Recommended for you
Memorial Day sometimes marks the unofficial start of summer, which of course, means the start of summer reading season! Whether you’re craving a romance to read by the pool, a twisty thriller for your next flight, or an engrossing fantasy while you stay home for the long weekend, this list has a little something for everyone. Remember: you can never pack too many books!
Scroll to see the books to read during your Memorial Day Weekend down time!
Amazon
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
Alice’s grandmother insists that good things happen at the lake, and from her one summer there, Alice would have to agree. It’s where she took the picture that jump-started her photography career. Lately, Alice has been craving more than a life spent behind the lens. When Nan falls and breaks a hip, she concocts a plan for them to get away to the lake once again. They’ve barely settled in when they see a familiar sight: the little yellow boat from that picture Alice took all those years ago, driven by the same boy, now all grown up. His name is Charlie, and he makes Nan laugh and Alice not only feel seventeen again, but feel really seen.
Amazon
Marguerite by the Lake by Mary Dixie Carter
Marguerite Gray is a lifestyle icon known for her garden parties, high-end business ventures, and as the muse behind the famous Serge Kuhnert painting, Marguerite by the Lake. Phoenix, once from humble beginnings, now tends the gardens at Rosecliff, the estate Marguerite shares with her husband Geoffrey. When a storm threatens a party, Phoenix saves Geoffrey from a falling tree. He's grateful—perhaps too grateful. Marguerite is jealous. Soon after an affair begins, Marguerite falls to her death from the same bluff where she once posed for the painting. Now Phoenix has a secret that haunts her, even as Geoffrey invites her to stay at Rosecliff—and Detective Hanna and Marguerite’s daughter are closing in. But nothing stays buried forever.
Amazon
No Man’s Ghost by Jason Powell
It’s Charles Davids’ first week on the job as an FDNY firefighter fresh out of the academy, and he’s still building up his confidence as his coworkers love to tease the new guy. The only time they lay off is during drilling and training, where their motto is, “let no man’s ghost return to say my training let me down.” That same week, Alan Johnson’s soon-to-be ex-wife kicks him out of their apartment. Infuriated, he calls in a fake fire report every night, thinking that if he can’t sleep there, she shouldn’t be able to either. However, the joke soon gets old, and Alan decides it’s time to set some real fires.
Amazon
The Enemy’s Daughter by Melissa Poett
In this lush, romantasy re-imagining of Tristan and Isolde, the daughter of a clan leader becomes bound to her family’s enemy and begins to question everything she was raised to believe. Isadora, an 18-year-old healer, risks her life to help injured soldiers. But when she stops an attack from Tristan, a Kingsland assassin, she gets shot with a poisoned arrow. As Isadora lies dying, Tristan does the unimaginable: He offers to save her life using a rare magic. In choosing to live, Isadora is unknowingly bound to the mysterious Tristan. To save her people, Isadora will have to open her heart to her most cunning enemy. Because in a race for ultimate survival, she’ll need to destroy Tristan and his people first.
Amazon
The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee
Irene loves romance novels so much, she’s built a career reviewing books online to a massive following, but her real dating life is nonexistent. So when she starts her freshman year of college, she is determined to find true love by trope. That’s when Aiden Jeon, Irene’s online rival, decides to challenge her to see who can find love-by-trope first. Before long, the competition is spun on its head and Irene and Aiden must engage in the ultimate trope: fake dating. For Irene to find her own HEA, she’s going to have to become the main character of her own story.
Amazon
Eliza, From Scratch by Sophia Lee
Eliza has her senior year all planned out: she’s going to be salutatorian, give a tear-jerking graduation speech, and enjoy her last year among her friends. But when a scheduling mishap has her enrolled in Culinary Arts, she’s totally clueless. For once, she’s not the star student; instead, it’s Wesley Ruengsomboon, a Thai American boy and absolute whiz in the kitchen. Eliza’s determined to take back her title by winning the midterm cooking contest, even if it is a long shot. As she learns to cook her grandmother’s Korean recipes and work together with Wesley, she might just find that everything she thought she knew about success, love, and herself needs to be redone, from scratch.
Amazon
Call of the Owl Woman by K.M. Huber
In sixth-century Peru, the Nasca people flourished for centuries, their faith and ingenuity keeping the desert valleys green in a land where water is scarce. But a prolonged drought now fuels dangerous unrest. Cunning sorcerers and brutal priests vie for control, and Water Guardians like Patya’s father, who refuse to favor the powerful, are under attack. Devastated by her grandmother’s sudden death, fifteen-year-old Patya retreats into dance and music. She does not want to become a healer like the long lineage of women in her family before her. But, in the wake of a deadly earthquake, Patya must not only help the healers, she must do things she never thought possible. As she begins to conquer her self-doubts and trust her own sense of justice, she will also have to outwit men of power to keep her little brother from being sacrificed by religious extremists at the coming solstice.
Amazon
Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan
Hendrix Barry lives the life you wish you did – amazing friends, loving family, and a career on the rise. She has plenty going on in her life, so she’s not looking for romance. Besides, she’s never met a man that can keep up with her. That is, until she meets tech mogul Maverick Bell, After a chance meeting at the summer’s hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. But he’s strictly off-limits, so Hendrix plans to ignore her feelings and stay the course. Easier said than done, as Maverick tries to win her over outright. It just might be time for Hendrix to let herself have something more.
Amazon
The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei
Genevieve Yang was an only child until Arin came along. Suddenly, she’s straddled with a new sister while living with her parents and grandparents in a single-room flat in Singapore. Growing up in a place that demands achievement regardless of the sacrifice, the girls quickly form a strong sisterly bond. When a betrayal violently estranges the sisters, Genevieve must decide whether she cares more for ambition or familial love, and whether her allegiance to herself or the people who made her is stronger. This is a major literary debut with searing social insight and stunning emotional clarity.
Amazon
Emperor and Hierophant by Susan Wands
While on tour with the Lyceum Theatre in Manchester, Pamela Colman Smith is kidnapped by a strange creature completely under the control of her nemesis, Aleister Crowley. Amid visions and visitations from otherworldly beings, Pamela must work to free herself so she can protect her muses. Meanwhile, Bram Stoker, Pamela’s guardian and mentor, searches for her while touring with the stars of the Lyceum Theatre, who are also two of her muses. He finds an ally in Ahmed Kamal, Pamela’s Egyptologist friend, as they race to find Pamela before anyone else gets hurt.
Looking for more books to read? Sign up for our newsletter so you never miss a thing!
Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.
