Sloth Goes Places - New Hampshire

 

Sloth Goes Places is a feature where I share books I have tracked from previous Literary Escapes reading challenge hosted by Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book.

Today we are looking at books set in ....

New Hampshire

I visited New Hampshire a few years ago, and I can attest to its beauty. I was there in the spring, but hope to get there during leaf peeping season. I wouldn't say I read a lot of books set in this state, but I do seem be stumble upon a great one each year. 

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One Last Summer by Kate Spencer
Published by Forever on June 11, 2024
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

From the cohost of the award-winning Forever35 podcast comes a dreamy, laugh-out-loud summer romance that asks: What do you do when the life you've planned isn't what you've dreamed?

Clara Millen’s life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she’s resoundingly single, and it’s been years since she’s taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix—this year she’ll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.

But when Clara arrives at Pine Lake Camp, she faces yet another unwelcome change: the owners are retiring and selling the property. The news turns her plans for revelry into a night of reminiscing . . . and prompts a surprise heart-to-heart between Clara and Mack, her old camp nemesis and constant competitor, who's still just as annoying (and annoyingly handsome).

Soon the campfires aren't all that's throwing off sparks. And when one wildly passionate night turns into two (then too many to count!), Clara begins to wonder if she and Mack could have a future together. But when Clara's boss finally offers her everything she's worked so hard for, Clara will need to decide if the life she's always wanted is the life that makes her feel truly alive

This was a really fun book, and since it was set at a summer camp, the setting actually was featured well. This book was packed with nostalgia and featured a very meaningful personal journey. I loved seeing all these old camp friends reunite and adored the second chance romance. Overall, this was a story filled with humor and heart, and a fantastic way to spend that One Last Summer. 

[review]

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Play for Me by Libby Hubscher
Published by Berkley on June 20, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

When her new job takes her to a New England boarding school, she's surprised to find her roommates are all men - including a very handsome one who plays by his own rules.

Sophie Doyle has her dream job as the head athletic trainer for her favorite baseball team (go Red Sox!), a handsome boyfriend, and easy access to the finest cannoli in Boston. When she loses all three and the World Series to boot, she's forced to apply for the open trainer position at an arts-focused boarding school in New Hampshire. The only available room is a glorified closet in an apartment with three guys: Jonas Voss, the aloof and attractive orchestra teacher, and his two rambunctious roommates.

Sophie knows that training a bunch of privileged high school kids whose idea of a play is A Chorus Line instead of a walk-off homer is going to be a big change from the pro athletes she's used to. She wasn't expecting that these students would have big-time talent and even bigger-time problems. Sophie has troubles of her own--Jonas is a full-fledged grump who clearly doesn't want her near him or the precious piano he never plays.

With sunny optimism, Sophie sets out to win over Jonas and help the kids she's growing attached to. But when her relationship with Jonas moves to the major leagues and plans change at the end of the season, they have to choose whether they are playing for keeps.

New Hampshire ended up being a place for Sophie to hide out as she tried to rebuild her life following a career disaster. This place that was supposed to be a stop on her way to rebuilding her life ended up being somewhere she finally felt at home. She made great friends and developed a spectacular friendship with someone else who was sort of hiding out. Overall, this was a warm and wonderful grumpy-sunshine romance with lots of heart. 

[review]

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Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Published by Harper on August 1,2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction

Goodreads

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

This was my first Patchett book, and I must say, I was very impressed. The story was told via two timelines, and it was in the past that I got to experience the beauty of New Hampshire during a pivotal summer in Lara's life. With the family forced together in the orchard due to lockdown, there is a lot of sharing, and it was time to find out why Lara abandoned a burgeoning acting career for this life. This story was very well told and emotional, and I really enjoyed it. 

[review]

Have you read any books set in
New Hampshire?
Let us know in the comments!