Summer is almost here! Today they are doing a beach day party at my daughter’s school. So jealous! Who doesn’t love a day at the beach? I’ve read a few beach reads that are going to be published this month and wanted to share them with you. I also have a few of my favorites listed as well.

Title: I Spy the Boy Next Door
Author: Samantha Armstrong
Publisher: Samantha Armstrong
Publication Date: May 25th, 2019
Format: Paperback
Length: 346 pages

Mallory has a huge crush on the boy next door. The only problem is that she’s homeschooled and doesn’t have a chance to really know him, until she begs her parents to let her attend public school. Troy Parker, the boy next door, is everything she hoped he would be. Troy acts distant from Mallory at times, yet at other times he is completely protective. This throws Mallory into a complete emotional spin as she is trying to figure out exactly what is going on with Troy and all of his mysterious ways. Does he love her or is he just playing with her emotions?

I Spy the Boy Next door is the typical high school drama of the good girl trying to get the bad boy. I think many teenage girls had this experience and the author creates a scenario in which the good girl does get the out of reach bad boy. He is protective, mysterious, romantic and a little rebellious, but still meets parent approval. The author writes with enough romance and suspense to keep your attention. The book is overall a very fun summer read that allows the reader to escape the real world for awhile.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Samantha Armstrong was born and raised in New Zealand. I Spy The Boy Next Door is her third novel published. You can find out more at her website,
https://www.samantharmstrong.com/

Pre-order her novel here from Amazon.

Title: Queen Bee
Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: May 28, 2019
Format: Hardcover
Length: 432 pages

Queen Bee is the first Dorothea Benton Frank novel I have read. I feel like the author and I could be good friends. You can easily imagine yourself on Sullivan’s Island engaging with the characters. Her writing comes across as so real. Queen Bee is a really quirky, fun novel for summer. I look forward to reading many more novels by the author.

Centered around two sisters and the mom, or “Queen Bee” as they call her, the three ladies are enjoying life on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. Leslie moves away after she is married to a childhood sweetheart. What she doesn’t know is that he has a secret love for impersonating a woman and performing on stage. The other sister, Holly, is a homebody and beekeeper trying to overcome a painful past. The mom goes into a deep depression after Leslie leaves the island and won’t get out of bed. All three must overcome their fears so they can lead the life they want.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Dorothea Benton Frank is the New York Times Bestselling Author of twenty novels, which are set in the South Carolina Lowcountry. She loves reading, gardening, cooking and spending time with her family.
Visit her website:
http://dotfrank.com/
Pre-order here from Amazon.

I mentioned earlier on the blog that I love romance novels written in the 80’s. Victoria Holt is an example. I’m adding her to my list of fun beach reads.

Title: The Road to Paradise Island
Author: Victoria Holt
Publisher: Fawcett
Publication Date: October 12th, 1986
Format: Hardcover
Length: 480 pages

From the publisher:
Annalice Mallory, the sheltered daughter of a family of map makers, discovers the cryptic diary of her long-dead ancestor that includes a map of a mysterious far-of island. Philip, Annalice’s brother, sets sail for the island, lured by the promise of incomparable riches to be found. But when he doesn’t return, Annalice sets out to find him — and the secrets of the diary — in a desperate journey that leads her through the worlds’ most exciting outposts . . . and finally to the tropical islands of the South Seas, where she encounters heart-stopping peril, but also the promise of love.

Victoria Holt, real name Eleanor Alice Burford, was born in 1906 in Kensington, London and passed away in 1993. Her books written under her pen name, Victoria Holt, sold more than 56 million copies. See more of her works at
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/25092.Victoria_Holt

Purchase the book here from Amazon.

Title: Paradise Island
Author: Judith McNaught
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: July 1, 2003
Format: Hardcover
Length: 709 pages

Paradise is my absolute favorite romance novel. This is one of those novels that just stays with you. The writing and characters are TOO GOOD. Matthew Farrell and Meredith Bancroft are two of my favorite characters in any fiction book I’ve read. Book hangover guaranteed.

From the publisher:
Corporate raider Matthew Farrell had come a long way from the poor, scruffy kid of Indiana’s steel mills. A long way from the country club where, feeling like an outsider, he had dared to fall in love with a beautiful blonde named Meredith Bancroft, and known a once-in-a-lifetime passion and betrayal that still haunted his memory… Now world leaders courted him, the media watched his every move, and he was ready to move in on the Bancroft empire.

A cool, poised executive in her family’s legendary department store chain, Meredith had once defied her father for the sexually magnetic, intense Matt Farrell — and their brief, ill-fated marriage was the disastrous outcome. Now, as the Bancroft firm is threatened by a hostile takeover, Meredith is forced to confront Matt. As tensions build between them, bittersweet memories rise to the surface, leaving them suspicious, restless, and uncertain. Will they be able to believe in each other — and grasp the tender miracle that is before them? 
Order the novel here from Amazon.

Judith McNaught is the New York Times bestselling author of 19 novels. She currently lives in Dallas, TX. Follow her FB page here.

Title: The Shell Seekers
Author: Rosamunde Pilcher
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: January 2, 1989
Format: Hardcover
Length: 592 pages

One of my favorite writers is Rosamunde Pilcher. Her books are such classics. I find myself becoming easily lost in her stories. The Shell Seekers is a perfect read for summer and it may easily become one of your favorite reads.

From the publisher:

Artist’s daughter Penelope Keeling can look back on a full and varied life: a Bohemian childhood in London and Cornwall, an unhappy wartime marriage, and the one man she truly loved. She has brought up three children – and learned to accept them as they are. Yet she is far too energetic and independent to settle sweetly into pensioned-off old-age. And when she discovers that her most treasured possession, her father’s painting, The Shell Seekers, is now worth a small fortune, it is Penelope who must make the decisions that will determine whether her family can continue to survive as a family, or be split apart. 

Purchase novel here.

Rosamunde Pilcher was born on September 22, 1924 and passed on February 06, 2019. She began writing at the age of 7. On December 7th, 1946, she married her late husband, Graham Pilcher with whom she had four children.
Read more about her and her novels here.