Breezy Summer Books for Beach Reader Types
If your perfect summer day includes a sunny spot, something cold to sip, and a book you just know you'll love, you're a Beach Reader. At Bookfinity, we match books to your reader type so you always find stories that fit your vibe—bingeable, feel-good, and impossible to put down.
This summer’s new releases are tailor-made for your TBR pile. From book club darlings and sizzling romances to twisty thrillers and screen-worthy stories, these June through August picks are your passport to the ultimate reading escape.
There's no better time than summer for Beach Readers!
August New Releases
Hatchet Girls
by Joe R Lansdale
Your next dose of pitch-black comedy, mystery, and mayhem has arrived as Hap and Leonard find themselves in a vicious and ridiculous situation--just as the best friends may finally be calling it quits.
When Hap and Leonard are called in on a strange request (subduing a meth-hopped hog) by a desperate young lady, they quickly learn this woman is part of a fringe group: The Hatchet Girls, who have pledged their allegiance to a crazed and grudge-bearing leader bent on bloody societal revenge. The timing couldn't be worse to be caught in such a vile, sticky wicket of a case: both boys are wrapped up in their domestic lives: Leonard is in the midst of wedding planning with fiancee, Pookie. And meanwhile, Hap and Brett are hard at work on their new home. Homemaking bliss will have to wait as Hap and Leonard are driven to stop the danger in its tracks and better understand the group's mission and the plans they have already set in place for helter-skelter esque mayhem.
Life changes, midnight sneaks, and dark encounters with misguided dames who yell "Chop, Chop," lead Hap and Leonard into one of their darkest adventures yet.
Knife in the Back
by Karen Rose
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose comes another "intense, complex, and unforgettable"* novel.
Officer Naomi Cranston was framed for stealing cocaine from the evidence locker and coerced--through threats to her young son--into not fighting the charges. After five years in prison, she has tried to put the ordeal behind her, but the crooks who framed her have returned, this time demanding she move drugs along with her flower shop's deliveries. They threaten her son once again, but this time she's not capitulating quietly. She hires Broussard Investigations to protect her and her son, to prove her innocence, and to put the real bad guys away.
As a former cop, Burke Broussard is well aware of the corruption in the New Orleans police department. He had always believed Naomi Cranston to be guilty and isn't inclined to take her case. Until he sits down to listen to her side of things. Until he sees her tortured innocence written all over her beautiful face...
A relationship born amid an investigation is a fragile thing. Will it survive the danger and the threats? Will it survive the truth?
* James Patterson
For Richer for Poorer
by Danielle Steel
A loving mother and successful fashion designer struggles to keep her family together and her business afloat in this gripping novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel.
After working as head designer for Oscar de la Renta, Eugenia Ward started her own company when she turned forty, fourteen years ago. She is now a major name in evening gowns and wedding gowns, ready-to-wear and haute couture. But with the fashion business in major downturn, she has recently suffered heavy losses, and Eugenia desperately needs new investors--and new ideas.
At the same time, she is the matriarch and guiding light for her five adult children, a single mother for more than a decade, since her divorce from the spendthrift Italian prince she'd married young. As the family gathers for a summer vacation at a beach house, wedding plans for her daughter Gloria are ballooning in expense even as the loutish behavior of Gloria's fiancé causes Eugenia to question her daughter's judgment. Meanwhile, Gloria's sister Daphne is due to deliver twins right around the wedding date . . . which is also very close make or break New York Fashion Week.
The silver lining in it all may be meeting Patrick Hughes, a successful real estate developer who's also going through a rough patch. A brilliant and creative businessman, Patrick gives her valuable advice about her business challenges. Eugenia finds friendship with Patrick sailing on his yacht and starts to imagine a new beginning, independent of her roles as mother and entrepreneur. But as the family gathers for the big wedding, tensions are running high, money may be running out, and a hurricane is looming on the horizon.
Danielle Steel's glamorous and gripping novel offers an inspiring portrait of a strong and determined woman who rises to meet life's challenges with fortitude, creativity, and love.
July New Release Books
Mean Moms
by Emma Rosenblum
Meet Frost, Morgan, and Belle--a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties. On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?
Spanning the course of one eventful school year in New York, Mean Moms is part satire of upper-crust mom-ing and part mystery, interrogating the line between friendship and jealousy, and getting at the question:
What would happen if the woman standing next to you at school pickup was actually a sociopath?
Overruled
by Lana Ferguson
Two divorce lawyers determined to share only beds but not hearts discover that love is something that can't be overruled in this steamy contemporary romance by Lana Ferguson, USA Today bestselling author of The Game Changer.
Danica Pierce has one great love in her life: work. As one of the top divorce lawyers in Austin, Danica lets her caseload keep her warm at night and has no problem being married to her job, not when love only ends in hurt. When the biggest case of her career gives her a shot at making partner, it seems like nothing could possibly stand in her way...except for her infuriating secret: she's sleeping with the enemy.
Rose in Chains
by Julie Soto
New York Times bestselling author Julie Soto crafts a lush and dark romantic fantasy that's filled with intrigue, magic, and an irresistible enemies-to-lovers romance.
The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.
Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, the world as Briony Rosewood knows it is changed forever. Evil has won, and her people face imminent servitude, imprisonment, or death.
Maid for Each Other
by Lynn Painter
A millionaire and a house cleaner are a match maid in heaven in this sparkling new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Happily Never After.
As a professional cleaner, Abi Mariano never thought her apartment would have any sort of infestation, but because of a building-wide outbreak, she now needs somewhere to stay for a week. As a part-time student with two jobs, she doesn't have many options. Then the solution presents itself: the owner of the penthouse she cleans is out of town for the week. She normally wouldn't consider it, but he's literally never around (she hasn't even met him). It goes great...until one morning she finds two strangers in the kitchen.
The Lake Escape
by Jamie Day
The next riveting summer suspense by the author of THE BLOCK PARTY and ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY, Jamie Day.
WILL THIS BE THE BEST WEEK OF THEIR LIVES... OR THE LAST?
JULIA, DAVID, AND ERIKA grew up together spending summers at their idyllic Vermont lake homes for as long as they can remember. Now adults-- with their own sullen teens, endless mortgages, and low-voltage sex lives-- the three friends have amassed secrets over the years.
This summer, David is eager to show off his newly renovated home--which now blocks his friends' cherished lake views--and his much-younger girlfriend. He also, unwittingly, brings a nanny with a hidden agenda. What could possibly go wrong?
You Belong Here
by Megan Miranda
Memories fade, but on this campus, legacies are never forgotten...or forgiven. A new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda.
Beckett Bowery never thought she'd return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett's parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else--until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again…
JUNE New Release Books
Mansion Beach
by Meg Mitchell Moore
From national bestselling author Meg Mitchell Moore comes a sparkling new novel following a young woman entwined in the opulent lives of her neighbors on Block Island, set against a backdrop of scandal, secrets, and a not-so-subtle love triangle, perfect for readers of The Wedding People and Pineapple Street.
"If you're looking for THE beach book of summer, here it is: Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore." --Elin Hilderbrand, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"An unputdownable modern-day take on The Great Gatsby. I gobbled it up." --J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author
It's the beginning of the summer, and Nicola Carr has just arrived on Block Island, RI, eager for a fresh start and some R&R. But her plans for a tranquil summer are derailed as the extravagant parties from the grand home next door pique her curiosity. She soon discovers the home belongs to Juliana George, an enigmatic entrepreneur with a past shrouded in mystery.
Juliana George, CEO and founder of a hot fashion-tech company, is at the top of her game. She's spending the summer on Block Island preparing for a major IPO. But she's chasing her dreams in more ways than one. This summer she hopes to rekindle a flame with a man from her past--a man who has a surprising connection to her neighbor Nicola.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
by V E Schwab
USA Today, 15 Most Anticipated of 2025
BookBub, Most Anticipated of 2025 (and Reader's Pick)
Paste Magazine, Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025
BookRiot, Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Goodreads, Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2025
This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
This is a story about love.
1827. London.
This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
This is a story about life--
how it ends, and how it starts.
Murder Takes a Vacation
by Laura Lippman
Highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with an irresistible mystery featuring Muriel Blossom.
Mrs. Blossom has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when she finds a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot, everything changes. She is determined to see the world that she sometimes feels is passing her by.
When Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who's sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed.
Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds
by Allison Brennan
Featured on Katie Couric Media's "10 Books to Read Once You've Finished Watching 'The White Lotus'"!
In this sun-dappled mystery from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan, a risk-averse bibliophile gets in over her head when strange notes in a book draw her into a real-life investigation.
Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault. She has to be. Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, she has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Mysteries, romances, thrillers...books filled with women who are far more impulsive than she would ever dream of being. Now, forced into taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself--for a little while, anyway.
It's a Love Story
by Annabel Monaghan
"Poignant, funny, and bingeable, Annabel Monaghan writes five star reads." --Abby Jimenez
Love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth.
Jane Jackson spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punch line on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she's trying to be taken seriously as a Hollywood studio executive by embracing a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.
Total Dreamboat
by Katelyn Doyle
From the author of Just Some Stupid Love Story, an IRRESISTIBLE ROM-COM about what happens when a cruise ship romance goes...overboard
Hope Lanover needs a vacation. Her relationship has imploded, her creative ambitions have flatlined, and she can't seem to locate the badass girl she used to be. So when her best friend invites her on a luxury cruise, she goes along with it, despite decidedly not being a cruise person.
The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain
by Hannah Brown
Forgetting Sarah Marshall meets Anyone But You in this novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown.
Starling Ranch Inn promises to be a tropical paradise, and Sybil can't wait to escape there, all expenses paid. Well technically the expenses were paid--last year, when she was supposed to go to Hawaii for her honeymoon with her then-fiancé Jamie. But the wedding didn't go as planned (or at all), and now she's decided to use those hotel vouchers alone, before they expire.
It Happened on the Lake
by Lisa Jackson
In an intense, twisty, Hitchcockian standalone spin on Rear Window from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson, a woman returns to the Oregon town where a nightmare unfolded 20 years ago--and is waiting to engulf her again. For fans of J.T. Ellison, Paula Hawkins, Karin Slaughter, and Riley Sager.
The huge Victorian house on Lake Twilight belongs to Harper Reed Prescott, as does the private island on which it sits. Harper wants little to do with either. Twenty years ago, Harper's grandmother died suspiciously while in her care, on the same night that Harper's boyfriend disappeared. His body was never found, and no charges were filed. But the rumors haven't faded. There have been other deaths, other accidents. All revolving around Harper and her family.