Cruel Summer on the Myrtle Beach boardwalk: romance books for your beach bag

The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk has been breaking hearts and mending them since the 1930s. The original was built back then, Hurricane Hazel damaged it in 1954, and the modern Oceanfront Boardwalk and Promenade came back in 2010, running from just north of the 2nd Avenue Pier to just past 14th Avenue North, according to Visit Myrtle Beach.

That is a long walk for a summer fling, and a perfect one for a beach bag. Taylor Swift called it “Cruel Summer”: the season when you know it is a bad idea and you keep saying yes. These three romance books are made for it.

Which romance book is about a love that comes back every summer?

Every Summer After, by Carley Fortune, is the second-chance romance for anyone who still thinks about a summer crush. Percy Fraser spent six summers on a lake in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, falling for Sam Florek, and then ruined it. A decade later, a phone call brings her back for one weekend, according to Penguin Random House.

The publisher sums it up in three lines: “Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.” If you are a Swiftie, this is “seven” grown up: the childhood friend who became everything.

Which romance book is about best friends on vacation?

People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry, is the friends-to-lovers book you read in one sitting under an umbrella. Poppy and Alex are opposites who took a summer trip together every year for a decade, until a falling-out two years ago. Now Poppy wants one more vacation to fix it, according to Penguin Random House.

“Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.” It is also a Netflix film, released Jan. 9 with Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, so you can read it on the sand and watch it at the condo. Poppy and Alex are pure “You Belong with Me.”

Which romance book is about fake dating after a breakup?

Funny Story, by Emily Henry, is the fake-dating book with the most chaotic setup of the summer. Daphne’s fiancé leaves her for his best friend, Petra. Stuck in Waning Bay, Michigan, Daphne moves in with Miles, Petra’s ex, a scruffy man who comforts himself with heartbreak ballads. One night of drinks later, they have a plan: post misleading photos of a perfect summer together, according to Penguin Random House.

She swears she will not fall for her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex. You already know. Put “Call It What You Want” on the playlist.

Are these Myrtle Beach beach reads a slow burn?

All three of these books take their time. Every Summer After moves between six summers and one weekend, People We Meet on Vacation builds over ten years of trips, and Funny Story starts with two people who barely speak. The love scenes are on the page, but the heat lives in the longing, the glances and the almost-kisses.

How do you plan a beach read day on the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk?

Start in the morning on the sand near the 2nd Avenue Pier, read until lunch, and save the boardwalk for golden hour, when the walk north toward 14th Avenue North turns into the romantic part of the day. Bring a tote big enough for a paperback, a towel and sunscreen, and keep the book out of the wet sand. Sea breeze and salt are fine. A wave is not.

When you look up from the last page, you will be on a boardwalk built for exactly this kind of story.

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