One of my favorite things about going on vacation is finally being able to relax with a good book because it’s the one time where I don’t have to worry about any responsibilities, and the only worry I have is when I am going to have my next mojito. Here are a couple of diverse reads that range from fluffy, mysterious, romantic, and perfect for all your vacation needs!
Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
Don’t Date Rosa Santos is a Latinx version of Gilmore Girls set in the charming beachy town of Port Coral. Rosa Santos longs to study abroad in Cuba where she hopes to figure out her identity and place in a world where she has always felt caught between two cultures. The only problem is that she is from a generation of women that have been cursed by the sea. Rosa is conflicted with her choice of applying to study abroad especially since she lives with her abuela who refuses to even talk about the island of Cuba. Then to further complicate everything else Rosa begins to develop a crush on a boy with a boat named Alex Aquino whose family owns a marina. With Rosa’s future college plans in the horizon will Rosa break the curse to study abroad in Cuba and sail away through the sunset with Alex Aquino?
Nina Moreno’s book is the perfect book to enjoy on a beach vacation that will give you those Dawson’s Creek sunny vibes! Enjoy this book by the beach with many Cuban pastelitos in hand!
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Marisol Ferrera is going to Cuba for the first time and her grandmother’s dying wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in her beloved island. Marisol doesn’t expect to uncover her grandmother’s love letters of a secret affair with a revolutionary. Through these letters she learns some valuable lessons about love, family, and the heartbreaking loss of a country that was taken away from them.
Next Year in Havana is the perfect vacation read because it has the kind of sweeping romance that will leave you breathless from beginning to end. This immersive and intoxicating read will transport you to a world of political strife, forbidden romance, and heartbreak of losing the life you always knew. Chanel Cleeton’s masterpiece truly includes all the elements of an addictive vacation read.
I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn
Kimi Nakamura is all about fashion. She lives to dress up her friends in her own Kimi originals that make her friends feel and look like the awesome version of themselves. The only problem is that her mother sees her fashion obsession as a distraction from her college plans to an elite art school. Kimi is ultimately saved when she receives a letter in the mail from her grandparents to spend her spring break in Kyoto! She immediately jumps at the opportunity and loses herself in the technicolor culture of Japan. Kimi is enthralled with Kyoto and begins to fall for Akira who is a med student by day and a mochi mascot by night. Through her travel in Kyoto, Kimi quickly realizes she needs to figure out what her true passion is and where her heart ultimately belongs.
This wouldn’t be a good vacation list if it didn’t include a book title that reminds us of ice cream! I Love You So Mochi seems like the cutest and fluffiest vacation read where you can enjoy a summer afternoon eating a bowl of yummy Mochi ice cream and indulge in the luminous world of Kyoto!
Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
Somewhere Only We Know is a rom com centered around the life of a K-pop superstar named Lucky who just performed her mega hit “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong. She wakes up in her ultra-bougie hotel with a hankering for a hamburger. Then she meets Jack the journalist on a tabloid job and they have a whirlwind romance around Hong Kong that was completely unexpected. Through their adventures around Hong Kong they learn that in order to truly live their lives they need to break out of other people’s expectations.
This Roman Holiday inspired romance seems like the ultimate breezy romance to take on vacation. Somewhere Only We Know appears to be the kind of read that will teach us to break out of the predictable itinerary of life.