Play 2026 Book Bingo
Ohio Books: Novels Set in the Buckeye State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in Ohio, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Buckeye State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
Literary Themes in Ohio Books
The Buckeye State bridges Midwest and Rust Belt identities. Ohio literature explores post-industrial decline, particularly in cities like Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown. Themes include working-class struggles, political swing-state dynamics, and Midwestern values. Rural Ohio, Lake Erie communities, and Columbus’s growth provide diverse settings. The state’s role as the birthplace of aviation and seven US presidents adds historical depth.
The Best Novels Set in Ohio
Buckeye
Book Summary
This is the story of two marriages and one stolen kiss that changes everything for all four individuals.
Growing up with a physical disability was challenging at times for Cal Jenkins, but it affected him most when it prevented him from serving in WWII. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift that enables her to help family members connect with loved ones they’ve lost. Margaret Salt struggled her whole life with questions about why her birth mother abandoned her. Felix, her husband, is serving on a Navy ship in the Pacific Theater when Margaret receives a concerning telegram.
We follow the lives of Cal, Becky, Margaret, and Felix through the post-war years and beyond. Set against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of a long-ago moment of passion create ripple effects through the next generation of both families.
What to Expect in This Book
Throughout this novel, we see the ordinary lives of the main characters intersect with big historical moments. Buckeye is a heavily character-driven novel that explores the ways in which love and loyalty can both anchor people together and drive them apart.
Book Summary
Felicity still has two daily ties to her late mom – the blueberry farm she inherited and calling her mom’s old phone number every day. But one day, she gets a call back. The number’s new owner, Alex, is a homeless teen who aged out of the foster system. At this point, he has no one to turn to except for the stranger who keeps leaving ramblings voicemails.
Felicity agrees to take Alex in under the condition that she help her scare off kids that have been vandalizing the blueberry fields. As friendship blooms between the two young women who are both in need of family, word spreads of the creative justice they came up with for the vandals. Soon, neighbors are asking for their help.
Little Fires Everywhere
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
93% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In the Shaker Heights suburb of Ohio, the life of the picture-perfect Richardson family becomes intertwined with the lives of Mia and her daughter Pearl, who rent a house from the Richardsons when they arrive in town.
All four of the Richardson children befriend Pearl and are drawn in by artist Mia. As their relationships become more intertwined, the bonds that tie them will ultimately unravel both families.
This story is about complex family dynamics, small-town politics, and white privilege. When a local family decides to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle divides the town, with Mrs. Richardson and Mia on opposite sides. Mrs. Richardson becomes suspicious of Mia’s motives and digs into her past. The secrets she uncovers will change everything.
About the Author & Adaptation
Celeste Ng grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. In addition to setting Little Fires Everywhere in Shaker Heights, she also set her first novel, Everything I Never Told You, in a small town in Ohio.
This book has also now been turned into a Hulu mini-series by Reese Witherspoon.
In the Family Way
Book Summary
Women had fewer options in 1960s America. They couldn’t have their own bank accounts, credit cards, or leases, and divorce was both difficult and scandalous. Good friendships helped, and in 1965 Ohio, a weekly canasta game doubled as friendship therapy for a group of women.
Lily is a doctor’s wife, and when she learns that she’s pregnant with her second child, her friend Becca suggests that she take in one of the pregnant teens from the local home for unwed mothers. In this arrangement, the teen, Betsy, will live with Lily’s family for six months and help with babysitting and housekeeping until she has her own baby. At that point, she’ll never be allowed to contact the family again. But things soon get complicated.
Consider This Before Reading
This book includes themes of both abortion and domestic violence.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
After escaping an abusive relationship with nothing other than her two-month-old baby and the van she grew up in, Vega needs a place to disappear. Her mother had spoken of a small Ohio town where she once lived, so Vega decides it might be the ideal place to lie low. She might even learn more about her mother’s past while she’s there.
When she arrives in Crystal, Ohio, she quickly befriends several locals. Heff is a young deputy who enjoys his yard art more than policing. And Eve is a farmer who had an unusual near-death experience. But as welcome as they make Vega feel, she still senses something unsettling. There’s talk of a tragedy in the woods years ago, and Vega soon discovers that she’s connected to the mystery.
What to Expect in This Book
As this dual-timeline story unfolds, each chapter is told from a different point of view.
The Prettiest Star
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Like so many other young gay men, eighteen-year-old Brian arrived in New York City with a bright future ahead of him. But within the first six years of the 1980s, as the AIDS epidemic took hold, Brian lost his partner, his friends, and his future.
Rock Hudson’s death in 1986 shifted the conversation on AIDS and finally brought news of the epidemic into every American living room. It’s also the year that Brian returns home to small-town Appalachia to die.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Melissa read this moving literary fiction and appreciated that it zoomed in on one Ohio family’s experience during the 1980s AIDS crisis. The characters are three-dimensional and realistic for the time and setting, which means that you may not always find them likable. However, you will feel the emotional push and pull of what it’s like when your children’s lives are not a mirror of your own.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When Rachel is fired from her management job at a Miami Beach luxury hotel – for something she didn’t even do – the single mom needs to find a new job as soon as possible. She hears about a position at a brewery hotel on Kelleys Island. The man who offered her the job over the phone sounded incredibly grumpy, but she’s desperate, so she packs up and makes the move.
When she arrives, she finds that the owner, Mason, knows a lot about brewing beer but almost nothing about running a hotel. If you can even call it a hotel, it’s barely more than a foundation and studs. She considers leaving, but she desperately needs a chance to rebuild a life for herself and her daughter, Maisie. When Mason offers her full control of the design of the cabins/hotel, in addition to her management role, she decides to stay.
What to Expect in This Book
In addition to being a fun, light read, this novel is very descriptive of Kelleys Island and the nearby small towns. Although it is the largest of Ohio’s Lake Erie islands, the year-round resident population of Kelleys Island is only about 300 people. Kelleys Island is a popular vacation destination that is only accessible by boat or plane, making it a quiet getaway with a laid-back lifestyle.
Trish Doller also wrote Float Plan, set in the Caribbean. Rachel from The Suite Spot is the fictional sister of Float Plan‘s Anna, but both books read as stand-alones.
Betty
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Betty is the 6th of 8 siblings, born in a bathtub to a Cherokee father and white mother in 1954. The abundant nature in the Appalachian foothills provides comfort as she struggles with poverty and violence both inside and outside her home.
As she grows up, Betty has a continued curiosity about the natural world and a fierce love for her sisters. To cope with all she has witnessed, she discovers the power of writing down her family’s past and present. This lyrical coming-of-age story is told in first person by Betty as she refuses to give up on the beauty in life, no matter what she endures.
Consider This Before Reading
While the cover doesn’t imply this, the book contains some very heavy, dark, gut-wrenching scenes.
Author Tiffany McDaniel is from Ohio and based the fictional town of Breathed on an area outside Minford in Scioto County. She based this book on her mother’s life. Her 2023 novel, On the Savage Side, is also set in Ohio.
The Last Caretaker
Book Summary
After a rough divorce, Katie’s friend, Bess, offers her a fresh start as a residential caretaker at a nature preserve. Katie accepts despite not being a “nature person.” How hard can it be?
Something feels off to Katie right from the start. The farmhouse looks as if the last caretaker barely even moved out. Then, late one night, a terrified woman arrives frantically looking for a safe place to hide. It soon becomes clear to Katie that caretaking involves more than she bargained for.
Soon Katie is questioning if she can trust the brooding groundskeeper, the daily regulars – the hikers, dog walkers, bird-watchers, and photographers – and even Bess. As she digs for clues as to why the last caretaker left behind, she’ll be forced to call upon the courage she never knew she had.
What to Expect in This Book
This thriller is a good pick if you are looking for a book where natural elements serve as a backdrop, but the focus is on domestic suspense rather than environmentalism or conservation.
Be aware that this book deals with domestic violence.
Ready Player One
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This story follows Wade Watts, a young gamer who becomes caught up in a high-stakes treasure hunt.
The OASIS, a virtual universe, serves as the arena for intense, fast-paced competition against rival gamers and the corporation vying for control over the OASIS. All along the way, the story features 1980s nostalgia.
What to Expect in This Book
Although it is set in the future, this sci-fi / dystopian book is heavy on 1980s pop culture and video game nostalgia.
If you enjoy audiobooks, we enjoy listening to this one. It’s narrated by Wil Wheaton, who is famous for the 1980s classic movie Stand By Me and a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation. You’ll also recognize his voice from his work in The Big Bang Theory, Teen Titans Go!, and a variety of video game character voices.
Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series
Book Summary
Bailey was living the sweet life of an assistant chocolatier at a famous shop in NYC until her grandmother called with news that her grandfather’s heart condition had worsened. She rushes home to Ohio, where her grandparents run an Amish candy shop.
In book 1, she’s happy to see that her grandfather is doing better than she expected, but the same can’t be said for the man she finds dead in the candy shop’s kitchen. Her grandfather is the prime suspect, and Bailey will have to catch the killer if she wants to clear his name.
About the Series
There are currently nine books in the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series, with the tenth book due out in March of 2026.
We found more cozy mysteries set in Ohio than we had room for on this list, but we also recommend that you check out the Cheese Shop Mysteries by Avery Aames (starting with The Long Quiche Goodbye) the Ministry is Murder series by Emilie Richards (starting with Blessed is the Busy Body), and the Bookstore Cafe Mysteries by Alex Erickson (starting with Death by Coffee).
Book Summary
Teddy feels stuck. She’s still recovering from her overbearing ex-boyfriend and has no idea what she actually wants from life. But things start to shift when she begins emailing Everett St. James, the charming host of a local children’s show. He’s sweet, thoughtful, and just awkward enough to be endearing—and the more they write, the more Teddy starts to feel like maybe she can figure out what she wants.
Everett, on the other hand, is a man of routine and caution, but Teddy’s bold honesty and quirky charm throw him off in the best way. As their messages become more personal, so does the possibility of something real.
About the Author
Author Kerry Winfrey, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, is also the author of Waiting for Tom Hanks and its sequel, Not Like the Movies. As huge fans of the 90s era, Nora Ephron-style rom coms, especially those starring Tom Hanks, we always love a You’ve Got Mail-inspired rom com. And with Teddy working in a vintage toy store, it’s hard not to also feel a little Toy Story influence in the air.
The Last Place You Look
Book Summary
Private investigator Roxane Weary, recovering from her father’s death and her self-sabotaging tendencies, is hired to tackle a mysterious cold case in Columbus, Ohio. Fifteen years ago, beautiful teenager Sarah Cook vanished the same night her parents were found brutally murdered. The crime left her boyfriend, Brad, imprisoned despite his continual insistence of his innocence, and Sarah’s disappearance remains unsolved.
With Brad’s execution date now just weeks away, his sister is determined to save his life. She believes she’s spotted Sarah at a local gas station and asks Roxane to look into the case. Along the way, Roxane suspects that Sarah’s disappearance might be linked to one of her father’s unsolved murder cases involving another teenage girl.
About the Series & Author
This is the first of four books in the Roxanne Weary series, all of which are set in Ohio. The author lives in Columbus with her partner, Joanna.
The Daughters of Erietown
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In the 1950s, Ellie and Brick were Ohio teenagers in love with their whole futures ahead of them. As a high school basketball star, Brick had the chance to be the first in his family to attend college, which would also allow him to escape his abusive father. And Ellie had dreams of attending nursing school.
When they learn that Ellie is pregnant, they instead get married, and Brick gets a union card. This novel tells the story of Brick, Ellie, and their daughter Samantha while shining a light on the issues facing working-class families and their communities.
Reader Thoughts on This Book
This book is simply written and follows a smoothly paced, linear timeline, which many reviewers found refreshing.
The Next Thing You Know
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Nova is a 33-year-old end-of-life doula, and her job is to help terminally ill patients make peace with their impending death. Unlike her business partner, Nova doesn’t shy away from difficult cases – including those with challenging personalities or those who are young.
Mason is one of the heartbreakingly young. He’s a 36-year-old indie-favorite singer-songwriter who recently vanished from the public eye. He tells Nova that his condition is getting worse, and with limited use of his hands and arms, it’s becoming impossible for him to do the thing he loves most. Life as he knows it is over, but he doesn’t know how to say goodbye.
Nova knows that helping Mason will be her biggest challenge yet, especially because she’s finding it hard to maintain a professional distance. Before long, Mason’s mom comes knocking at Nova’s door… and reporters are not far behind.
What to Expect in This Book
This novel has been described as A Star is Born meets Me Before You, and the musical component is said to really help to tie the whole story together.
A number of states have passed Death with Dignity Laws in recent years that allow “medical aid in dying” under very specific guidelines. End-of-life doulas, on the other hand, can’t provide medical intervention or assist in the death process. Their role is to care for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of a terminally ill patient. End-of-life doulas can also help with planning for things like hospice and funerals. While this is a fairly new concept in the United States, in many cultures this type of support has always been an integral part of the dying process.
Strawser grew up in Pittsburgh, and then attended Ohio University and launched her journalism career in Cincinnati before later transitioning to writing fiction. Readers say they particularly enjoy all of the Cincinnati-specific references in this novel.
Book Summary
This novel follows a Quaker named Honor who moves from England to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself sick and alone in the unfamiliar landscape. She arrives in the United States at a particularly precarious moment in history when the young country is struggling with the injustice of slavery. Honor discovers that even within her religious community, which she believed was committed to human equality, not everyone is willing to take a stand.
Honor finds herself drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom. She believes strongly in the work, but she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to continue no matter the personal costs.
About the Author & Setting
The author attended college at Oberlin College in Ohio and then moved to London. While the setting of this novel is the fictional town of Faithwell, Ohio, there are references throughout to real places, like Wellington, Ohio.
Book Summary
Thirty-something Rea Langdon helps her father tend their family farm (which has seen better days) while struggling to work through her grief. She unexpectedly ends up giving shelter to a teenage boy named Quinn, who sometimes trespasses on her land, but who she learns is dealing with loss of his own.
Misunderstood by his parents, who have thrown him out, Rea provides Quinn a temporary home. Rea discovers that she, Quinn, and her father are all able to understand one another’s pain. But there are secrets that have not yet come to light.
Quinn’s parents have other plans in mind for their son, and Rae will have to confront them in order to fight for Quinn.
What to Expect in This Book
Readers describe this as a slow-moving, but beautifully written, book that is filled with emotions. While this story is set in the present day, the author says that the storm in her book was influenced by a real catastrophic blizzard, known as the White Hurricane, that occurred in the same region of Ohio in 1978.
True Biz
Book Summary
Set at the River Valley School for the Deaf in Ohio, True Biz transports readers into the school and gives insight into a culture that hearing families rarely get a chance to understand, with compelling characters along the way.
New student Charlie has been raised in the hearing world and is navigating a recent cochlear implant. She’s never been around other Deaf people before and is trying to figure out what choices are right and wrong for her. Austin, a popular student born into a proud multigenerational Deaf family, faces upheaval that shakes his sense of identity.
Overseeing them is February, the school’s headmistress and a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), who is juggling a funding crisis, campus unrest, and mounting pressures at home. As their lives intersect, the novel explores language, access, community, and the fight to keep a vital school open.
Related Movie Recommendation
After reading this book, we also recommend watching the movie CODA. You’ll see similar struggles as a character struggles to find her place between the hearing world and her Deaf family. It would be a great discussion to compare the character choices and feelings between the book and the movie.
Death By Dumpling / Noodle Shop Mystery
Book Summary
Lana Lee needs a fresh start after a rough break-up and dramatic exit from her job, so she returns to her family’s restaurant in Cleveland to regroup. But her plan for a little break from stress goes awry when Mr. Feng, the property manager for the Ho-Lee Noodle house, dies. Lana delivered him shrimp dumplings from the restaurant, but everyone knew about his deadly shellfish allergy.
Lana must figure out what happened before the restaurant’s reputation is forever ruined.
About the Series
This is the first of 10 books in the Noodle Shop Mystery Series set in a Cleveland noodle house where the Chinese food is to die for.
Katharine, the Wright Sister
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
80% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
We all know the names Wilbur and Orville Wright, but what about Katharine? She may just be one of the most important and overlooked women in history, and this historical fiction novel finally gives voice to her story.
Before becoming obsessed with flying, the Wright brothers jumped on the popular new fad of bicycle riding, opening a bike shop in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Repairing bikes led to tinkering and building, and eventually a new dream took shape. But their younger sister knew they couldn’t do it without her.
As the brothers began obsessing over blueprints and testing models on the beaches of North Carolina, Katharine became the mastermind behind the scenes. She sourced materials, managed communications, and kept the brothers focused on their goal even when it seemed that hope was lost.
When they finally achieved the first controlled, sustained flight, it resulted in both fame and fortune. The siblings traveled the world demonstrating their invention, training pilots, and building new models that could fly higher and further. But then, a tragedy tore the family apart and forced Katharine to make an impossible choice that would haunt her for the rest of her days.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Since visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial and Museum in Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Angela has been intrigued by learning more about the Wright family. We highly recommend adding this to your itinerary the next time your travels take you to the Tar Heel State.
Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride & Prejudice
Book Summary
Liz Bennet, a magazine writer, and her older sister, Jane, both live in NYC, but return home to Cincinnati, Ohio, when their father has a health scare. They are distraught to discover that their sprawling family home is crumbling.
Their younger sisters are too busy with their CrossFit workouts to get jobs, while their middle sister, Mary, is working on her third online master’s degree from the safety of her room. Mary rarely leaves the house other than for mysterious Tuesday-night outings that she won’t discuss.
And then there is Mrs. Bennet, who seems to have a one-track mind. Her only concern is marrying off her daughters, especially with Jane’s 40th birthday just around the corner. Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-to-town doctor fresh off a TV reality dating show. At a 4th of July barbecue, he takes an interest in Jane, but his friend and fellow doctor, Fitzwilliam Darcy, makes a poor first impression on Liz.
About the Book
This novel is sometimes listed as Book #4 in the Austen Project, a series of modern retellings of Jane Austen novels by different contemporary authors. However, it is not a series in the sense of a continuous narrative. This novel reads as a standalone.
Ohio
Book Summary
On a sweltering night in 2013, four former high school classmates return independently to their (fictional) northeastern Ohio hometown. Told through separate narratives that eventually wind together, these four embark on a series of reunions that reveal decades of trauma.
Bill Ashcraft, a hard‑drinking activist, careens home with a mysterious package affixed to his truck. Stacey Moore, now a PhD candidate, confronts the mother of her old friend and first love. Dan Eaton, a shy, three‑tour Iraq veteran, hopes to reconnect with a high school sweetheart. And Tina Ross, fragile and driven, seeks vengeance on a football star who ruined her life.
As the night unfolds in alternating perspectives, alliances fracture, secrets surface, and a shocking violence climaxes the evening. Part murder mystery and part social critique on the collapse of rural America, this is described as an intense and emotional novel.
About the Author
Author Stephen Markley was born and raised in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and he drew upon his experiences there (including the social, economic, and emotional landscapes) when creating his fictionalized town of New Cannan. Having previously written a memoir and a travelogue, as well as shorter works for a wide range of magazines and newspapers, Ohio was Markey’s debut novel.
Book Summary
After graduating from law school, Cass Walker was in a car accident that left her in a week-long coma. When she finally wakes up, she looks around, expecting to see Devin among the smiling faces in her hospital room. The only problem is that, according to her friends and family, Devin doesn’t exist, and her doctors and nurses confirm that no one by that name has visited.
Cass can describe every detail about Devin, down to the exact shade of his coffee-brown eyes and the slightly crooked angle of his pinkie finger. Nonetheless, everyone is convinced that Devin is nothing more than a figment of her coma-addled imagination.
Then a year later, Cass bumps into Devin – exactly as she remembers him – at a Cleveland flower shop. Did she manage to dream her perfect man into existence? Perhaps most surprising of all is that Devin doesn’t think she’s crazy, and, despite the warnings from his protective younger brother, they soon embark on a real-life romance.
It would seem that fate already intervened once, but what if fate still has other plans?
Our Thoughts on This Book
This book is rated just over 3.5 on Goodreads, which is lower than we typically recommend, but Book Girl Angela enjoyed Hockman’s first novel, Shipped, and decided to give this one a go. While it won’t make her list of all-time favorite rom coms, Angela enjoyed Dream On and recommends it as a fun, light read set in Cleveland, Ohio.
Out of My Mind
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Melody, a nearly 11-year-old girl, is different from other 5th graders. She has a photographic memory, so she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She also has cerebral palsy, which has caused her to be unable to speak, move, or communicate with anyone, and she is constantly frustrated with trying to tell people what she wants.
Despite being smarter than her classmates (and the adults trying to diagnose her), they treat her as mentally challenged. Still, Melody refuses to be defined by CP, and she’s determined to make sure everyone knows it.
About the Book
The book was made into a 2024 Disney movie of the same name.
Author Sharon Draper also published a 2018 middle-grade novel set in Ohio, titled Blended.
Non-Fiction Books About Ohio
Appalachian Fall: Dispatches from Coal Country on What’s Ailing America
Book Summary
Set deep in the heart of coal country, including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, this non-fiction collection features stories from local journalists chronicling the collapse of the coal industry, rising unemployment, environmental issues, and their impact on the towns and families throughout the region. The book spotlights the resilience of the region while also delving into challenges such as the opioid crisis.
Ultimately, the book argues that the challenges facing Appalachia reflect broader questions about what America owes to its hidden working-class communities.
What to Expect in This Book
While there are many books you could read about the Ohio Appalachian region, including memoirs, we opted to put this one on the list because it represents the collected work of many journalists. These local reporters, known as the Ohio Valley ReSource, share stories from many different individuals including miners, farmers, mothers, and activists, to name just a few to paint a more complete picture of the region.
The Ghosts of Eden Park
Book Summary
George Remus was a lawyer before prohibition, but quit law to begin trafficking whiskey. In two short years, he not only became a millionaire but also owned 35% of all liquor in the United States. The press called him “King of the Bootleggers,” and routinely wrote about the lavish parties at his mansion.
Prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt makes it her mission to bring him down. Her bosses have a cozy relationship with Remus and assume that the female new grad, Mabel, wouldn’t pose a threat to Remus. But they were wrong.
Things get even more complicated when her investigator, Franklin Dodge, begins an affair with Imogen, Remus’s wife.
Reader Thoughts on This Book
This award-winning non-fiction saga has some insane twists and turns along the way. Readers say it feels more like a literary, legal thriller than a work of non-fiction.
Christmas Books Set in Ohio
The Christmas Club
Book Summary
It’s 1952, and Verna is ready for a great Christmas season. But as she’s leaving the bank, a strong wind blows her Christmas Club money out of her hands and through the streets of busy downtown Cleveland. Strangers come to her aid and set in motion an unexpected turn of events.
Film Adaptation
This 127-page novella was also made into a Hallmark movie with the same name! The movie is available for streaming via Amazon.
Faking Christmas
Book Summary
Laurel handles the social media for her twin sister’s farm on top of her job as the social media manager for the Buckeye State of Mind tourism magazine and website. A little misunderstanding led her boss, Gilbert, to believe it was Laurel’s farm instead of Holly’s.
When Gilbert gets dumped right before the holidays, he invites himself over to the farm’s big holiday dinner. Laurel and Holly devise a plan – all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. Another guest, Max Beckett, who has been Laurel’s nemesis since Holly’s wedding, will pose as Laurel’s perfect husband for the evening.
But then the single night turns into a long weekend when everyone is snowed in at the farm.
Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this list of books about Ohio and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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Thank you for the Ohio book list! We have a great history here and a very diverse group of citizens from many backgrounds. You should add Hillbilly Elegy to your Ohio list. It is not a political statement, but a beautiful and heart wrenching account of what life is like in the Appalachain areas of Ohio for many kids. Thanks for all of your great work!!
Hi Susan, As we noted on the book list, there are many books about the Ohio Appalachian region, including memoirs such as the one you mention, but we opted to put Appalachian Fall on the list because it represents the collected work of many writers. These local reporters, known as the Ohio Valley ReSource, share stories from many different individuals – including miners, farmers, mothers, and activists, to name just a few – in order to paint a more complete picture of the region.