Welcome, book friends!
If you’d prefer to listen to this book list, you can check out the full episode on The Bookmarks ‘n Blankets Podcast on your favorite podcast platform or listen below.
I invite you over to X (Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram to let me know what you thought of any of the books on my list, what you’re reading this month, or what new releases you are excited to read.
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Get ready to celebrate the magic of summer with my ultimate holiday book list, thoughtfully crafted to capture the playful charm of both Summerween and Christmas in July. Whether you’re craving spine-tingling tales that send a shiver down your spine or heartwarming stories filled with holiday joy, this list is here to brighten your summer reading stack.
Join me in exploring a mix of thrilling and cozy reads that promise to bring a perfect balance of eerie excitement and festive fun. The Summerween section features chilling horror, summer terrors, and gripping mysteries. Meanwhile, the Christmas in July picks include joyful romances, laugh-out-loud festive romcoms, and heart-tugging holiday stories.
Let the pages take you on a journey filled with both spooky twists and merry moments that make summer reading extra magical.
Book Clubs Mentioned in the Podcast Episode:
- Oceana GottaReadEmAll – Monthly Memberships on Patreon
- Booklist Thursday Fans – Free on Facebook
6 Thrillers I Want to Read for Summerween
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
GR Rating: 3.98
(GR Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller 2022, and Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Debut Novel 2022)
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited.
GR Description: When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
Now, 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?
Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
GR Rating: 3.43
Read more on GoodReads.
GR Description: Beware of the dark. You might like what you find…
Ruth Collier has always felt like an outsider, even as her father rains fire and brimstone from the church pulpit. In Bottom Springs, his word is as good as law.
But there are things the townspeople fear more than God, like the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to kill sinners in their beds on moonless nights.
When a skull is found deep in the swamp, a hunt for the Low Man begins. Suspicion turns to Everett – Ruth’s oldest friend, with a dark past. As Ruth and Everett grow closer, Ruth begins to unearth the town’s secrets, determined to discover the truth.
But as the line between good and evil grows ever thin, how far will Ruth go to save the person she loves most?
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
GR Rating: 3.55
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited.
GR Description: When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She’s also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.
Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace.
But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven’t been completely honest with Lux about their pasts––and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared.
When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Genre: Horror | Mystery & Thriller
GR Rating: 3.93
(GR Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Horror 2016)
Read more on GoodReads.
GR Description: Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act….different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
GR Rating: 3.72
Read more on GoodReads.
GR Description: Sometimes the only thing to fear…is yourself.
When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.
Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
GR Rating: 3.18
Read more on GoodReads.
GR Description: When the real game begins, who will make it to the count of 10?
Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.
Enter Adele, a single mother with a fierce determination to protect her children at all costs. When she begins the game, she unwittingly enters a twisted web of deception and intrigue. Can she maneuver through the treacherous storm and the relentless competition and get home to her family? In a ruthless battle for survival where the stakes are higher than ever, the blurry line between the virtual and the real proves that the only person we can trust is ourselves.
7 Holiday Romances I Want to Read for Christmas in July
*All of these romantic comedies are closed-door romances (no spice).
Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
GR Rating: 4.14
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited
GR Description: One little white lie.
That’s all it took. Now I’m suddenly having to fake-date my work nemesis to get me through a week at a Vermont Christmas lodge with my family.
The problem? I can’t stand Miles Taylor. Not only that, but I don’t date people I work with. But I can handle it. I’ve had practice faking my emotions for years. So it shouldn’t matter that Miles never lets me get away with anything. And that he happens to boil my blood hotter than a steaming pot of wassail. So when he throws his annoying grin my way or forces me on dates he knows I’ll hate, I’ll just grit my teeth and smile.
Or maybe not. Did I mention that Miles is the one person in the world I can’t seem to fool?
When my emotions begin feeling less like a sham and his arms feel way too comfortable, it makes me think that maybe Miles had a plan of his own. And I’m starting to like it a lot more than mine.
A Not-So Holiday Paradise by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
GR Rating: 3.76
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited
GR Description: Things you bring on a desert island…
1) Sunscreen, obviously. Because these Irish freckles of mine will burn, baby, burn, and lobster red is not a great color on me.
2) An extra dose of my seizure meds, just in case.
3) A backpack full of snacks, including but not limited to a canteen of Dr. Pepper, a box of mini Christmas cookies, and granola bars—the gross crumbly kind, not the chocolate chip kind, because I’m trying to be healthy.
4) Sunglasses, so that when I inevitably wind up staring at my brother’s best friend—who I haven’t seen in years—no one will be able to tell. I’ve been in love with him forever, but it would never work out; he lives on a literal island, while I’m still in grad school. It can’t hurt to look, though, right?
5) Also bug spray.
My packing list is all well and good for a quick port excursion as part of my family’s Christmas cruise. But when the cruise ship leaves me behind, with only the contents of my bag and my brother’s best friend to keep me company? Well, I’ve got problems—especially since I’m going to run out of medicine soon. And I don’t think they make sunscreen strong enough to block the sparks that are growing between Beckett and me…
Cotswolds Holiday by Kasey Stockton
GR Rating: 4.05
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited
GR Description: Some people face their problems head-on, other people run…
When my ex-boyfriend sends me his wedding invitation eight months after breaking up with me, and the bride expects me to be in the wedding party, it’s time for my tried-and-tested party trick: disappearing.
And nowhere is better to escape to than the cozy English Cotswolds in the middle of December.
Everything goes according to plan until I arrive in the Cotswolds. Snow is more slippery than I expected, my room is nothing like the listing described, and my pub owner landlord—well, he steps directly from my lumberjack fantasies and into my heart.
The only problem? I can’t fall for an Englishman who lives on the other side of the world from me. Not even one who has Dr Pepper on tap and kisses like it’s an Olympic sport. It’s much harder to run across the pond, and all good things must come to an end… but what if I can’t say goodbye?
The Christmas Letters by Jenny Proctor
GR Rating: 4.30
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited
GR Description: Can an old letter spark a new flame?
When Tess Ravenel gets herself stuck inside a bathroom stall in one of Charleston’s most historic buildings, she isn’t exactly thinking about her dating life. But then the paramedic who comes to her rescue has a voice that sounds like butter and enough charm to make her forget she’s seconds from having a panic attack.
If only he were interested.
Andrew McKay has a mysterious Christmas pen pal, a woman who replied to a newly found letter he sent to Santa back when he was a kid. After weeks of correspondence, it’s clear she’s funny, smart, interesting…and an awful lot like Tess Ravanel—the woman he’s already blown off twice for good reason.
Tess and Andrew couldn’t be more different, but when their worlds collide, fate (and a little Christmas magic) set them on a crash course for love.
12 Days of Mistletoe by Jen Atkinson
GR Rating: 4.19
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited
GR Description: How to end up in Christmas kissing lessons with your downstairs enemy…
Break apartment rules? Guilty.
Send holiday cards to the downstairs neighbor’s grandma? Done.
Accidentally become said neighbor’s fake girlfriend for a family Christmas photo? Wait, what?
I, Bonnie Miller, am no troublemaker. I’m just an anxious girl trying to keep my emotional support pup in a no-pets apartment building. But my downstairs neighbor is determined to be my personal Grinch and get us both evicted.
Just when I think things can’t get any worse, Elliot Eaton offers me a deal I can’t refuse. Suddenly, I’m playing girlfriend and giving mistletoe kisses to my sworn enemy, all to keep my home.
Who knew that breaking one little rule would lead to a fan-mistletoe-tastic holiday?
One Foggy Christmas by Kortney Keisel
GR Rating: 4.36
Read more on GoodReads.
Available on Kindle Unlimited
GR Description: What if the person you shared your life with couldn’t remember you anymore?
Nash Carter is devastated when a skiing accident leaves his wife with severe memory loss, erasing him and their three-year marriage from her mind.
Not only is Nash a stranger, but Sadie remembers being in love with her ex-boyfriend and can’t understand how she ended up living in a new city, estranged from her family, and married to a man she doesn’t know.
It’s up to Nash to win back his wife and prove that their love is worth fighting for.
Can Nash’s unwavering devotion help Sadie rebuild what was lost, or will he lose her love forever?
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss
GR Rating: 3.48
Read more on GoodReads.
GR Description: A city bookshop owner heads to the English countryside for a holiday reunion—only to face her childhood enemy.
Elinor Noel—Nory for short—is quite content running her secondhand bookshop in London. Forever torn between her working-class upbringing and her classmates’ extravagant lifestyles at the posh private school she attended on scholarship, Nory has finally figured out how to keep both at equal distance. So when two of her oldest friends invite their whole gang to spend the time leading up to their wedding together at the castle near their old school, Nory must prepare herself for an emotionally complicated few days.
The reunion brings back fond memories, but also requires Nory to dodge an ill-advised former fling. When she falls quite literally into the arms of Isaac, the castle’s head gardener, who has nothing but contempt for the “snobby prep school kids,” the attraction between them is undeniable. And as Nory spends more time with Isaac during the wedding festivities, she finds herself falling hard for the boy she used to consider an enemy. Nory and Isaac explore their common ground, but pressures mount on all sides, and Nory must decide what kind of life she wants to live and what sort of love is worth the risk…