Rules of the list:
- I had to at least heard of the authors. While some of these authors I haven’t read, some of their books are on my To Be Read List. For the ones I had read, I had to like the book.
- The book has to be schedule for release during the 2025 summer (May-August)
- Romance couldn’t be the main focus. I feel that the typical beach read is a summery sit-com style romance; for my list I tried to have the opposite.
- Can’t be a continual to a series.
Not Quite Dead by: Holly Jackson (July 22, 2025)
Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. Until Halloween night, when Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder and suffers a catastrophic head injury. The doctor is certain that within a week, the injury will trigger a deadly aneurysm. Jet has never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new light: her family, her former best friend turned sister-in-law, her ex-boyfriend. She has at most seven days, and as her condition deteriorates she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to finally finish something: Jet is going to solve her own murder.
I loved “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.”
Atmosphere by: Taylor Jenkins Reid (June 3, 2025)
Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane. As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.
I have been wanting to read “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” for a long time.
With a Vengeance by: Riley Sager (June 10, 2025)
In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family. Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution. Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of fourteen hours to get them to confess their crimes and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead. With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. To destroy her enemies, she must first save them.
I loved “The House Across the Lake” and have many more of their books on my TBR list.
Bury Our Bones in Midnight Soil by: VE Schwab (June 10, 2025)
1532, Santo Domingo de la Calzada: A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets. 1827, London: A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined. 2019, Boston: College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers and revenge.
I loved “Gallant” and “Vicious.”
Don’t Let Him In by: Lisa Jewell (June 24, 2025)
Nick Radcliffe is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. He’s just what Nina Swann needed in her life after her husband’s unexpected death. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling. Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t help the feeling that something isn’t right. Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.
I’ve been wanting to read this one since I first discovered it.
Katabasis by: RF Kuang (August 26, 2025)
Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.
I absolutely loved “Babel (or the Necessity of Violence): An Arcane History” and have wanted to read her “Poppy War” series. Plus has an Orpheus-descending-into-Hades vibe which sounds interesting.
The First Gentleman by: James Patterson and Bill Clinton (June 2, 2025)
The President of the United States is up for reelection. Her husband is on trial for murder. Is the First Gentleman a killer? A pair of brilliant investigative journalists set out to answer that burning question about the NFL star-turned-political spouse.
I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed “The President is Missing” as much as I did.
The Magician of Tiger Castle by: Louis Sachar (August 5, 2025)
In the kingdom of Esquaveta, Princess Tullia is in nearly as much peril as her struggling kingdom. Esquaveta desperately needs to forge an alliance, so Tullia’s father has arranged a marriage between her and an odious prince. However, one month before the “wedding of the century,” Tullia falls in love with a lowly apprentice scribe. The king turns to Anatole, his much-maligned magician. After a long series of failures, he has become the object of contempt and ridicule. The only one who still believes in him is the princess. When the king orders Anatole to brew a potion that will ensure Tullia agrees to the wedding, Anatole is faced with an impossible choice. With one chance to save the marriage, the kingdom, and, of most importance to him, his reputation, will he betray the princess—or risk ruin?
I am excited to see what one of my favorite childhood authors (“Holes”, “Wayside Stories” series, “Marvin Redpost” series) has for a more mature audience.