Queer Beach Reads for Every Kind of Seaside Reader

Ray Bruno and Kip Hayes are engaged, and they’re taking an early honeymoon before the wedding, staying at a luxury resort in Ray’s coastal New England hometown (which we can see on the beachy cover). Ray and Kip are very different, but they always make it work. When they bump into another couple at the resort, though, misunderstandings begin to pile up, and soon this getaway is less a vacation and more of a test of whether they should be getting married at all.

One other take on the ocean-centric book is a pirate story! Jacquotte is a biracial shipwright trying to make a name for herself in the Dominican Republic in the 1600s. The first day she sets sail, though, she’s boarded by the pirate Blackhand, and she and her entire crew — including her love interest, Theresa — become indentured servants. Blackhand keeps making them attempt dangerous jobs, like stealing Portuguese jewels, that put their lives at risk. To save themselves and the rest of the captured crew, Jacquotte and Theresa plot a risky scheme to overthrow Blackhand and take his place.

For a trans, historical beach read, pick up A Shore Thing. Double bonus points for the beachy cover and title. This takes place on the seaside of Cornwall, where Kit is starting a new life after leaving behind his old identity as a painter in the Sisterhood of women artists. Muriel is a botanist trying to commission Kit for seaweed illustrations. Kit reluctantly agrees, but only if the two of them prove to the local all-male cycling club that they should start allowing women in. As they cycle together, they begin to fall for each other.

If you’re not in the mood for romance, general fiction, or adventure, might I interest you in a nonfiction book about sea creatures? This is one of my favorite books, because Sabrina Imbler masterfully interweaves fascinating facts about sea creatures with stories from their own life — including being a queer, nonbinary, racialized person in a field that can be hostile to anyone other than straight cis white guys.