Sandpiper Island

Kauffman’s third visit to endearing Blueberry Cove, Maine (after Half Moon Harbor) solidifies the idea of the whole town as a quirky family. Blueberry Cove’s inhabitants love one another even while they’re process their own insecurities, and they prepare to fight the caricatured evil rich developers and those who want to sell out the town’s charm. Military veteran Ford Maddox thinks he’s content, quietly living in an isolated island tree-house at the seabird research station. When his baby sister, Grace, asks him to reach out to Delia O’Reilly, whose family’s beloved diner is about to be turned into a yacht club, he realizes that to help Delia, he’ll have to face the enduring emotions from their intense tryst 20 years earlier. An emergency rescue of adorable baby puffins gives Ford and Delia the time to develop mutual trust, bridge the gap between platonic comforting and hot sex on a ladder, and realize that they’ve been yearning to call each other family. Kauffman’s stories show that the bravery to reach for a connection is all we need to discover joy; she excels at expressing the struggles and joys of giving in to love. (Sept.)