Summer 

Beach

Reads

Jess and her ten-year-old son William set off to spend 

the summer at Château de Roussignol, deep in the rich, 

sunlit hills of the Dordogne. There, Jess’s ex-boyfriend, 

and William’s father, Adam, runs a beautiful hotel in a 

restored castle. Jess is bowled over by what Adam has 

accomplished, but she’s in France for a much more urgent 

reason: to make Adam fall in love with his own son.  

But Adam has other ideas, and another girlfriend, and 

he doesn’t seem inclined to change the habits of a lifetime 

just because Jess and William have appeared on the scene. 

But Jess can’t allow Adam to let their son down because 

she is tormented by a secret of her own, one that nobody 

must discover. 

One September evening in 1785, the merchant 

Jonah Hancock hears urgent knocking on his front 

door. One of his captains is waiting eagerly on the 

step. He has sold Jonah’s ship for what appears to be 

a mermaid.

As gossip spreads, everyone wants to see Mr. 

Hancock’s marvel. Its arrival spins him out of 

his ordinary existence and through the doors of 

high society. At an opulent party, he makes the 

acquaintance of Angelica Neal, the most desirable 

woman he has ever laid eyes on… and a courtesan of 

great accomplishment. 

Where will their ambitions lead? And will they be 

able to escape the destructive power mermaids are 

said to possess?

When ninety-nine-year-old heiress Josephine Bettendorf 

Warrick summons attorney Brooke Trappnell to her 

20,000 acre barrier island home, Brooke is puzzled. 

Everybody in the South has heard about the eccentric 

millionaire mistress of Talisa, but Brooke has never 

actually met her. Josephine’s cryptic note says she wants to 

discuss an important legal matter, but why enlist Brooke 

and not the prestigious Atlanta law fi rm she has used for 

years? 

She is hiring Brooke for two reasons: fi rst, to protect her 

island from those who would despoil her land, and second, 

to help her make amends with the heirs of the women who 

were her closest friends, the girls of The High Tide Club.

When the body of Jamal Cousin, president of the 

pre-eminent black fraternity at the Florida’s fl agship 

university, is discovered hogtied in the Stygian water 

swamps of the Suwanee River Valley, the death sets 

off a fi restorm that threatens to rage out of control 

when a fellow student, Mark Towson, the president 

of a prominent white fraternity, is accused of the 

crime. 

As he navigates each twist and turn of the search, 

Jack becomes increasingly convinced that his client 

may himself be the victim of a criminal plan more 

sinister than the case presented by the state attorney. 

For Jack, it’s about the truth. 

A few years after losing her beloved husband, Alison 

is doing something she never thought she would do 

again: getting married. While placing the fi nishing 

touches on her summer nuptials, Alison is anxious to 

introduce her fi ancé, David, to her grown daughters.

The sisters have a somewhat distant relationship and 

Alison hopes that the wedding and the weeks leading 

up to the ceremony will give the siblings a chance to 

reconnect, as well as meet and get to know David’s 

grown children.

Against the gorgeous backdrop of the sunswept 

island of Nantucket, Nancy Thayer sets the stage for a 

walk down the aisle no one will ever forget.

Whether you’re vacationing on a beach, taking 

a beach break this summer, or just want to 

unwind with a good read, here are some books 

that will keep you in a sunny mood all summer 

long. Choosing the best beach read is a 

delicate art. Here are some suggestions to toss 

in your beach bag. So kick back, put your feet 

up, and get lost in these page turners.

34     |    VIPDestinMagazine.com

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7/25/18   3:14 PM