The long, lazy days of summer are here. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. These nine women’s fiction novels depict summertime stories that range from comic to tragic and everything in between.
Summer Husband by Amy Lorowitz
(She Writes Press, May 2026)
Lori Kramer, a stay-at-home mom in New York City, would go to any length to give her two daughters the summer experience of their lives — even getting a job at their camp and tagging along with them.
At Camp Woodlands, Lori finds herself overseeing the chaos of four bunks filled with rambunctious kids and their counselors, not to mention having to outwit her boss and outrun a bear — and that’s just during the first half of the summer! But those escapades are child’s play compared to her growing friendship and attraction to Teddy, the camp’s British soccer coach. Their clandestine late-night meetings behind the laundry shack to break the no-smoking rule soon turn hot and steamy, like a lazy August afternoon.
Camp may be for kids, but Lori’s the one having the most fun. She never imagined that stepping outside of her conventional, underappreciated existence would turn her world upside down and change her life forever.
The Secrets We Carry by Annette G. Anders
(Amica Press, July 2026)
When four friends gather in the mystical Berkshires, a shocking secret emerges, challenging a once-strong bond during a summer solstice they’ll never forget.
Caitlin, Hope, Ensley and Rebecca’s long-awaited girls’ week is a chance to unwind, drink too much wine, laugh until dawn — and pretend they haven’t changed since their college graduation ten years ago. However, the carefree reunion takes an unexpected turn when Rebecca arrives two days late, bringing an enigmatic stranger and an attitude.
As tensions mount despite efforts to recapture the lighthearted atmosphere of earlier gatherings, a startling secret emerges, upending the delicate balance among friends. By sunset on the longest day of the year, each woman faces a choice: Are they still holding the same values, or is their friendship taking a different path?
Sun, Sand and Secrets by Karen Cino
(Mandolay Press, September 2025)
Three women. Three turning points. One unforgettable reunion.
Molly wants to heal from her painful divorce and find happiness in her new beach home. She needs to decide what to do with the ailing publishing empire her father built. When a trip to the local market leads to a chance meeting with an old love, it opens the door to emotions Molly didn’t see coming.
Sadie runs her family golf course. Her issues with her husband revolve around trust, fear of his infidelity, and her desire to secure her family’s stability.
Emma is dealing with her abusive and controlling husband who keeps her under his thumb, monitoring her every move. As she plots her escape, secrets surface, leaving her on an emotional rollercoaster, fraught with fear.
Once Molly settles in on the beach, she invites her best friends Sadie and Emma for a week-long getaway. Their reunion is showcased by moments of humor, love and the emotional connection between them. Their secrets will slowly unfold as they navigate their relationships and confront their past and future.
The Last Gypsy Queen by Linda Paul
(Black Rose Writing, April 2026)
In 1942, eighteen-year-old Marisol Mazaria arrives with her Romani family at Ohio’s Buckeye Lake Amusement Park, where big bands come to play and thousands of wartime-weary visitors long for an escape. She is desperate for work and haunted by tragedy after her abusive husband’s violent death. Marisol faces a future of tarot card fortune-telling and servitude — until a chance encounter with Will Worthington changes everything.
Will, a college student dreaming of becoming a pilot against his wealthy father’s wishes, is drawn to Marisol’s intelligence and fierce determination. As their secret romance blossoms, both must navigate the treacherous waters of prejudice. When the park manager’s wife begins secretly teaching Marisol to read and helps her apply to medical school, Marisol longs for a future she never dared imagine.
But as war clouds gather and Will is drafted, their forbidden love becomes increasingly dangerous. A vindictive park supervisor threatens to destroy the Romani community, and family pressures mount. Marisol must choose between tradition and loyalty or the uncertain promise of a life lived on her own terms — before fate makes the choice for her.
Second Courses by Robin Blackburn
(Adirondack Chapters, May 2026)
Lyndsay Leach spent seventeen years supporting her celebrity-chef husband, but when he leaves her for a much younger woman, she makes a bold — and slightly petty — move: She takes the one thing he never thought she would, his prized Lake George restaurant.
There’s just one problem: She’s never run a kitchen, her secret writing career has stalled, and her first love just walked through the door and wants the head chef job. (Okay, more than one problem.)
With a rival restaurant opening right down the road and a scathing food critic on the way, Lyndsay has one shot to prove that she’s no longer a supporting character in someone else’s story — and maybe find love at the same time. Of course, nothing’s easy, as Lyndsay soon finds out. But sometimes the second course is the one worth waiting for.
FREEDOM QUEST: A Love Story by Debora Masterson; illustrated by Mary Quinlan
(Atmosphere Press, April 2026)
A gifted musician, Michael Griffin’s journey through the Southern California music scene of the 1960s–80s is a cautionary tale about artistic integrity, the pursuit of stardom and the cost of following one’s dreams.
Michael meets Grace in 1965, when an instant spark ignites between them in a San Fernando Valley music shop. She becomes his anchor and muse. But the struggle between artistic integrity and commercial success may cost him the love he can’t live without. The betrayal and the chaos of the times will tear them apart, sending each down separate and often harrowing paths of self-discovery.
Michael chases his musical destiny amid the counterculture revolution, from backup gigs to nearly landing a Capitol Records deal and from fronting his band, Freedom Quest, to losing the love of his life. His story captures the raw reality of what it means to live and breathe music.
Dear Missing Friend by Susan McGuirk
(Sea Crow Press, May 2026)
It’s the height of the 1840s whaling era. Catherine McGuirk arrives in Sag Harbor, New York, from Ireland, having spurned Patrick Lynch’s marriage proposal during the voyage. She is confident she will find work as a governess or at least a teacher, but the local schoolmaster dismisses her with a smirk. Settling for hotel work has its upside when Cath meets a handsome seaman, Michael Heffernan. Just as she falls in love, he is off on a whaling voyage.
Cath’s lonely romance spurs her to continue corresponding with Patrick, whose ascent as a successful businessman in New York is swift. Michael promises to give up the sea to marry Cath, yet when the Gold Rush calls, he cannot resist.
A brokenhearted Cath moves to Manhattan to revive her dream of becoming a governess. Once there, she remains torn between her own ambition, her missing husband and her former beau.
The Last Road Trip by Jennifer Klepper
(Red Adept, February 2025)
Twenty years after tragedy tore them apart, four sorority sisters still can’t say no to sweet Mary Blake Bulloch. Reeling from a public divorce, Mary Blake rallies the group to complete a long-ago road trip cut short by scandal, betrayal and the death of a Texas oilman’s son.
Time hasn’t healed all wounds. Helen’s hiding a crumbling marriage. Charlie’s haunted by a deathbed promise. Annesley’s harboring life-changing news. And Lisa knows her decades-long silence about what really happened that fateful night could cost her everything — and everyone.
As the women pick up where they left off, old alliances shift and long-buried memories surface. What started as a reunion becomes a reckoning, forcing each woman to decide what matters more: the comfort of silence or the brutal cost of truth.
Between the Sky and the Sea by Lisa Williams Kline
(Dragonblade, February 2023)
Lavinia Onslow, who delights in the freedom of managing her father’s millinery shop in the heart of Savannah, Georgia, has decided to defy convention and not marry after all. Yet, in the summer of 1838, on board the elegant steamship Pulaski heading to Baltimore, she exchanges glances with an intriguing young man.
What can ensue from a mere glance? Quite a lot, as legend has it.
That very night, the boiler of the Pulaski explodes and the ship sinks, drowning most of its wealthy passengers. As Lavinia struggles in the water, someone dives in to rescue her, pulling her up onto a makeshift raft. When she composes herself, she recognizes the intriguing man from earlier. There they float, thirty miles off the coast of North Carolina, desperate for a life-saving miracle. Is the bond she feels for this stranger more than an instinct for survival?
