Classic, Romantic Summer Reads

by Sarah Wendell

The Queen of Good Vacation Reading: Nora Roberts

That’s not a book title. That’s a backlist of champions. Roberts is my never-fail author for good summer reading. If you like romance, some suspense, and fabulous characterization in a contemporary novel, Roberts cannot be beat. Roberts’ publisher issued the The Chesapeake Quartet, four of her best books, in two double-novel volumes, so you can read all four books with minimal suitcase load. The first two, Sea Swept and Rising Tides are available as The Quinn Brothers and the second two, Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Blue are available under the title The Quinn Legacy. The quartet follows four adopted brothers who begin life as troubled children and end up living in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. All four Quinn brothers are sigh-worthy and marvelous.

Eccentric and Hilarious Family Dramas

For a little less courtship and a little more family, there are two books which still make me giggle, sniffle, and maybe even weep behind my giant sunglasses.

Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons, is set during World War II among the women of a very eccentric Southern family. Ever notice that sometimes, authors use “Southern” as shorthand for “eccentric” and never quite justify either one? No worries here. This book, and its characters, are genuine and completely charming.

Sullivan’s Island by Dorothea Benton Frank will make you appreciate the family you’re vacationing with, even if they used up all the hot water. Susan Hamilton Hayes finds herself with a broken marriage, the new and scary title of “single mom to teenage daughter,” and a new life for herself as she revisits her family’s past – and their past scandals- on the coastal Carolina islands.