Beach Reads: Romance

PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern : Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus : Set in 1960s California, this blockbuster debut is the hilarious, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is constantly derailed by the idea that a woman's place is in the home, only to find herself starring as the host of America's most beloved TV cooking show. Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the 1960s and despite the fact that she is a scientist, her peers are very unscientific when it comes to equality. The only good thing to happen to her on the road to professional fulfillment is a run-in with her super-star colleague Calvin Evans (well, she stole his beakers.) The only man who ever treated her-and her ideas-as equal, Calvin is already a legend and Nobel nominee. He's also awkward, kind and tenacious. Theirs is true chemistry. But as events are never as predictable as chemical reactions, three years later Elizabeth Zott is an unwed, single mother (did we mention it's the early 60s??) and the star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's singular approach to cooking ('take one pint of H2O and add a pinch of sodium chloride') and independent example are proving revolutionary. Because Elizabeth isn't just teaching women how to cook, she's teaching them how to change the status quo. Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

Meant to Be by Emily Giffin : When Joe and Cate’s paths cross, their connection is instant. What remains to be seen is whether their relationship will survive the glare of the spotlight that follows Joe everywhere. And just as they find themselves in the make-or-break moment, the tragedy that seems to run in Joe’s family right alongside all that privilege will repeat itself.

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin : Rachel has always been the consummate good girl—until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren : Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession . . . or much money in the bank. But Lily is nothing if not resourceful, and now uses Duke's coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the treacherous and storied red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn't leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago. Treasured land wasn't her only loss that fateful summer, and when the man she once loved walks back into her life with a motley crew of his friends ready to hit the trails, the usually self-reliant cowgirl is thrown. Frankly Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness and leave him there. Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they'd barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind them, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. But Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it's never going to happen. Unfortunately, emotions won't be led like a horse to water, and even out in the desert it's impossible toignore the heat of attraction. But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group realizes the idea of hidden treasure wasn't so crazy after all. Finding themselves alone in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lilymust decide whether they trust Duke's maps-and each other-enough to risk their lives and hearts for the adventure of a lifetime.

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner : At her stepdaughter's wedding day to her pandemic boyfriend--the last gathering at the family's beach house in Cape Cod--Sarah is faced with lovers being revealed as their true selves, misunderstandings, and secrets, ensuring that nothing will ever be the same.

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey : Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father's dive bar... in Washington. Piper hasn't even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won't last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can't do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She's determined to show her stepfather -- and the hot, grumpy local -- that she's more than a pretty face. Except it's a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there's an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn't want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan -- and this town full of memories -- may have already caught her heart.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry : A by-the-book literary agent must decide if happily ever after is worth changing her whole life for in this insightful, delightful new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation. Nora Stephens life is books-she's read them all-and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters' trip away-with visions of a small town transformation for Nora who she's convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they've met many times and it's never been cute. If Nora knows she's not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he's nobody's hero, but as they are thrown together again and again-in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow-what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they've written about themselves.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer : When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch : After her mother dies, Lina travels to Italy where she discovers her mothers' journal and sets off on an adventure to unearth her mother's secrets.

Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch : In order to fix their shattered sibling relationship--and Addie's broken heart--Addie and Ian take a road trip across Ireland filled with unexpected detours and a stop at a major musical festival.

Love and Olives by Jenna Evans Welch : Liv Varanakis's father fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. When she receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis, she jumps at the chance to fly out to Greece and help. On gorgeous Santorini, Liv doesn't want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. But her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.