My Favorite Summer Vacation Reads!

Books you can't put town and for when you really need to escape (and swoon!).

My new rom-com, STEFI AND THE SPANISH PRINCE, is absolutely a vacation read, and it comes out on July 23rd! So today I thought I’d share some of my all-time vacation reads, both for adults and YA (but we all know adults read YA too). Some of these you’ll likely already know, but a few of them are favorites that I bet you haven’t heard of, so prepared to be delighted and see below!

Judy Blundell is one of my favorite writers in general, but her juicy, page-turning novel, THE HIGH SEASON, about a scandalous, gossipy summer in the Hamptons is un-put-downable. And the writing is AMAZING. If you haven’t read it, definitely get yourself a copy and prepare to be glued from beginning to end.

You need to read all-things Jenny Han. Seriously. If you haven’t read Jenny’s novels you must. And while everybody knows TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE, my favorite might still be THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY. (Plus, it’s a trilogy!)

One of my favorite surprise beach reads (and Jane Austen-adjacent novels) is Janice Hadlows’ THE OTHER BENNET SISTER, which takes up the story of Mary. I really did not think anybody could make me fall for Mary, but Hadlow absolutely did, and I was glued to my chair under the umbrella when I read this one, and not even the burning hot sand could get me off the beach until I was finished.

Rene Steinke is one of the best novelists around, but when I picked up her FRIENDSWOOD and carted it down to Narragansett Beach one summer on a visit to see my dad, I barely came up for air. I turned those pages until there were one left to turn. This novel is one of my favorites to recommend, so lucky you that I’m telling you about it!

Speaking of author’s with many delightful summer reads on their backlists, have you read Eva Ibbotson? If you haven’t, you must. Two summers ago I flew through all her YA / adult novels while sitting in a pool to escape the crazy heat. Ibbotsen has a knack for writing the rags to riches romance, and there is always a swoony, wildly wealthy romantic interest lurking in the wings for her heroines. But maybe my favorite was A COMPANY OF SWANS.

And lastly for now, another (fairly) unsung favorite author of mine is Huntley Fitzpatrick, and probably my favorite novel of hers is MY LIFE NEXT DOOR. But if you haven’t read any of this authors novels, you should take them all on your next vacation—you won’t be disappointed. Her romances are SO swoony.

There are so many more I could add to this list. But these are some of my standbys to recommend when people ask what they should take on the plane and read on the sand for summer. You’re in for a treat with any of them!