Staff Picks: Summer Travel

As the weather starts to get warmer, we’re getting excited for spring and summer travel! Here are some books that inspire us to take a trip.

AMANDA: RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND BY ALEXANDRA ROWLAND

For me, there’s nothing that screams summer fun more than taking off across the high seas. Our Flag Means Death meets SIX OF CROWS in this standalone queer pirate fantasy adventure. A former agent of the Ministry of Intelligence has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world—and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea. To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, he teams up with his on-again, off-again pirate Captain ex on a quest to become legends. This is set in the same world as the author’s previous book, A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON, though completely stands alone and provides fun in spades, ready to whisk readers away into a funny queer-normative (mis?)adventure, and the perfect escape next time you’re craving a summer boating trip.

EMILY: THE PAIRING BY CASEY MCQUISTON

I so badly wish that I was spending my summer on a food and wine tour through Europe, but since I’m not, I’ll just have to travel there in the pages of the next steamy queer romance from Casey McQuiston. Featuring two bisexual exes who accidentally booked themselves on the same European tour, Theo and Kit are now trapped on a bus together for three weeks as they visit the most romantic cities in France, Spain, and Italy. When one of them suggests a hookup competition, it seems like the perfect way to prove once and for all that they’re over each other, but nothing could distract them from the long-buried feelings that are bubbling to the surface. Filled to the brim with mouth-watering food, stunning locations, and LOTS of yearning, THE PAIRING pairs perfectly with the summer heat.

MICHELLE: SUMMERS AT THE SAINT BY MARY KAY ANDREWS

Everyone loves a beachy vacation in an idyllic seaside town. This novel will transport you right to this spot. When she was growing up, Traci Eddings’ family was never wealthy enough to vacation at the fancy hotel “The Saint” on the coast of Georgia. But one fateful summer, she worked there and ended up marrying the boss’ son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even with the myriad of obstacles it faces. With the help of her summer staff, Traci has just a few months to turn it all around. You will be rooting for Traci and her crew until the very last page, and you’ll wish you could stay at The Saint yourself! Longtime MKA fans will fall in love as well as anyone who enjoyed OTHER BIRDS by Sarah Addison Allen, APPLES NEVER FALL by Liane Moriarty, and NIGHTWORK by Nora Roberts.