7 Seaside Romance Books to Pack in Your Beach Bag

Going against the grain, fiancés Ray and Kip decide to go on a honeymoon of sorts before their wedding. They mean to recharge at the resort, but they’re quickly forced to confront their differences. Ray is younger than Kip and puts his life out there, while Kip is way more private. The pre-wedding trip is full of drama, but the important part is that Ray and Kip hash it out at the beach.

Going to your sister’s destination wedding is already stressful, but the fact that Janelle’s sister is marrying her ex-boyfriend kicks everything into high gear. While in Tulum on sister of the bride duty, Janelle finally meets the groom’s best man. Rome is handsome, immediately into Janelle, and the perfect distraction from family drama. The question at the end of the week is: can their relationship last outside of the beach bubble?

This book includes tropes that are catnip for me in particular: work rivals to lovers, fake dating, and a truly beautiful seaside location. While visiting family in Hawai’i, Bhanu runs into her infuriating coworker, Sunny, who’s attending a wedding at the same hotel. Through a series of rom-com mishaps, Bhanu and Sunny are forced to play nice as romantic partners. Of course, the scheme (and the beautiful surroundings) lead to a deeper, truer connection.

Before the iconic Angela Bassett film, the story of Stella was a bestselling novel. It was really fun to go back to the beginning of the societal phenomenon. Stella has been in nonstop single-mom mode for years, so she goes on vacation to focus on herself for a little while. At a beach in Jamaica, she connects with a younger man named Winston, and her life totally changes.

This book takes place in Cornwall, one of England’s idyllic seaside villages. Both Kit and Muriel have their reasons for relocating to the seaside. Kit, first and foremost, wanted to live his life openly as a man. He left behind the group of women painters that was his tight-knit community to get a new start. Muriel has come from New York and gets roped into a cycling club with Kit. The romance is adorable, and the setting is perfect.

On a remote island, a school with magical students is thrown into chaos when case worker Linus comes to perform an inspection. Linus falls hard for the caretaker, Arthur Parnassus, but he has to get over his fear of vulnerability and going against society’s rules. The magical children are wonderful, and it makes perfect sense why they’re so eager to stay in this beautiful schoolhouse.

This young adult, coming-of-age romance is one of the cutest graphic novels I’ve ever read. Morgan’s desire to run away from the small island town where she lives is super relatable, as is her fear of coming out as a lesbian to her friends. When she makes a connection with the sea-obsessed Keltie, she starts to appreciate her town more and come out of her shell.