Book picks similar to
Beachcomber Motel by Meredith Summers


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Digging In


Loretta Nyhan - 2018
    Since his death, she’s been sleepwalking through life, barely holding on for the sake of her teenage son. Her house is a wreck, the grass is overrun with weeds, and she’s at risk of losing her job. As Paige stares at her neglected lawn, she knows she’s hit rock bottom. So she does something entirely unexpected: she begins to dig.As the hole gets bigger, Paige decides to turn her entire yard into a vegetable garden. The neighbors in her tidy gated community are more than a little alarmed. Paige knows nothing about gardening, and she’s boldly flouting neighborhood-association bylaws. But with the help of new friends, a charming local cop, and the transformative power of the soil, Paige starts to see potential in the chaos of her life. Something big is beginning to take root—both in her garden and in herself.

Cross Cowboy


Elana Johnson - 2021
    Like that time he accused her of stealing her company from her best friend... Can Travis and Shayla overcome their differences and find a happily-ever-after together?Travis Cooper is the youngest son in a family stuffed with loud opinions and ginger-haired powerhouses. Yes, he has a loud bark too. He has to in order to get the ten thousand dairy cows he's responsible for to listen to him.But when he happens upon Shayla Nelson stranded on the side of the road, he probably doesn't need to tell her A - that he used to date her best friend, and B - that Shayla stole her successful outdoor outfitters company from that best friend.Besides the fact that it's not true, Travis should know better. And he does, honestly. He was just flustered that his most recent girlfriend had broken up with him only the day before.Shayla not only didn't steal the company from her former best friend, she's worked hard to mend the bridges between her and everyone that had gotten hurt in that tangled mess. When she runs into Travis again a few months later, there's still plenty of sparks flying between them.This time, though, it's the romantic kind and not the accusatory type. When he asks her to be his date to the annual Fall Ball in Sweet Water Falls, Shayla finds herself wanting to say yes to the handsome cowboy.He's never had a relationship for longer than a couple of months. She won't be able to put up with his attitude for long, but can Shayla tame the cross cowboy and capture his heart, or will she have to cut Travis loose the way every other woman has?

Where We Fall


Rochelle B. Weinstein - 2016
    She’s the mother of a beautiful teenager and the wife of a beloved high school football coach. And all it took to achieve her charmed life was her greatest act of betrayal.Coach Ryan can coax his team to victory, but he can’t seem to make his wife, Abby, happy. Her struggles with depression have marred their marriage and taken a toll on their daughter, Juliana. Although this isn’t the life he’s dreamed of, he’s determined to heal the rifts in his family.Chasing waterfalls and documenting their beauty has led photographer Lauren Sheppard all around the world. Now it has brought her back home to the mountains of North Carolina—back to the scene of her devastating heartbreak.For the first time in seventeen years, a trio of once-inseparable friends find themselves confronting past loves, hurts, and the rapid rush of a current that still pulls them together…

The Wedding Sisters


Jamie Brenner - 2016
    The oldest of her three beautiful daughters, Meg, is engaged to a wonderful man from one of the country's most prominent families. Of course, Meryl wants to give Meg the perfect wedding. Who wouldn't? But when her two younger daughters, Amy and Jo, also become engaged to celebrated bachelors, Meryl has to admit that three weddings is more than she and her husband, Hugh, can realistically afford.The solution? A triple wedding! At first, it's a tough sell to the girls, and juggling three sets of future in-laws is a logistical nightmare. But when Hugh loses his teaching job, and Meryl's aging mother suddenly moves in with them, a triple wedding is the only way to get all three sisters down the aisle. When the grand plan becomes public, the onslaught of media attention adds to Meryl's mounting pressure. Suddenly, appearances are everything - and she will do whatever it takes to keep the wedding on track. As money gets tight, her mother starts acting nutty, and her own thirty year marriage starts to unravel.In the weeks leading up to the nuptials, secrets are revealed, passions ignite, and surprising revelations show Meryl and her daughters the true meaning of love, marriage and family. Jamie Brenner's The Wedding Sisters invites readers to the most unpredictable wedding of the year.

A Place for Us


Olivia Miles - 2020
    When Britt Conway was eighteen, she left Blue Harbor without a glance back, telling herself that she was closing the door to her painful past for good. But when her father takes a fall and needs her help to oversee the family business until he is back on his feet, Britt can’t refuse, especially when her current unemployment status gives no room for excuses.Britt knows that returning to her hometown won’t be easy, but does it really need to be so difficult? Her widowed father is smitten with his pushy caregiver, her youngest sister doesn’t seem to be speaking to her at the moment, and everyone conveniently failed to mention that her first (okay, only) love is back in town and working at her family’s orchard. With the business struggling, Britt and Robbie come together to give it a better chance for the future—and find their own second chance along the way. For years, Britt was determined to harden her heart, but the more time she spends in Blue Harbor, the more she realizes that some traditions—and people—are not meant to be forgotten.

Other People's Houses


Abbi Waxman - 2018
    She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton's wife is mysteriously missing, and now this...After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that's a notion easier said than done when Anne's husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families--and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage.

Reinventing Mona


Jennifer Coburn - 2005
    That's when the realization hit: I'm young, I'm rich (thanks to a hefty inheritance), and I'm boring. Not "needs a little zip" boring, either. More like "mustard stain on a Sears tweed couch" drab. French's in a squeeze bottle, that's me. But suddenly I have Grey Poupon aspirations! Things are gonna change-starting now... Building a better mantrap... First things first: Exercise. Carrot juice. Straight hair. Whiter teeth. Clothes that fit (I have breasts? Who knew?) But wait-there's more. Life's kicked me around a bit, and I've been nursing my wounds for too long. I'm finally ready to take a chance on love with the perfect guy. He's handsome. He's smart. He's reliable. He's my CPA. Problem is, I'm clueless about winning him over. It's time to call in an expert. It's time to call in The Dog. Down, boy. Mike "The Dog" Dougherty is a man's man. A guy's guy. Okay, he's a chauvinist pig, and his sty is "The Dog House," a testosterone-charged column in Maximum for Him magazine. On one hand, I abhor all he stands for. On the other hand, who better to coach me? So here I am. Learning the complex unspoken language of the American male (Talk, bad. Sex, good.); trying exciting new things (Stripping lessons are empowering. Really.); falling for Mike. Uh oh. But the Mike I'm getting to know is different from The Dog. And the Mona I'm becoming isn't quite who I expected, either. This whole makeover scheme is getting crazier by the minute. But "crazy" beats "boring"...right? Jennifer Coburn is an award-winning journalist who has written for magazines and newspapers in the United States, Canada and Australia. She lives in San Diego with her husband, William and their daughter, Katie. Jennifer desperately wishes she had Mona's unlimited cash, beachfront estate and singing voice. When she's not living vicariously through chick-lit characters, Jennifer runs a public relations business which serves non-profit organizations and small businesses in southern California. She is also the coordinator of the Del Cerro Soccer Moms League and coach of the real-life Kickin' Chicks, the best seven-year-old girls to ever tear up suburban soccer fields.

All Summer Long


Dorothea Benton Frank - 2016
    Dorothea Benton Frank s magical stories take us deep into the heart of her beloved Carolina Lowcountry. In her novels, this lush landscape comes alive in all its vibrancy and color. She ignites all of our senses with her vivid descriptions of landscape and atmosphere. In her novels you hear the ocean washing the shore on different islands so profoundly that you can nearly hear the sea gulls squawking, too. This is a story of people whose lives are changing a southern gentleman returning home to lead a more peaceful life and his talented New York wife who is not quite sure she is ready to make the transition. They are moving north to south, fast pace versus slow pace, downsizing. And while they are doing this, they are getting glimpses into other people s lives over the course of a summer, holidays that will amuse, shock and transform them. This irresistible story is home to captivating characters as funny, complicated, and real as our best friends husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, friends and family who wrestle with the complexities, pain, and joys familiar to us all. Finally, we ll come to recognize the face of love, the kind that deepens and endures but only because one woman makes a tremendous leap of faith. That leap changes them all.

The Arrangement


Sarah Dunn - 2017
    They've got a two hundred year-old house, an autistic son obsessed with the Titanic, and 17 chickens, at last count. It's the kind of paradise where stay-at-home moms team up to cook the school's "hot lunch," dads grill grass-fed burgers, and, as Lucy observes, "chopping kale has become a certain kind of American housewife's version of chopping wood."When friends at a wine-soaked dinner party reveal they've made their marriage open, sensible Lucy balks. There's a part of her, though – the part that worries she's become too comfortable being invisible-that's intrigued. Why not try a short marital experiment? Six months, clear ground rules, zero questions asked. When an affair with a man in the city begins to seem more enticing than the happily-ever-after she's known for the past nine years, Lucy must decide what truly makes her happy – "real life," or the "experiment?"

Here's to Us


Elin Hilderbrand - 2016
    But after that appetite contributes to Deacon's shocking death in his favorite place on earth, a ramshackle Nantucket summer cottage, his (messy, complicated) family is reeling. Now Deacon's three wives, his children, and his best friend gather on the island he loved to say farewell. The three very different women have long been bitter rivals, each wanting to claim the primary place in Deacon's life and his heart. But as they slowly let go of the resentments they've held onto for years and remember the good times, secrets are revealed, confidences are shared, and improbable bonds are formed as this unlikely family says goodbye to the man who brought them all together, for better or worse--and the women he loved find new ways to love again.

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams


Jenny Colgan - 2012
    Boy, is she wrong. Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton's sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams - a novel - with recipes. *Winner of the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013*

Dreams of a Little Cornish Cottage


Nancy Barone - 2021
    But having kicked out her adulterous ex-husband, her house is filled with nothing but echoes and Nat yearns for the coziness and bustle of seaside living. In particular, the rundown Lavender Cottage that has gone up for sale.But when her mother has a fall, Nat's dream of a quiet new life crumbles as she instantly brings her into her home to care for her. With her two energetic nieces then dumped on her doorstep and her recently heartbroken daughter moving back into the nest, Nat can't possibly abandon her family... Lavender cottage will just have to wait.That is until Irishman Connor enters Nat's life and makes her realize that it's okay to put herself first, and she's allowed to wish for more.

One More Chance


Bonnie R. Paulson - 2020
    Fall for the competition...again...and lose. In Mistletoe, anything is possible. Everyone wants the small-town whirlwind fantasy, but no one knows where to find that kind of romance.But there’s a rumor you can find it in Mistletoe and only during the Christmas season.Enter the Mistletoe Matchmakers.Checking on her father recovering in the hospital, Taylor Dean ducks out of the shared room to fill the flowers with water – okay, and to text her sister that their dad is sharing a room with his sworn enemy, the matriarch of the Wilson family!Taylor can’t believe she’s made a successful career as a world-renowned matchmaker yet can’t find love herself. Maybe she compares everything to the one who got away… or maybe… everyone really does only get that one shot at happily-ever-after.Just her luck, the two original matchmakers, while mortal enemies, also took their jobs seriously. After Taylor begs her father and the Wilson matriarch to help her, she can’t fight the surge of hope when they agree.Until he walks in.When Roman Wilson returns to Mistletoe, Montana after his mother’s heart attack scare, he makes wild claims and even crazier challenges when he runs into Taylor in the hospital room.The last thing he needs is a Dean telling him what to do and that specific Dean to boot. No matter what he says though, he just digs himself a deeper hole.Before Roman knows it, he and Taylor are pitted against each other in the yearly matchmaking contest to help their recovering counterparts. The second chance Roman and Taylor have always wanted is given to someone else. Is true love in their matches or will they find their way back to each other? ***Books by Bonnie R. Paulson*** Clearwater County CollectionThe MONTANA TRAILS SERIESBroken Trails (book 1) Forbidden Trails (book 2)Unbridled Trails (book 3)Hidden Trails (book 4)Forgotten Trails (book 5)Endless Trails (book 6)Forsaken Trails (book 7)Lonesome Trails (book 8)Lost Trails (book 9)Untamed Trails (book 10)LONELY LACE SERIESSpurs and Lace (book 1)Secrets and Lace (book 2)Sorrows and Lace (book 3)Boxset (all 3 books)REDEMPTION SERIESRomancing Redemption (book 1)Riding for Redemption (book 2)Resisting Redemption (book 3)Regretting Redemption (book 4)Rewarding Redemption (book 5)

Evvie Drake Starts Over


Linda Holmes - 2019
    Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out.

The Seven Day Switch


Kelly Harms - 2021
    What a difference a week makes in a heartfelt, laugh-out-loud novel by the Washington Post bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler.Celeste Mason is the Pinterest stay-at-home supermom of other mothers’ nightmares. Despite her all-organic, SunButter-loving, free-range kids, her immaculate home, and her volunteering awards, she still has time to relax with a nice glass of pinot at the end of the day. The only thing that ruins it all is her workaholic, career-obsessed neighbor, who makes no secret of what she thinks of Celeste’s life choices every chance she gets.Wendy Charles is a celebrated productivity consultant, columnist, and speaker. On a minute-by-minute schedule, she makes the working-mom hustle look easy. She even spends at least one waking hour a day with her kids. She’s not apologizing for a thing. Especially to Celeste, who plays her superior parenting against Wendy whenever she can.Who do Celeste and Wendy think they are? They’re about to find out thanks to one freaky week. After a neighborhood potluck and too much sangria, they wake up—um, what?—in each other’s bodies. Everything Celeste and Wendy thought they knew about the “other kind of mom” is flipped upside down—along with their messy, complicated, maybe not so different lives.