The Best Summer Beach Reads Worth a Spot in Your Vacation Bag
All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: vacation season. And we have compiled the best summer beach reads that are red hot and brand new in 2025.
The definition of what exactly constitutes a beach read varies a bit. Some may say that a spicy or even smutty summer-themed romance novel fits the bill, or any tale that takes place in the hottest months of the year. If you’re like me, you exclusively pack twisty and jaw-dropping thrillers for a vacation, the more demented and ridiculous the better.
To me, a beach read is less about the subject matter and more about the ease of reading and the pleasure of the plot. In my opinion, poolside isn’t the time to dissect a thought-provoking yet dense nonfiction or untangle the myriad meanings of a critically acclaimed piece of literary fiction. It’s the time for engaging storylines, sexy smut, familiar and cozy tropes, and words that go down as smoothly as your second frozen margarita.
Luckily, our Glamour editors and bookstagrammers we trust have spent the past few months tearing through all the hottest (pun intended) and best summer beach reads that are new this season. Here are our summer 2025 favorites, all of which are worthy of taking up space in your beach bag.
32 Days in May by Betty Corrello
Harper Collins
1/17
32 Days in May by Betty Corrello
Nadia has recently been diagnosed with Lupus and wants to live a quiet life at the Jersey Shore. Except Nadiaās meddlesome doctor worries sheās isolating herself, so he connects her with his former-actor cousin, Marco. Marco is attempting to change his party boy ways and slow down while at the Shore.
The two have a wild first date and decide to ādateā for 30 days, no strings attached. From NYC to Rome, the twoās chemistry is off the charts, but Nadia insists on keeping her diagnosis from Marco. Itās just a summer fling, right?
āSasha, book content creator at Sasha Book Yap
Be the Bombshell: What Love Island Teaches Us About Dating by Rebecca Jennings
Simon and Schuster
2/17
Be the Bombshell: What Love Island Teaches Us About Dating by Rebecca Jennings
Be the Bombshell may have Love Island in the title, but it doesn’t require an encyclopedic knowledge of the LI universe in order to enjoy. It’s a fun and clever page-turner about dating in the 21st century featuring anecdotes (both sweet and cringey) from Jennings’s friends as well as some truly insightful commentary about relationships in 2025āand not just romantic ones.
As someone who doesn’t have the patience to watch the show Love Island, but who has nonetheless been subjected to all the lingo (“a new bombshell has entered the villa”) and the overall concept (Big Brother but dating), Be the Bombshell was the perfect blend of niche pop culture and real, relatable dating advice.
āSamantha Reed, senior trending news and entertainment editor
Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan
3/17
āCanāt Get Enoughā by Kennedy Ryan
This is the third installment and conclusion to Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland series, and it was well worth the wait. Hendrix is the main character in this book, and it was really refreshing to read aboutĀ a character who is childfree by choice.
In true Kennedy Ryan style, this is a romance that tackles heavier topics, including dealing with a family member who has Alzheimerās and becoming their caretaker. Between the steamy romance and the emotional family issues that Hendrix faces, there’s plenty to discuss after reading.
āNnenna Odeluga, book content creator at Notes By Nnenna
Dream On, Ramona Riley by Ashley Herring Blake
Penguin Random House
4/17
Dream On, Ramona Riley by Ashley Herring Blake
This is such a cute rom-com. The lakeside small town was the perfect summery setting, and I loved that these characters had a brief romantic history. They were each otherās first kiss at 13?! Swooooon.
Both main characters both messy in their own ways, which felt super relatable to me.Ā Their chemistry was electric and the spice was spicing!
āSerena, book content creator at Serena Erin Reads
Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
Penguin Random House
5/17
Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
Trad wife murder mystery? Say no more. Jo Piazza’s latest is an incredibly spot-on thriller slash satire of our current obsession with homemaker influencers.
Lizzie is a journalist struggling to stay afloat in her struggling industry, and her only contact with her former college friend, Bex, is obsessively watching her online. Bex, now known as Rebecca Sommers, has completely reinvented herself as a tradwife raising five kids on a farm with her husband Gray, and has millions of followers salivating over every sourdough loaf she makes. But when Bex reaches out to Lizzie with the opportunity that could kickstart her career, she is drawn into the darker reality behind the feed. You’ll spend the pool day devouring this one, then spend the rest of the day on IG immersing yourself even further in #tradwife content.
āStephanie McNeal, senior editor
