Sloth Goes Places - Florida

 

Sloth Goes Places is a feature where I share books I have tracked from the Literary Escapes and Read Around the USA reading challenges. 

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

Florida

Poor Florida had quite a blast of winter recently. I had lived in North Florida for several years, and although it got cold, we never saw anything like they saw in January. Florida is well know for its oranges, beaches, and Walt Disney World. I am definitely a fan of all those things. I never struggle with finding books set in Florida, but I was surprised that I didn't read many last year. Therefore, I dug a little deeper to five three books I loved that represented Florida well. 

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First & Then by Emma Mills
Published by Henry Holt and Co. on October 13, 2015
Age/Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Goodreads

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them: first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

I miss reading Emma Mills books so much. They were all so fun and charming and filled with great friendships. 

[review]

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Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Published by Berkley on November 23, 2021
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

Sometimes a yacht, a bold bucket list, and a kiss with a handsome stranger are all a person needs to dive into the deep end of life.

For the last year, yacht stewardess Jo Walker has been attempting to complete a bucket list of thirty things she wants to accomplish by her birthday. Jo has almost everything she's ever wanted, including a condo on the beach (though she's the youngest resident by thirty years) and an exciting job (albeit below deck) that lets her travel the world.

Jo is on track until a family tragedy turns her life upside down, and the list falls by the wayside. But when her two nieces show up unannounced with plans to stay the summer, they discover her list and insist on helping Jo finish it. Though the remaining eight items (which include running a marathon, visiting ten countries, and sleeping in a castle) seem impossible to complete in twelve weeks, Jo takes on the challenge.

When she summons the courage to complete item number five--kiss a stranger--and meets Alex Hayes, all bets are off. As her feelings for Alex intensify and Jo's inability to confront difficult emotions about her family complicates her relationships, she must learn to quit playing it safe with her heart before she loses what matters most.

The first thing I thought when I read this book, is what an interesting job, a yacht stewardess. It was also a fun tale of family and love, filled with lots of shenanigans. Ruiz did take us out and about in Florida, so you get a sense of the part of the state where the story was set. 

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The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
Published by Berkley on June 16, 2020
Age/Genres: Adult, Historical, Fiction

Goodreads

In 1935 three women are forever changed when one of the most powerful hurricanes in history barrels toward the Florida Keys in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton's captivating new novel.

Everyone journeys to Key West searching for something. For the tourists traveling on Henry Flagler's legendary Overseas Railroad, Labor Day weekend is an opportunity to forget the economic depression gripping the nation. But one person's paradise can be another's prison, and Key West-native Helen Berner yearns to escape.

The Cuban Revolution of 1933 left Mirta Perez's family in a precarious position. After an arranged wedding in Havana, Mirta arrives in the Keys on her honeymoon. While she can't deny the growing attraction to the stranger she's married, her new husband's illicit business interests may threaten not only her relationship, but her life.

Elizabeth Preston's trip from New York to Key West is a chance to save her once-wealthy family from their troubles as a result of the Wall Street crash. Her quest takes her to the camps occupied by veterans of the Great War and pairs her with an unlikely ally on a treacherous hunt of his own.

Over the course of the holiday weekend, the women's paths cross unexpectedly, and the danger swirling around them is matched only by the terrifying force of the deadly storm threatening the Keys.

Cleeton has really impressed me with her historical fiction books, and that is saying a lot since I am not really a historical fiction reader. She picked such an interesting event to center this story around, and I loved reading about it and getting a sense of how things were in the Keys back then. 

[review]

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