Summer 2026 Books to Read- My Top Picks for Your Beach Bag!
Can you believe summer is already knocking on our doors? If you’re anything like me, your beach bag is less about sunscreen and towels and more about how many paperbacks you can comfortably cram inside.
There are so many incredible worlds to explore this season, and the authors on my radar are bringing some truly phenomenal stories to life. Since our first two picks are hitting shelves right around Memorial Day, they’re the perfect kickoff to our Summer 2026 Books to Read stack!
I cannot wait to dive into these highly anticipated releases, which offer everything from high-stakes espionage and gritty legal thrillers to deeply moving portraits of resilient women. Plus, a little reminder about my own hot release coming out this August!
Ready? Let’s check out these can’t miss Summer 2026 Books to Read!
The Hope Keeper by Heather Webb- (May 19th)
I love Heather Webb and met her at the Historical Novel Society conference last year. She is just as fabulous in person as she is on the page. I absolutely loved her books Queens of London and The Next Ship Home, and I adore everything she has co-written with Hazel Gaynor. She has such a stunning gift for exploring the true nature and gritty resilience of the human condition against beautifully researched historical backdrops, and her latest release is no exception.
Set in 1919 Washington D.C., The Hope Keeper follows Elisabeth Beaumont, a young woman from a renowned jeweler family who is left to run their failing business alone after the untimely death of her twin brother. Desperate to expand the business, she ingratiates herself with the affluent crowd her brother once courted—led by the wealthy socialite Evalyn McLean. Evalyn happens to be the owner of the world’s most infamous gemstone, rumored to curse all who travel within its orbit: The Hope Diamond.
As Elisabeth is swept into a toxic world of dark opulence, she begins to question everything she once believed about her identity and future. When tragedy strikes one night, her glamorous new life comes crashing down, forcing her to face the truth about her brother’s death and decide what matters most. Releasing right on the cusp of the season, this dazzling, mysterious tale provides the absolute perfect kickoff for your warm-weather reading stack.
A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys (May 26th)
Ruta Sepetys is an absolute auto-buy for me! She is a master of hidden histories, writing books that completely capture your soul and immerse you in the full experience of harsh survival conditions. Between Salt to the Sea and I Must Betray You, this woman absolutely guts me! I also love seeing my son fall in love with her books—he even chose The Bletchley Riddle as his absolute favorite title in Battle of the Books this past year.
Her latest masterpiece takes us to Detroit, 1927—a city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets. Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit dynasty, rich in money and poor in charm. Creative and reckless, Marjorie has spent her life overlooked by her controlling father and siblings, but she grabs a chance to step out of their shadow when she secretly applies to an elite arts program backed by a mysterious patron.
The building is grand and the talent is extraordinary, but something is deeply wrong. The program is strict in ways that feel sinister, doors lock at strange hours, and rumors spread about missing women. The handsome benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling, and as Marjorie gets pulled deeper into his world, she must fight to discover the truth before she loses herself completely. Set in the fading splendor of the 1920s and inspired by real, long-buried events, A Fortune of Sand is a glittering, gothic page-turner about power, control, and the price women pay when they demand to be seen. Landing just in time for the long holiday weekend, it’s bound to keep you turning pages well into the night.
A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (June 2nd)
When it comes to historical fiction, Marie Benedict is a must-read author for me and an obvious addition to my Summer 2026 Books to Read list. She always completely captivates me with the way she uncovers true, under-the-radar heroic women throughout history, and her absolutely fabulous book Queens of Crime masterfully explored Agatha Christie and other legendary queens of mystery. Plus, her powerful writing partnership with Victoria Christopher Murray (giving us masterpieces like The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies) always makes for a stellar, unputdownable experience.
In her highly anticipated June release, she takes a thrilling detour into a fast-paced, high-stakes legal world caught in the crosshairs of the mob. The story follows Eunice Carter, an assistant district attorney and Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, who has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City’s five largest organized crime families. While other prosecutors have failed by focusing on traditional rackets or tax evasion, Eunice realizes the mob’s vulnerability lies in its control over prostitution. But to take him down, she needs an insider.
Enter Polly Adler, who has worked relentlessly to build up a high-class brothel business for the city’s rich and famous. When Luciano goes too far and puts her girls in danger, Polly decides it’s time to end his reign. Together, bridging an enormous social divide and risking their lives, Eunice and Polly fashion a powerful case using a network of women. Under the very nose of the man they’re trying to convict, their alliance launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen. If you love historical fiction with sharp teeth, brilliant historical undercurrents, and a driving plot, this is going to be your ultimate June beach read.
The Windsor Affair by Melanie Benjamin (June 2nd)
Feuding Windsor brothers and their wives—some things, it seems, never change! If you love deep royal history packed with gossip and high stakes, Melanie Benjamin’s upcoming June release is going to completely captivate you.
The Windsor Affair recreates the cataclysmic events that nearly toppled the British monarchy and incited a legendary power struggle between Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the Queen Mother) and Wallis Simpson. Told from the perspective of both women, the novel propels readers into the fabulous world of the debonair Prince of Wales, the café society of the 1930s, and the glittering private lives of the Windsors. As the first novel dedicated entirely to this infamous rivalry, it brings us all the intrigue between two very different—yet perhaps more similar than they would ever admit—wives of royals.
As Queen, Elizabeth would become the ultimate symbol of British pluck and courage during World War II. Meanwhile, Wallis would be forever forced to enact the “World’s Greatest Love Story” even after it sours, going from admired to vilified and, ultimately, pitied. Against a backdrop of the Abdication Crisis, coronations, and war, these two women maintain a biting, sharp-tongued feud—until age and history bring about a kind of understanding. For the last communication between these bitter rivals was a simple, surprising message: “In friendship, Elizabeth.” It sounds like an absolutely riveting drama to lose yourself in this June!
The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (July 14th)
Like Heather Webb, I also had the pleasure of meeting Silvia Moreno-Garcia at the Historical Novel Society conference! She is the absolute master of twisty, dark stories where nothing is ever as it seems. Velvet Was the Night and Mexican Gothic were two of my personal favorites, and I can’t wait to see how she delivers this time around.
Her July release takes us to 1940s Mexico, following Ulises, a handsome con artist who has long charmed lonely women via letters in order to steal their money. Knowing his looks won’t last forever and desperate for a real fortune, he thinks he’s found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse in picturesque Veracruz. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn’t expect: her niece, Inés, who is as observant as she is desperate to escape her aunt’s household.
When Inés discovers Ulises’s true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. Their plan is to convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast, and clean—or so they think. Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagined; she harbors deep secrets of her own. And although Ulises does not believe in true romance, Inés is more alluring than he bargained for. Suddenly, a simple plan becomes perilously complicated. If you’re ready to venture into the streets of a small town where a patina of convention and good manners conceals a cauldron of avarice and lust, this atmospheric noir belongs at the top of your July stack!
The Girl in the Newsroom by Joyana Peters (August 12th)
Last, but certainly not least, I’m so incredibly excited to share the upcoming finale of my historical trilogy with you all this August! I can’t wait for you to step back into Ruth’s world.
Can one woman have it all in a world designed to hold her back?
New York City, 1921. Twenty-nine-year-old Ruth Feldman has finally found her voice. As a rising journalist at The Forward, she is gaining the recognition she spent a decade chasing. But while the newsroom offers her a glimpse of the modern “New Woman,” her life at home remains tethered to the past. Caught between her father’s mismatched dinner dates and her own ambitions, Ruth’s world is upended when she’s assigned to interview a charismatic Congressman. Sparks fly, but so do the complications. As she enters a high-profile romance, Ruth must navigate the treacherous balance of family loyalty, professional integrity, and a love that challenges everything she thought she knew.
In this gripping sequel to the award-winning The Girl in the Triangle, I can’t wait to bring you this powerful portrait of an independent woman fighting to write her own history in a transformative era!
Which of these historical worlds are you most excited to travel to this summer? Are you kicking off the sunshine with our late-May releases, letting a June royal scandal completely consume you, or counting down the days until we step into Ruth’s newsroom together?
Let me know in the comments below, and happy reading!
