Good Adventurous Books That Will Take You on a Thrilling Journey This Summer

Here’s a summer reading list of good adventurous books with wild plots in incredible settings around the world. These travel-themed books take you from tiny islands to shady underground catacombs. They’re thrilling, atmospheric, and perfect for anyone craving stories that feel like a riveting summer escape.

I’ve been working my way through stacks of summer reads, searching for the coolest books to share with you guys. These books set in dreamy, dramatic locations deliver big on both story and strong sense of place. And now, I’m sharing the most thrilling of them all. These are the most exciting, transportive books to read this summer, whether you’re lounging by the pool, curled up in a hammock, or simply daydreaming about your next great adventure.

You May Also Enjoy These Travel Themed Reading Lists:

1. Beach reads for the ultimate escape
2. Indulge your Wanderlust with travel fiction
3. Wintery novels from around the world

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1. Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

A Southwest-set treasure hunt, second-chance romance, and wild ride all in one

Christina Lauren books are always such a fun escape, and Something Wilder is no exception. I love that this powerhouse duo is actually a pair of best friends turned writing partners—they’re such a great team with a knack for exceptional storytelling. We know we can expect bold plots, and blistering chemistry, and this one delivers an action-packed adventure set in the American Southwest.

🏜️ The Setting: Moab, Utah – A Landscape Built for Adventure

This story unfolds in Moab, Utah, surrounded by the outrageous setting of Canyonlands National Park. It’s an unforgiving desert landscape—vast, dramatic, and otherworldly—which makes it the perfect backdrop for a high-stakes treasure hunt and a smoldering second-chance romance.

📜 The Plot: A Ghosted Ex, a Killer Twist, and an Unexpected Treasure Map

Lily and her best friend Nic are rugged, no-nonsense guides leading backpacking expeditions for city slickers looking to play cowboy for a few days. But this trip goes off the rails fast. One of the clients? Leo—Lily’s ex, who left her in the shattered in the dust. His reappearance throws Lily well off her game.

But things quickly get worse. One of the men in the group—he is a horrid slimy trashcan and we hate him  — steals an old journal belonging to Lily’s father. The dynamic changes real fast, leaving the group reeling for answers. What started as a casual outdoor excursion then become a dangerous survival mission.

The twist? The journal might actually be a real treasure map. Lily’s father turns out to have been a respected figure in treasure hunting circles—and an expert on the legend of Butch Cassidy’s hidden loot. While she always dismissed his musings as a hobby, his journal may be his greatest legacy. 

So now, this misfit group is navigating rugged terrain, emotional landmines, and home-spun riddles as they chase what may—or may not—be an actual (massive) fortune.

⛺️ The Romance: Second Chances in the Wild

As danger ramps up, so does the chemistry between Lily and Leo. The tension between them is simmers while they retrace their shared history and question what really happened all those years ago. It’s classic Christina Lauren: emotional, funny, sexy, and deeply satisfying.

💰Final Thoughts: Wild West Indiana Jones with a Feminine Twist

This book is the girl version of Indiana Jones, and I was loved it. The history of Butch Cassidy was genuinely fascinating.  The way the authors blend fact with fiction makes the treasure-hunting plot feel surprisingly grounded and works so perfectly with the setting.

The pacing is tight, the twists are wild, and the writing is sharp. It’s one of those books that pulls you in with high adventure and dangerous stakes, but keeps you hooked with big-hearted characters, messy emotions, and chemistry hotter than the dessert sand.

If you love:

✔️ Good adventurous books

✔️ Second-chance romance

✔️ Summer reads set in epic, real-life locations

Then Something Wilder is the perfect pick for your summer reading list. It’s fast-paced, fun, and full of wanderlust—a story that might just have you eyeing a road trip through Utah with a dusty old map in hand.

2.  Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins – A Tropical Thriller with a Killer Twist

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Looking for a sultry, suspenseful beach read with one of the greatest settings of all time? Reckless Girls is a perfect pick. Set on a remote Pacific island that’s equal parts paradise and nightmare, this travel-inspired summer thriller is a cinematic, binge-worthy read that must be one your reading list this season.

Honestly, I ate it up—and I was imagining the movie trailer the entire time. (Somebody please make this into a film.)

🛥️The Plot: Exotic Escape, Dark Secrets and a Suspicious Death on Meroe Island

The story begins in Hawaii, where world traveling duo Brittany and Amma convince a laid-back local, Nico, to charter them to the mysterious and off-the-grid Meroe Island. This deserted atoll is three days’ sail from the Big Island that few have ever seen. Travelers boast about it’s ethereal beauty, but warn of its somber, spooky past that includes shipwrecks, wartime secrets, and whispers of tragedy that still linger in its dense jungle. 

Nico isn’t a professional charter captain—he’s more of a sun-chasing beach bum—but he jumps at the chance to make some money and brings along his girlfriend, Lux, who’s looking for an escape of her own.

When the group arrives at Meroe, they find another yacht already anchored in the harbor. Their island getaway turns tense quickly. Disturbing secrets surface, loyalties waver, and before long, one of them ends up dead. What starts as an envious trip of a lifetime devolves into something totally unexpected.

The narrative unfolds through multiple perspectives and dual timelines, giving insight into each character’s hidden motives and tangled backstories. Flashbacks take readers from European summers to the coastlines of Australia, ramping up to a satisfying ending.

🏝️The Vibe: A Beach Thriller With Lovecraftian Undertones

What I loved about this book is that Rachel Hawkins does a masterful job at creating unlikely juxtapositions. 

• A dreamy tropical setting that feels haunted. 
• Surrounded by open ocean, there’s a sense of creeping dread and claustrophobia,
• The luxury yacht is well stocked with fine wines while they’re in the middle of nowhere.

It makes the book such an epic summer read, and I didn’t want the story to end. 

Yet, I couldn’t wait to finish it. The writing is really well paced, every part is action packed and I honestly couldn’t put it down. 

🌅 Final Thoughts: One of the Best Summer Thrillers with a Unique Setting

Reckless girls is a captivating summer thriller, with one of the coolest settings that I’ve read in a while. The scenes are well rendered and you feel like you’re on Meroe island with them, battling the choking jungle, swimming in the untouched lagoons and watching the sun melt in to the Pacific. If you’re interested in good adventure books for this summer, this should be your first read. 

3. Love and Olives by Jenna Evans Welch – A Captivating Summer Story of Atlantis, Family, and Forgiveness

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If you’re searching for an adventurous summer read set in a stunning location, this novel will absolutely sweep you away. Set in the sunny Greek Isles, it blends mythology, family secrets, and self-discovery, gifted to us in an immersive coming-of-age story that I was truly not prepared for.

The book opens with Liv (formerly Olive) flying to Santorini to reunite with her estranged father—someone she hasn’t seen or heard from since he left when she was eight. He abandoned their family to chase his obsession with the discovering the real site of the lost city Atlantis. While Liv has buried much of the emotional fallout, there’s still a heavy layer of resentment, and unhealed wounds beneath the surface.

Now, the summer before senior year, she’s reluctantly heading to Greece at her mother’s insistence—to help with her father’s latest project, presumably tied to his long-standing archaeological quest to find Atlantis. It’s the same passion project that defined Liv’s childhood, their father-daughter bond was built on a shared intrigue in the Atlantis archeology, now just a shameful reminder that she left behind for a fool’s errand.

🏛️ The Setting: A legendary Summer in Greece

The Greek island setting is enticing—with sweeping coastlines, whitewashed villages, and the sparkling Aegean Sea providing the perfect backdrop for a story of reconnection and personal growth. You can feel the warmth of the beach sand, and smell the salty air. The myth of Atlantis is threaded throughout the story in a way that’s both exciting and grounded, bringing the legend to life through Liv’s father’s daring research.

She meets Theo, a charming and perceptive local teen working with her dad on a documentary project. Their dynamic is so fun and genuine, and yes, Theo is completely adorable. His bond with Liv’s father adds an extra layer of tension and intrigue—especially as Liv works through the complicated feelings of seeing her dad in a new light: respected, admired, and part of a community that values his work.

🌀 The Emotional Core: Estranged Family, Identity, and Letting Go

There’s a ton of emotional weight here, but it’s handled so thoughtfully. Liv’s inner conflict is clear—the deep ache of abandonment, the vulnerability of trusting again, and the challenge of forgiving. What I love about Jenna Evans Welch’s young adult characters is that their stories are profound and relatable; there’s nothing immature about them. We see that with both Liv and Theo

And the ending? It completely reframes the entire novel. What begins as a light, summery escape transforms into something more important. The final chapters cast the entire story in a new light— elevating the whole experience.

✨ Final Thoughts: A Must-Read Summer Novel Set in the Greek Isles

This book turned out to be so much more than I expected. The Atlantis-is-real angle is so fun and adventurous. The abandonment and forgiveness is raw, and the Greek Isles setting is completely transportive. Love and Olives will take you on a journey. 

✔️ Summer reads set in beautiful international destinations
✔️ YA novels with family drama, and emotional depth
✔️ Coming-of-age summer stories
✔️ Travel fiction perfect for beach reading

If you love mythology-inspired novels, heartwarming stories of personal growth, or emotional reads set in iconic travel destinations, this is the perfect pick for your summer reading list.

4. Island Time: A Family Drama Set in an Australian Paradise

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At first glance, Island Time seems like a high-stakes survival story—two families vacationing on a secluded island off the coast of Australia, only to be caught in the chaos of a volcanic eruption and tsunami. But while the natural disaster sets the stage, this novel isn’t about survival—it’s a family saga: tension, self-discovery, and the transformation that come out of the crucible of being stranded together.

🌊The Story: Strangers, Secrets, and a Tsunami-Induced Family Drama

The Kellys and the Lees could not be more different, brought together only because their daughters recently married. What was meant to be a getaway to bring the families closer quickly turns into something far more intense when a tsunami devastates the area. They’re stranded with only two resort employees and one intact vacation home—which they now have to share.

Rather than a fight for survival, the isolation after tsunami is a catalyst for introspection and personal growth. It forcing each character to confront relationship struggles, career goals, and life-changing decisions. The novel explores different phases of romantic relationships through its ensemble cast:

• Breakups, makeups, and fresh starts unfold across the island.
• Environmental and social themes emerge as the island’s pristine ecosystem is thrown into disarray.
• LGBTQ+ love stories take center stage.

✨My Thoughts: A Unique Summer Read

One of the novel’s strengths is its unique setting and premise. The island, a protected nature preserve, becomes an integral part of the story. The characters are forced into a disrupted wilderness, leading too close encounters with interesting animal species. There’s also an important dialogue regarding the indigenous people of the region. The island is important aspect their heritage, and their culture is often referenced throughout the story. This thread is so interesting.  

If you’re looking for a fast-paced disaster novel, this isn’t it. Island Time is a character-driven family saga. It’s LGBTQ+ romances, thoughtful ecology themes, and an outstanding setting, it delivers sustainable beach resort vibes, off the beaten path adventures, and a peak into this remote corner of Australia.

5. Field Rules by Carla Luna – A Romantic Summer Adventure Set in Cyprus

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Your next fun, travel-inspired romance is served with a side of ancient ruins and unresolved tension. Field Rules is the first book in Carla Luna’s Romancing the Ruins series—and it’s a hidden gem. This adventurous summer series follows archaeology students as they dig up history (and a little drama) in sun-drenched European locations, starting with the untamed beauty of Cyprus.

This series feels like stumbling across a rare archaeological treasure—one that just happens to come with a slow-burn romance and Mediterranean beach vibes.

And yes, I did include this novel on Best Beach Reads: Must-Read Books for the Ultimate Escape, because I think it’s really cool.

🏛️ The Plot: Ancient History, Academic Drama & Second Chances

Seven years ago, Olivia and Ricky met on her first archaeological dig, where things got complicated—fast. An unforgettable romance bloomed but Olivia ghosted him without a trace. Now, she’s suddenly thrown into a six-week dig in Cyprus as a last-minute replacement… only to find herself face-to-face with Ricky again.

Olivia is thriving in her PhD program, writing a thesis on wine in the ancient world (pretty bad ass). But in the field, she comes across as a newbie—thanks to the fact that she’s never spoken about that messy first dig with Ricky.

The chemistry between them? Undeniable and forbidden; their past looms over them. Ricky, charming and competent, helps her get reacquainted with fieldwork and tries to keep things professional—even as buried emotions resurface. Meanwhile, the young team of archaeologists is having the adventure of a lifetime, hoping to uncover a career-defining discovery while basking in the sun-soaked history of Cyprus.

As Olivia and Ricky are forced to work together again, their exes-to-friends-to-maybe-something-more dynamic simmers under the Mediterranean sun.

🏺 Why You’ll Love It: Smart, Atmospheric, and a Fun, Fresh Premise

This book has a fresh but fun delivery of academic summer adventure aesthetic—what is that? Idk, but I liked it.  The archaeological details feel authentic (thanks to the author’s real-life dig experience), and the academic setting is spot-on—filled with mentor dynamics, ambition, and the nervous energy of early career scientists. It’s equal parts romance, travel fiction, and a celebration of scientific discovery (fist pump)

And let’s talk about the setting. Cyprus is so richly rendered that it becomes a character of its own:

• You can taste the zingy lemon cocktails
• Feel the Mediterranean sun against your skin
• Smell the vine-draped ruins and earthy temple stones

It’s one of the summer books set in Europe that should be on your summer TBR. Or perfect if you just want a beach read with a little brains and a lot of heart.

🌅 Final Thoughts: A Lighthearted, Smart Escape with Wanderlust Vibes

Field Rules strikes the right balance between smart and swoony, it’s light but very intriguing. It’s a summer read that doesn’t sacrifice depth, and it left me dreaming of ancient ruins, lemon groves, and seaside sunsets.

✔️Slow-burn, second-chance romance

✔️Summer read set in beautiful European destinations

✔️Good Adventurous books with cool female MC

✔️ Travel fiction with heart and heat

Add this to your summer reading list for 2025—especially if you’re in the mood for a flirty, fresh, and utterly transporting story that will make you want to book a one-way ticket to the Mediterranean.

6. Under the Surface by Diana Urban — A DOPE AF YA Adventure in the Catacombs

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First of all, I’m surprised that this book doesn’t have more fanfare, because it is really cool! If you’re hunting for a thrilling, atmospheric summer read with a wild setting, I’m telling you—you gotta check this out. The Paris catacombs make for an absolutely rad setting, and this fast-paced YA novel is one I devoured in a single sitting. It’s spooky, interesting, and really captivating—and now I’m on a mission to get everyone I know to read it.

💀The Plot: YouTubers, Secret Parties, and a Descent Into Darkness

A group of high school seniors is on a class trip to Paris when Ruby’s friend gets invited to a secret party in the Paris catacombs (yes, the real ones—creepy tunnels lines with skulls and bones). Ruby and two friends sneak out to follow her, hoping to keep her safe. What starts out as a rebellious detour quickly spirals into a nightmare.

Julien, a charismatic French teen and self-proclaimed Cataphile (a secretive group that explores the catacombs illegally), promises them the ultimate adventure—something Ruby is dying to capture for her YouTube channel, Ruby’s Hidden Gems (the cuuutesst name). But they become hopelessly lost in the vast underground labyrinth, with no food, no phone signal, and something—or someone—possibly hunting them.

Back at the hotel, Ruby’s longtime friend Shane realizes she’s missing. As panic sets in, he digs into Ruby’s online life for clues, leading him on his own desperate mission to rescue her before it’s too late.

🌍 Why I Love It: Suspenseful, Atmospheric, and sooo Original

This book has everything you want in a good summer thriller:
✔️ Amazing setting (underground Paris = SO cool)
✔️ High-stakes tension + survival drama
✔️ Themes of loyalty, friendship, and identity
✔️ A big twist that’s both creepy and believable

Though technically YA, the emotional beats are authentic and resonate—not at all immature or fluffy. The ending is satisfying, the writing immersive, and honestly? It’s such a blast to read, a good adventurous book. Whether you’re into urban legends, underground adventures, or books set in unique travel destinations, this one is perfect for your summer reading list. Or, Halloween reading list, but I’ll post one long before the Fall, count on it. 

Thank you for reading my travel themed reading lists. I hope you enjoy some of these novels as much as I did.