Summer Books Preview 

The beaches are open, so grab one of the hot summer books to take with you.

LIES AND WEDDINGS by Kevin Kwan

The latest from the "Crazy Rich Asians" mastermind opens with a wedding in Hawaii that goes catastrophically awry, further depleting the devastated fortunes of the Earl of Gresham. Fortunately, his Hong Kong supermodel wife has a Plan B: marry off their gorgeous son to serious money. But first she'll have to pry him away from his lifelong love, the Asian girl next door. (Doubleday, May 21)

SWAN SONG by Elin Hilderbrand

In the last of her luscious Nantucket novels, one of Hilderbrand's recurring characters, police chief Ed Kapenash, is retiring. Then a wild pair of ultra-rich newcomers throw a series of over-the-top parties that pitch island life into overdrive. The beleaguered chief's last case involves a house fire, a possible murder, a mahogany hot tub and a yacht. Climb aboard. (Little Brown, June 11)

FAMILIARIS by David Wroblewski

If you've read "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," you know that no one writes about dogs with more insight than Wroblewski — and in this prequel, he gives us the origin story of the Sawtelle family and their dog breed. Set mostly between 1919 and 1950, this great American novel bustles with life, and if it takes all summer to read it, who cares. (Blackstone, June 11)

DO SOMETHING: COMING OF AGE AM,ID THE GLITTER AND DOOM OF '70S NEW YORK by Guy Trebay

Some of us remember Hawaiian Surf, a short-lived but wildly popular men's cologne that came in a cork bottle. Also short-lived was the fortune this author's father made from his brainchild. Trebay's memoir opens with a visit to the ashes of his North Shore childhood home, and travels back in time to show us how it all came down. Plenty of drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll along the way. (Knopf, June 25)

THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore

A culturally astute mystery set at an upstate sleepaway camp in 1975, Moore's latest is kicked off by the disappearance of a teenage girl and an escape from prison. Among the indelible characters are the missing camper, the daughter of a wealthy family; her mother, disempowered and devastated by losses; and the female state trooper who investigates, a working-class hero. (Riverhead, July 2)

THE SAME BRIGHT STARS by Ethan Joella

Spend part of your summer in Delaware's Rehoboth Beach, where Joella's protagonist, Jack Schmidt, is being pressured to sell his family's restaurant to a corporate chain. The only thing stopping him is loyalty to his staff. Joella's evocation of the beach town setting and his themes of male friendship, community and the challenges of aging parents are sure to hit home. (Scribner, July 2)

LONG ISLAND COMPROMISE by Taffy Brodesser-Acker

If you loved Philip Roth's "American Pastoral" and Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections," the second novel from the "Fleishman Is In Trouble" author and former Great Neck resident is for you. When a local Styrofoam mogul is kidnapped then ransomed, schadenfreude is rampant: how rich would you have to be? For the Fletcher family, the aftershocks are permanent. Funny, raunchy and very, very Long Island. (Random House, July 9)

THE AU PAIR AFFAIR by Tessa Bailey

Floral Park local Bailey will spice up your summer with a rom-com involving a feisty, single-dad hockey player, 37; his live-in nanny, 2;, and her lonely tween charg who wants her parents back together. It's what mavens of this genre would call a boss/nanny, grumpy/sunshine, he-falls-first, age-gap romance, told as only the "Michelangelo of dirty talk" can. (Avon, July 16)

THE HORSE by Willy Vlautin

Sexagenarian Al Ward lives on canned soup, tequila and memories of his long career as a touring musician. Isolated in a rundown shack in the Nevada desert, he is running out of reasons to go on — until a the arrival of a mysterious horse who is blind, ill and helpless. Entwining episodes from his life on the road with the unfolding horse situation follow. Vlautin's tale is an ode to last chances. (Harper, July 30)

THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach

When life gives you lemons, forget lemonade. Why not plan your suicide in the high-end Newport, Rhode Island, hotel you and your cheatin' husband never got to visit? Phoebe's agenda is revised when her arrival coincides with that of a Bridezilla and her entourage — and no way is a body going to drop from the sky at this woman's cocktail reception. Filled with hilarious scenes and brilliant banter. (Henry Holt, July 30)

WE LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE by Rachel Koller Croft

If you've been waiting for the next great vampire novel, if you're an unconstructed disco queen, if you eat heart-pounding cat-and-mouse thrillers for breakfast — or all of the above — Croft's follow-up to "Stone Cold Fox" has your name on it. This story of undead besties who open a nightclub in 1980s London features Croft's unique blend of cattiness, humor and high drama. (Berkeley, Aug. 20)

DIVORCE TOWERS by Ellen Meister

Jericho's literary light shines her beam on Beverly Hills this time around, with the story of Addison Torres, who abandons the wreckage of her life in New York to take a job as a concierge in an upscale L.A. high rise. Oy, the entitled residents! The schemes and the scandals! The eligible bachelors! If only Addison hadn't taken a vow of celibacy and sworn off romance. (Montlake, Sept. 1)