Tis the cozy season, which means many of us are looking for good books to read. These three recently or soon-to-be published novels — “The Bluff,” by Wade Rouse (also known as Viola Shipman); “Garden Cottage” (Mackinac Cottages Series – Book 4), by Carrie Fancett Pagels; and “The Noel Cottage,” by Olivia Miles — all share a Great Lakes sense-of-place.
Rouse’s “The Bluff” is set on Mackinac Island — and much of it takes place in a historic family cottage.
As you read the book, you’ll likely think of how your own family behaves and interacts during the holiday season. Are your holidays filled with beautiful traditions, or drama? Who makes your holidays special, and who tends to make them tense? This all comes into play with a mixture of intriguing characters who embrace traditions (let’s take the family photo on the staircase, like we always do) and who likes to embrace the present (let’s take the family photo on the beach!). You get the picture. As for Rouse’s preference, he says, “I’m a total traditionalist. Family photo on the staircase. I still honor and use all of my family’s heirlooms at Christmas, including Grandma’s felted tree skirt, ornaments, Grandma’s and Mom’s Christmas cookie cutters (plus their cookie recipes), same Spode Christmas tree plates … That said, we do try one new thing each year to incorporate a new tradition and memory.”
Rouse’s special pre-launch event for The Bluff is at the Mackinac Island Public Library in conjunction with Island Bookstore. It begins at 2 p.m. Oct. 10. Rouse is a USA Today and international best-selling author of 22 books, including three holiday novellas written under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman. A former journalist, he lives in the Saugatuck area and Palm Springs.
Meanwhile, Pagels’ book focuses on family, hope, and love. Facing a summer alone, Paula, a widowed librarian, heads to her family’s cottage on Mackinac Island. The author of a book on grief, Paula reconnects with an intriguing reader, Gennaro, a famous chef who works at a resort on the island and has kept a low profile since his wife’s tragic death. He’s quite a gardener, and after he starts working with Paula on her vegetable garden, a deep friendship grows. But when personal and family secrets erupt, can these two find healing for themselves?
Pagels, who grew up in the eastern Upper Peninsula and adores the island, has 27 years of experience as a psychologist — and an overactive imagination. “I have 10 novels/novellas set, or at least partially set, on Mackinac Island, and several more novellas with characters somehow related to or coming from or to Mackinac Island,” she shares. Now living in Virginia, the author returns to the island every year to soak up more inspiration. “The Island Bookstore told me a few years back that they had sold more than 14,000 copies of my books! That’s a huge blessing.”
Pagels says she believes her book’s heroine, Paula, is a lot like herself. “Don’t get me wrong — I’m not Paula, she’s not me, and my life is quite different, but I loved being able to let her react like I would in the situations she’s in.”
In Miles’ new book, “The Noel Cottage,” readers visit a fictional Michigan lakefront town called Silver Bay. They’ll meet three sisters and watch a Christmas season unfold in which a new beginning for the siblings could become their favorite gift.
When single mother Alicia rents her family’s former cottage for Christmas, she hopes to recreate holiday magic for her daughter — and reconnect with her sisters. But returning to Silver Bay stirs up more than memories. Harper, an interior designer, has spent years keeping her distance from the only place that ever felt like home. Janie, a struggling baker, is running out of ways to preserve her mother’s legacy. And Alicia can’t stop wondering what might have been if their family had never lost the cottage that once held them together.
As old traditions resurface, the sisters begin rebuilding the bond they’ve been missing. Meanwhile, although new possibilities for the future are on the horizon, old resentments and unanswered questions arise, too. And, yes, there’s romance!
Miles is a two-time USA Today best-selling author of heartwarming small-town romance. Her stories often explore themes of love, hope, friendship, and second chances — all set in picturesque towns that readers want to return to again and again. After growing up in New England, Miles traded salt water for fresh water, and now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan and vacations often in southwest Michigan. “With a few exceptions, I’ll be focusing on Michigan or the Great Lakes region for the settings of all future books, starting with ‘The Noel Cottage.’ I’m bringing it all back to the lake that I love,” she says. 
Read Them!
For Wade Rouse’s October release, visit harpercollins.com and search for Wade Rouse. More author information is online at waderouse.com or violashipman.com. Visit amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com to order Carrie Fancett Pagels’ new book. It’s also available at Island Bookstore on Mackinac Island or Teysen’s in Mackinaw City. For Olivia Miles’ holiday book, visit oliviamilesbooks.com.
Follow the muse
Writers share their favorite Michigan spots for sips, sweets, and sparks of the imagination
Cheers! “On Mackinac Island, I love drinks on the patio at the Iroquois and at the Pink Pony (mentioned in the book),” Wade Rouse says. Near his home, Rouse says, “My love for Uncommon Coffee Roasters (in Saugatuck) knows no bounds … the best coffee and pastries in the world … my go-to is the Caramel Silk latte and carrot cake muffin or the blueberry streusel muffin. I read (and often write) in their garden.”
Porch to Cafe “I like a glass of rosé or reading on the porch at the Grand Hotel — that’s top of my list!” Olivia Miles says of her Mackinac picks. She also likes to get drinks to go and take them to favorite lookout points. “And I’m always happy to stick around the Watercolor Cafe on a sunny morning or enjoy a cocktail at the Jockey Club on a chilly evening (so cozy!)” When she’s in southwest Michigan, she enjoys coffee at “cute places like Bundes Bakery Cafe in South Haven or patio drinks at The Stray Dog Bar & Grill in New Buffalo, but when it comes to reading, the shoreline is always it for me.”
Java Joy Carrie Fancett Pagels gives Lucky Bean, on Mackinac Island, a big thumbs up. “Carolyn May Fairbanks, the amazing owner, made it into more than one of my contemporary novels,” Pagels says, adding that favorite drinks include a mocha or caramel frappe. “And something nice from her bakery case like a chocolate muffin.” As for quiet time, Pagels says when she lived and worked on the island as a teen, she’d sit behind the charming library and read. – MS
