What goes into a perfect summer read? Beachside gatherings full of laughter and joy, the blossoming of a holiday romance, or rediscovering one’s true self in a verdant island retreat on a summer holiday? Discover these stories full of sunshine, sand, surf and emotional warmth, as each of them promises a resplendent reading, like summer wrapped in a seam.
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Making its way into thousands of bookshelves after the highly popular on-screen adaptation of the first of the three-volume series by Jenny Han released in June 2022, The Summer I Turned Pretty is the coming-of-age story of Isabel ‘Belly’ Conklin. The plot is set against the bright and sunny backdrop of the fictional Cousins Beach, where Belly spends her summers every year in the beach house owned by her mother’s best friend, Susannah. Belly has counted the days till she could spend the summer there, every year since being a child, with Conrad and Jeremiah, her best friends and the only boys she has ever looked up to in her life. This summer, however, something has changed between the three. Amid beach parties, bonfires, and romantic poolside conversations, the triangular romance between Belly, Jeremiah and Conrad makes for a fresh, summery, youthful read. As Belly oscillates between her strong feelings for Conrad, whom she has admired all her life, and the first essence of romance peeking into her friendship with Jeremiah, the story traces her coming of age against a warm, summery setting.
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
A story of acceptance and moving on, losing past relationships and mending present ones, loss looms large in this unconventional summer novel. The plot follows Taylor Edwards, a 17-year-old girl, as she spends a summer with her family at a lake house, seemingly the last summer for her father, whose cancer has allowed him only three months more to live. The plot further gets a romantic complication as Henry, with whom Taylor had a romantic encounter that had caused great envy to her friend, Lucy, lives right next to Taylor’s lake house. As Lucy gives her the cold shoulder on her return to the lake house and Henry does not communicate with her as comfortably as would have been possible had not Lucy’s jealousy played a part in their relationship, Taylor realises that this summer is all about giving a second chance to the relationships she can mend, while it has already sounded the knell of obliterating one of the relationships she will perhaps lose forever, the one with her father. As he grows weaker, losing his appetite and energy, sleeping all day and hardly talking to anyone, Taylor realises that forgiveness and reconciliation are important to keep our cherished relationships alive, as life is already fleeting, the threat of death looming large on every little joy.
Coming Home to Seashell Harbor by Miranda Liasson
Coming Home to Seashell Harbor has everything that you can expect in a summer read. Hadley Wells, the protagonist of the novel, has swapped her youthful ambition to save the planet for the glitzy allure of Hollywood. But when her romantic relationship ends and creates a huge public furor, Hadley retreats to her hometown to ruminate on life and find her inner child a new. The plot moves further as she discovers the serious injury sustained by Tony Cammareri, her first lover, that has forced him into permanent retirement from a career in football. Tony, however, has not given up his zest for building a new life and plans to start an ambitious restaurant venture. Even when the two past lovers reunite, struck by a common fate of professional stasis, they soon find themselves on opposing sides, competing to control the future of their hometown. Against a bright summery setting and the serenity of homecoming, Liasson creates a gripping narrative of self-enquiry and romantic upheavals as both lovers strive to save what means the most to each.
Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
Set amidst the beautiful Nantucket island off the coast of Massachusetts, this is a story of an American summer full of sunshine, sand, ocean waves and romance. The protagonist, Cricket Thompson, cannot believe her luck when she gets an invitation to spend the summer on a beautiful island from her friend, Jules. However, a devastating tragedy strikes Jules and her family, which forces her apart from Cricket, revoking her dream invitation to spend the summer at Nantucket Island. However, she decides to make her dream come true by going to the island on her own. A series of mishaps spoil the summer mood for Cricket, as the job she has secured is taken away from her and even on reaching the island, Jules gives her the cold shoulder. The dream summer story seemingly turned bitter gets its saving dose of sweetness as Cricket finds herself falling in love with someone who is completely off-limits, beginning her journey towards a thrilling forbidden romance.
Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Love and Gelato is the quintessential summer read set against the resplendent, fairytale background of Italy. The plot follows Lina Emerson, a recent high-school graduate who is spending her summer in Tuscany to fulfill her mother’s last wish after losing her to cancer. The dying wish of her mother that took her to Italy was that she should get to know her father, a revolting idea to a daughter who has been abandoned by him for 16 years. Although Lina compels herself to go to honour her late mother’s last wish, she finds herself in no mood for the ‘love and gelato’ that many seek in their first trip to Italy. Things take a sharp turn when Lina is given a journal kept by her mother while alive, which uncovers a magical saga of secret romance, art, and amazing bakeries lurking in the corners of Tuscany. With the journal, Lina explores Italy anew through her mother’s eyes, and finds love in Lorenzo, her guide in this adventure towards reconnecting with her mother after her death.