A Toast to Beach Reads! Here's What You Should Read Based on Your Favourite Summer Drink

Set in Hawaii, Christina Lauren’s The Unhoneymooners is the perfect tropical destination read for piña colada drinkers. After her sister’s wedding party comes down with food poisoning, Olive swipes their honeymoon for herself. There’s just one problem. The honeymoon is for two people, and the best man, AKA Olive’s nemesis, didn’t catch the food bug either. Call it fate, their own personal hell, or a weird coincidence, but Olive and Ethan are Maui-bound on the ultimate romantic newlyweds vacay. The more days that pass, the easier it is to pretend they enjoy each other’s company. Then, Olive wakes up one day and realises she’s stopped pretending.

Calling all wine and frosé lovers! Decanted by Linda Sheehan follows Manhattanite Samantha, who decides to leave her cubicle day job for the opportunity to work on a French vineyard. Abroad, she masters the art of harvesting grapes and falling in love.

If mojitos are your go-to summer cocktail, it’s probably because of their refreshing, citrusy lime and mint taste, which is exactly what you’ll need while devouring Tia Williams’ latest novel, Seven Days in June. Two writers unexpectedly reconnect after running into each other at a book event in Brooklyn. It’s work, so they’ll have to keep it professional; no one can know about the seven days that happened 15 years ago. Take it from us, this sexy-as-hell story will leave you hot and bothered, reaching for something to take the edge off.

Between IPAs, ales, stouts, ciders, and lagers, beer has a lot of personalities – much like the management and guests at the The Golden Hotel, the Catskills “It” vacation spot. After 60 years, the Goldmans and Weingolds are on the brink of losing the establishment for good, and it doesn’t help that they aren’t getting along. Not to mention, there’s a big financial hiccup no one knows about…yet. Elyssa Friedland’s laugh out loud summertime title, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy all over, just like your beer flight.

Hannah Hodges is about to have the kind of summer you only hear about in movies. She’s en route to Spain where she’ll spend a month alongside her fellow filmmakers and hunky boss to produce a documentary. Surrounded by delicious food, lively music, and plenty of sangria, it’s the perfect place to fall in love. Then, trouble arrives and Hannah may find herself wishing she sat this trip out. Then. Now. Always. by Isabelle Broom will have you refilling your glass and planning a Spanish getaway.

If you’re that person who orders an Aperol Spritz on the first official day of summer, then you’ll eat up Chloé Eposito’s debut novel Mad. The story is set in Italy, the country that invented the orange-hued aperitivo. After receiving a 24-hour eviction notice, Alvina has no choice but to accept her rich twin sister’s invitation for an all-expenses paid trip to her home in Sicily. Upon arriving, Beth reveals to Alvina her real reason for her visit: she needs Alvina to be her so she can sneak away from her husband for one night. Convinced with a pair of Prada stilettos, Alvina agrees, but when Beth is later found dead, she’ll have to decide to come clean or to continue living sister’s life. It can’t be that hard being Beth, right? They are identical twins after all.

Spiked lemonade is essentially sunshine in liquid form, and it’s the perfect drink to accompany this novel that’s set against a sunny California backdrop. Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan is part women’s fiction, part mystery book that centres around two tight-knit cousins, Jackie and Willa, in the summer of 1979. They eventually become estranged after Willa disappears, and 20 years later, Jackie returns to the estate that once brought them together. There, she starts to uncover more missing pieces to the puzzle behind Willa’s disappearance.

We couldn’t think of a better summer night cap than a margarita and Alexis Daria’s spicy, forthcoming novel, A Lot Like Adiós. It’s been 13 years since Michelle and Gabriel last saw each other and since the last time they were in bed together. When Michelle, a former marketer and current graphic designer, is appointed as the lead designer on Gabriel’s gym’s grand opening campaign, it’s as if no time has passed and they soon find themselves back to their old ways. Only in NYC for the campaign, Gabe will have to choose between staying for good or saying adiós to Michelle one more time.

Can’t pick a favourite summer drink? You would get along perfectly with the characters in Hannah Orenstein’s second novel, Love at First Like, who make bar hopping look like a sport. From pubs to French wine bars and themed dive bars to Mexican cantinas, sisters and business partners Eliza and Sophie are always getting into crazy situations, like accidentally posting a fake engagement photo to Instagram. Yikes!