12 Beach Reads to Pick Up If You Flew Through ‘Let’s Not Go Overboard Here’

Our The Everygirl Book Club summer bonus pick is a perfect next read if you connected with Mel’s grief-fueled spiral and questionable decision-making, since it leans right into that same morally-gray territory. It follows a woman whose desperate attempt to win back her ex takes a very wrong turn, blending revenge, mystery, and pitch-black humor in a way that fans of Mel’s chaotic energy will appreciate.

Our The Everygirl Book Club July pick is the cozy, swoony palate cleanser you need after all that yacht chaos. It leans into the warm, romantic, happily-ever-after feelings, making it an easy, comforting read to pick up next (and a great one to dig into alongside the rest of the The Everygirl community).

Underneath all its comedy, Let’s Not Go Overboard Here is really a story about losing your best friend, and this beloved novel captures that same ache of a defining platonic relationship. Following two friends who build a video game empire together over the course of decades, it’s a sweeping, emotional, genuinely unforgettable exploration of creativity, friendship, and loss. Have tissues ready.

For more banter-filled, media-world romance, this enemies-to-lovers favorite follows two public radio co-hosts forced to fake an exes-to-friends dynamic on a hit new podcast. The only problem? Their on-air chemistry starts feeling very real. It’s witty, warm, and the kind of smart rom-com that goes down easy on a beach day.

Since Mel’s story has a swoony deckhand subplot wrapped inside a reality-TV premise, this one’s a perfect next read. Set behind the scenes of a Bachelor-style dating show, it follows the burned-out producer and the awkward, anxious tech genius cast as the lead, who slowly fall for each other instead. It’s tender, funny, and one of the most beloved reality-TV romances out there.

If you loved the reality-show-gone-wrong tension, this thriller takes it to a deadly extreme. Five couples are cast on a Love Island-style dating show filmed on a remote tropical island, but when a storm cuts them off from the outside world and people start dying, the game becomes a fight for survival. It’s Love Island meets And Then There Were None, and it’s a perfect propulsive beach read.

Mel’s entire personality is built on an encyclopedic knowledge of reality television, so if you want to go down the same rabbit hole, this is your read. Pulitzer-winning critic Emily Nussbaum traces the entire history of the genre, from Candid Camera to The Real Housewives, in a deeply reported, genuinely fascinating deep dive. It’s the nonfiction companion to Mel’s whole worldview, and you’ll never watch a reunion episode the same way again.

Mel’s yacht trip in Greece is pure aspirational chaos, and this novel delivers the same wealthy-people-behaving-badly energy. Set in a glamorous Fire Island summer community, it follows a group of well-off friends whose petty rivalries, affairs, and secrets all come to a head when a body turns up off the boardwalk. It’s deliciously soapy, sharp, and impossible to put down.

For a lighter, lower-stakes romance with a fun premise, this one delivers charm in spades. It’s a playful, feel-good love story perfect for when you want to come down from the emotional gut-punch of Mel’s story and just enjoy something sweet and escapist.

For a fictional take on reality TV (with a lot more romance), this enemies-to-lovers rom-com is set on an outdoor adventure competition show. When a glamorous California girl and a grumpy mountain guide get paired up on a race for a million-dollar prize, their on-camera hatred turns into very off-camera chemistry. It’s a fun, behind-the-scenes-of-reality-TV read that pairs perfectly with Mel’s Below Deck obsession.

For a glamorous getaway with a dark edge, this twisty thriller sends two childhood best friends to a gorgeous Italian villa with a sinister history. As the present-day tension between them builds, the story weaves in a decades-old murder that took place at the same villa in the 1970s. It’s atmospheric, sun-soaked, and full of the kind of simmering secrets that make for a perfect summer mystery.

For another read with a complicated, fixated heroine, this thriller follows a journalist obsessed with taking down the con artist who once duped her. It’s sharp, twisty, and built around the same kind of can’t-look-away pop culture spiral that powered Mel’s investigation, plus plenty of media-and-fame commentary.