Books Set in Maine
Our journey through the 50 states continues with a stop in Maine!
Book Club Pick – Maine
The Maine Attraction by Ash Keller
What is The Maine Attraction about?
Falling for my fake fiancée wasn’t part of the plan.
Then again, neither was the busted knee that ended my hockey career. One minute, I had it all: adoring fans, millions in sponsorship deals, and a popstar girlfriend who craved the spotlight even more than me. The next minute, it was all gone.
Wanting nothing more than to be left alone to lick my wounds, I purchased a defunct lighthouse in my hometown of Fog Harbor, Maine. Not only does the lighthouse offer the seclusion and solitude I desire but restoring it to its former glory will give me something to do. I hire a local contracting business, Corbin and Sons, to help with the job. But when the contractor shows up, I’m shocked to discover that it’s neither Corbin nor one of his sons; it’s one of his daughters.
Charley Corbin and I have history. In high school, she was my sister’s best friend—and my mortal enemy. Now, she’s all grown up, skilled with a power saw, quick-witted, and drop-dead gorgeous.
Unfortunately, Charley’s held onto her grudge with an iron fist. It doesn’t help matters when a paparazzo snaps misleading photos of us together. Before we know it, the entire world thinks Charley’s my fiancée. I get a glimpse of the life I could have with her in Maine, and I want it. More than hockey. More than my former life. More than anything.
Ash Keller on Literary Escapes Podcast
Want to know more about Ash and her books? Listen to this conversation on the Literary Escapes Podcast!
coming 11/7
More Sweet Reads Set in Maine
Enjoy this additional selection of books set in Maine, featuring cozy mystery, historical fiction, women’s fiction, and sweet romance. Perfect for easy reading, these delightful tales promise happy, hopeful endings.
Which one will you choose for a literary escape to Maine?
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Smarting from her recently canceled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety-three. Alongside boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie’s curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line “And anyway, if you’re ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling.”
Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck—and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and her first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt’s secrets, Laurie must reckon with her own past and her future—and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo.
Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
Genre: Cozy Mystery
When Holly White’s fiancé cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime—exactly what the doctor ordered. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grinch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm.
When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father and is determined to exonerate him.
Memory Lane by Becky Wade
Genre: Sweet Romance
After surviving a trauma several years back, Remy Reed relocated to a cottage on one of Maine’s most remote islands. She’s arranged her life just the way she wants it, spending her time working on her wood sculptures and soaking in the beauty of nature. It’s quiet and solitary—until the day she spots something bobbing in the ocean.
Her binoculars reveal the “something” to be a man, and he’s struggling to keep his head above water. She races out to save him and brings him into her home. He’s injured, which doesn’t detract from his handsomeness nor make him any easier to bear. He acts like a duke who’s misplaced his dukedom . . . expensive tastes, lazy charm, bossy ideas.
Remy would love nothing more than to return him to his people, but he has no recollection of his life prior to the moment she rescued him. Though she’s not interested in relationships other than the safe ones she’s already established, she begins to realize that he’s coming to depend on her.
Who is he? What happened that landed him in the Atlantic Ocean? And why is she drawn to him more and more as time goes by?
There’s no way to discover those answers except to walk beside him down memory lane.
Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Life gets a little sweeter in the island fishing village of Eastport, Maine, when Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her best friend Ellie open a chocolate-themed bakeshop, the Chocolate Moose. They expect to make plenty of dough this Fourth of July weekend, and having family home for the holiday only sweetens the deal for Jake—until an early-season hurricane sours her plans. But an empty bakeshop and a ruined reunion are a piece of cake compare to murder . . .
When health inspector Matt Muldoon is found dead in the kitchen of The Chocolate Moose, Ellie is suspected of indulging in revenge. She made no secret of her distaste for Matt, who had been raining on their parade with bogus health code violations. Now, with no alibi for the night of the murder, she’s in a sticky situation—and it’s up to Jake to catch the real killer and keep Ellie living in the land of the free.
Clammed Up by Barbara Ross
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Summer has come to Busman’s Harbor, Maine, and tourists are lining up for a taste of authentic New England seafood, courtesy of the Snowden Family Clambake Company. But there’s something sinister on the boil this season. A killer has crashed a wedding party, adding mystery to the menu at the worst possible moment. . .
Julia Snowden returned to her hometown to rescue her family’s struggling clambake business–not to solve crimes. But that was before a catered wedding on picturesque Morrow Island turned into a reception for murder. When the best man’s corpse is found hanging from the grand staircase in the Snowden family mansion, Julia must put the chowder pot on the back burner and join the search for the killer. And with suspicion falling on her old crush, Chris Durand, the recipe for saving her business and salvaging her love life might be one and the same. . .
Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
Genre: Women’s Fiction
One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back.
Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There’s only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn’t necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments.
With a tough islander mother who’s always been distant, a wild-child sister in jail, and a withdrawn teenage niece as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was, Nora has her work cut out for her if she’s going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family. Balancing loss and opportunity, dark events from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise . . . and the chance to begin again.
Sunshine & Cinnamon by Lindsay Rochester
Genre: Sweet Romance
Known for its beautiful waterfalls and apple pie cookies, the sleepy town of Laurel Falls, Maine is a great place to start anew.
Chase had come to town to heal and find solace in a new place, free of memories. Ruby had come to visit her young-at-heart grandmother, Mamu, and help at Mamu’s bakery, The Sweet Spot. When Ruby and Chase meet, they may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but their chemistry is undeniable. With a little behind-the-scenes help, Ruby starts to see how wonderful Chase really is and learns to trust again. Chase is determined to right her mistaken assumptions about him.
Where Grace Appears by Heidi Chiavaroli
Genre: Christian Romance
Ashamed of being duped by her handsome psychology professor, Josie Martin returns to Maine too proud to admit her foolishness to those closest to her. As the one-year anniversary of her father’s death approaches, she seeks solace in an old friend, Tripp Colton, and a new business venture that will prove to herself and her loved ones that she is still capable of success despite her overwhelming failure.
When Josie announces she will not return to school to finish her graduate degree but wishes to remain in Camden to help her mother achieve a lifelong dream, the entire family gets behind her idea to open and run a bed and breakfast inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. Even Tripp gets excited about restoring Josie’s great-aunt’s Victorian home for the purpose, but when Josie’s unexpected news is revealed, their friendship and the new feelings blooming between them are threatened.
As summer gives way to fall, Josie struggles with decisions regarding her family’s future, dealing with past mistakes she cannot run from, and her feelings for Tripp. When the opportunity for grace comes along, will she take it? Or will she continue to allow her failures to define her worth?
Empty Promises and Crowded Caskets by Ana Bisset
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Libby Foster’s return to her charming hometown of Black Ridge Cove, Maine is anything but ordinary in this heartwarming yet thrilling first in series book. Once a high-flying investigative journalist, Libby’s life takes a whimsical twist when her latest scoop is snatched away by her no-good ex-boyfriend. Seeking solace, she leaves the hustle of Boston for the quaint cobbled streets of her coastal hometown. But her quiet retreat is quickly upended by a series of peculiar and enchanting events.
With a pinch of psychic intuition and a dash of plucky determination, Libby, alongside her quirky circle of friends, embarks on an adventure to piece together clues and maybe, just maybe, prevent herself from becoming the killer’s next target. Grab a bowl of your favorite chowder and settle in for a delightful, ghost-tinged mystery.
The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green
Genre: Historical Fiction
In 1942, an impulsive promise to her brother before he goes off to the European front puts Avis Montgomery in the unlikely position of head librarian in small-town Maine. Though she has never been much of a reader, when wartime needs threaten to close the library, she invents a book club to keep its doors open. The women she convinces to attend the first meeting couldn’t be more different–a wealthy spinster determined to aid the war effort, an exhausted mother looking for a fresh start, and a determined young war worker.
At first, the struggles of the home front are all the club members have in common, but over time, the books they choose become more than an escape from the hardships of life and the fear of the U-boat battles that rage just past their shores. As the women face personal challenges and band together in the face of danger, they find they have more in common than they think. But when their growing friendships are tested by secrets of the past and present, they must decide whether depending on each other is worth the cost.
Join us in the book club!
