2025 Beach Reads That Actually Deserve a Spot in Your Bag
2025 Beach Reads That Actually Deserve a Spot in Your Bag
Look, I have a complicated relationship with the phrase “beach read.”
It makes me think of hot pink paperbacks and women with windblown hair who somehow don’t sweat.
But the truth is, my version of a beach read? Sometimes it is a swoony second-chance romance.
Other times, it’s a psychological thriller where someone gets stalked across coastal California.
Sometimes it’s a cozy mystery with MLM energy and a deeply nosy midlife mom who refuses to let the FBI tell her what to do.
So if you’re here looking for a list of 2025 beach reads that are fun, fast, addictive, and actually good?
You’re in the right place.
These are all standalone new book releases that I’ve read (and loved), across genres, and yes, I’d absolutely throw every single one in my beach bag. Even if I’m just reading them from my couch with the A/C on high and a cold drink in hand.
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Women’s Fiction 2025 Beach Reads
I Can’t Even by Jenn McKinlay
This one’s for you if:
- You love women’s fiction with a soft romance subplot
- You want sister drama, dying-mother drama, and boy-next-door tension
- You want a little surfy SoCal setting without having to reapply SPF 50
The vibes: Julia returns home after a decade of silence to care for her dying mom (complicated) and runs into her old flame (more complicated). Their bedroom windows face each other. They’ve both grown up. There are feelings. It’s giving emotional damage, but make it healing.
Romance 2025 Beach Reads
Ride the Wave by Katherine Reilly
You want:
- Sports romance without locker room bro culture
- Portugal as a backdrop (yes, please)
- Found family, forbidden vibes, and just enough spice
Leo Silva used to be the name in pro surfing. Now he’s hiding out in a sleepy seaside town, and Iris, an ambitious sports journalist, is sent to dig into his comeback story. Her boss’s boss? His mom. Naturally. The chemistry is chef’s kiss, the setting is swoony, and I wanted to book a surf lesson by chapter three.
By the way, I had a chat with Victoria from Bibliolifestyle where she recommended 5 of her favorite romance 2025 beach reads you won’t want to miss. And if you’re a KU reader, I also have some 2025 kindle unlimited romance beach reads you can’t miss.
Thriller 2025 Beach Reads
Bald-Faced Liar by Victoria Helen Stone
This one scratched the “I want to feel slightly creeped out while drinking iced tea” itch.
It’s a twisty, you-thought-you-were-safe-but-nope kind of thriller.
Elizabeth is a traveling nurse with a fake name and a VERY real past. When someone starts pulling at the threads of her new life, things unravel fast. It’s set near the California coast, has just the right amount of stalker energy, and feels like a popcorn thriller, but one that knows what it’s doing.
Grab Bald-Faced Liar on Amazon
If you’re looking for more popcorn thrillers to dive into, look no further than my list of Kindle Unlimited popcorn thrillers that aren’t Freida McFadden.
Cozy Mystery 2025 Beach Reads
Homemaker by Ruthie Knox & Annie Mare
Prairie is a homemaker with a knack for pattern recognition. She’s also a divorced mom who gets pulled into a missing person investigation when one of her old mom-circle friends vanishes.
This book is:
- Part cozy mystery
- Part suburban drama
- Part don’t underestimate moms in yoga pants
It also features an FBI love interest, midlife reinvention, small-town secrets, and yes, there is MLM drama. This was FUN. Like… if you’ve ever read a Janet Evanovich book and thought, “What if Stephanie Plum had better boundaries and real adult friendships?”
Need more summer reads?
Head to our Summer Books list for a whole shelf’s worth of recommendations.
What about you…what’s YOUR perfect beach read?
Drop a comment or come yell about it with me on Instagram.
And don’t worry. There are more “finished this in one sitting” books coming your way soon.
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