6 beach reads to pick up this summer

After living in denial for a few years, I can now confidently say that I'm a mood reader. Even if I've been desperately looking forward to a sequel (I'm looking at you, lapsed Libby hold on "The Ballad of Falling Dragons"), if I'm not in the mood, I am just as likely to skip over it for a BookTok-influenced murder mystery. Which means my "beach reads" can be somewhat chaotic.

I'm not always looking to lose myself in something frothy and forgettable - although those can be fun. Instead, I want my summer reads to make me feel something, anything to either shake me out of a bad mood or bolster a good one.

It can be angry, like a biting satire about the media. Or it can be heartbreaking (but with a happily ever after), like a book about a single mom falling into a fake dating scheme in a small coastal town. I also can't get enough laughter in my life and love a summer-set read filled with witty banter - be it from a serial killer or a gig worker who marries her nemesis for health insurance.

So, as we head into what might be Seattle's most-awaited season, here are six reads to devour at the beach, each one perfect for any summer mood.

"Harvest Season" by Brynne Weaver (out now from Slowburn). "Harvest Season" is the second novel in a planned trilogy by Weaver, an author cementing her status as one of the queens of dark (and darkly funny) romance novels. If you loved her "Ruinous Love" trilogy, you're sure to fall equally hard for "The Seasons of Carnage" trilogy.

It follows the story of how small-town gardener Harper comes head-to-head with Nolan, a first responder who lands in Cape Carnage with one very specific task: avenge the death of his brother. Unfortunately, the small tourist trap of a town harbors a very dark past, as do both of our main characters.

There are unsolved crimes, threats looming from every corner, overly curious armchair detectives and one mildly murderous crow. I'm not sure how Weaver manages to make serial killers so lovable but this page-turner is perfect for hot summer nights.

"Dolly All the Time" by Annabel Monaghan (out now from G.P. Putnam's Sons). Dolly has everything under control. She's the caretaker of her family, which includes her dad, brother and 13-year-old son, all while juggling three or four jobs at a time. However, when she must move back to her small, seaside Rhode Island town for the summer and ends up fixing a flat tire (because that's exactly the sort of person Dolly is) for the wealthy, workaholic heir of the family the town is named after, that control slips away.

This one is for fans of the fake dating trope, but there's also so much more to love. You'll root for Dolly to stand up for herself alongside all the heartwarming characters you meet in this hot summer romance. If you're tired of reading about college-aged heroines and loved the bones of the classic Julia Roberts film "Mystic Pizza," this one's for you.

"Dearly Departed" by Chip Pons (out now from G.P. Putnam's Sons). Love the tale of Hades and Persephone, but wish that Persephone were a sexy, copper-haired florist named Levi?

In this queer love story, Hades is no longer the god of the Underworld, thanks to the Immortal Retirement Act. Instead, he has assumed the role of a small-town undertaker named Hayden, a solitary man seeking a loophole that could bring him and his brothers back to their former god status. As one could imagine, it's a lonely existence until he meets Levi, a perpetually sunny plant store owner hiding bone-deep grief behind a riot of colorful, messy blooms.

The two come together in a beautifully written tale that explores loneliness, grief and what happens when you let someone in. Even though this book is set in the middle of winter, the steam factor is perfect for summer.

"The Scoop" by Erin Van Der Meer (out now from Grand Central Publishing). Frankie Miller is at the end of her rope. She lost her job as an editor at fashion magazine Marie Claire and, in a last-ditch effort to continue her hard-fought journalism career, takes a gig as the night editor at The Scoop. The only problem? It's a trashy gossip site run by a tyrannical editor and owned by a majorly conservative (and morally shady) news network.

Frankie hopes it's a brief detour and that she'll soon be back in a more prestigious newsroom. Unfortunately, it's not long before the seemingly "innocent" gossip turns sinister, and Frankie grapples with every moral journalistic line she's ever drawn.

If you love satire and examining why we were all so celebrity-obsessed in the heyday of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and TMZ, this book is for you.

"The Someday Garden" by Ashley Poston (out now from Berkley). "The Someday Garden" is the time slip romance you never knew you needed.

Set over the course of a summer at a rambling 200-year-old Maine estate called Lilymoor, this magical-realism story deploys the gardens not only as a gorgeous setting, but as a metaphor for life, death and growth.

It's where head gardener Sophie Drear is tasked with taming many of the gardens, bringing some back to life while she struggles with overcoming insurmountable grief. Amid tracking down the source of overly soggy beds, she meets a man inside a secret, magical garden that appears intermittently. Even more surprising is the desire she has to help free him during a time when she's felt practically nothing at all.

"Married with Benefits" by Ellie Palmer (out July 21 from G.P. Putnam's Sons). Books by Palmer are quickly becoming an immediate yes for me, and "Married With Benefits," Palmer's third rom-com novel, is just more proof.

Listed in Paul Constant's roundup of 2026's most anticipated books, Palmer's latest has us falling for Lainey Davis, a plucky heroine determined to make the best of any situation who strings together a random assortment of gigs while battling a debilitating chronic migraine condition.

Of course, Lainey can't catch a break, so when she gets hit with an eviction notice after learning she's been inadvertently squatting in her childhood home, she rolls with the punches. What she didn't anticipate, however, was the new owner - Elliot Hodges, a buttoned-up, extremely handsome architect - coming up with a scheme that could give them both what they want.

It's a marriage of convenience that will have you kicking your feet in delight as these two untrusting individuals navigate the pitfalls of marrying a stranger.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 4:54 PM.