The definition of a “beach read“ has changed quite a bit over the years. The term used to refer to 'trashy', throw-away novels, frequently of the romance genre, that people could take to the beach in paperback format. If it got a little sand in it or a little ocean water...no problem.
In our more technological age, you might not want to get sand or saltwater in your PocketPC or Palm at the beach, but that doesn't stop us from taking it with us and enjoying the read as we bake under the sun and sip iced tea. We're happy to present a list of ebook titles that runs the gamut from sexy erotic works to horror to mysteries to sci-fi. You won't have to overthink any of these titles, look for deep messages or expect them to change your life in new and fulfilling ways. These titles should be taken simply for what they are...enjoyable reads. Don't forget your sunblock!
- A Storm For All Seasons: Summer Heat by Jaci Burton
Multiformat
Aidan Storm is part of a unique New Orleans family whose magical connection with the weather goes back many years. Aidan uses his powers only when it suits his purposes. Wielding the magic of summer heat can be advantageous when heating up the sheets with his girl-du-jour. Until he meets Melissa Cross. She fires him up hotter than a Louisiana heat wave and if he doesn't watch his heart he might suffer a meltdown. Melissa Cross is a staid Bostonian feeling like a fish out of water working alongside Aidan Storm and his peculiar family. When strange things start happening whenever she's with Aidan, she wonders what kind of magic he possesses. After all, it isn't every day it rains in the bedroom! It isn't long before Aidan heats up Melissa's summer and melts her frosty heart.
- A Very Proper Thief by Patricia Harrison
Multiformat
Daphne Summerhayes, "on the shelf" at 24, is bitterly disappointed because instead of touring Italy, she must chaperone her young cousin's come-out in London. Her mood is not helped by two disastrous meetings with Lord Courtlea, whom she considers an odious, self-serving libertine, and a thief. A feckless young brother, a missing jewel, and a pair of young lovers embroil them further. Courtlea thinks Daphne is too opinionated and headstrong, but lovely enough to warm his bed, and determines to win her. Daphne's defenses weaken. She will do anything to repossess the gem. Dare she love the charming earl? Did he betray her? Scandal threatens, but what Daphne recklessly proposes goes beyond scandal...
- Selene by Lilith Saintcrow
Adobe Reader
In a world where the vampires and werewolves of legend have the vote and lobbyists in Congress, Selene Thompson has settled into a normal life. Well, as normal as life can be when you're a tantric witch who feeds on sex, and your brother is adept at astral travel. Now a midnight phone call has sent her world careening into darkness. By the time the sun rises, Selene's brother has been murdered, Selene herself is hunted, and the vampire Prince of the city has taken Selene under his . . . ah, wing. If Selene will just be a good little girl and submit, he'll find out who killed her brother. Too bad Selene hates being a good little girl. She'll find her brother's killer on her own. And she will do anything to anybody to get her revenge. . . .
- Leaving Winter by Kathleen A. Quinn
Multiformat
Cordelia has come to Rome for the Christmas holidays with dreams of a different life, but she finds that her loneliness and her embarrassment about her weight follow her. Just as she is giving up all hope, she meets Frank, a man with a terribly scarred face and an equally wounded soul. As their friendship grows and becomes something more, their tentative movements toward each other begin the slow process of healing their lives. Together, they learn how to escape from cold isolation and leave their personal winters behind.
- Aislyn by Shelley Munro
Multiformat
Rebel fairy, Aislyn O’Sullivan desires two things from life--Seamus Gallagher and a place on the fairy force. Seamus treats her like an irritating kid sister so Aislyn sets her sights on the fairy force. She wants to join the elite--all male--force that integrates with the New Zealand police to battle crime on the human side, something no female fairy has ever attempted. Seamus Gallagher is a man with secrets--big secrets that would draw public attention if they became known. He’s not about to let that happen, but the annoying, irritating, and utterly delectable Aislyn keeps getting in his way, upsetting his plans for the future and shaking his world until he doesn’t know up from down.
- Hot In The City: French Quarter by Lacey Alexander
Multiformat
When Liz Marsh hires P.I. Jack Wade to find out if her fiancé is cheating on her, she has no idea she's about to embark upon a sexual odyssey through New Orleans' steamy French Quarter. Raised to be a prim, conservative woman, it takes Jack's sizzling sexuality to make Liz shed her old self and release the secret woman inside her, a woman who seeks every sensual adventure she can find. With Jack on her arm and the decadence of Bourbon Street beckoning, Liz's sexual daring knows no bounds.
- A Long Way From Eden by David Chacko
Microsoft Reader/Adobe Reader
The wasted body of a young woman is revealed when a sinkhole freakishly erupts on the Sun Coast of Florida. Relentless homicide detectives, Sgt. Adam Templeton, and his partner, Joe Davey, are faced with a nightmare. With no leads to follow, they grasp at anything; a name whispered over the internet, a dream related by a friend of a missing person. Scattered forensic clues begin to arise from the grave like recovered memories. Templeton, desperate to bring the killer to justice, reaches deep into the past. The chilling revelations uncovered make for a haunting, teeth-grinding tale!
- Tornado Bait by Amy Eastlake
Multiformat
It isn't easy trying to make a living managing a Dallas trailer park and writing shareware game software but Tina Anderson doesn't complain--too much. Especially since hunky Billy Love had moved in. But when a dismembered body turns up in Billy's trailer's sewage tank, things start to deteriorate. Tina is certain that Billy isn't a murderer, but the evidence certainly points in his direction. When another murder strikes her park, Tina herself becomes a suspect. With the help of her prostitute girlfriend Angie, her ex-husband Andy, and a host of trailer park residents, Tina tries to get to the bottom of the case--while staying out of jail herself. Since most everyone in the park has secrets to hide, Tina has to think fast--and set traps that catch the murderer instead of backfiring on herself.
- A Rhythm Divine by Judy Mays
Multiformat
Sean Wallace doesn't trust women. His mother spent most of her life ignoring Sean to pine after her wastrel husband, finally succumbing to a broken heart. His fiancée left him for another man. Trust another woman? Love one? No way. He's not about to have his heart broken again. But--then he meets Maggie Garrison. She's vivacious, beautiful, intelligent--and thirteen years his senior. How could he possibly fall in love with an older woman? Maggie Garrison has been a widow for fourteen years, and the last thing in the world she's interested in is finding a man to replace Jim, the man she loved with all her heart. Then she meets Sean Wallace. What is it about this, this, boy! Why is he so interesting, amusing--sexy? How could she possibly be interested in him. My God, what is she, a cradle robber?
- The Butcher's Son by Dorien Grey
Multiformat
Author Dorien Grey puts his hero, Dick Hardesty in a position of not being sure who is who when someone starts burning down gay bars all over town and the police chief (also called “the butcher”) shrugs the whole thing off. Then the female impersonators and drag queens get into the act, and Dick is required to sleuth out who is hot and who is not. Throw in a little bit of gay sex, a well-captured ambience of a drag show, accurate depictions of loss and love and voila! A recipe for another successful gay mystery from the Lambda-nominated author.
- Between Trash And Tramp by Byrd Roberts
Multiformat
He was a beautiful man, a professional boxer and a father, but it also became common knowledge that he made much of his living by hustling with both men and women. In his conservative southern town, that was enough to start tongues wagging, political wars breaking out, even murder. The story is a biographical sketch of a body-beautiful hustler named Kirby Finney whose erotic pursuits develop into the types of lives that many of us live or would like to live.
- Blue Moon by C.D. Ledbetter
Multiformat
Mary Corbett's calm, orderly existence is shattered the moment she sets foot on an old, run-down Louisiana plantation. Even though she's never been there before, she recalls details about the house that only someone who actually lived in it would know. If that weren't bad enough, she finds that her attraction to the other curator, Jack Windom, hasn't lessened since they last worked together. In fact, as they spend time together on the estate, she realizes she's falling in love with him. Unfortunately for her, he's already spoken for. When she and Jack attend a Blue Moon Voodoo ceremony, she has a "clear-sighted vision" about the former owners, both of whom mysteriously disappeared over a hundred years ago. Even though she's never been psychic, she continues to "see" bits and pieces of their lives. Shortly thereafter, the ghostly apparition of the former mistress, Magdalene Laroussard, appears to her and begs for help. When Magdalene continues to ask for help, Mary realizes what she has tried all along to deny--that she is somehow tied to this house and to Jack. She makes up her mind to not only buy the run-down plantation and turn it into a bed and breakfast, but to also solve the mystery of what happened to Jean-Pierre and Magdalene Laroussard. Her determination to find the key to their disappearance is fraught with danger. When she learns that members of a local Voodoo cult have vowed to protect her from harm, she can't help but wonder who's going to protect her from them.
- Still Life With Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Microsoft Reader/Adobe Reader/Palm Reader
Agent Pendergast returns to investigate a serial killer in a small town. Heavy with midwest gothic flavor, Medicine Creek, Kansas, has been dying for the last century: the primary occupation is still farming; Main Street is a two-block stretch of bleak and dusty businesses; the nearest mall is 200 miles away. Then, a series of grisly murders with the bodies displayed in peculiar tableaus shocks the tiny town. Believing they'd know if a stranger had passed through, the locals lock their doors and look more carefully at their neighbors. Pendergast arrives with his refined New Orleans accent, big city ways, and meals shipped in from Zabar's and Balducci's. Taking on a local teenage misfit as his research assistant, Pendergast's investigation takes him into the heart of this town-from its bowling alley to its corn fields to its touristy spelunking caves. From uncovering the geological mysteries of the local caves, to the remnants of a Prohibition-era moonshine operation, to the secret of one of western Kansas' greatest enigmas: the Medicine Creek Massacre of 1865, Pendergast's journey leads him to encounter a decayed and twisted evil in the soul of a four-generation Kansas family.
- Mahogany Row by Wayne J. Keeley
Multiformat
Attorney Mark McCoy has a credibility problem. Everyone, including his lawyer, thinks he murdered his boss. He had motive, opportunity and no alibi. His only chance is to remain a fugitive and prove his innocence. Not an easy task with a relentless detective, a killer and a Goliath law firm out to take him down. This gritty, non-stop thriller takes place on the streets of New York. The body count rises as he uncovers dark and sinister secrets about his kinky boss, his loyal girlfriend, and his white shoe firm. But the truth may have a high price tag: his life.
- The Perfect Summer by Luanne Rice
Microsoft Reader/Mobipocket/Palm Reader
Old friendships--and love--make all things new again. The acclaimed author of Safe Harbor and other New York Times bestsellers returns to the seaside, delving into the heart of a once happy family facing troubled waters. Bay McCabe relishes life's simple pleasures, her children, her home by the sea. She has never forgotten the values of her Irish granny--the everyday happiness of family, good friends, and hard work. Bay and her husband, Sean, have weathered rough spells and moved on. Now a perfect summer, filled with the scent of beach roses, lies before them. Charming and ambitious, Sean splits his energy between the town bank, his old fishing boat, and the family he seems to adore--until he leaves his young daughter stranded after school. As troubling memories resurface, a phone call confirms that Sean is missing. So begins a season that will change everything. As the door to all Bay cherishes seems to close forever, another opens, and an old love steps through. Embraced by enduring friendships, Bay will discover the truth of who she is--what love is--and how life's deepest mysteries are often those closest to home.
- Night Of The Moonjellies by Mark Shasha
Adobe Reader
Seven-year-old Mark saves a jellyfish on the beach in the morning and helps all day at his grandmother's seaside refreshment stand. After closing, they go out in a fishing boat, and Mark pours out his jellyfish to join the thousands of moonjellies in the nighttime water.
- Miami And The Florida Keys Alive! by Lisa Simundson
Microsoft Reader/Adobe Reader
Are you looking for a day at the beach or a night on the town? Do you want to sail the Intracoastal Waterway by day or to cruise South Beach by night? How about a little bit of each? It's all here, from the neon excitement of Miami to the laid-back style of the Keys, from spas to sports, from romantic getaways to family fun. Miami and the Florida Keys Alive! is certain to entice first-time and long-time visitors alike. You'll find comprehensive information in every chapter, whether you are looking for the finest international cuisine, world-class shopping, challenging dive excursions or just some fun in the sun. You'll also find a vacation for every budget; a price scale is included for hotels and restaurants, and fees are listed for most attractions. Maps and index.
- Milky Way Marmalade by Mike DiCerto
Multiformat
What Douglas Adams did for the genre in the 20th Century, Mike DiCerto does for it in the 21st (and then some!) He blends his unlimited absurdist imagination, a cynical political sensibility with a dash of optimistic mystical thrill seeking, with a lump of orange gelatin! The result? A riotous, raunchy ruckus with a rock & roll heart. Milky Way Marmalade is proof that no matter how sick and evil things may become you can always count on a good guitar solo to save the day!
- A Trip To The Beach: Living On Island Time In The Caribbean by Melinda Blanchard
Microsoft Reader/Palm Reader
Bob and Melinda Blanchard sell their successful Vermont food business and decide, perhaps impulsively, to get away from it all. Why not open a beach bar and grill on Anguilla, their favorite Caribbean island? One thing leads to another and the little grill turns into an enchanting restaurant that quickly draws four-star reviews and a celebrity-studded clientele eager for Melinda's delectable cooking. Amid the frenetic pace of the Christmas "high season," the Blanchards and their kitchen staff--Clinton and Ozzie, the dancing sous-chefs; Shabby, the master lobster-wrangler; Bug, the dish-washing comedian--come together like a crack drill team. And even in the midst of hilarious pandemonium, there are moments of bliss. As the Blanchards learn to adapt to island time, they become ever more deeply attached to the quirky rhythms and customs of their new home. Until disaster strikes: Hurricane Luis, a category-4 storm with two-hundred-mile-an-hour gusts, devastates Anguilla. Bob and Melinda survey the wreckage of their beloved restaurant and wonder whether leaving Anguilla, with its innumerable challenges, would be any easier than walking out on each other.
- Clickers by J.F. Gonzalez
Multiformat
In a peaceful New England Village, terror lies lurking beneath the surface... Phillipsport, Maine seems to be the perfect place for novelist Rick Sychek to settle in to. A small seaport village, it is quaint and peaceful, just what Rick needs in order to write his next novel. On his drive into town Rick runs over what appears to be a large crab in the road. About the size of a common house cat and sporting a segmented tail that resembles the stinger of a scorpion, it is unlike any crustacean he or anybody else in town has seen before. Within the next day the town is literally besieged by hundreds of the creatures--which Rick calls Clickers due to the sound their claws make as the click together--as they ravage and plunder anything unlucky enough to get in their way. Now the wave of terror begins… Hundreds of Clickers literally beach themselves in a wave of terror that ends in horror and death for some ... but it brings the town together collectively in a fight to drive the creatures back. Rick joins his new friends in fighting the creatures off only to discover that the Clickers aren't merely here to ravage and pillage. They are being driven up on the shores of this New England by instinct. For something is hunting the Clickers. Something far worse than any of them could ever imagine…
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