Beach Reads Perfect for Summer Vacation

By Southern Living
April 03, 2018
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Looking for a great new beach read? We have plenty. On this list are new novels from Elin Hilderbrand, Frances Mayes, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Kristy Woodson Harvey, to name just a few. There are more than a few brand-new stories included here, and there are also some new installations in already beloved series queued up in this to-read list. There are novels set on the coast and in the cities, across the South and abroad. With so many stories, there’s sure to be one here that will spark your interest.So enjoy your summer vacation, pour yourself a drink, and get lost in one of these new releases. All are page-turners with memorable stories and compelling characters. And, of course, these summer books are best enjoyed on vacation and at your leisure. However, even if you’re not traveling during this particular break, we still have plenty of beach-set books on this list that will transport you. All it takes is a few pages and you'll begin to feel the sand under your feet and the sea breeze on your face. Summer vacation, here we come! (Oh, and P.S.: We have your spring break reading list covered too.)
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A Nantucket Wedding by Nancy Thayer

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Publication date: April 3, 2018

To buy: $27, amazon.com

A summer wedding sets the scene for this story about family, friendship, and secrets in picturesque Nantucket.

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Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes

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Publication date: April 3, 2018

To buy: $27, amazon.com

From the author of Under the Tuscan Sun comes this story about three American expats finding friendship in Italy.

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The Lemonade Year by Amy Willoughby-Burle

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Publication date: April 3, 2018

To buy: $15.99, amazon.com

This story about family struggles and unexpected romance underscores the importance of second chances.

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The Secret to Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey

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Publication date: April 3, 2018

To buy: $28, amazon.com

The second novel in Kristy Woodson Harvey's Peachtree Bluff series is about three sisters and their mother finding courage in the wake of grief.

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Sophia of Silicon Valley by Anna Yen

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Publication date: April 10, 2018

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com

This novel is set in the world of tech, where Sophia Young finds herself attempting to navigate new jobs and the perplexing people she meets at work.

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The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner

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Publication date: April 24, 2018

To buy: $26, amazon.com

In The Husband Hour, a surprise visitor interrupts Lauren Adelman’s life on the Jersey Shore and prompts her to reconsider several aspects of her life in the process.

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An Unsuitable Match by Joanna Trollope

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Publication date: May 1, 2018

To buy: $27.95, amazon.com

Dilemmas ensue when needy family members threaten to derail the late-in-life marriage that Rose Woodrowe and Tyler Masson have planned in this engrossing novel from Joanna Trollope.

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Limelight by Amy Poeppel

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Publication date: May 1, 2018

To buy: $26, amazon.com

A family that moves from Dallas to NYC becomes entangled in the world of Broadway in this witty exploration of motherhood.

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The Seasonaires by Janna King

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Publication date: May 1, 2018

To buy: $25.95, amazon.com

Seasonaires—brand ambassadors for an upscale clothing line—find themselves spending a picturesque summer in Nantucket, but their picture-perfect jobs soon take a turn for the complicated.

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Carousel Beach by Orly Konig

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Publication date: May 8, 2018

To buy: $17.99, amazon.com

When artist Maya Brice is brought on to help restore a historic carousel, she finds her way to 90-year-old carousel carver Hank Hauser, who tells her stories that reveal long-hidden secrets about her family.

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The High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews

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Publication date: May 8, 2018

To buy: $27.99, amazon.com

Mary Kay Andrews is back with a story about a 99-year-old heiress and the attorney she brings to her seaside mansion and soon entangles in a story of high-stakes, long-kept secrets.

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By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank

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Publication date: May 15, 2018

To buy: $27.99, amazon.com

The latest from Dorothea Benton Frank tells the story of two very different families connected by the engagement of their children—one a privileged Chicagoan and the other a Southerner from a family of peach farmers.

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How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

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Publication date: May 15, 2018

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com

An accident throws Margaret Jacobsen’s life into turmoil, causing her to rethink the future she worked toward for years in this funny and heartfelt novel from Katherine Carter.

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Beach House Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe

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Publication date: May 22, 2018

To buy: $26, amazon.com

Mary Alice Monroe’s Beach House series is back with this story about Cara Rutledge and her return to her Lowcountry home on the Isle of Palms, a place filled with memories, family, and opportunity.

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The Glitch by Elisabeth Cohen

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Publication date: May 22, 2018

To buy: $26.95, amazon.com

This funny new novel explores what happens when Silicon Valley CEO and mother of two Shelley Stone encounters a glitch in the form of a young woman who convincingly claims to be Shelley’s younger self.

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The High Season by Judy Blundell

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Publication date: May 22, 2018

To buy: $27, amazon.com

Ruthie Beamish has a great seaside house on Long Island, but she has to give it up to renters every year during the high season. This particular year brings with it twists and turns and more than a few surprises for Ruthie herself.

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Dreams of Falling by Karen White

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Publication date: June 5, 2018

To buy: $26, amazon.com

Set on the North Santee River in the South Carolina Lowcountry, this new novel from Karen White explores what happens when Larkin Lanier returns to the town of her childhood and plunges into the depths of a 50-year mystery.

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When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger

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Publication date: June 5, 2018

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com

From the author of The Devil Wears Prada comes this story starring Prada character Emily Charlton and her struggle to rebuild her career as an image consultant in the suburbs of Greenwich, Connecticut.

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The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

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Publication date: June 12, 2018

To buy: $22.99, amazon.com

When Miranda Brooks inherits a bookstore from her uncle, she begins to find clues hidden in the shelves, clues which lead her to save the store from bankruptcy and solve a mystery that has endured for years.

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Boardwalk Summer by Meredith Jaeger

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Publication date: June 19, 2018

To buy: $15.99, amazon.com

Boardwalk Summer tells two stories—one of an aspiring actress in 1940 and the other of a single mother in 2007 attempting to unravel a story that played out decades earlier.

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Providence by Caroline Kepnes

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Publication date: June 19, 2018

To buy: $26.22, amazon.com

If your beach read needs a dose of mystery, check out Providence by Caroline Kepnes, a story that is at turns a romance and a thriller, and which follows the aftereffects of a disappearance and its strange reversal.

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The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

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Publication date: June 19, 2018

To buy: $28, amazon.com

A tragic development throws a wrench into the wedding plans of the Otises and Winburys, two families that have planned a ceremony in Nantucket. The event is soon sidetracked when the local police chief shows up with a few questions for the wedding party.

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All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

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Publication date: June 26, 2018

To buy: $28, amazon.com

The much-anticipated new novel from the author of First Comes Love and Something Borrowed is set in Nashville, where a photograph divides a community and embroils three people in unexpected controversy.

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All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth

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Publication date: July 10, 2018

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com

A disappearance that has haunted a family for a decade resurfaces when 17-year-old Charlie is recruited into a secret society and must participate in a dangerous game.

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Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber

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Publication date: July 17, 2018

To buy: $27, amazon.com

In the wake of tragedy, Annie Marlow finds opportunity, love, and friendship in a Pacific Northwest town called Oceanside. Her newfound happiness may prove fleeting, however, when change encroaches.

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The Shortest Way Home by Miriam Parker

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Publication date: July 31, 2018

To buy: $26, amazon.com

Adventure ensues when Hannah, the central character of Miriam Parker’s The Shortest Way Home, receives an unexpected job offer while visiting a California winery and, rather than continuing to chase the life she’d wanted, makes a change.

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Rush by Lisa Patton

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Publication date: August 21, 2018

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com

Lisa Patton's latest novel is a story about sisterhood which takes place within the Alpha Delta Beta sorority of Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.

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