What is it about small-town settings that instantly make a story jump off the page? Is it the secrets? The quirky characters? The fact
that everyone knows everything about everyone? For me, in my new novel Summer State of Mind, it’s a little bit of all those things. Plus, when something goes scandalously wrong in their town, the citizens of Cape Carolina can’t quite believe it… because things like that don’t happen there! If you love small-town drama with a lot of romance and all the feels, I hope you’ll join me in Cape Carolina with Daisy, the burnt-out NICU nurse looking for a fresh start, Mason, the injured-baseball-star-turned-coach, Tilley, the whole town’s eccentric aunt and the abandoned baby that brings them all together in the most unexpected ways. Throw in some long-buried secrets coming to light and a community theater production of Hello, Dolly, and I hope these pages get you in a Summer State of Mind! In the meantime, check out some other amazing page-turners with small-town settings that I think should be at the tippy top of you TBR. Happy reading!
The Island Club by Nicola Harrison
Harrison serves up the perfect summer read with The Island Club — a delicious tale of female friendship, reinvention and the unexpected ways our lives intersect. Set against the shimmering backdrop of tiny Balboa Island’s elite tennis club, this novel delivers irresistible drama, unforgettable characters and Harrison’s storytelling keeps the pages turning. Balboa Island is the ideal small setting for plenty of secrets to unfold and women you can’t help but root for to get their fresh start!
The Quitters Club by Jessica Strawser
Set in the small college town of Athens, Ohio — home to Ohio University where Strawser’s protagonists meet — this is a thought-provoking, life-affirming novel about the things we keep, what we leave behind and the courage it takes to, well, quit. Four friends, each hiding something, come together and the stories begin unraveling. The Quitters Club is an ode to female friendship and the liberating truth that defining life on your own terms isn’t failure, it’s freedom.
Have a Great Summer by Francesca Cocchi
Nostalgic, witty, and utterly delightful, Have a Great Summer will sweep readers away to the Jersey Shore where they will fall in love with plucky Lina, who writes about weddings but is still searching for her own happily ever after. Francesca Cocchi has gifted us a charming seaside escape to remind us: You can’t rewrite history. But who would want to when starting over is so much more fun?
Perennials by Julie Cantrell
Set in the idyllic college town of Oxford, Mississippi, the story follows Lovey Sutherland as she returns home after years away only to discover some things never change — but some things do! The humid air, sprawling gardens and old family homes draw nostalgic emotions as readers escape into this close-knit community where unspoken expectations and family reputation matter. A lot. But when Lovey finds herself back in the place she’s been running from, a place where people remember who you were, not just who you’ve become, she realizes a small town doesn’t have to be confining. In truth, she’s been nurtured all along by this special place she calls home.
The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
A small Northern Virginia suburb is the ideal backdrop for this tale of four women on the brink of personal revolution and a mysterious new friend moving into the neighborhood. A story of sisterhood and reinvention set in the tumult of the 1960s, Bostwick brilliantly captures what it meant to be a woman “living the American dream” — and how much it could cost these women to really have it all.
Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp
The small town in Shadows in the Mind’s Eye isn’t just a backdrop — it presses in on every choice the characters make. From a farm overlooking Hot Springs, Arkansas, the town seems distant, almost contained…but it isn’t. In a place shaped as much by whispered alliances and mob influence as by neighborly familiarity, secrets don’t stay buried; they settle in and spread. Even beyond its streets, the town’s history lingers, narrowing who can be trusted and whether anyone can truly escape.
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