15 Books for Savoring Every Last Moment of Summer

by Abby Jimenez

With every person they date finding their soulmate the second they break up, Justin and Emma decide to date each other and break up to cancel each other’s curse out, but their quick fling turns into something more when their families get involved and they catch real feelings for each other. 

by Catherine Newman

While on her family's yearly escape to Cape Cod, Rocky, sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, relives the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers, coming face-to-face with her family's history and future and accepting she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.

by Nicolas DiDomizio

Ray—a chaotic millennial ex-clickbait writer—and Kip—a pragmatic Gen X doctor—are horrible on paper, but somehow it manages to work. Hoping to recharge in Ray's coastal New England hometown before their end-of-summer wedding, instead a surprise encounter with another couple forces them to look at their many differences in a stark new light.

by Elle Everhart

Sparks fly when Cas Morgan finds herself cast on a Love Island-inspired reality show—with the goal of winning a promotion at work—and is instantly smitten with fellow contestant Ada who is looking for a genuine relationship. Will Cas stick to her strategy to win or listen to her heart?

by Sajni Patel

One impulsive lie leads to a weeklong adventure of fake dating in Hawaii for Bhanu and Sunny—two bickering coworkers—but as they let their guards down, will either of them be able to resist this romantic getaway without crossing the line?

by Suzanne Rindell

During the summer of 1999, as her fiancé spends long hours at work with Kendra, an all-too-close female colleague, 20-something Sawyer becomes friends with Kendra’s boyfriend, Nick, and together they spend Fridays exploring NYC together, and as real feelings develop, they wonder what will happen when summer is over. 

by Christina Clancy

After a disastrous summer spent at her family summer home on Cape Cod, 17-year-old Ann Gordon was left with a secret that changed her life forever, and created a rift between her sister, Poppy, and their adopted brother, Michael. Now, 15 years later, her parents have died, leaving Ann and Poppy to decide the fate of the Wellfleet home that's been in the Gordon family for generations. Just when the sisters decide to sell, Michael re-enters their lives with a legitimate claim to the house.

by Colson Whitehead

Benji, one of the only Black kids at an elite prep school in Manhattan, tries desperately to fit in, but every summer, he and his brother, Reggie, escape to the East End of Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals has built a world of its own.

by Ethan Joella

In a Delaware beach town, third-generation restaurant owner Jack Schmidt reaches a turning point in his life after the DelDine group, who has been snapping up beloved local eateries, makes him a generous offer to sell Schmidt's. Jack craves companionship and maybe even a family. He wonders if closing the door on the restaurant might open a new window for him. But who would he be without Schmidt's?

by Joanna Lowell

A queer Victorian love story, featuring Kit Griffith, a former painter forging a new life in Cornwall, and Muriel Pendrake, the feisty New York botanist who captures his heart. As Kit and Muriel spend their days cycling together, their desire begins to burn with the heat of the summer sun. But are they pedaling toward something impossible?

by Annabel Monaghan

While touring a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house, Sam runs into Wyatt, the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen, and finds her memories flooding back, remembering who she used to be and the undeniable connection between them, forcing her to make a choice.

by Holly Chamberlin

Renting out three bedrooms and setting up a bed-and-breakfast of sorts, widow Sandra Pennington is eager to try and build a community of like-minded mature women for companionship and support during a summer of self-discovery, renewal and the healing power of friendship.

by Hannah Roberts McKinnon

Tish Darling, the matriarch and protector of what’s left of the family fortune, returns to Riptide, a decades-old beach house on Cape Cod, for her granddaughter’s wedding where she reveals an old secret, kept with the best of intentions, that throws both the wedding and the family off course.

by Sunny Hostin

In the exclusive Black beach community of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, the three unofficial "goddaughters" of Amelia Vaux Tanner, successful women from different backgrounds, gather for one last summer together before Amelia moves to the south of France and gives her home to one of them.

by Meg Mitchell Moore

While staying at her parents’ house in Maine for the summer, Louisa must unravel a family mystery, while newly arrived Kristie cannot keep her various lives from colliding forever, and as these two women cross paths, they will ask themselves what they are owed and what they owe others.