Whether you are jetting off on a vacation this year or sticking to a stay-cation, the best thing you can pack in your suitcase is a book or six. For me the perfect “beach read” is a light-hearted, feel good story that leaves a smile on my face. For others, it’s a mystery just waiting to be solved or a jump back in time to a place long forgotten. Whatever genre you pack in your tote for a day at the beach take a look at these 10 titles before hitting the road…or heading to the backyard. Happy Summer, Readers!

FOR THE ROMANTICS AT HEART…

“The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren

Olive and her twin sister Ami are polar opposites. Where Ami leads a charmed life full of love and luck, Olive has a black cloud of mishaps following her everywhere she goes. Having recently lost a roommate and her job, Olive is facing another daunting scenario – being Maid of Honor at her bridezilla sister’s wedding. On the big day Olive is given a to-do list with over 70+ items, the worst of which involves being in charge of keeping the Groom’s brother, Ethan, or as Olive refers to him Satan, in line. When a newsworthy catastrophe happens at the reception Olive & Ethan are forced into impersonating their siblings on their honeymoon, a trip (lucky) Ami won. Only one glitch, due to the contest rules if they are caught in their lie all expenses will fall on them. Spending 10 days in Maui doing their own thing would be easy but having to pretend to be a newly-married couple could be mission:impossible for two people who can’t stand one another. The hilarious misadventures that begin after Olive and Ethan land in paradise will make it hard for you to put this one down without a smile on your face. After turning the last page I had one thought: what a perfect rom-com movie this would make and good news it was recently announced that it has been picked up for production! Gina Rodriguez as Olive would be the absolute perfect casting. For me, “The Unhoneymooners”, written by Christina Lauren (a writing duo whose combined names, Christina Hobbs & Lauren Billings, make up the pen name) is THE perfect guilty beach book.

Purchase a copy of “The Unhoneymooners” here.

“The Overdue Life of Amy Byler” by Kelly Harms

Amy Byler has been a single mother for the past three years to her teenage daughter, Cori and her tween son, Joe. Her husband, John, called from a business trip to China and announced that he wasn’t coming home leaving Amy with no income as a stay-at-home mom. She kicks into supermom mode and finds a job as a librarian at Joe and Cori’s private school, a way for them to stay in their home and keeps her children’s lives moving no thanks to their father’s mid-life crisis. Then, out of the blue, John decides to come back into their lives without warning. He asks if he can have the children for the first week of summer giving Amy some alone time she has rightfully earned. Amy wonders, what does a mom do with an entire week alone with no responsibilities when you have been living in survival mode for three years? She decides to head to New York City for a few days at a Literary Conference and a visit with her college roommate, Talia. Amy plans to do nothing but sit her in yoga pants, eat pizza and read books (who doesn’t want to do that?) but the best plans are meant to be broken. What awaits Amy in the city that never sleeps will open her eyes to what she has been overlooking for so long. I absolutely loved this book. Kelly Harms has created a movement in “momspringa!” that every parent can relate to. What would you do with a solo week off from all responsibilities? (Other than call home a dozen times a day to make sure everything was still standing.)

Purchase a copy of “The Overdue Life of Amy Byler” here.

“People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry

Poppy Wright had big social aspirations when she left her small town to start college. At orientation she meets Alex, a khaki wearing, slightly too serious guy from the next town over back home. The two couldn’t be more opposite but somehow they form a familiar, undeniable bond on a road trip they decide to take together to commute back to Ohio for break. From then on, summer after summer for one perfect week the two travel all over the world together for Poppy’s job until everything comes to a screeching halt. Now Poppy hasn’t spoken to her best friend in two years and is fairly certain her depression might be related to their lack of communication. When a friend asks her to walk backwards to the last time she was truly happy Poppy knows for certain it was on that last fateful trip with Alex. She decides to put it all on the line and texts him to see if he would be up for another one of their annual vacations and to Poppy’s surprise, he accepts. Determined to make everything right between them and get her best friend back, Poppy is going to make this the most perfect trip yet, just like the old days. What could possibly go wrong? I did not want “People We Meet on Vacation” to end! I fell in love with Emily Henry’s writing last year and this newest book to her catalog is another hit. This modern day “When Harry Met Sally” has all of the ingredients for a perfect rom-com recipe.

Purchase a copy of “People We Meet on Vacation” here.

“The Switch” by Beth O’Leary

When the loss of her sister becomes too much for her Leena is ordered to take a two month sabbatical from her job in London. Eileen, Leena’s 79 year old grandmother, is ready for a fresh start at dating but the tiny little Yorkshire village she lives in doesn’t have many eligible bachelors. During a weekend trip to visit her grandmother, Leena proposes the idea of a switch. For two months Leena will stay in Yorkshire and take care of Eileen’s cottage, cats and responsibilities while Eileen jets off to London to live in Leena’s flat while having a dip in the dating pool. Neither of the women expected that trading places would be so difficult or could have anticipated how a simple switch in location could change your perspective on life while giving your priorities a good shake. “The Switch” was exactly what I needed – a sweet, wholesome, endearing story that left me with the warm and fuzzies. Beth O’Leary writes beautifully from two age perspectives that causes the reader to fall in love with both characters equally and makes you want to never leave the little village of Hamleigh-in-Harksdale.

Purchase a copy of “The Switch” here.

“In Five Years” by Rebecca Serle

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” Dannie is having the best day of her life. She nailed her interview at a company she has always dreamed of working for and that evening her boyfriend turned into her fiancé. Dannie falls asleep that night high on life after going through champagne and bottles of wine to celebrate their carefully laid, type-a plans coming to fruition. When she opens her eyes, however, she finds herself in a different apartment, with a man she has never met who seems to know her very well, in fact it would seem they are very much in love. Getting a glance at the TV she notices the date – December 15, 2025 – five years into the future. After stumbling through this new world for an hour, Dannie wakes again to find herself back in her apartment, back in 2020. Unable to shake off what she just saw Dannie questions what it could all mean. Was that just a very vivid dream or was it something more like her therapist suggests? Pushing it to the back of her mind Dannie goes on with her life until one day four and a half years in the future when she comes face to face with the man from that night. “In Five Years” is a heartbreakingly beautiful book filled with love, friendship and the lessons in life only we can take on by ourselves.

Purchase a copy of “In Five Years” here.

“Bringing Down the Duke / A Rogue of One’s Own” by Evie Dunmore

Annabelle Archer is destitute and has been taken in to work in her awful cousin’s home as a maid. Though Annabelle has already been highly educated, she craves more for herself and has been accepted to study at Oxford with some of their first female students. In return for her scholarship, she is expected to join the women’s suffrage movement and attempt to sway the men in power to support their cause. On her first outing with the group she bumps into the dashing yet arrogant Duke of Montgomery, a political advisor to the Queen of England. Earning the ear of the Duke’s brother, Annabelle and two of her friends receive an invitation to a house party at the Duke’s home. After a miscommunication Annabelle and the Duke begin dancing around each other’s mutual attractions. In 1879 there is no way the two could be together without causing the scandal of the century. Will Annabelle be able to keep the Duke at arms length, keep in good standings at Oxford as well as help bring justice for the oppressed British women?

In “A Rogue of One’s Own”, the suffragette’s saga continues! Lady Lucie, Annabelle, Hattie & Catriona have secured funding to purchase their own publishing house in order to help the Cause. What they didn’t plan on was the cad, Lord Ballentine, purchasing the other half of London Print. Tristan, having returned from fighting in Afghanistan, has ulterior motives behind his acquisition. He is desperate to get out from under his cruel father’s thumb and somehow escape the impending engagement he is being forced into. Lady Lucie and Lord Ballentine are both fighting for financial and social freedom in their own way but will they see that they are more alike than they believe to be before they can maneuver one another and possibly ruin the business or worse, their reputations in the process? These scandalous books are witty and filled to the brim with fantastic feminist themes. If you spent the first few weeks of 2021 bingeing Netflix’s “Bridgerton” these two books from author Evie Dunmore’s “A League of Extraordinary Women” series are just the thing you are looking for. Also, good news for fans of this series book number 3 will be out September 2021.

Purchase a copy of “Bringing Down the Duke” here & “A Rogue of One’s Own” here.

FOR THE MYSTERY LOVERS…

“Home Before Dark” by Riley Sager

Maggie doesn’t believe in haunted houses, after all, she supposedly lived in one. At least that’s what her father’s best-selling novel led everyone to believe all those years ago. At 5 years old Maggie’s family purchased Baneberry Hall, a large Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. The home’s reputation made the property a steal but the Holt family weren’t completely aware of what they were getting themselves into. Maggie and her parents, Ewan & Jessica, last three weeks before escaping their home in the middle of the night. The world became fascinated by their ordeal when Ewan’s account of what happened at Baneberry Hall was published in his true story “House of Horrors”, a book that Maggie believes to be completely fictional considering she has no memory of what her father has written. When her father passes away 25 years later, Maggie learns that not only did her father never sell Baneberry Hall but now it belonged to her. Defying her promise to her father on his deathbed to never go back there, Maggie decides she has to see the house for herself and figure out once and for all why her family really fled that night in July. “Home Before Dark” is another smash by author Riley Sager. This page turning thriller had me seconding guessing what I thought to be true the whole way through. Definitely not one to be missed.

Purchase a copy of “Home Before Dark” here.

“The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” by Stuart Turton

A man wakes in the forrest at dawn with no memory except for the name, Anna. While still confused and uncertain of where or who he is, he makes his way towards Blackheath Manor. What he doesn’t yet know is that he will be forced to repeat this same day over and over again until he can solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, the only way out of this game. Each morning he wakes in the body of a different guest staying at Blackheath, bringing pieces of his days inside his other hosts with him. Peter & Helena Hardcastle have invited everyone to the Manor to welcome their daughter, Evelyn back home from Paris after 19 years. The Hardcastle family have been at odds since the death of young Thomas that day by the lake and morbidly this party falls on the anniversary of his murder. Can the man piece together what becomes of Evelyn Hardcastle and escape the endless trap that his Blackheath before someone else beats him to it? This original, creative and clever mystery gave me a Clue meets Groundhog Day meets a sci-fi feels. It was so intriguing to see where author, Stuart Turton, was taking the reader next it made the book hard to put down. There are so many twists, turns and time jumps it will keep you on your toes. “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” was really unlike anything I’ve read before, really creative. This is a great read for fans of the mystery/suspense genre. Will definitely be rereading this!

Purchase a copy of “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” here.

“The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides

Artist Alicia Berenson hasn’t said a word in years. Not since the night she murdered her husband. Alicia has been living in a medicated state since then for her own safety as well the employee’s safety at the hospital she’s been living in. Due to the notoriety of the case, the price of Alicia’s artwork skyrockets and she’s the talk of every journalist in London. No one has ever been able to convince Alicia to explain why she decided to commit the crime but Theo Faber thinks he has what it takes to bring Alicia out of her shell. After securing himself a job on the hospital’s psychotherapy team Theo is determined to be the one she speaks to first and he will stop at nothing in order to accomplish his goal even if it risks his own safety or possibly even his life. “The Silent Patient” completely lives up to all the hype that surrounds it. It has everything a thriller lover could possibly want. This book well and truly had me fooled. Bravo to author Alex Michaelides on a knock-out debut novel.

Purchase a copy of “The Silent Patient” here.

“Strangers at the Gate” Catriona McPherson

Paddy & Finnie have just been offered the jobs they have always dreamed of, a partnership for Paddy at a small law firm and a full-time deaconship for Finnie. Along with the jobs, Paddy has been offered a small cottage on the property of his new boss, Lovett Dudgeon, rent free. After settling in, Finnie begins to question the decision they made moving to Simmerton. Their new home is dark and isolated and she has been hearing things in the woods. On Monday evening Paddy and Finnie are invited up to the Dudgeon’s home for dinner. Despite willing herself not to enjoy Tuft Dudgeon’s company she finds the woman engaging and Finn decides she is looking forward to the new start after all. The young couple start their short walk down the path back to their cottage when Finn realizes she has left her purse behind. Turning back Finn & Paddy discover the front door open and what they discover inside will upend everything they believe to be true. Catriona McPherson has written a wicked page-turner! For all of you armchair detectives out there, I challenge you try and figure this one out. McPherson kept me guessing right through to the last page. Suspense fans this one is a must!

Purchase a copy of “Strangers at the Gate” here.

AND A BONUS FOR THOSE THAT WANT A LITTLE ROMANCE WITH THEIR MYSTERY…

“The Perfect Couple” by Elin Hilderbrand

The wedding of the year is about to happen on Nantucket. Greer Garrison Winbury has planned the most perfect weekend down to the very last detail for her son Benji’s wedding. His bride, Celeste Otis, has let her take the lead due to her mother’s recent cancer relapse, even moving the wedding date to early July to be sure that Karen Otis would be able to attend. Friday night’s wedding rehearsal had to be canceled due to the Reverend getting stuck but the clam bake rehearsal dinner went on without a hitch. Speeches were said, cocktails were consumed and as the night was coming to a close the wedding party headed into town to keep the party going. The next morning, the wedding planner arrived early to the Winbury estate to supervise a delivery for the Big Day to find Celeste down by the shore, hysterical and trying to pull her maid of honor, Merritt Monaco, out of the water. Merritt is dead. Everyone at the Winbury estate is a suspect and needs to be questioned. The secrets that will be uncovered will tear the “perfect” Winbury family to pieces. “The Perfect Couple” is an intriguing whodunit. The story skips between multiple POVs while transporting the reader between present day and flashing back to the early dating days of Celeste and Benji. A perfect read for your next getaway.

Purchase a copy of “The Perfect Couple” here.

‘Til next time,

The Booked Mama

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