It has been nearly two years since we’ve taken an actual vacation—a trip with no other people or work attached to it. We are tired, so as we planned our trip, we decided to go to what has become one of our favorite places to relax—Maine.
We had never visited Maine until our daughter moved to Boston in 2020. That year, we did Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. It was wonderful! We were there in August of that year, when things were just reopening after the pandemic, so we got to experience it without the usual summer crowds.
A couple of years later, we stayed at York Beach. We found an inn in an 18th-century house, which was fabulous, and we explored the many historical sites and boutiques in the area. The hardest part of this trip was that there were staffing shortages everywhere, so many of the restaurants were only open 3 or 4 days a week!
This year we are heading to an island! Deer Isle is off the coast between Portland and Bar Harbor. Again, we’ve found an 18th-century B&B to stay in! We are looking forward to long walks and lots of reading—all in temperatures 30 degrees cooler than at home!
You might sigh and wish you could tag along. And you can—through books!
Here are my favorites set in Maine:
Muir Harbor series by Melissa Tagg
This series started not long after we’d made our first visit to Maine, and reading these books felt like getting to visit all over again. While Melissa didn’t pattern her fictional town after any “real” place, she imagined it “along the coast,” probably near Camden. I laughed when she told me this, because you’ll find many books set in or based on Camden, Maine! I’m excited we’ll get to spend a half day there on our way to the island!
Sons of Scandal series by Becky Wade
I’m thinking most of you have read these! I devoured every one! I remember when Becky had finished her series set in north Georgia, and she was trying to figure out a setting for a new series. I suggested Maine, since we had come to love it so much. I’m so happy she came to love it as much as we do! Her fictional town of Groomsport is loosely based on Camden.
Orchard House Bed & Breakfast series by Heidi Chiavaroli
My friend Staci Scott first recommended this series to me. Drawing inspiration from Little Women, these family drama/romance books have been great. I’m on book six of the seven now. Since the B&B in this series is actually set in Camden, I’m hoping to recognize a few things while we are there.
Martini Club series by Tess Gerritsen
Another Camden book, although this time the town masqueades as fictional Purity. The first book in this series, The Spy Coast, was a free book from Amazon First Reads. I put it in my husband’s folder in our Kindle account, thinking he’d enjoy this story of spies who retire to Maine and stumble upon a mystery to solve. He enjoyed it and recommended it to me. Now that we’ve read the second one, The Summer Guests, we’re hoping there will be more.
One caveat: this is a general market series. There is language, though not a ton, and generally of the milder variety, with an occasional other.
Lights of Acadia series by Heidi Chiavaroli
The first book in this series—the only one I’ve read so far—is set in Bar Harbor. As it had a tiny spoiler for the Orchard House B&B series, I decided I’d finish that series before reading book two in this one. Not sure where book two will find us, but this series of books incorporates lighthouses into the stories. Romantic women’s fiction. So, so good.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Ah, the classic. I’ve loved it since I read it to my kids! The illustrations are as charming as the story. I bought this for my granddaughter on our first trip to Maine. I think we need to read it together again!
I’m sure there are many, many more wonderful books set in Maine, so let me know if I’ve missed your favorites! Or tell us which of these I’ve mentioned you’ve enjoyed, too!
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I have Maine on my travel bucket list because of Becky’s series. I’ve been to Maine, but it was a brief visit and we didn’t see much. Arcadia NP is at the top of the list for me. I’ve read the first of the Orchard House series for our book club and have a few more on my Kindle just waiting for me. I also have Melissa Tagg’s series on my TBR.
Acadia NP is amazing. What I love about it is you can experience a lot of it without truly “hiking” due to the many carriage trails initially built when it was established. You should absolutley read the rest of Orchard House–and Melissa Tagg’s series!
Maine seems like a marvelous place to visit!
I have read 2 of Melissa Tagg’s series & 3 of The Orchard House series. I want to read Becky Wade’s series, too.
Other writers who use Maine for a background setting: (general market–mystery)–Paul Doiron & my favorite, Paula Munier, & of course, “Murder, She Wrote.”
Happy reading!
I didn’t know Murder, She Wrote was set in Maine! I’m really not sure I ever watched it. I”ll have to look up the other two authors as well. Sounds like you would enjoy the Tess Gerritson books which are mystery/thriller.
Thank you so much for all of these suggestions. I have read some of them, but I’m not sure just which ones. One of my daughters lives in Maine on Great Moose Lake with her husband and puppy dog. Maine is the best.
I looked up Great Moose Lake–definitely farther inland in Maine than we’ve ever been, so it might be a nice area to put on my list!
I’ve never been to Maine, but I have a friend there I would love to visit. I haven’t read any of these except Blueberries for Sal. I loved Heidi Chiavaroli’s novel, The Orchard House, so I got the first book in the B&B series you mentioned (which was free at the time!).
My favorite book set in Maine is Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes. I fell in love with the place as well as the story.
Oh! I’d forgotten that Whose Waves These Are is a Maine book! Good choice!
Ken and I experienced Maine for the first time last fall and it was amazing! We camped and rode bikes in Acadia National Park and explored Bar Harbor and other little towns along the way. Fall is such a gorgeous time to go, and we honestly didn’t find it terribly crowded, though we were there on the backside of the fall tourist season.
Loved all the book recommendations and I’ve read several. My book club read The Spy Coast and I really enjoyed it even though it’s not a genre I usually read.
Yes, I’m not a huge “thriller” fan, but Jeff said I’d like it and he was right! The second one was good, too.
I’m not positive but I think that a series by Janette oke and T.Davis Bunn is close to there the songs of Acadia.
Probably so! I don’t think I read those. Might have to add them to that very long To Be Read list!
I LOVE Maine! What a perfect place to go with your husband for vacation. The weather will be incredibly refreshing compared to Texas in August. Ha!
Thanks for including my series in this post and for the book recommendations. I’ve jotted some of these down to read in the future. 🙂
Yes! Temps 30 degrees cooler than Texas! Can’t wait.
I absolutely loved Melissa Taggs books set in Maine! Especially the last one.
They were all soooo good! She did a great job capturing the vibe of Maine even though she didn’t visit until after she’d published the first book!
“Blueberries for Sal” is a book that I used to read my sons when they were little… at the time, summers vacationing in Maine was the high light of our year and because we were there in early August picking blueberries was an activity our kids loved to do. The berries are tiny, so they weren’t something that would fill anyone up but they were fun to find… and no bucket required.
How fun that y’all used to do that! I’m not a huge blueberry fan, but I do love those little Maine ones. I plan to eat my fill next week!