Silver Bay is a novel by Jojo Moyes. Silver Bay is an old-fashioned seaside town that is being forced to change by the outside world. This doesn’t bother Liza McCullen because the pristine beaches and tight-knit community offer freedom and safety from her past. It also provides the same for her young daughter, Hannah. Then, Mike Dormer comes to stay at her aunt’s hotel. Liza takes an instant dislike to him. She is afraid that this soft-spoken, impeccably mannered Englishman will destroy everything that Liza has worked so hard to protect. Could Mike really be there to jeopardize the family business and the unspoiled bay that Liza loves so much? Or, is Liza just afraid that Mike will force her to re-examine her conviction that she will never deserve to be loved?

The Oleander Sisters is a novel by Elaine Hussey. While the rest of the country is enthralled with the moon landing of 1969, there is a category five hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and the Blake sisters of Biloxi, Mississippi feel restless. Both are in desperate need of a change. Beth “Sis” Blake is the eldest and she has always been sidled with the role of caretaker and the bearer of the family’s happiness and its secrets. She longs to be able to take off to pursue her own destiny, but she is determined to do whatever she can to come to her sister’s rescue first. Emily Blake is the unwed mother of five-year-old Andy. She is trying to live down her past and build a future for the both of them. She craves the security of a marriage and a role model for her young son, but security is the last thing she feels with her new husband. Emily will have to put aside her pride and let her family help her find the courage to escape. With Hurricane Camille reeking havoc on the coast, these two sisters will have to learn that, even in the midst of destruction, a new life can grow. Dreams are reborn and friendships are revealed and strengthened.

The Union of the North and the South is a Christian romance novel by Ann Mock. Laura Malcolm lives at Oak Grove, the ancestral home of her family. The stately mansion is located along the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. It is 1875 and Laura is watching the young Jenny play not far from her. Laura is Jenny’s mother, but the little girl doesn’t know this. Gerald Taylor, Jenny’s father and Laura’s husband, died before the girl was born. Gerald’s father was a powerful judge who wanted his son to marry into a wealthy family, but the junior Gerald only had eyes for Laura. Upon the tragic death of his son, Judge Taylor had Gerald’s and Laura’s marriage annulled. Laura feels betrayed by the judge’s actions and vows to never tell him about the baby she is carrying. So, she conspires with her parents to have them pass off little Jenny as their own child. As time progresses, the sorrow and hurt that Laura feels begins to subside. Jenny’s true parentage is revealed and Laura must decide whether or not she is going to hold the grudge she has against Gerald’s father. Eventually, she learns that forgiveness is the only way to heal her wounds and let the sorrow go so that she can learn to love again.

As Close As Sisters is a novel by Colleen Faulkner. For thirty years McKenzie Arnold and her best friends—Aurora, Janine, and Lilly—have spent every summer in the quaint seaside cottage owned by Janine and her family. Since the age of twelve, these four have shared their secrets and sorrows in that little cottage by the sea, but this may be their last summer inside its walls. Janine is contemplating selling her family’s house. For now, however, they are all enjoying the walks on the beach, evenings spent on the porch, the celebration of Lilly’s longed-for pregnancy, and support for McKenzie’s moment of crisis. They know that this is the time for both laughter and reflection as well as the time for a re-examination of the devastating act that forged their bond so long ago. These four very different women support and celebrate each other as they move through life together, and apart. The days begin to shorten and these women are on their way to the most monumental summer of their lives.

The Secret of Pembrooke Park is a historical romance novel by Julie Klassen. Abigail Foster is the practical, industrious daughter, so when she asks her father to invest in a risky venture, he does. Abigail, who fears becoming a spinster, hopes that the venture will provide enough money for her to have a decent dowry for marriage. Only, the deal goes bad and Abigail’s family faces financial ruin. To lessen their debts, the family must sell their London home and move elsewhere. A solicitor tells them of Pembrooke Park and it seems like the answer to their prayers. But, when Abigail travels to the house, she discovers the house exactly as it was left eighteen years earlier. There are moth eaten clothes in the wardrobes, tea cups encrusted with dried tea, and a doll’s house left open as if someone had been in the middle of playing with it. The solicitor offers no explanations to why the previous tenants left so suddenly without their belongings. What he does tell them is to be wary of those who come to the door because there is a rumor that a treasure lies in a secret room in the old manor. Abigail’s interest is piqued. Such a treasure would surely save her family from the financial ruin that she has caused. As the secrets surrounding the fate of the Pembrooke family come to light, will Abigail find the treasure she seeks? Will moving to the country finally bring an offer of marriage?

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Evangeline Cessna is a history librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.