Attention, I’m diving straight into my topic without a prologue or introduction: I love reading on the beach. Yes, I know, it’s not a major revelation. It’s the same for many French people. Some are addicted to detective novels (if that’s the case, here’s the best thriller of the last 20 years).
Others prefer literary classics. As for me, I’m a big fan of “chick lit” or “chick literature”: romantic comedies written by women for women. It’s like the literary equivalent of romantic comedies in cinema.
It’s a little guilty pleasure I’m totally addicted to. First, because these romantic stories, even if they’re not groundbreaking, keep you hooked. Plus, these easily digestible romance novels are perfect for the beach, where noise and distractions often make reading harder. Every sunny vacation, I slip one or two chick lit books into my suitcase.
Are you also looking for fun and easy beach reads? Here are 5 romance novels I loved that, once opened, you won’t be able to put down, I guarantee it.
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
In just a few books, Emily Henry has established herself as a heavyweight in chick lit. Unfortunately, France is lagging behind, with only 2 of the American author’s 5 novels currently available in French. Book Lovers, my favorite so far, hasn’t been translated yet. I read all my chick lit in English, which I prefer, so I still got to discover it. And it really hooked me: it’s funny, moving, full of suspense (yes, even though I knew how it would end, I was totally engrossed in the story).
So, if you also like reading in English, go for it. If you’re only comfortable in French, you can discover Emily Henry’s work through her second novel: People We Meet on Vacation. Despite the English title, it’s available in French.
Don’t be fooled by the title, which has nothing to do with the story. In some editions, it’s even renamed You and Me on Vacation, a title that fits the plot better. It follows Poppy and Alex, two best friends who have gone on vacation together every summer for ten years. They have nothing in common, yet they get along like a house on fire… until a nasty argument separates them.
At the start of the book, we find them estranged but ready for a new summer adventure. You quickly get caught up in the plot, turning page after page to find out what separated them and if Poppy and Alex will admit they’re actually in love. It’s not Emily Henry’s best novel in our opinion, but it’s still very entertaining. It’s a great beach read.
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
An international bestseller, The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas has also become a phenomenon on TikTok. And I quickly understood why it’s so popular. It’s so entertaining that I devoured it in a few days. It follows the adventures of Catalina Martín, Lina for short, a bubbly Spaniard who fled to New York after a romantic disappointment.
So, when she has to return home for her sister’s wedding, where her ex will be with his new fiancée, Lina invents an American boyfriend. A small lie that quickly spirals out of control. Forced to produce this imaginary boyfriend in front of her family, the young woman desperately accepts the help of her colleague Aaron, whom she actually hates.
The Spanish Love Deception follows the well-known “enemies to lovers” trope. Even though they annoy each other, will Lina and Aaron really fall in love while pretending to be the perfect couple? You obviously know the answer from the beginning of the book.
But, despite a few slow parts at the end, the story totally captivated me. I turned the pages eagerly, laughed, got a little emotional, I admit, and sometimes rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to know what happened next. I’m now excited to read Elena Armas’s second novel, The American Roommate Experiment.
Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella
Sophie Kinsella is the queen of chick lit. Since the English author got me hooked on girly novels with Confessions of a Shopaholic, I’ve read many of her books over the years. She’s so prolific that, I admit, some of them blend together in my mind now. However, some stood out more, like Wedding Night. Usually, chick lit books are written from the heroine’s perspective.
But here, the chapters alternate between the voices of several characters. We follow Lottie, who, after a breakup with her longtime boyfriend because he refuses to marry her, impulsively marries an old holiday fling she runs into by chance.
But we also get the story from Fliss, Lottie’s sister, who knows she’s making a huge mistake. While Lottie flies off for a honeymoon on a Greek island, Fliss does everything she can to prevent her sister from consummating the marriage so it can be easily annulled when she realizes her mistake. The absurd premise becomes hilarious.
And alternating between chapters where Lottie despairs over not being able to sleep with her new husband and those where Fliss does everything to stop her makes the novel even funnier. The romantic aspect of this romantic comedy is also there and even holds some nice surprises. We also particularly liked Lexi Smart’s Has Memory Loss and Can You Keep a Secret?.
Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
It’s been a few years since I read Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by British author Jenny Colgan, but this book left me with a longing to leave the city for a remote corner of Scotland. That’s exactly what the heroine does, much to her dismay.
Flora, who works in a law firm in London, is forced by her job to return to her small hometown on the Scottish island of Mure. It’s a request from her boss Joel, whom she secretly loves. But she’s not exactly welcome there.
Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery isn’t just a romance between the heroine and a brooding hunk; it’s a love story between Flora and the island of Mure. So yes, some might find the story predictable. But like her (and me), others will quickly fall under the spell of this wild island and its charming inhabitants. So much so that you almost dream of being by a Scottish fireplace rather than lounging on the beach.
The good news is you don’t have to leave Mure at the end of the book because Jenny Colgan turned it into a series.
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
We couldn’t exclude a Colleen Hoover book from our selection, given how the American author churns out bestsellers. If you had to read just one, it would obviously be her novel It Ends with Us, which is being adapted into a movie starring Blake Lively this summer. I started It Ends with Us without knowing what to expect (I didn’t know the story at all).
The premise starts like a romantic comedy: a somewhat lost heroine meets a handsome guy she quickly falls for. Here, we follow Lily Bloom, a florist in Boston, who falls for the irresistible Ryle, a neurosurgeon madly in love with her.
But Lily’s prince charming isn’t so charming. It Ends with Us isn’t a romantic comedy or a classic romance. Possessive, totally obsessed with Lily, and jealous of her ex Atlas, who resurfaces, Ryle soon shows a dark side. This quickly reminds Lily of her painful past, growing up with a father who was violent towards her mother, who let it happen.
Will Lily let the cycle of domestic violence repeat? Will she choose Ryle or Atlas? The story alternates between the present and the past as we follow Lily battling her demons.
**5 Livres De Plage Fleur Bleue… Mais Que Vous N’arriverez Absolument Pas À Lâcher Cet Été**
This article first appeared on grazia.fr – Author: Virginie Gonçalves
