Romances for the Beach

Romances for the Beach

From Unabridged: A Book Podcast by Ashley Dickson-Ellison and Jen Moyers

June 10, 2026 · 22 min · Season 9 · Episode 314

About this episode

The episode discusses summer romance book recommendations and features a bookish check-in with hosts sharing their recent reads.

Looking for a few romances to add to your summer reading list? In this episode, we’re sharing romances that would make great beach reads, with stories full of second chances, complicated friendships, family expectations, emotional depth, and plenty of momentum. During our bookish check-in, Ashley shares Jessica Parra’s Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ), a YA novel about baking, ambition, family pressure, and finding your own path. Jen shares June Hur’s The Forest of Stolen Girls ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ), a historical mystery set on Jeju Island in 1426. Then we move into our main discussion with two summer romance recommendations: Alisha Rai’s Partners in Crime ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ) and Carley Fortune’s Our Perfect Storm ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ). We close with a round of Lit Chat about DNFing books, skipping to the end, and whether it ever feels okay to spoil yourself just a little. We’d love to know what romances are on your summer TBR or which beach reads you think we should add to ours. Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ashley Dickson-Ellison, Jen Moyers

Topics covered

  • beach reads
  • summer romances
  • YA novels
  • historical mysteries
  • book recommendations

Keywords

  • romance
  • beach reads
  • summer reading
  • book recommendations
  • YA novels

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success, The Forest of Stolen Girls, Partners in Crime, Our Perfect Storm

More episodes of Unabridged: A Book Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Unabridged: A Book Podcast podcast page.