Top Ten Tuesday – Summer Reads

Here in the southern hemisphere, summer is just a distant dream, so this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic with the girls from The Broke and the Bookish is the closest I’m going to get for a while. We’re talking summer reads, so set up the beach umbrella, the hammock, or the pool-side recliner, and settle in for a read. 🙂
A New Shade of Summer – Nicole Deese
Artist Callie Quinn accepts a summer muralist job in Lenox to spend some much-needed time with her family, and finds straight-laced single dad and veterinarian Davis Carter could use a little colour in his life, too.
Releases 12 September 2017, but available for pre-order now!
 
 
Begin Again – Crystal Walton
What happens when a free-spirited artist from big-city New York collides with an uptight business owner from small-town Ocracoke? Fireworks. The kind neither saw coming.
You guys, this is such a fun read! Ti Russo is a hoot! Read my review here.
 
 
The Last Summer – Brandy Bruce (Cover not revealed yet)
This is another new release that has caught my attention.  Twenty-something Sara Witherspoon is part of a unique circle of seven friends who move in and out of each other’s lives like family. When her best friend (and the guy she secretly loves) begins dating another girl in the group, the perfect circle of friendship begins to change and splinter. Sara realizes that some things don’t last forever—but some things do.
This releases on 9 June 2017 and you can get up-to-date release information by liking Brandy’s Facebook page or visiting her website.

A Sweethaven Summer – Courtney Walsh
Just before Suzanne Carter lost her battle with cancer, she sent letters to her childhood friends, Lila, Jane, and Meghan, who haven’t spoken in years. Suzanne’s daughter Campbell travels to Sweetwater to meet with her mother’s friends, each of whom has pieces of a scrapbook they made as girls.  Secrets from the past are revealed, old wounds are mended, lives are changed, and friendships are restored — just as Suzanne intended.
 
 
Barefoot Summer – Denise Hunter
To find closure after her twin brother’s drowning, Madison sets out to fulfill her brother’s dream of winning the town’s annual regatta. But first she has to learn to sail, and fast. Beckett O’Reilly knows Madison is out of his league, but someone neglected to tell his heart. Now she needs his help–and he’ll give it, because he owes her far more than she’ll ever know.
 
 
Sweet Waters – Julie Carobini
Jilted Tara Sweet leaves Missouri to chase after the fairy tale life she and her sisters once knew in Otter Bay. Soon she meets handsome but complicated firefighter Josh Adams and a host of mysterious faces from long ago. But what happens when truth is one secret after another, lies unfold, and the fairy tale turns out to be a soap opera?
“Like taking a beach vacation from the comfort of your own living room.” ~ Katherine Cushman
 
This Rough Magic – Mary Stewart
One of my favourite of Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels, set on the island of Corfu. Lucy Waring, an out-of-work actress, visits her sister on the island of Corfu and discovers their nearest neighbours are a famous and reclusive stage actor and his handsome, if arrogant son. And then a body washes up on the beach…
 
 
The Beach House – Sally John
The story of four women, friends from childhood, who reunite to celebrate their fortieth birthdays. After the distance of time and geography, they look forward to the camaraderie of old friends and the escape from everyday life as they stay at a San Diego beach house. When thoughts and discussion turn to the history of their friendship, will problems of the past threaten to overtake the present?
 
 
Once Upon a Gulf Coast Summer – Susan Oliver
Once Upon a Gulf Coast Summer is about the complex relationship between Josephine Green and her grown daughter, Katy. Issues bear down from Josephine’s troubled and rigid childhood and the enigmatic mother who was preoccupied with her own secret disappointments. Jo and Katy continue to war with each other, especially after Jo is diagnosed with lung cancer. Jo and Katy work to find their redemption, both together and individually, even as flood waters threaten their home one Gulf Coast summer.
 
Making Waves – Lorna Seilstad
For those who would prefer a historical summer read…
When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn’t be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It’s also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews. But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father’s gambling problems threaten to ruin the family forever.

What are some of your favourite summer-themed reads?