Daria: I loooooooved You Had Me at Hola which is very much a recommendation for those mourning the demise of Jane the Virgin HOWEVER Daria’s first big novel Take the Lead is about a Dancing with the Stars style show where our heroine is the dancer and the hero is on some sort of tiny cabin lumberjack family show. It’s for all you reality TV heads out there. IT IS SO HOT. It has a lot of fun dancing scenes like Dance with Me, the best dancing movie of all time. 

Are you thinking “Britt…I don’t need my heart rate to stay elevated the entire time I am reading on vacation. Is there something more comforting?” Mostly, the answer is no. BUT maybe A Shore Thing? Still sexy, still very much vacation coded. I loved it. 

talk soon,

Britt