Beach Reads

Destination? Shore towns! Check out these reads that take place at the beach.

Nantucket:

• The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand – Hours before a Nantucket wedding a body is discovered in the Harbour, and everyone in the wedding party becomes a suspect.
• Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer – Darcy is 30 years old, divorced, and works for the Nantucket library. When new summer neighbors arrives Darcy is shocked to discover it’s her ex-husband’s new family.  

Mystic Seaport:

• Mystic Summer by Hannah McKinnon – When her career is suddenly put in jeopardy, Maggie returns home to be comforted by her family, where she runs into Cameron, a man from her past who is also returning home.

Isle of Palms:

• Beach House Memories by Mary Alice Monroe – Travel down to the low country and immerse yourself in a series about family, love, and sea turtles.
• Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank – One summer two couples develop a summer friendship that lasts for two decades and transforms their lives.

Newport:

• The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor – A historical novel set in 1838 England and 1938 Newport.  In England, Grace and her father rescue victims of a shipwreck.  Grace is celebrated throughout England for her heroic efforts and she develops a relationship with visiting artist.  In Newport, 19 years old and pregnant, Matilda has been sent away from Ireland for being a disgrace.  She is to stay with a woman named Harriet, an assistant to the lighthouse keeper.  

Cape Cod:

• The Gin and Chowder Club by Nan Parson Rossiter – A story of friendship and of love this book will transport you to the Cape Cod coast where Samuel and Sarah Coleman have watched their children grow up into adults.  When their one son begins to enter into an an affair with the neighbor they too will learn more about the joys and heartaches of love.

Ogunquit:

• The Summer Nanny by Holly Chamberlin – Two best friends secure summer jobs being nannies to vacationing families.  A novel about navigating their own morals and manipulative employment the girls test the bond between each other as well as the bonds between themselves and their mothers.

Jersey Shore:

• The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner – A young widow retreat to a beach town, where her solitude is interrupted by a visitor that forces her to acknowledge dark family secrets.
• A Matter of Chance by Julie Maloney – While on vacation at a Jersey Shore town, a single mother loses her daughter and goes on terrifying journey dedicating her life to find her.
• Whisper Beach by Shelley Noble – After a traumatic incident, Vanessa left Whisper Beach.  She intends to return to shore just long enough to attend a funeral, but her  visit is prolonged and she learns that her perceptions of the past may not be what she thought they were.

-Jessica Bielen, Adult Services Librarian