18 Free Beach Reads You Can Download Right Now

Posted by George Hartley

It is the middle of winter where I am. Grey sky over Melbourne, heater on, a pair of socks that have clearly given up. So writing a list of beach reads is a mild form of self-torture, and I am doing it anyway, because most of you reading this are somewhere a lot warmer than I am right now.

I used to be a chronic airport-bookshop shopper. You know the routine. You get to the gate, you panic, you buy two paperbacks at $19.99 each because the covers looked nice, and one of them turns out to be genuinely terrible by page 40. Then you are stuck with it on a sun-lounger for a week, because it is the only thing you brought.

The whole point of Obooko is that you never have to do that again. Every book here is free, most come in epub, PDF and Kindle, and you can load a dozen onto your phone or e-reader before you have even left the house. Download them now, read them offline on the plane, no signal required.

So here are 18 of them. Our readers did most of the sorting for me: the star ratings and download numbers are real, and I have put the popular ones near the top of each list. Load up a few. Worst case you delete the one you do not like, and it has cost you nothing but a tap.

The ones you read behind your sunglasses

Maid to the Mafia by Wanitta Praks. The setup is right there in the title, and 1,595 five-star ratings say readers are very much here for it. If you want a big, fast, forced-proximity romance you can start on the plane and finish by the pool, grab this one first.

A Pleasant Surprise by L. R. Wards. More than 750 readers have given this a perfect score, which is a lot of people to be wrong at the same time. Easy and warm, exactly the sort of thing you want when your biggest decision of the day is second swim or second cocktail.

Pale Stranger by Mac Flynn. Paranormal romance from a seriously prolific Obooko author, with close to 600 five-star reviews. If your ideal beach read has a bit of bite to it (sorry), start here.

Sensual Pleasures by Senna Fisher. Does roughly what the cover promises, and nearly 500 readers rated it five stars. Best enjoyed once the kids are safely at the kids' club.

The Edge of Doom by Mash Keitumetse. A high-drama romance with more than 300 glowing reviews. Bigger feelings than the title lets on, and a proper page-turner with it.

Caught By the Dragon by Mac Flynn. Book one of a dragon-shifter series, because sometimes a beach read should be completely ridiculous and know it. Free, and the rest of the series is on here too if you get hooked.

For when you want your pulse up, not just the temperature

Nurse Becky Gets Shot by Gary Baker. Nearly 20,000 downloads, and honestly the title does most of the work. A psychological thriller with a pitch-black sense of humour. If you only take one thriller away, take this.

PaRaSyTe by Azlan Shahid. A twisty thriller that has quietly earned a perfect rating across more than 50 reviews. The kind of book that ruins your afternoon plans in the best possible way.

The Silent Protest by Faith Ijiga. Book one of the Ryder Jackson thrillers: fast, propulsive, and the start of a series, so you will not be left hanging when you tear through it in a day.

An Outline of Death by Peter C Byrnes. A proper whodunit from one of Obooko's most prolific crime writers. Straight-down-the-line murder mystery for readers who like to guess along and be wrong.

For a proper voyage

Dodd's Army by John R. Smith. One of the highest-rated adventures on the whole platform, with 234 five-star reviews. Big, sweeping and hard to put down, which is the entire job description of a beach read.

The Rings of Poseidon by Mike Crowson. Named for the god of the sea, and a long-standing reader favourite with 128 perfect scores. Fitting to read with actual water in front of you.

Twice Upon A Time by C. C. Phillips. Over 100 readers gave this five stars. A clever, brisk adventure that is a lot more fun than it has any right to be for something you did not pay for.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne. The original summer adventure. Verne wrote it in 1864 and it still moves faster than most things published last year. If you have never actually read it, a beach is the correct place to fix that.

For the hammock, not the sun-lounger

Touchstone by Letitia Coyne. Sweeping historical romance with 160 five-star ratings. The sort of long, rich story you can sink right into when you have a week and nowhere to be.

The Silurian: The Fox and the Bear by L. A. Wilson. Book one of a much-loved historical series set in ancient Britain. Dense in the good way, and there are more books waiting when you finish.

The Heart Has Its Reasons by Charles Coiro. A warm, character-driven novel that readers genuinely seem to love, with 74 five-star reviews. One for the quiet morning, coffee in hand, before the beach fills up.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. A proper old-fashioned adventure with more than 100 five-star ratings, which is not bad going for a book from 1826. Big landscapes, big stakes, and free forever.

Grab a few, lose a weekend

You do not have to choose. The best thing about a stack of free books is that you are allowed to be greedy. Load six onto your phone tonight, read the first chapter of each on the plane, and keep the two that grab you. delete the rest with a clear conscience.

Everything here is free, no card and no catch, most of it in epub, PDF and Kindle. Have a wander through the rest of the free romance books, the thrillers and the adventures while you are at it, or just walk into the full library and get pleasantly lost.