This summer at BookTrib, we’re celebrating women’s fiction titles that are fun and frothy, including uplit, rom-com and other stories that make you forget all your troubles for a while.
Head Over Heels: Footprints of Love by Nancy Deswik MacCreery
Liza’s messy divorce left her with insecurities, a low credit rating, and the perception that she’s better off alone. She put her heart and soul into building her shoe start-up, yet she’s in dire need of money to expand. After her last-ditch effort to pitch investors falls flat, she meets Monty, who offers to give her some tips. Their schedules are packed, but she finds that he’s dreading attending his younger brother’s wedding, and she offers to be his fake date so they can talk over the weekend.
He just asks her to be low profile, so his family won’t like her. She thinks that will be easy, according to her ex, but she can’t help herself. After a series of humorous moments and silly situations, Monty and his family fall in love with her. After a surprise visit from her ex, she lets go of her bitterness and realizes there is nothing wrong with the way she is. She can have a relationship with someone who supports her goals, and Monty shows her that he’s worth taking a chance on.
Diamond in the Ruff, a Wiggle Butt Manor Mystery by Cindy Goyette
Charlie Calderbank always dreamed of being a cop, but a medical issue forces her out of the academy and to rethink her future. When Charlie’s Aunt Jo-Jo suffers injuries in a car accident, she offers to help at her aunt’s pet hotel. When the owner of Maya, a precocious mutt, is murdered, Jo-Jo becomes a suspect, forcing Charlie to find the real killer before they put her aunt away for good.
While Charlie rushes to hide clues that point to her aunt, she tries to wrangle Maya into control. But she, too, seems eager to solve the case and doesn’t follow the rules. Charlie’s quest leads her to uncover plenty of the small town’s secrets, and to fall for the hot local cop trying to find the killer. It also puts her on the radar of the murderer, who will do anything to protect their secret, including making Charlie the next victim.
Inherited Death by Jeanne Rietzke
A dysfunctional southern family stumbles into a raucous murder and huge fortune while eating, drinking and cursing their way through New Orleans.
If you enjoy art history, food history, World War II history, and characters layered like the pastries they eat, this is your novel!
Don’t Drop Dad by Dena Polko
Angie Donatello is about to realize her dream of opening an Italian bakery in her quaint Maine village when her widowed father receives a life-altering diagnosis. She is determined to care for him and keep her opening on schedule, but there doesn’t seem to be enough time, wine or cannoli to manage the competing demands and the emotional tsunamis threatening to pull her under.
Equipment delays, a kitchen fire, and an over-the-top class mom all further complicate Angie’s life, but she still seems to be holding things together … until she hosts the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve and her father’s very new and much younger girlfriend makes a startling announcement. Now, Angie not only needs to help her dad cope with his declining health but also needs to find a way to protect his heart — and his pockets — without losing her own shot at a lifelong dream
My Year of Casual Acquaintances by Ruth F. Stevens
When Mar’s husband divorces her for another woman, she reacts by abandoning everything: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it’s not easy starting over at 50, Mar is young-looking and ready for adventures — provided she can keep things casual. Each month, she goes from one acquaintance to the next: a gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical consultant … and Charlie, a handsome best-selling novelist who wants more from Mar than she’s able to give. She learns something from each encounter.
But can she change enough to open herself up to happiness? Surrounded by an ensemble of quirky, endearing characters, Mar navigates her new life in a story packed with laugh-out-loud moments mingled with themes of loss, loneliness and the value of human connection. Winner of 5 literary awards, including Best Contemporary Book of 2024 – Indies Today.
A Change of Location by Margaret Porter
A lighthearted rom-com mismatching a work-focused American film location scout with an eccentric and charming English aristocrat. This highly praised novel offers humor, banter and strong female friendship, shadowed by lingering parental strife and damaging secrets — intentional or unintended. The fiercely independent protagonist, and the reader, are swept into a Downton Abbey-esque setting in the Somerset countryside, where she savors the enticing potential of a romantic partnership. But Hannah knows that if her summertime fling with Martin gets serious, the inevitable publicity will harm the family members from whom she’s estranged.
The Summer Breeze: Bed & Breakfast by Shail Rajan
Callie Williams is desperately in need of a fresh start. An unexpected visit from her sister and the discovery of a secret upend her life, and she is forced to finally make the decision to start over. Leaving everything behind, Callie makes a life-changing move to the small town of Seneca Springs nestled on the banks of Cayuga Lake in beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country.
Taking on a daunting renovation while navigating the complexities of small-town life, Callie forges lifelong friendships, eats more than her fair share of delicious food, and tries not to meddle in the lives of her guests.
The only thing hindering her newfound happiness is the attraction she feels for Nick, a rough-around-the-edges construction worker who is determined to get under Callie’s skin. A late-night delivery will tear them apart, but a quintessential nor’easter snowstorm might just force them back together…