Spring Escapes: Bedside Reading’s Must-Read Novels for April

Spring has a way of turning pages—and this season, fiction is leading the charge. From sun-drenched escapes to edge-of-your-seat narratives, these are the stories you’ll want tucked into your beach bag, your carry-on, or waiting bedside. At Bedside Reading, we’re seeing readers gravitate toward bold characters, immersive worlds, and unforgettable twists—because sometimes the best way to reset is to step into someone else’s story. Consider this your invitation to get lost, stay up late, and let fiction rule.

Here’s what they’re reading at Hotel Paseo, Palm Desert, CA…

Where the Heart Meets the Sea: A Novel by Kimbra Drake

Twenty-nine-year-old Ella Nilsen has never known her parents—or even how her mother died. Raised by her emotionally distant Norwegian grandmother, Hilda, Ella has long accepted that the topic of her parents is off-limits. When Hilda passes away, Ella is shocked to find that her inheritance includes a summer cottage perched above the sea in a place called Lyngør, a remote island in Norway. To sell it, she’ll have to visit the cottage and take stock of what’s there—and maybe Lyngør holds the key to her mother’s mysterious passing, if she can get the locals to talk.

For as long as he can remember, Leif Arnesen, a thirty-four-year-old boatbuilder in Lyngør, has carried grief and shame from his father’s death, an accident that upended their small community. When Ella breezes into Lyngør looking for answers, her very presence stirs up old ghosts and earns her the villagers’ suspicions. As sparks begin to fly between Leif and Ella and their relationship blossoms quickly, everything Leif knows to be true threatens to capsize.

Here’s what they’re reading at Hyatt Regency Chicago, IL…

A Dangerous Friendship: A Novel by Robin Merle

After a divorce leaves her untethered and desperate to feel alive again, twenty-nine-year-old Tina is drawn into the orbit of Spike, a beautiful, seductive, seemingly invulnerable woman who lives like rules are for other people.

Spike offers Tina everything she’s craving: adventure, reinvention, and a front-row seat to a world of power, sex, wealthy men, and unspoken danger. But the closer Tina gets, the more she realizes Spike’s charisma has teeth, and the less harmless her secrets prove to be.

A darkly funny, witty, and propulsive thriller, A Dangerous Friendship is a story of obsession, betrayal, survival, and the terrifying moment you understand that the friendship you thought would save you might be the thing that ruins you.

Here’s what they’re reading at Hyatt Regency Aruba…

Have a Great Summer by Francesca Cocchi

If time is supposed to heal all wounds, Lina Mariano’s broken teenage heart never quite got the message—but 15 sunny, sandy, angsty Jersey Shore summers later, she finds herself unexpectedly facing her old crush, getting a new perspective—and maybe even a hopeful glimpse of the future...

Lina Mariano is stuck—in her hometown, in her job, and in the past. And after six years of writing up local weddings as a columnist for a popular lifestyle website, she’s wholeheartedly sick of nuptials. Worse, the next one on her list is none other than Sebastian Nikolaou’s.

Working high school summers with sweet, handsome Sebastian at his mother’s iconic beach restaurant, teenage Lina was totally wrapped up in the way he made her feel—until the night that everything changed. Even so, she’s embarrassed to admit how often she still thinks of him, and now, comparing their present lives is wrenching. It will take a careful look at her younger self, and some wisdom from the best friend who was there for it all, to see that making her dreams come true is up to her alone—whether or not those dreams still include Sebastian...

Here’s what they’re reading at Shelburne Sonesta New York, NY…

Blood Rivalry by Paul Attaway

Eli, a celebrated chef, and Walker, a lawyer, are brothers, building families and careers, each affected by the gruesome murder twenty years ago of Eli’s high school sweetheart. The hunt for the killer, in the public’s eyes, cemented Eli and Walker in roles neither wanted—Eli as the savior and Walker in need of a savior—thus casting a chill over their relationships.

Walker sees a chance to play the hero when, through his representation of two clients, he takes on the Governor of South Carolina, Johnny Dunsmore, the eldest son of Colin Dunsmore, the patriarch of a politically powerful family. For fifty years, Colin Dunsmore carefully crafted an image for the family, intent on placing Johnny in the White House. But Walker uncovers a history of deceit and murder that defines the family, and as he pulls at strings, Colin Dunsmore’s tapestry of lies begins to unravel.

Confronted with the Dunsmore’s ruthlessness and the knowledge that they will stop at nothing to win, Walker turns to Eli and together they embark on a cross-country race with the Dunsmores to secure the secrets that, if revealed, would upend their empire.

Here’s what they’re reading at Dream Inn, Santa Cruz, CA…

A Spell for Saints and Sinners: A Novel by Emily Carpenter

In front of an elegantly shabby townhouse on a Savannah side street sits a hand-painted sign: Miss Edie, Psychic. Ingrid White inherited the house and business from her beloved grandmother, a local celebrity in town. But unless Ingrid can find a way to pay for crushing property taxes and mounting repairs, she’s going to lose them both.

Ingrid has faith in the homespun witchcraft Edie passed down to her, yet hope and clients are dwindling... Until Sailor Loeffler’s bachelorette party changes everything. Sailor is local royalty—part of the vast “Savannah Sauce” empire, beautiful and wealthy beyond imagination—and Ingrid’s reading is so accurate that she becomes the bride-to-be’s confidante. To keep that access and all the privileges it brings, Ingrid relies more and more on hexes and dark spells—using the baneful magic Edie always warned her against.

As Ingrid works even riskier spells, she is drawn further into the Loefflers’ inner circle and the obstacles in her path melt away. But is it witchcraft or other, more earthbound forces? Ingrid can feel the lines blurring even as her powers seem to grow, until she must confront the truth about just how far some people, including herself, will go to keep the life they’ve always wanted...

Here’s what they’re reading at Sonesta Denver, CO...

The Moonshine Women: A Novel by Michelle Collins Anderson

In the Ozark Mountains, the Strong family survives the post-Great War crop collapse through their prized, fruit-infused moonshine. Matriarch Lidy’s secret ingredients make their "shine" legendary, but the business is as unforgiving as the rugged landscape.

The three Strong sisters are as distinct as their spirits: stoic Rebecca finds healing in an unexpected romance; beautiful Elsie hungers for a life beyond the farm; and fiery, red-haired Jace—known as "Shine"—possesses an innate mastery of the still. When their father’s grief leaves the family vulnerable to encroaching Prohibition agents, the sisters must take control.

From the pine-edged mountains to the gangster-filled bars of Hot Springs, Arkansas, the sisters embark on a high-stakes quest for vengeance and love. To survive, they must keep the still running and their bond unbroken, searching for a future as potent and transformative as the moonshine that bears their name.

Here’s what they’re reading at Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs, CA...

Between Friends: A Novel by Natalie Banks

After a decade away, Madison Andrews is forced to return to the hometown she’s spent years trying to forget. Her mother is gone. Her past is calling. And so is Imogen, the former best friend who once held Madison’s life in the palm of her hand. Back then, it was always the three of them, Imogen, Madison, and Olivia. Beautiful, popular and untouchable. The kind of girls everyone envied. Until everything fell apart.

Now, it’s been years since Olivia vanished after a party in the woods, leaving behind only rumors, silence, and the sharp sting of unfinished questions. Madison told herself she didn’t remember what happened that night. But back in her childhood home, surrounded by echoes of the girls they used to be, fragments of the truth begin to surface. As Madison pieces together the memories she buried, she finds herself caught in the same twisted triangle that shattered them all once before. And this time, it’s pulling her under. Imogen still lives in the same town, wears the same perfect smile, and acts like nothing ever happened. But something did. And Madison and Imogen aren’t the only ones who remember. Because secrets never stay buried for long. And someone has been waiting. Ready to make them pay.