Vacation Reading Wrap Up June 2025
I read mostly romance on my vacation. I wanted to keep a light vibe because I have such a heavy job and there’s so much happening in the world right now. The books I put on pause for this vacation were Alt Reich by Nafeez Ahmed and Star-Spangled Jesus by April Ajoy – they were just too heavy for the beach. The 8 books I read over two weeks on the beach in the order I finished them:
The Other Side of Mrs. Wood – Lucy Barker
I finished this one on the plane. This one is a historical narrative about the Spiritualist movement and its many opportunities for enterprising, grifting mediums. I have a separate review of this one.
Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord – Sarah MacLean
The sequel to Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, which I read on the beach on vacation last year, this time is about Gabriel’s identical twin brother, Nick. Nick is looking for his friend’s missing sister and stumbles upon Isabel’s house of refuge for women escaping bad situations. It’s a cute Regency romance with just enough actual stakes to feel anchored in reality.
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart – Sarah MacLean
Gabriel and Nick’s younger Italian sister, Juliana, is constantly besieged by scandal because of her serial-child-abandoning mother, so naturally, she is attracted to Simon, who will do anything to avoid scandal. This one has a lot of funny situations the leads end up in during their bet on propriety vs. passion.
My Best Friend's Honeymoon – Meryl Wilsner
Very cute sapphic romance. It’s also set on a lavish vacation, so I was vacation-maxxing while I was reading this one. Elsie breaks off her engagement and goes on her honeymoon with her best friend Ginny instead. I appreciate that both main characters were openly queer an had been out for a long time. I also appreciate that Ginny is a fat protagonist that is actually fat (not just a size 6 with big boobs), is portrayed as hot and sexy, and is not fetishized at any point.
Our Song – Anna Carey
A second-chance romance between ad copywriter Laura and the now-famous musician Tadhg after their terrible fight 16 years ago. Tadhg now wants to finish a song they started writing in their student days. I have a longer review of this one up.
Morbidly Yours – Ivy Fairbanks
A romance that is somehow light and fluffy and sad and heavy at the same time. Lark is a widow from Texas who moves to Galway for an animation job and does not realize she is living next door to Callum’s funeral home until a package of body bags is accidentally delivered to her instead. I love hanging out in cemeteries, so this book felt very targeted at me. My favorite part of this narrative was Lark’s problems with a nepo baby sexual harasser at work.
The Heart Principle – Helen Hoang
I finally finished this series five years after I started. Anna was very relatable in this story while she’s dealing with some hefty burnout. Her original boyfriend sucks so much and constantly belittles her – I’m not sure why Anna’s family likes him so much. Thankfully, Anna is on a growth journey and thinks about what she wants out of life. Quan helps her with this, but he does not “save” her, which I appreciate. Anna’s burnout also does not magically disappear once she is in a happy, healthy relationship. I was the heart-eyes emoji reading this book.
You and Me on Vacation – Emily Henry
More vacation-maxxing for me here. I have read almost every Emily Henry book now, and I have been having a great time. My favorites have been Book Lovers, Funny Story, and Beach Read, but they’re all good! This one is one of the funniest of the bunch, for sure. There were so many hilarious situations that one can only get oneself into on a budget vacation in one’s early 20s. I loved Poppy and Alex’s growth throughout their 12-year friendship.
