The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

It's 1942 and Audrey is finding it hard to make ends meet since her husband, Matthew, was presumed dead fighting in Germany. With three sons, she spends her days cooking and baking to make enough money to keep their home, Willow Lodge. Her younger sister, Gwendoline, the lady of nearby Fenley Hall (in an unhappy marriage to Sir Strickland), has a frosty relationship with Audrey. When a cooking contest is announced to find a female co-presenter for the radio program The Kitchen Front, both Audrey and Gwendoline decide to enter. In addition, young assistant cook at Fenley Hall, Nell, and pregnant London chef Zelda also are competitors. The Kitchen Front follows the lives of all four contestants through the three rounds of the event as they cook, bond, and support one another. With loads of details and recipes about wartime cooking and rationing, the novel provides lots of interesting information about life at that time. For example, I was not aware that food rationing in Britain continued until 1954!

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

In 1939, Odile gets a job as a librarian at the American Library in Paris. Odile, a native Parisian, loves that the staff and patrons at the library are from all over the world. Soon, however, with the Nazi occupation, life in the city becomes dangerous, and not even the library is safe. In an alternate storyline, it's 1983 and Lily lives with her parents in a small town in Montana next-door to Odile Gustafson. After Lily's mother passes away, Odile becomes a friend and confidante to Lily throughout her teenage years. The Paris Library is an engaging story of friendship and a fascinating retelling of the history of the American Library in Paris.

Landslide by Susan Conley

Documentary filmmaker Jill is finding it hard to cope in Maine after her husband, Kit (a commercial fisherman), is seriously injured in an accident  while he was away working in Nova Scotia. Jill and Kit have two teenage boys--Charlie and Sam. Sam is particularly struggling right now, since losing his best friend, Liam, two years ago in an accident on a bridge while Sam was present. His father's injury has Sam feeling even more unmoored. As a mother and wife, Jill, is grappling with raising her sons on her own and confronting the fact that Kit might have been unfaithful to her while in Canada. Landslide explores Jill's sense of self, looking back on her life and forward to her family's future.

Send for Me by Lauren Fox

Annelise lives with her parents--Klara and Julius--who own a bakery in Feldenheim, Germany. Slowly, they see their world getting smaller and more dangerous as their freedoms and rights are taken away from them because they are Jewish. As Annelise marries and has a daughter, Ruth, they all look for a way to leave Germany. Send for Me recounts, partly through letters, the family's life during the war, and after in the United States. The book also tells the story of Ruth's daughter, Clare, in Milwaukee.

The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

Young Freddie Hackett is convinced he's seen a murder as he's ferrying messages around London's streets. He confides in private detective Maisie Dobbs and her assistant, Billy, because he trusts them. They both believe him, but the authorities doubt Freddie's story. This leads Maisie to become involved, especially after a body is found in the Thames with wounds consistent with the attack Freddie described. In Maisie's personal life, she yearns to spend more time with her daughter, Anna, but detective work in the city and her obligations to British intelligence keep her away for part of the week. In addition, Maisie's relationship with American Mark Scott is becoming even more serious. The Consequences of Fear is the latest book in the Maisie Dobbs series and doesn't disappoint. It's always a treat to catch up with Maisie and those in her circle. It will be published next month.

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

Ruth lives with her husband, Xavier, on Chicago's South Side. As an African-American engineer with a degree from Yale, she feels she's made it. However, Xavier is putting pressure on her to start a family, and Ruth cannot stop thinking about the secret she's kept from him--at 17 years old she had a baby, but gave it up. Ruth then finds herself back in her working class hometown of Ganton, Indiana, wanting answers from her grandmother, who raised her, about the adoption of her baby. While there, Ruth befriends a white boy, Midnight, who is the same age as her son. The Kindest Lie explores poverty, racism, and family ties. A story with likable characters and situations to ponder, which would also be a good choice for book clubs.

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

Private detective Roxane Weary is hired by Danielle Stockton, whose brother Brad sits on death row for murdering Elaine and Garrett Cook. Brad was dating the Cook's daughter, Sarah, who went missing on the night they died and hasn't been seen since. Danielle is convinced that she recently saw Sarah and wants Roxane to try and locate her. The situation is urgent, because Brad is set to be executed in two months. Roxane retraces where Danielle thought she saw Sarah and also uncovers that Sarah is not the only young woman to go missing in Belmont, a Columbus, Ohio suburb. Could Brad be innocent? Will Roxane be able to find enough evidence to set him free? The Last Place You Look is the first book in the series featuring Roxane Weary. I'm definitely going to read another one.