I love reading at all times of the year. However, there’s something about reading a book by the beach, the pool, or even sitting out in your garden on a warm, sunny day that you just can’t beat. Here’s a list of five books – some I’ve read and loved, and some that I cannot wait to read – that I feel best suit that summer day vibe.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Published: May 27, 2021
• Pages: 389
• Genre(s): Historical fiction, Romance

It’s August, 1983: The day of the notorious annual end-of-summer party at the Riva mansion. Everyone wants to be there, except some of the Riva’s themselves; rife with secrets waiting to be spilled, the Riva family is set for the party of a lifetime. Over the course of the evening, lives will be changed: by midnight, the party will be completely out of control and by morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

I read this book a few years back, during the summer, and found it amazing! I was hooked from the very beginning and loved the entire journey of the story. The novel’s setting of the coastal city of Malibu, alongside the romance and intrigue imbued into the book, make it the perfect summer read.

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Aisling Herring Blake

• Published: November 22, 2022
• Pages: 400
• Genre(s): LGBTQ+ Romance

For Astrid Parker, failure is unacceptable. Since she broke up with her fiancé last year, Astrid’s focus turned to her career. When Pru Everwood offers her the opportunity of a lifetime: to be the designer for the Everwood Inn’s renovation project and to be broadcasted on a popular home improvement show, she knows this is the answer to everything that is wrong with her life. However, she never planned on Jordan Everwood, Pru’s granddaughter and lead carpenter for the inn’s renovation. With the two in constant disagreement, the showrunners ask them to play up the tension. But somewhere along the way, their dislike for one another turns into something far more complicated.

This book has been on my physical TBR for years! It’s a book that I am super excited to read as the story looks really exciting and the vibe of the book feels perfectly romantic and sunny.

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

• Published: April 02, 2024
• Pages: 432
• Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
• Series: Part of your World #3

Justin has a curse: Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. Thanks to a Reddit thread, he finds himself plastered all over the internet. When Emma slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea . . . and it just might work.

I read this book back in 2024, after reading the other books in the trilogy. I love this series and I really could put them all on this list, as they’re all truly incredible and fit the summer vibes. But seeing as ‘summer’ is in the title, I think my choice should be fairly self-explanatory.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

• Published: September 6, 2022
• Pages: 416
• Genre(s): Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBTQ+
• Series: The Sunbearer Duology #1

With each new decade, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds, has never worried about the Trials…or rather, he’s only worried for others. Usually, Gold semidioses are chosen but then, for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses a semidíos who isn’t a Gold. In fact, he chooses two: Xio, the 13-year-old child of Mala Suerte, god of bad luck, and…Teo.

The Sunbearer Trials is another book that I have been meaning to read for years; Aiden Thomas is a fabulous writer, and I know I will love this book given how much I adore The Cemetery Boys. This book is a fantasy first and foremost and seems like the perfect blend of heart-warming, emotional, and intriguing.

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood.

• Published: May 27, 2025
• Pages: 390 (Kindle Edition)
• Genre(s): Contemporary romance
• Series: Not in Love #2

Maya Killgore is twenty-three, a struggling grad student, and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, Maya’s brother’s business associate and best friend, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. With two much impeding them, including a power imbalance that would make their relationship far too “problematic”, they’re stuck at an impasse. However, when Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. Doomed to never work out long-term, maybe a summer fling is just the thing they need.

This book is one that I have mentioned a few times, both on this blog and on my Instagram, for so many reasons. I truly adore this book, it grips you from the start and is one of those books that draws the reader into the story and makes them feel like they’re in the world of the novel. The romance in this book is so amazingly written and the warm, sunny backdrop of Sicily really puts you in a summer mood.