Joanne DeMaio

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes a much-anticipated holiday novel and love story to warm your heart.

Blue skies and smooth seas return to the coastal community of Stony Point. Until a new arrival in this little New England beach town sets forth a competition like no other....

Dune grasses sway atop the Barlows' craggy bluff. Hidden past a narrow path, there is a rickety stairway going down, down, down to the sea. Even in its neglect, the stairway is beautiful, with its sweeping views of Long Island Sound....

An old farmhouse, winding country lanes, red barns and wishing fountains...all are the backdrop to Amy Trewist's simple days in Addison, Connecticut. Until she's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just like George Carbone....

Home, for Joel Briggs, is the old New England farmhouse on winter road. From the front porch, he listens to the barred owls or watches the towering Christmas tree lit up in the yard. It's a quiet road, kind of like his life. Quiet. Until Faye Weston walks right into it....

Jason and Maris, Shane and Celia, Elsa and the rest of the cast of beach friends are back in their coastal New England town. A novel of summers sad and sweet, this episode further layers the storyline, as blue skies, lapping waves and swaying dune grasses belie all the drama to unfold....

It's been a long, hot summer in Stony Point. As temperatures rise on the Connecticut coast, so do the secrets. Everyone's got one. Jason and Maris, Celia and lobsterman Shane, the beach commissioner, and especially innkeeper Elsa....

Shane Bradford has to make a decision. It won't be easy since there are plenty of consequences either way. He has to gauge the risk, the reward. He also has to act fast—second nature to him as a New England lobsterman. The clock is ticking.

After years of pursuing a denim design career, Maris Carrington never imagined trading her Chicago studio for a New England shingled cottage.

Reluctant to leave her cherished New England hometown after her sister's winter wedding, former journalist Vera Sterling makes a sudden decision. She takes what's left of her severance pay and invests it in real estate ... in one particular drafty colonial home and old timber barn set upon the pretty banks of Addison Cove....

You know them on a first-name basis. Jason. Maris. Elsa. Shane. Celia. Kyle. Lauren and the rest of the Stony Point beach crew. So catch up on the enchanted evening sand and join your favorite friends on the Connecticut shore....

The whisper of dune grasses. The faint cry of gulls. The hiss of waves. In the New England beach town of Stony Point, there's an undeniable hush. Maybe it's because the summer people have left and many of the coastal cottages are shuttered for the season.

The cottage is nestled along winding Sea View Road, set back from the sandy street. Surrounded by swaying dune grass, it's a shabby little beach bungalow with an open back porch overlooking a sparkling Long Island Sound. A sign propped in the front window says: For Rent....

Everything was in place for the perfect beachside gathering. Lace-wrapped jars hung from white chairs on the sand. Paper lanterns and tiki torches glimmered in the twilight evening. A rowboat draped with roses and vines waited in the wings. Love floated on the salt air....

In a shocking twist, a day goes so wrong and alters the lives of several beach friends in its wake. All that's left is to pick up the pieces. And each individual does in ways unexpected. One sheds tears. Some offer a shoulder, an embrace. One tries to help, only to hit a brick wall.

After a heartbreaking summer on the Connecticut shore, a group of beach friends is as adrift as an unmoored rowboat.

It was going to be exquisite: a rambling, shingled New England cottage converted into a grand beach inn. Nestled among hydrangeas and swaying dune grasses, this seaside haven would welcome guests on the Connecticut shore.

Salt air drifts in through the windows. Swaying marsh grasses whisper. Seagulls cry overhead. Off the docks, rowboats are anchored in a calm inlet. Beyond, shingled cottages look silver beneath rays of sunlight....

During two August weeks, denim designer Maris Carrington and coastal architect Jason Barlow prepare for their much-anticipated wedding. Guests arrive early, turning keys in charming cottage doors to begin their New England summer escape.

Celia Gray finds herself house-sitting a silver-shingled cottage at Stony Point. She arrives with her guitar, a few staging jobs ... and a bit of summertime sadness. That is, until an unforgettable group of beach friends draws her in like a breath of salt air.