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You’ve binged your way through Every Year After on Prime Video. And, of course, you’ve read the novel the seres is based on, Every Summer After by Carley Fortune*.
Now you need something else to stick your teeth into. I’m not talking about shows, either. I’m talking books for this post, as there are some excellent beach reads that you’ll need to check out next. I highly recommend anything by Fortune to get the same vibe, but there are some other excellent novels worth the read.
I want to make sure you have a variety with the seven picks, as there are so many great writing styles out there.
The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez
One of the biggest releases of 2026 so far, The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez* is a must-read. It follows Larissa, who ends up picking a guy to get a ride home with after a concert only for her life to change forever.
It seems like she picked Chris, and he’s perfect for Larissa. They share favorite books, love judging bread together, and even manage to make a co-parenting relationship with an unhinged Yorkie. However, it turns out that Chris wasn’t the one who drove Larissa home, and he’s not even Larissa’s boyfriend. He’s the best friend of the boyfriend, and now he’s stuck on the sidelines. Will he finally get the courage to tell Larissa how he feels?
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Emily Henry is the queen of beach reads, and People We Meet on Vacation* is a must. It has a similar vibe to Every Year After, as it follows a tricky past told over the course of 10 summer trips. This is Poppy and Alex’s last chance to fall in love, but they seem to have nothing in common.
Poppy lives in New York, while Alex remains in their hometown. She’s wild, while Alex loves to stay home with a book. How can they be best friends? It all comes crashing down when they ruin everything and stop talking to each other, but two years later, Poppy wants to fix it all. Alex agrees, and now they’re on an adventure that could make or break everything for good.
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
Another queen when it comes to romance is Ali Hazelwood. You’re likely reading The Love Hypothesis right now to get ready for the movie, but what about another one of her novels? Problematic Summer Romance* is the second in her standalone series, Not in Love, and it follows Maya and Conor.
This novel does have a huge age gap, which is part of the problem. They’re complete opposites, but they always say that opposites attract. But, Maya decides that she needs to forget about Conor. So, what happens when the two end up stuck in a romantic Sicilian villa together for a week? There’s beauty and history around them, but is a summer fling out of the question?
First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
Do you love the hopeless romantic? How about when that hopeless romantic comes across a jaded man? That’s what you get with First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison*, which reminds me a lot of Sleepless in Seattle.
It follows Aiden and Lucie, who are not right for each other at all. Lucie is a hopeless romantic, while Aiden has completely fallen out love with love. Yet, Aiden is the person everyone turns to for dating advice due to his job at the romance hotline on the radio. When a call to a woman asking for advice for her mom goes viral, everything is about to change for the two of them.
Fever Dream by Elsie Silver
Finally, I turn to another 2026 release, Fever Dream by Elsie Silver. You’ve likely heard of Silver before, especially with her Rose Hill series of books getting picked up for a TV series. Fever Dream* is the first in her Emerald Lake series.
Emmett Bush is not looking for love. All he wants is to protect his family’s farm, which is about to go bankrupt. So, he agrees to be the leading man on Romance Ranch, he decides that he will just put on a show. Things change when Julia Silva walks onto his property, and even her plans change, because she wasn’t actually there to find love, either. To make it worse, Julia isn’t a contestant on the show!
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Next up is a story of love, loss, and friendship. Of course, there are also betrayals, threatening for the past to collide in Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren*. It all starts with Macy Sorensen, an ambitious pediatrics resident, who is also planning her wedding to an older, financially secure man.
She just wants to keep her head down and focus, but then Elliot Petropoulos walks back into her life. He was her first love, and if she’s being honest, her only love. She needs to avoid popping the bubble she’s currently in, but as we navigate the story of their teenage years and the present, we see that the bubble is sure to burst.
In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams
Finally, we turn to the fourth book in the When in Rome series. They are all standalone books, and each one is worth the read, but In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams* is the best. They’re set in Rome, Kentucky, not Rome, Italy, which is a lot of fun.
Madison left Rome with one goal: to make it in the culinary world. It’s not worked, though, and when she heads home, she finds out that the job offer to be the head chef at a new farm-t-table restaurant came from her brother’s best friend, James Huxley. James has quietly loved Madison for years, and this could be his first chance to lay it all out on the table.
Every Year After* is available to binge-watch on Prime Video.
