A favorite for summer reading, author Elin Hilderbrand’s new novel is titled The Matchmaker. The matchmaker is forty-eight-year-old Dabney Kimball Beech who has a knack for matchmaking and claims credit for bringing forty-two happy couples together. This summer, Dabney’s happy life on Nantucket is disturbed by the return of her high school sweetheart.
Find books by Elin Hilderbrand, and these novels by authors who write about similar themes, at the Lititz Public Library. (Some are available as downloadable eBooks.)
Island Girls by Nancy Thayer
When the will of a recently deceased ladies’ man mandates a summer-long reunion for his daughters from different marriages at his posh Nantucket house, the three sisters are forced to confront resentments and misunderstandings.
Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky
Two childhood friends reunite at a summer retreat, each harboring a horrible secret that would test their longtime relationship if revealed.
Tempting Fate by Jane Green
A long-distance friendship with a handsome and attentive younger man puts a woman’s marriage at risk.
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Twenty years after a teenage betrayal drove them apart, two women must rely on one another again after one finds her terrified friend on her doorstep wearing a bloody coat.
The One and Only by Emily Giffin
Centering her future on the successful family into which she plans to marry, a young woman’s entire existence is placed in question by the death of the family’s matriarch.
The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank
Living in her parents’ beach house rent-free, a recent college graduate and her friend decide the home’s million-dollar view would make a perfect place to hold parties for paying guests.
Stella Bain by Anita Shreve
During WWI, a London surgeon and his wife agree to take in an American woman found lost, alone and suffering from severe shell shock.
The Lemon Orchard by Luanne Rice
Following the death of her daughter, a woman house-sits the Malibu home of her aunt and uncle and she finds herself drawn to the handsome man who oversees the lemon orchard.
Save the Date by Mary Kay Andrews
A florist’s dream to create arrangements for a grand society wedding is in jeopardy when the bride goes missing.
Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos
Estranged from her college friends for six years, a single mother must decide how far she will go to get her friends back in her life.
Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook
After being left alone to raise her young daughter for seven years, a woman’s ex-husband re-enters her life asking for forgiveness.
Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg
A woman decides to take time off from her job and move into a beautiful old house in Minnesota with three roommates, all different ages but each feeling restless and determined to find the people and things they miss.
Ladies of the Lake by Haywood Smith
Old alliances and rivalries surface when four sisters spend the summer together at the beloved lake house of their childhood in order to inherit and sell the valuable property.
Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman
Opening an antiques shop in Charleston after discovering a talent for restoring furniture, a woman struggles to come to terms with her shattered family and sense of self after receiving news that her long-missing brother might still be alive.
Originally published on June 27, 2014 in the Lititz Record Express.