Books Set in New Jersey
Our journey through the 50 states continues with a stop in New Jersey!
Book Club Pick – New Jersey
Flowers for Hattie by Kimberly M. Miller
What is Flowers for Hattie about?
Hattie Campanelli has blue hair and a solid start on a tattoo sleeve. No way can she be Finn Weslow’s muse. He needs a woman with pearls and pink sweaters.
Then again, to the world, Finn looks like a bad boy musician, when in reality he’s button-down shirts and home-cooked meals.
So looks can be deceiving, after all.
But one thing’s sure—Hattie and Finn need each other. One for music, one for survival, but both for true love.
Kimberly Miller on Literary Escapes Podcast
Want to know more about Kimberly and her books? Listen to this conversation on the Literary Escapes Podcast!
coming 7/18
More Sweet Reads Set in New Jersey
Enjoy this additional selection of books set in New Jersey, spanning cozy mystery, sweet and historical romance, and contemporary fiction. Perfect for easy reading, these delightful tales promise happy, hopeful endings.
Which one will you choose for a literary escape to New Jersey?
Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
Genre: Historical Romance
In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed.
When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye.
To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly.
As the summer unfolds, Ada and Marilyn head for the Jersey shore, where Marilyn helps Ada scope out eligible matches―for anyone but Marilyn, that is.
Because if there’s one thing Marilyn’s learned from Ada, it’s that she doesn’t have to settle. With the school year quickly approaching and her father threatening to disinherit her, Marilyn must make her choice for her future: return to the comfortable life she knows or embrace a risky, unknown path on her own.
Love on Beach Avenue by Jennifer Probst
Genre: Romance
Avery Sunshine might not have a soul mate of her own, but she still believes in happily ever after―for her clients. Making dreams come true is her business at Sunshine Bridal, which she runs with her two sisters. When her best friend announces her engagement, Avery is thrilled to take charge of the giddy bride-to-be’s big day. Less thrilling? Her best friend’s arrogant and demanding brother, who just so happens to be the man of honor.
Carter Ross’s first instinct: call 911. He promised to always take care of his impulsive little sister, and he honors that vow. Even if it means taking over her wedding, where he is sure Avery will fail. At best, Avery is unpredictable. At worst, if she’s anything like the spitfire of a college girl he remembers, the main event could run wild.
With Avery and Carter wrestling for control, tempers heat up. So does the spark of attraction they’re fighting with every kiss. As the wedding draws near, it’s time to reconcile a rocky past and make a decision that could change everyone’s lives. Because what they’re rebelling against looks a lot like love.
The Shore by Katie Runde
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Brian and Margot Dunne live year-round in Seaside, just steps away from the bustling boardwalk, with their daughters Liz and Evy. The Dunnes run a real estate company, making their living by quickly turning over rental houses for tourists. But the family’s future becomes precarious when Brian develops a brain tumor, transforming into an erratic version of himself.
Amidst the chaos and new caretaking responsibilities, Liz still seeks out summer adventure and flirting with a guy she should know better than to pursue. Her younger sister Evy works in a candy shop, falls in love with her friend Olivia, and secretly adopts the persona of a middle-aged mom in an online support group, where she discovers her own mother’s vulnerable confessions. Meanwhile, Margot faces an impossible choice driven by grief, impulse, and the ways that small-town life has shaped her. Falling apart is not an option, but she can always pack up and leave the beach behind.
Rock the Boat by Beck Dorey-Stein
Genre: Romance
When Kate Campbell’s life in Manhattan suddenly implodes, she is forced to return to Sea Point, the small town full of quirky locals, quaint bungalows, and beautiful beaches where she grew up. She knows she won’t be home for long; she’s got every intention (and a three-point plan) to win back everything she thinks she’s lost.
Meanwhile, Miles Hoffman—aka “The Prince of Sea Point”—has also returned home to prove to his mother that he’s capable of taking over the family business, and he’s promised to help his childhood best friend, Ziggy Miller, with his own financial struggles at the same time.
Kate, Miles, and Ziggy converge in Sea Point as the town faces an identity crisis when a local developer tries to cash in on its potential. The summer swells, and white lies and long-buried secrets prove as corrosive as the salt air, threatening to forever erode not only the bonds between the three friends but also the landscape of the beachside community they call home.
Murder on Memory Lake by JD Griffo
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Alberta Scaglione’s spinster aunt had some secrets—like the fortune she squirreled away and a secret lake house in Tranquility, New Jersey. More surprising: She’s left it all to Alberta.
Alberta, a widow, is no spring chicken and she’s gotten used to disappointment. So having a beautiful view, surrounded by hydrangeas, honeysuckle, and her cat, Lola, sounds blissful after years of yelling and bickering and cooking countless lasagnas.
But Tranquility isn’t as peaceful as it sounds. There’s a body in the water—and it belongs to Alberta’s childhood nemesis. Alberta suspects foul play and when her estranged granddaughter, an aspiring crime reporter, shows up, it only makes sense for them to team up and investigate . . .
Welcome to the Neighborhood by Lisa Roe
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Moving to a new town is hard enough to navigate even without the challenges of the tween years, the mean girls, and the helicopter neighbors.
When single mom Ginny remarries and moves with her quirky daughter from Queens to a leafy, beautiful suburb in New Jersey, she has no idea what she’s getting into. Though she’s never been impressed by material things, she is thrilled that getting a second chance at love comes with the added bonus of finally giving eleven-year-old Harri everything she never could before.
And then she meets the neighbors. Including the woman who has her eye on Ginny’s new husband…
Varina Palladino’s Jersey Italian Love Story by Terri-Lynne DeFino
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Lively widow Varina Palladino has lived in the same house in Wyldale, New Jersey, her entire life. The town might be slightly stuck in the 1960s, when small businesses thrived and most residents were Italian, but its population is getting younger and the Palladinos are embracing the change. What Varina’s not embracing, much to her ninety-two-year-old mother’s dismay, is dating. Running Palladino’s Italian Specialties grocery, caring for her mother, and keeping her large, loud Jersey Italian family from killing one another takes up all of Varina’s energy anyway.
Sylvia Spini worries about her daughter Varina being left all alone when she dies. Sylvia knows what it is to be old and alone, so when her granddaughter, Donatella, comes to her with an ill-conceived plan to find Varina a man, Sylvia dives in. The three men of the family—Dante, Tommy, and Paulie—are each secretly plotting their own big life changes, which will throw everyone for a loop.
Three generations of Palladinos butt heads and break one another’s hearts as they wrestle with their own Jersey Italian love stories in this hilarious and life-affirming ode to love and family.
Cape May Garden by Claudia Vance
Genre: Sweet Romance
Margaret Wilder’s life is about to be turned upside down … when her husband of fifteen years abruptly leaves without explanation.
Now as their young daughters struggle to understand why their dad has been gone for a month without so much as a phone call, Margaret begins to uncover her husband’s secrets while unraveling her own long-buried feelings about their marriage.
On top of all the personal turmoil, Margaret’s job at the wildlife refuge has cut back her hours, and a storm approaches that could ruin all of the hard work she’s put into one of her greatest joys, her annual vegetable and flower garden.
As she forms an unlikely friendship with her handsome coworker, Dave, things take a turn when she is offered a great opportunity to build the garden of her dreams on a piece of land by the beach.
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