Reunion with Rembrandt

Cheryl Blaydon

North Country Press

It’s been twenty-eight years since a major art heist rocked Boston. March 18 is not only significant to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum but is also the date representing Kate Flannagan’s legal divorce. Once inside the venerable walls of ancient history and iconic works of art, Kate must navigate a maze of feelings involving a grandmother whose life was transformed by art in the 1930s. But nothing is more difficult for Kate on that day than walking the galleries where every breath she takes, every corner she turns, and every remnant of her perfume lingers because of a man called Angus.

We Were Pretending

Hannah Gersen

Little A

Leigh Bowers has never felt more alone. After being caught illegally administering Hecate’s Key―a medicinal mushroom that brings peace to terminally ill patients―Leigh has lost her mother, her job, her marriage, and primary custody of her daughter. But Leigh’s life takes a hairpin turn when Jennifer Hex, an enigmatic woman from her past, reemerges. Jennifer, a guru attuned to transcendent earthly wonders, has a plan to fulfill both their lives: they’ll flee to the Canadian forest, live off the grid, commune with nature, and harvest the rare palliative mushrooms. It’s everything Leigh has been yearning for―a connection, a purpose, a spiritual confessor, and an adventure. But as Leigh becomes more enchanted with Jennifer’s extreme proposal, she wonders how well she really knows her old friend. Is Jennifer truly offering a blissful mind-body woodland escape, or is it a dangerous, ill-conceived plan that will upend Leigh’s life all over again?

Bitter Passage

Geoffrey Bates

Norumbega Press

Bitter Passage introduces Allegheny Beckham, who’s seeking respite in a return to Maine after years as a beat cop on Chicago’s south side. Beckham’s narrative opens a scant ten days into her position as a rookie sheriff’s deputy. Dispatched to a remote ridge during a late winter nor’easter, she discovers an SUV cut-open by the Chamberlain county snowplow like a Boy Scout’s can of Dinty Moore stew. A frozen corpse triggers a murder/ kidnapping investigation and Beckham peels back layers of deceit, embarking on a harrowing journey that tests her every limit. Descending ever-deeper into the deadly puzzle forces her to confront a lifetime scarred by loss, guilt, and feral survival. When the violent finale unfolds, she discovers the cost of redemption may be higher than she ever imagined. Bitter Passage is a riveting tale of resilience, justice, and the enduring struggle to confront the shadows of the past.

The Secret of the Martian Girl

Colin Alexander

Independently Published

A long-dead genius. A hidden invention that could save—or doom—humanity. Can Leif find it before it falls into the wrong hands? In AD 2726, Leif Grettison, former army ranger and exoplanetary scout, returns from the stars a weary man. All he wants is a cottage on a hill with a good view and no neighbors. Leif knows nothing about the myth of the Martian Girl. But when he agrees to a simple request, his path leads to a love he never expected, two teens nobody wants, and a scheme to revive the Martian Girl’s former home, a dead city on Mars. If the Martian Girl created a weapon and Leif cannot keep it from a hostile power, the Earth will be plunged back into devastating wars. Can a legend still gripped by his past save our future? Or will the Martian Girl’s invention push humanity over the brink?

To the Point and Back: Swimming Poems

Margaret A. Haberman & Meg Weston

The Poets Corner

In the summer of 2023, two friends and open water swimmers decided to write a poem each time they swam. Sometimes they swam together, but more often they swam alone in Maine's lakes and ponds. The result was this book—a tribute to their love of the water, of swimming, and to friendship. A delightful collection of poems that are about swimming and so much more.

Go Home

Terry Farish &

Lochan Sharma

Groundwood Books

Go Home is a from-the-headlines story about immigration and prejudice, torn loyalties and belonging, set on the New Hampshire and Maine Seacoast. It's told in the alternating voices of Olive, who just wants to make a future with her boyfriend, and Samir, a Bhutanese Nepali refugee beginning a new life in America. Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor winning author of The Surrender Tree, calls Go Home, “beautiful and powerful! Highly recommended.” Terry Farish is the author of The Good Braider, a Lupine award winning novel in verse. This is Lochan Sharma's debut novel.