Northern Girl

by Annie Cabot

Set against the harsh beauty of coastal Maine, this is a novel for anyone who's ever wondered if it's too late to become who they were meant to be.

When Kate Perkins finds herself ice fishing alone on a frozen Maine pond, she's facing the potential loss of everything she's ever her father's failing mind, her family's historic inn on the verge of foreclosure, and her own dreams that died with her mother five years ago.

As a brutal March storm threatens to destroy Whaler's Landing, the family business, Kate's estranged siblings return to Kennebunkport, successful but broken in their own ways. Together, they must navigate their father's dementia, their complicated grandmother's unexpected reappearance, and the weight of family secrets that span decades.

And then there’s Ben. Patient, steady, and always fixing what's broken (literally and metaphorically), he’s the handsome contractor who she’s known all her life but never really noticed. Until now.

With his help, and the discovery of a gift her mother left behind, Kate must Can she save both the inn and herself? Or will choosing her own path mean abandoning the family legacy she's sacrificed everything to preserve?

Northern Girl is a poignant story about coming home, forgiveness, and learning that you can honor the past while still claiming your future.

Perfect For Readers

Love Elin Hilderbrand or Mary Alice MonroeEnjoy family sagas with strong sense of placeWant realistic romance with mature charactersAppreciate stories about women finding themselves later in lifeAre interested in multigenerational women's storiesLove coastal/beach settings with seasonal changes

Genres: Fiction

366 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 5, 2026

About the author

Annie Cabot is the author of contemporary women's fiction and family sagas. Annie writes about friendships and family relationships, that bring inspiration and hope to others.

With a focus on women's fiction, Annie feels that she writes best when she writes from experience. “Every woman's journey is a relatable story. I want to capture those stories, let others know they are not alone, and bring a bit of joy to my readers.”

Annie Cabot is the pen name for the writer Patricia Pauletti. A lover of all things happily ever after, it was only a matter of time before she began to write what was in her heart, and so, the pen name Annie Cabot was born.

When she's not writing, Annie and her husband like to travel. Winters always involve time away on Captiva Island, Florida where she continues to get inspiration for her novels.

Annie lives in Massachusetts with her husband.

Reviews

[Kathy]

I very much enjoyed this book. It had some hard parts to read with dementia and death. It’s been a long time since I shedded so many tears. This book will stay with me for while.

[Mia]

I read this book as a Kindle Unlimited read. I kept seeing ads for it on FB so decided to take a chance on it. And I have to say, I was amazed at it. I would highly recommend this book.

[Sue Negrillo]

Maine.
Kate is the sibling that stayed behind to take care of her dad with Alheimers and run the Inn her mother loved. She has lost herself taking care of everything and everybody. The other siblings come back to help and she has a hard time excepting help giving up control. The Inn is needing a lot of repairs they get Ben to do repairs as things break down. He has been attracted to Kate for yrs. He goes above and beyond to do things for her. But she is to busy taking care of her dad and the Inn. Their Grandmother shows up who disowned her daughter because she chose their dad he wasn’t up to her standards. She is very wealthy and she is dying. She tells them she want to make the Inn beautiful for her daughter and take care of their dad because she feels bad for how she treated them. She gives them the money to renovate the Inn. She pays for a home for the dad. She wants the 4 kids to work together to run the Inn. She’s there to help with the decision on the Inn but there is still resistance to her. As she is dying they all gather to be with her she dies happy with forgiveness. They all do there jobs things smooth out. They all move back and stay family

[Carolyn Ten Broeck]

This book contains a good plot and excellent writing BUT the protagonist is one of the most unsympathetic characters I’ve encountered in recent reading.

Kate, the oldest of four children of a widowed father, stays by his side as he battles dementia AND she operates the family’s failing inn while her siblings leave and try to create lives for themselves.

The first two-thirds of the novel are about her sacrifice, or as I call it, martyrdom. She may be 35 in the book but she’s nothing more than a petulant child who needs to be shaken until her teeth rattle.

The adult children skirt around one another, seldom discussing their private lives with one another, which I found fictional based on my own dysfunctional family life.

I wanted to love it but cannot because the only characters I felt warm about were so minor they didn’t really count.

[Vee Eastham]

A good read if at times a hard one

If you have experience of dementia there will be times when you might find this a difficult read. Annie has taken a no holds barred approach to the effects of this awful disease on both the person and the family; she has researched it well. My mother had dementia and I was a mature university student so I can relate to Kate easily. Annie Cabot has also written sound words of advice and shown remarkable understanding and I strongly hope other readers will take heart as I have and find this book to be not just a romance story, but one about family, choices, never giving up and knowing when to let go. Thank you, Annie, for another good read.

[Barbara Scheuter]

Good family story

This book surprised me. I really enjoyed it. Kate always seemed on the verge to give up, never believing that she was more than the one who stayed. But with an imperfect family, they all learned how important their family was, how much their parents sacrificed for their children. How to believe in themselves, how to forgive and how to live together supporting, encouraging each other and finally allowing themselves to accept love. I will probably read it again. I really enjoyed this book.

[Lynn Bartels O'Neill Beam]

red in the morning vs red at night.

I had just moved. I have tons of things to put away in many boxes piled up, but what did I choose? I chose to read this incredible novel. It’s now 10 minutes before dinner, and I can only say that the novel was crammed full of the most generous people minus one ogre and what true love is and gathering two brothers and a sister to run an incredibly beautiful restored inn. please read this story!! set aside a day.

[Kathy Breaux]

Such a beautiful but anxious story.

Northern Girl was a fascinating story of love and loss. The characters were perfect, the setting in Maine wanted me to be there. The Inn had a lot of problems. Katie was running the inn by herself and their father had dementia which brought home her siblings. But they finally pulled together to renovate the inn and find happiness.

[christine]

Northern Girl

This is a beautiful family love story. This book will pull you into the deeply rooted family and their own life issues and the healing only family can do. Amazing character that are as real as you and I, family issues that well all have experience or know someone that has. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy

[Delonna Oskouee]

Delightful!

Now, this is my kind of romance! Real, slow, full of indecision and heartache, like real life. At first though it did seem like Ms. Cabot kept repeating things and describing the same things over and over. And talk about someone being indecisive, well Katie takes the cake! But the storyline was very much like real life and I found that very refreshing.

[Sally Bergman]

Great Read

So many emotions!! Such a great read encompassing family drama, love and even romance.. poignant and powerful, forgiveness and anger, but all understandable.
Stubbornness and patience.. but through it all the love is still there. You are pulled back and forth through all the emotions, but in the end it’s worth it.

[Annette K]

Annie Cabot’s best book yet!

I have read many of this author’s books but the depth and emotion of this book surpasses them. I read this with Kindle Unlimited but I am actually going to buy it - high praise for me!

[Michele Matthes]

Wonderful quick read!

Annie-another great book, the story was so heartwarming, authentic, just a great read!
Can't wait for the next book to delv into the lives of this incredible family

[Katherine Monahan]

mistakes?

There seems to be mistakes in this book-blonde hair, red hair? Then a lot of repetition in paragraphs next to each other. Characters going back and forth without much substance. Didn’t think it was well written.

[Debbi Lannon-Smith]

Spoiler-this book will make you cry-more than once!

The family that was estranged and then shoved together and they grew emotionally and physically to bring more. They learned that together they were enough. Loved this story.

[Miriam Brito]

Beautiful and Emotional

Beautiful story written with a lot of love and feelings.
The story of this horrible disease and how it is managed is a labor of love and resilience.
Could not put it down!

[Carol Lindner]

Northern Gurl

I wanted to give this book 5 stars but couldn’t because of the inconsistencies in it. That said the book is a great read full of family dynamics.

[diane c tice]

Throughout the ups and downs of life a family works together for a common goal.

[Rustina Jones]

Amazing

This is the first book I have read by this author. Northern Girl is a book that will have you excited for those involved and cry when life gets hard.

[joyce schoon]

Once I started reading I was hooked!

Loved the characters and the story! Well done Annie Cabot. I'm a new fan. Get ready for tears and laughing out loud. 💗

[Cindy Sellers-Evans]

I like family sagas and while a little predictable, I enjoyed reading this one.

[Gayle Padfield]

Outstanding

Annie Cabot has a writing style that captured me on page one. And her understanding of choices we make during our life is exceptional.

[Diann]

Northern Girl

This was a wonderful story about family love and interference of family. In the end they came together to forgive learn to support each other and run an inn.

[Mary Schulz]

Good story. I think I cried or teared up about 4 times .

[Cathy Garrison]

Beautifully written story about family

Tissue alert needed for this story of family. Love and all of the mess it can entail but all of the joy it can bring.

[Shannon]

Miserable. Just ugh!!! Uplifting my arse.

[Katya]

Started promising. Then it went south.
Too many repetitions. A bit too sweet for me.
DNF.

[C.E. Smith]

Having had a mother with Alzheimer’s, this part of the plot was spot on. But the (too) long-suffering Kate was ‘enough already, get on with it’ for me.

[Theresa Reedy]

amazing read!!!!

This story was amazing. I felt like I was part of the family. It had me laughing and crying! Such a “real story”

[Debbie]

Annie Cabot is a fave author but the story in this book became very repetitive and the behavior of characters was frustrating.