'I couldn't put it down.' The 14 best beach reads for summer, according to the Mamamia team.

Let me paint you a picture.

Clear blue skies above. Waves lapping gently at the shore. Children laughing somewhere in the distance. The smell of salt and sunscreen in the air.

You reach into your beach bag and pull out a book you've been saving for this very moment: your perfect holiday read.

It's light, a little romantic, with just enough drama to keep you hooked.

So, what's the book that has everyone at Mamamia feeling that exact kind of bliss?

We've rounded up the Mamamia team's favourite beach reads of 2025 — and turst us, you'll want to pack at least one.

The best beach reads of 2025 for your summer holiday.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach.

Image: Hachette Australia.

This hilarious and heartbreaking novel came up again and again and was even one of Mamamia's book club picks for 2025, so make sure to add it to your summer reading list.

It follows the recently divorced and depressed Phoebe Stone as she checks into a glamorous hotel at the lowest point in her life, only to find herself swept into a stranger's wedding. Amongst the chaos, Phoebe finds an unlikely friendship and a new perspective on her life.

The Worst Thing I've Ever Done by Clare Stephens.

Image: Allen & Unwin Australia.

Another Mamamia book club pick, Clare Stephen's debut novel is a sharp look at online cancer culture.

Ruby, a senior editor for an online media company, writes an article that gets her cancelled — and the pile-on just seems to keep coming. But that story is not the worst thing Ruby's ever done.

It's a compassionate, intelligent and gripping page-turner that will keep you wanting more. Personally, I couldn't put it down.

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley.

Image: HarperCollins Australia.

This genre-bending folk horror mystery takes you to a luxury estate called The Manor, nestled among ancient woodland. Designed to provide a peaceful escape for its privileged guests, The Manor is preparing to host a memorable summer solstice feast. But not everything is as it seems.

Under the midsummer sun, darkness stirs. The Sunday morning of opening weekend, the police are called. There's been a fire. A body's been discovered.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.

Image: Pan Macmillan Australia.

It begins on an ordinary flight from Hobart to Sydney. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off the plane.

But within those few hours, their lives will be forever changed.

A mysterious woman predicts how and when six people will die. And for some of them, the death is very close.

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone.

Image: Hachette Australia.

Grieving the loss of her best friend, Lenny is a bit of a mess at the moment. But if she acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she's falling apart.

Then there's Miles, the grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again. He promises to help her complete everything on her "live again" list if she'll help him with a mission of his own.

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood.

Image: Penguin Random House.

From best-selling author Ali Hazelwood, this summer romance transports you to Italy (hello dreamy beach read).

Maya is 23 and figuring out her life. Conor is 38, and Maya can't stop thinking about him. He's her brother's best friend, and she knows it's such a cliché. Meanwhile, Conor wants nothing to do with her. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count.

But when Maya's brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. As the destination wedding starts to fall apart, Maya decides a summer fling might just be what she needs.

And a note from the team: "This book is so fun and because it revolves around the characters going to a destination wedding it is great for when you want those holiday vibes. The banter between the characters is great and the picture it paints of the location makes you feel like you are right there with them."

Ruins by Amy Taylor.

Image: Allen & Unwin.

From the Mamamia team: "Set in Greece during a euro summer, this book is super unpredictable and gripping."

It follows couple Emma and Julian, who head to Greece to house-sit for a friend, hopeful their summer away will help them mend their frayed connection.

Their plans take an unexpected turn when they meet Lena, an enigmatic young Greek woman. Soon they find themselves increasingly entangled in Lena's life, threatening to crack their relationship wide open.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry.

Image: Penguin Books Australia.

When it comes to beach reads, in Emily Henry we trust.

Her latest book follows writers Alice and Hayden as they compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a famously reclusive heiress, Margaret Ives.

Margaret invites them both to the balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write her biography. But only one of them will land the career-shaping opportunity.

They have one month to prove themselves. The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them little pieces of her story and an ironclad NDA stops Alice and Hayden from putting it all together. Oh, then there's the inconvenient yearning between the writers anytime they're in the same room.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.

Image: Scholastic.

A return to Panem, but not as you remember it.

Sunrise on the Reaping takes us back to the 50th Hunger Games for the Quarter Quell, where twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

A young Haymitch (yep, Katniss and Peeta's mentor) is torn from his family and his love and taken to the Capitol along with three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who's nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town.

Haymitch quickly realises he's been set up to fail. But he wants to fight and make sure everyone is watching.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Image: Penguin Books Australia.

Joan Goodwin has always had her eyes on the stars.

As an astrophysics professor turned trainee in NASA's 1980s Space Shuttle program, she begins to believe anything is possible.

But when she falls in love with one of her fellow astronauts, everything she thought she knew about ambition, purpose and the orbit of her heart starts to shift.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, her world changes in an instant.

Trust us, you don't have to be a space junkie to follow this story.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth.

Image: Pan Macmillan Australia.

At eighty-one, Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick has kept her past buried on quiet Kenny Lane… until a curious young neighbour starts asking questions.

You see, Elsie isn't Elsie at all. Her real name is Mabel Waller.

At just 15 years old, Mabel Waller became the youngest Australian in history to be convicted of murder.

When a neighbour turns up dead, those long-ago secrets and the promise of justice collide in a twisty story of redemption, friendship and the one question nobody dares ask: was "Mad Mabel" ever really guilty?

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell.

Image: Penguin Books Australia.

A charming man, a grieving widow and a suspicious daughter — what could possibly go wrong?

Nina opens the door to Nick Radcliffe after her husband's death. He's kind with a knack for putting people at ease. But Nina's adult daughter Ash doesn't trust him.

Meanwhile, florist Martha senses something is off about her ever-travelling husband Al. His excuses seem legitimate but something feels off.

Their women's lives intertwine in a web of deception, secrets and chilling truths. One warning echoes: Don't let him in.

He Would Never by Holly Wainwright

Image: Pan Macmillan Australia.

An annual escape to the bush with childhood friends and families turns charged when old alliances shift and alarms ring at Green River.

Fourteen years of motherhood, campfires and shared secrets collide when one father refuses to play by the rules.

Tension simmers, trust fractures and everyone realises that some bonds are more dangerous than they seem.

Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley.

Image: Text Publishing.

Told over 10 years of one woman's life, this clever and funny tale follows Coralie as she tries to build a longed-for family wihout losing herself.

When she first meets Adam, it feels like the beginning of something magical. But over the next decade, with a blended family and shifting careers, the question becomes: will she lose herself in the life she thought she wanted?

Set between 2013 and 2023, this is a smart, tender story of love, ambition and what it takes to stay whole while building a life together.

Our team recommends it as "an engrossing and entertaining page turner".

Feature image: Mamamia.