Book picks similar to
Auld Acquaintance by Ruth Hay


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Summer of Firefly Memories


Joan Gable - 2009
    One cabin on a lake. Four thirtysomething sisters. Anything can and does happen.Imagine spending an entire summer in a cabin on a lake - simply because you can. That’s exactly what Samantha McGreggor, a thirtysomething eco-journalist, does in SUMMER OF FIREFLY MEMORIES. She trades Arizona’s summer heat for Minnesota’s cool lake breezes by spending her summer at the same resort her family used to go to when she was young. Her summer agenda - relaxation, beach reads, soul-searching, bonding with her three grown sisters. Her concerns - she and her sisters haven’t been back to the resort since their parents’ death twenty years ago when they were all practically teenagers, and, well, they tend to act like emotional teenagers when they’re all together. Her summer reality – fun in the sun, secrets, sibling rivalries, lost memories, new love, hope. If you enjoy feeling nostalgic any time of the year, then you'll enjoy SUMMER OF FIREFLY MEMORIES! Come dive in!

Two Rivers


Zoe Saadia - 2013
    He was nothing but an enemy cub, adopted into one of the clans, but not accepted, never for real. To fit in was difficult, to run away – impossible. To get into trouble, more often than not, was the only available option. They did not expect anything else from him, anyway.However, when a meaningless row during a ballgame grew out of proportion, resulting in a fight, Tekeni has found himself in a truly grave trouble. Neither he nor anyone else could have foreseen the chain of events the consequences of this fight would release, when the highly esteemed but controversial Two Rivers decided to help Tekeni out. Two Rivers was a strange person with unacceptable notions and ideas. He maintained that to war on and on was a mistake of disastrous consequences. He went as far as suggesting a negotiation of peace with some of the neighboring nations. Even Tekeni, the despised enemy, thought such ideas to be far-fetched and wild. And yet…With their trouble mounting and the revengefulness of some people around them growing, both Tekeni and Two Rivers find themselves pushed beyond limits.

Is This Tomorrow


Caroline Leavitt - 2013
    Lewis yearns for his absent father, befriending the only other fatherless kids: Jimmy and Rose. One afternoon, Jimmy goes missing. The neighborhood in the era of the Cold War, bomb scares, and paranoia seizes the opportunity to further ostracize Ava and her son. Lewis never recovers from the disappearance of his childhood friend. By the time he reaches his twenties, he's living a directionless life, a failure in love, estranged from his mother. Rose is now a schoolteacher in another city, watching over children as she was never able to watch over her own brother. Ava is building a new life for herself in a new decade. When the mystery of Jimmy's disappearance is unexpectedly solved, all three must try to reclaim what they have lost.

Seabreeze Inn


Jan Moran - 2019
    An old crush. One summer to get her life back.Ivy Bay’s life implodes after discovering that her late husband had spent their life savings on a beach house. Strapped for cash as an art teacher and with nowhere to go, Ivy and her recently jilted sister head to Summer Beach to recreate their lives. If only renovating a historical home didn’t unveil a host of hidden secrets in the beachside community—and the mayor wasn’t her former high school crush.Bennett Dylan led a campaign against Ivy’s late husband to block the rezoning of the beach house land for a high-rise resort. Although it’s been ten years since his wife’s death, Bennett is avoiding the pain of loving—and possibly losing—another woman. And then the FBI shows up… Ivy’s demands for a zoning variance for a bed-and-breakfast couldn’t come at a worse time for him. Despite distractions, Ivy has one summer to sway the town to salvage her livelihood and the new life in Summer Beach she’s come to love.With spellbinding intrigue and poignant self-discovery, the Seabreeze Inn is a sweet summer beach read. If you like sun-soaked beach sagas you can lose yourself in, the Seabreeze Inn and Summer Beach’s fascinating characters are for you. Get it now and start your vacation in Summer Beach.

Gracie's Song


Michelle Schlicher - 2016
    After graduation, she walked away from everyone she knew with barely a word. Ten years later, she's back. Even as familiar places and faces bring back old pain, Gracie finds hope in rebuilding old ties and forging new ones. Maybe everything can't be undone, but perhaps everything can be overcome.

The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club: Book One


Ann Warner - 2016
    But when Brookside turns out to be a setting for art theft, dodgy dealings, and naked poker it becomes vastly more interesting. Josephine investigates the unusual goings on with friend and handwriting expert, Lill Fitzel. And the two befriend a young woman Josephine tries to prevent from making the same mistakes she has made.

Hadley & Grace


Suzanne Redfearn - 2021
    A woman who can’t even kill a spider, Hadley soon finds herself pushed to the limits as she fights to protect her family.Grace, new mother of baby Miles, desperately wants to put her rough past behind her for good, but she finds it impossible when her path crosses with Hadley’s, and her quest for a new start quickly spirals out of control and turns into a terrifying flight for survival.Stronger together than apart, the two find their fates inextricably entwined, and as the danger closes in, each must decide how much she is willing to risk for the other.A powerful story of self-discovery, Hadley and Grace is the heart-racing tale of two women facing insurmountable odds, racing to stay one step ahead of the trouble that is chasing them, and discovering new kinds of love and family along the way.

Spare Change


Bette Lee Crosby - 2011
    A boy running for his life. A town defending them both.From award-winning USA TODAY Bestselling Author BETTE LEE CROSBY, the first book of a gritty, small-town, family saga in the tradition of the finest Southern fiction.Small-town gossip never much bothered Olivia Westerly. As a single career woman, she's weathered her share. It's easy to ignore the raised eyebrows over her late-in-life marriage to Charlie Doyle. But after he drops dead on their honeymoon, the whispers are salt on her raw grief. Especially when an orphaned, eleven-year-old-boy shows up on her doorstep, looking for the grandfather he never met.Behind Ethan Allen Doyle's wary blue eyes lie heavily guarded emotions that unexpectedly tug on Olivia's heart, and she finds herself wanting to win his trust. But when his murderous secret comes looking for him, the entire town embraces the lonely widow and desperate child to show its true heart when danger threatens one of its own.A heartwarming tale of love, loss and unexpected gifts, featuring a woman you'd like to call friend, a boy you will ache to hug, and a town you wish you could call home. USA TODAY BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF FIVE LITERARY AWARDS - Royal Palm Literary Award, Reviewer's Choice Award, FPA President's Book Award, IAN Outstanding Fiction Award, Eadon Contemporary Fiction Award

The Glass Case


Kristin Hannah - 2011
    Although she loves her children and husband, April is plagued by the growing doubt that she has not lived up to her mother's expectations for her--until one day when something terrible and unexpected happens, and April must face the truth about her own life and discover what really matters.

A Mother's Day Murder


Dee Ernst - 2015
    Abrams was the kind of small, quiet town where, as any of its residents would tell you, nothing ever happened. That was why Ellie Rocca loved living there, even if her ex-husband did not. But even small towns had secrets, as Ellie discovered when Lacey Mitchell suddenly disappeared. Ellie caught Lacey’s husband in a lie, and one small discovery led to another until it became apparent that nothing about the Mitchell’s was quite what it seemed. Mother’s Day was just around the corner. With a sexy detective on the case, and Ellie and her friends getting closer to the truth, can Lacey Mitchell be found in time to enjoy the day with her sons? Or was something more deadly going on? This novella is 35K words, the first in the Mt. Abrams Mystery Series

Mrs. Saint and the Defectives


Julie Lawson Timmer - 2017
    But Markie and Jesse are unable to escape the attention of their new neighbor Mrs. Saint, an irascible, elderly New European woman who takes it upon herself, along with her ragtag group of “defectives,” to identify and fix the flaws in those around her, whether they want her to or not.What Markie doesn’t realize is that Mrs. Saint has big plans for the divorcée’s broken spirit. Soon, the quirky yet endearing woman recruits Markie to join her eccentric community, a world where both hidden truths and hope unite them. But when Mrs. Saint’s own secrets threaten to unravel their fragile web of healing, it’s up to Markie to mend these wounds and usher in a new era for the “defectives”—one full of second chances and happiness.

Summer at Willow Lake


Susan Wiggs - 2006
    Tempted by the hazy, nostalgic memories of summers past - childhood innocence and the romance and rivalries of her teens - it's the perfect place to flee after her broken engagement. But what began as an escape may just be a new beginning...As Olivia uncovers secrets buried thick with dust, one by one her family return, their lives as frayed at the edges as the resort.

Honeysuckle Season


Mary Ellen Taylor - 2020
    Though her new life as a wedding photographer provides a semblance of purpose, it’s also a distraction from her profound pain.When asked to photograph a wedding at the historic Woodmont estate, Libby meets the owner, Elaine Grant. Hoping to open Woodmont to the public, Elaine has employed young widower Colton Reese to help restore the grounds and asks Libby to photograph the process. Libby is immediately drawn to the old greenhouse shrouded in honeysuckle vines.As Libby forms relationships and explores the overgrown—yet hauntingly beautiful—Woodmont estate, she finds the emotional courage to sort through her father’s office. There she discovers a letter that changes everything she knows about her parents, herself, and the estate. Beneath the vines of the old greenhouse lie generations of secrets, and it’s up to Libby to tend to the fruits born of long-buried seeds.

Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo


Heather Wardell - 2009
    After only two years of marriage, their guilt and pain have left them living together but apart, unable to really talk for fear of what they'll say to each other.Ian leaves for a month-long contract overseas, and Candice plans to use the time apart to decide whether her marriage can be saved. When her ex walks back into her life as the new client at work, ten years more attractive yet saddened by his own recent loss, she's left wondering what she really wants from life and love.

Sisters


Kellie Coates Gilbert - 2014
    . . and the choices they make when they realize their lives aren’t exactly what they expected. Karyn Macadam is starting over after losing her husband to a skiing accident. A chance encounter with a backcountry pilot might be this young widow’s one shot at a new beginning, but only if she can let go of the past. Leigh Ann Blackburn is the perfect wife, until her husband grows more distant and she believes the worst. An outrageous plan to save her marriage turns the situation on its head and she soon learns not everything is as it seems. Joie Abbott, who always finds a way to mess up her life, has done it yet again. This time a bitter betrayal threatens to expose a heartache she desperately wants to keep secret, especially from her family. Through romance and heartbreak, laughter and tears . . . life is always better with your sisters at your side.