How did you spend your summer? If you’re reading this, you probably spent it writing the manuscript for the second annual #WriteAwaySummerContest.

If you’re me, well, you spent it reading more than 55 entries. There were so many good ones, it was seriously so hard to narrow it down. How was I supposed to choose?

Ultimately, it came down to three that I just couldn’t stop thinking about. And here they are! So, without further ado, here are the final three contenders, in no particular order.

The grand-prize winner will be announced on November 30.

1. Lignum Vitae by Ingrid Palmer

   Avis Phillips is a young girl of Jamaican heritage who suddenly finds herself in a new country after emigrating with her brothers to live in Canada, where her once idyllic life changes in an instant. Avis struggles to make sense of her role as a daughter, her relationship with her mother, her self-worth and value, her faith, and her tumultuous home life. Inspired by true events, including abuse, the tensions of the family dynamic, gender roles, racism and coming to terms with her new life, this novel is as powerful as Precious and then some.

   Author Ingrid Palmer is of Jamaican descent, grew up in Scarborough and was in foster care for several years. She is a visually impaired social justice advocate and an award-winning speaker. As a former foster kid in the GTA, Ingrid is passionate about sharing stories of intersectionality that highlight traditionally unheard narratives. (Lignum Vitae is Jamaica’s national flower indigenous to the island.)

2. Are You Running From Someone By Jean Ross

   This is a cozy page-turner detective thriller. Fia Milne is a writer of romances, a creature of habit who wants and leads a quiet life. But someone wants her dead. When a gloved hand clamps down on Fia's right shoulder as she tends to her fisherman's friend's wounds, she feels a jab of a needle in the crook of her neck. The world goes black. When she awakes in a hospital, she meets Detective Jimmy Sinclair, a widow, not over the death of his beloved wife killed in a car crash, who loves and hates the beginning of an investigation. He is at his best when he starts, and he is at his best when he is finished. When Detective Sinclair asks Fia, "Is there anyone who could want you to be dead? Are you running from someone?" Fia — who has only one friend and says she has no family — wants to say "Yes," she was running from herself and her past, with a whole lot of secrets. Realizing that the town of Story Cove, Nova Scotia, where she has lived for the past five years is no longer safe, her secret past life in the military catches up with her, amongst many other secrets she has kept to herself. Meanwhile, while Detective Sinclair and Fia become closer in trying to find her killer and their motive, they may also be saving each other from their own past personal heartbreaks.

3. Honeymoon At Sea by Jennifer Silva Redmond

   This is a memoir of how the author took off from San Diego for Cabo San Lucas on a 26-foot sailboat with her new husband, just six months into marriage and how they ended up staying in the Sea of Cortez for almost a year. Redmond's memoir covers the trip and the adventure of sailing up into the Sea, including everything from seasickness to spearfishing and learning to be married in mid-life while developing a love of sailing.

   Today, the couple still lives on a (slightly larger) sailboat— and they have been for almost two decades. She and her husband also work on it and are very slowly heading to B.C. to cruise the sunshine coast in 2023. As her grandfather once told Jennifer, "If you want to get to know someone, take a long trip in a small boat." Talk about a relation-SHIP!

Do any of these books sound appealing to you? If so, help me decide on the winner by emailing info@rebooks.ca. (Disclaimer: I will still make my own independent decision.)

Also…

I Married a Thrill-Seeker is officially available for pre-order!

That’s right, re:books Publishing House’s first book is officially available for pre-order! And already, Danielle Kaplan’s incredible memoir is a bestseller on its second print run. Congrats, Danielle 👏

Pre-order I Married a Thrill-Seeker on Amazon here.

Pre-order I Married a Thrill-Seeker on Indigo here.

While you wait, check out Danielle’s website here to learn more about her and her story.