Sensational Beach Reads to While Away the Summer 2026

While many of us are looking forward to swimming, boating, or camping this summer, others may just want to ‘chill out’ on a lawn chair on a beach, book in hand. When summer finally comes, there’s nothing like a good romance or a thrilling, page-turner mystery to while away the hours. Here are some suggestions for enjoyable “beach reads”.

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell

copyright ©2026 Lisa Jewell Ltd. Published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC.

Lisa Jewell is the #1 New York bestselling author of 24 novels, including Don’t Let Him In, None of This is True, The Family Upstairs, and more. There are more twists and turns in this spellbinding novel than the Amalfi Coast Road in Italy. I Could Have Been Her is a gripping psychological thriller about a lost dog, a missing woman and a mysterious house in Hampstead. Jewell is one of the world’s premier suspense authors, and this book is proof of the author’s ability to grab readers’ attention from the get-go and hold it to the very end. Spine-tingling suspense –it’s a book you won’t be able to put down.

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune

Toronto author Carley Fortune has taken the romance novel world by “storm” with five novels, which have all become #1 New York Times bestsellers. Her novels include Every Summer After, One Golden Summer, This Summer Will be Different, Meet Me at the Lake and her latest novel, Our Perfect Storm. Recently, Prime Video released an eight-episode series called Every Year After, which is an adaptation of Fortune’s novel Every Summer After.

Our Perfect Storm is about Frankie and George, who have been best friends since they were eight years old. They are both passionate and headstrong and although they often clash, they always patch things up—at least until now. It’s the eve of Frankie’s wedding and she doesn’t know if George will even show up to be the best man. In walks George, but out walks Frankie’s fiancé, who dumps her, leaving only a note. George has an idea to heal Frankie’s broken heart—he wants her to go on her honeymoon–with him! Secrets and long-buried feelings are revealed, which could tear apart their friendship for good, or could there be more than just friendship between them?

Lucky by Marissa Stapley

Marissa Stapley is a bestselling Canadian author whose novel Lucky is being adapted into an Apple TV+ series of the same name, which premieres on July 15 and stars Anya Taylor-Joy. Stapley also recently announced plans to publish a sequel to Lucky entitled No Such Thing as Lucky, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in summer 2027.

Lucky is a thrilling roller-coaster ride about a heist gone wrong. Lucky Armstrong has just pulled off a million-dollar heist with her boyfriend, and she is ready to change her identity and start a new life. But things go sideways when Lucky ends up alone, without the aid of her father or boyfriend, from whom she has learned the art of the scam. Here’s her problem: she has a winning lottery ticket worth millions of dollars, but if she cashes it in, she will likely be arrested and sent to prison. Unfortunately, her dark path seems to be catching up to her — is her luck about to run out?

Getting Away With Murder by Shari Lapena

Getting Away With Murder is the 10^th thriller from New York Times bestselling author Shari Lapena, who penned the bestselling mystery The Couple Next Door. Known as one of the best psychological thriller writers in the world, Shari Lapena’s Getting Away With Murder is a page-turner you will not want to put down. Here is the storyline: Jill and Ted adore their New York brownstone and have expensively decorated it to reflect their tastes and status. But Ted’s inheritance runs out and he starts to panic. How can they protect their beloved home? Well, there is one answer—the death of a wealthy family member from whom they stand to inherit millions could solve all their problems. That is as long as neither of them makes a mistake, if they trust each other and there are no surprises!

If Only Love: A Memoir of Second Chances by Shelley Saywell

If Only Love: A Memoir of Second Chances by Toronto author Shelley Saywell is a real-life love story. In 1973, 17-year-old Canadian Shelley Saywell meets an American boy (Daniel Peterson) on her first day of school in Japan, and they fall in love. They only have two months together before school ends and she heads home. The two soon fall out of touch and as the years pass, Shelley often thinks about him. Fast forward 30 years, and suddenly Daniel’s name pops up in her email inbox, delivering them both a second chance at love. And there is a curve ball, of course, which we won’t reveal. This is a heartwarming (and at times heart-wrenching) memoir about everlasting love.

The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren

The Romance Revival, being released in mid-July, is the much-anticipated novel by Christina Lauren, a perennial New York Times bestselling author. Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA Today #1 internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild series, The Paradise Problem, The True Love Experiment. Together, they have written 17 New York Times bestsellers.

The Romance Revival is an intriguing and unforgettable love story about a married couple who found love, only to have it shattered by a tragic accident, which erases the memory of their past. Scientist Emery Finch was in Vegas when she met (and later married) the incredibly handsome and charming landscaper Luca, who made her laugh, dance, and feel alive. But when Emery returned to work, she was consumed with her research, leaving little time to spend with Luca. Suddenly, her world is torn apart when a tragic accident takes Luca from her. Scientist Emery uses the classified technology she has developed to bring him back to life! Luca would probably thank her for it—if only he could remember her. For Emery, it is her one shot at a second chance for love.

Follow the Sun by Liz Locke

Copyright ©2023, Liz Locke, Published in 2026 by Vintage Canada, an imprint of Random House Canada

Liz Locke’s debut novel will whisk you away to the beaches of Acapulco, to the ski slopes of Gstaad, Switzerland and to the glamour and excitement of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. Set in the 60’s, socialite Caroline Kimball has become an avid traveller who has discovered that it’s a great way to escape her adult responsibilities. It also helps hide her musical ambitions from her disapproving mother. As with any good romance novel, she meets a handsome man—photographer Jack “Tex” Fairchild, who encourages her to follow her dream. However, the Vietnam War is looming, and secrets catch up to Caroline as she finds herself torn between her life with Tex, pursuing her music career, or saving her family from ruin.

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson

From Jenny Jackson, the New York Times bestselling author of Pineapple Street, comes her newest novel The Shampoo Effect. Set in a small seaside town in Massachusetts, the story is about an ambitious young woman who weaves herself into a tight-knit social circle and begins to shake up friendships and marriages. The Shampoo Effect is about the realization of midlife and a small group of old friends finally growing up, despite their best efforts to the contrary. A fun summer read about love, money, sex and friendship.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Written by #1 bestselling New York Times author Ruth Ware (author of the Woman in Cabin 10), this is a thrilling page-turner about a woman who searches for answers a decade after her friend is murdered. April Clarke-Cliveden met Hannah Jones (the vivacious “It Girl”) at Oxford and the two became inseparable friends. They formed a tight-knit circle of friends during their first term, but when the school year ended, April was found dead. A decade later, the man convicted of killing April dies in prison. Suddenly, Hannah’s world turns upside down when a young journalist presents her with new evidence that the man accused of April’s murder may be innocent. Hannah and friends begin to dig into the mystery, only to realize that the friends she thought she knew may have something to hide—including a murder! This is a spine-tingling mystery you won’t be able to put down and may just have to stay up all night to finish it!

Wildwood by Elinor Florence

Written by Ruth Ware, the #1 bestselling author of Finding Flora, Wildwood is destined to be another Canadian bestseller about “a single mother, an abandoned farmhouse, and an epic battle with the northern wilderness” as stated in the book synopsis. Molly Bannister is a single mother who is broke and desperate when she accepts an ironclad agreement outlined in her great-aunt’s will. To gain her inheritance, Molly must spend one year in an abandoned, off-the-grid farmhouse in the remote backwoods of northern Alberta. If she stays on the farm for a year, she can then sell it to fund the much-needed medical treatment for her four-year-old daughter. From blizzards to grizzly bears, this one-year stint is not going to be easy, but she must survive to save their future. When Molly discovers a journal written by her brave great aunt, the land’s original homesteader, it inspires Molly to carry on, despite the odds.

Check out your local bookstore for these and other inspiring summer “beach reads.”