If you are looking for a marathon read, a book you just don’t want to put down, A book to make you laugh and cry, or just a good thriller… Here are 5 books that will make your beach day that much better. 

Wildwood ~ By Drusilla Campbell

A novel of friendships and secrets that can destroy.  From the acclaimed author of Blood Orange, hailed as “John Grisham meets Jodi Picoult”

Hannah, Jeanne, and Liz have been friends forever. Though time has separated them, they have never forgotten each other or the loyalty, love—and fear—that binds them. It’s been more than thirty years since they’ve spoken of the incident at Bluegang Creek. But what happened near that shady stream has shaped their lives—and haunted their darkest hours.
 
When Liz can no longer bear the silence, what she brings into the light will test the very limits of their friendship, and take all three women back to that fateful summer day when their innocence was shattered forever . . .
 
A “skillfully crafted” novel of friendship and forgiveness, Wildwood explores the lengths to which women will go to protect themselves—and each other—in the name of loyalty and love (Judy Reeves). 

The Book Club:  A Women’s Fiction Novel about the Power of Friendship ~ By Mary Alice Monroe

Mary Alice Monroe invites you to meet five remarkable characters as she explores the power of friendship with tenderness, honesty, and understanding. 

On the surface, it is a monthly book club. But for five women, it is so much more. For Eve Porter, whose husband's sudden death cheats her of every security she had planned on, the club is a place of sanctuary. For Annie Blake, a brilliant attorney intent on starting a family late in life, it is the chance to finally let down her guard and dream of other possibilities. For Doris Bridges, it is her support group as she acknowledges her dying marriage and finds the ultimate freedom in her husband's betrayal. For Gabriella Rivera, the "perfect" wife, mother and friend who offers support to everyone but is afraid to ask for it herself, it is a sense of community. And for Midge Kirsch, an artist who has always lived her life against the grain, it is a haven of acceptance. 

They are five women from different walks of life, embracing the challenge of change. And as they share their hopes and fears and triumphs, they will hold fast to the true magic of the book club—friendship. 

"Monroe offers up believable characters in a well-crafted story."    ~ Publishers Weekly 

The Women in the Castle ~ By Jessica Shattuck

This book was an instant New York Times Bestseller and a semifinalist in the GoodReads Choice Awards

Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they hold

Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined—an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding.

 Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once-grand castle of her husband’s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband’s brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows.

First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin’s mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers. Then she locates Ania, another resister’s wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war.

As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband’s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war—each with their own unique share of challenges.

Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah’s Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck’s evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship.

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

A funny, frank and bittersweet look at sisters, marriage and moving on, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Blue Heron series 

Letting go of her ex-husband is harder than wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate expected…especially since his new wife wants to be Jenny's new best friend. Needing closure, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll start her own business and bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life…and maybe even find a little romance of her own with Leo, her downstairs neighbor, who's utterly irresistible and annoyingly distant at the same time. 

Rachel's idyllic marriage, however, is imploding after she discovers what looks like her husband's infidelity. She always thought she'd walk away in this situation but now she's wavering, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' perfect marriage as a shining example of patience and forgiveness; but to protect her sister, Jenny may have to tarnish that memory—and their relationship­—and reveal a family secret she's been keeping since childhood. 

Both Rachel and Jenny will have to come to terms with the past and the present and find a way to help each other get what they want most of all.

The Wife Between Us:  A Novel ~ By Greer Hendricks & Sara Pekkansen

The instant New York Times Bestseller (January 2018)! 

"A fiendishly smart cat-and-mouse thriller" ―New York Times Book Review

"Buckle up, because you won't be able to put this one down." ―Glamour 

"Jaw dropping. Unforgettable. Shocking." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The best domestic suspense novel since Gone Girl." ―In Touch Weekly

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. 
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.

A 2018 Indie Next Pick | One of Glamour Magazine's Best Books of 2018 | One of Hello Giggles' 19 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2018

Praise for The Wife Between Us:

"Fiendishly clever...in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. This one will keep you guessing." ―Anita Shreve, New York Times bestselling author of The Stars are Fire

“A clever thriller with masterful twists.” – Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of The Kept Woman

"The Wife Between Us delivers a whip-smart, twisty plot in a taut, pacy narrative. It's terrific and troubling. This is one scary love triangle where you won't know who to trust. I loved it." –Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew

"A twisty, mind-bending novel about marriage and betrayal. A gripping plot and fascinating characters; this book will keep you turning the pages and guessing until the very end. A must-read!" –Lauren Weisberger, New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada

“This amazing story gallops along at breakneck speed, with an ending that smacks you between the eyes and takes your breath away. These authors are destined to become trailblazers in the field of psychological suspense books that explode in your hands!” ―Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault

“Like a house of mirrors, The Wife Between Us kept me guessing around every corner, delving into the complexities of marriage, friendship, and obsession.” ―Javier Ramirez, The Book Table

If you have read one or more of these books, please let us know in the comments below what you thought.