Emerald Isle, NC

On the Crystal Coast of North Carolina, in the small town of Emerald Isle... Juli Cooke, hard-working and getting nowhere fast, marries a dying man, Ben Bradshaw, for a financial settlement, not expecting he will set her on a journey of hope and love. The journey brings her to Luke Winters, a local art dealer, but Luke resents the woman who married his sick friend and warns her not to hurt Ben-and he's watching to make sure she doesn't. Until Ben dies and the stakes change. Framed by the timelessness of the Atlantic Ocean and the brilliant blue of the beach sky, Juli struggles against her past, the opposition of Ben's and Luke's families, and even the living reminder of her marriage-to build a future with hope and perhaps to find the love of her life-if she can survive the danger from her past.

Off-season at Emerald Isle ~ In-season for secrets of the heart Frannie Denman has been waiting for her life to begin. After several false starts, and a couple of broken hearts, she ends up back with her mother, with whom she doesn't get along, until her elderly uncle gets sick, and Frannie goes to Emerald Isle to help manage his affairs while he's recovering. Her uncle's oceanfront home, Captain's Walk, is small and unpretentious, and even though Frannie isn't a 'beach person,' she decides Captain's Walk in winter is a great place to hide from her troubles. But Frannie doesn't realize that winter is short in Emerald Isle and the beauty of the ocean and seashore can help heal anyone's heart, especially when her uncle's handyman is the handsome Brian Donovan. Brian has troubles of his own. He sees himself and Frannie as two damaged people who aren't likely to equal a happy 'whole' but he's intrigued by this woman of contradictions. Frannie's mother wants her back home and Brian wants to meet the real Frannie, but Frannie wants to move forward with her life. To do that she needs questions answered. With the right information there's a good chance Frannie will be able to affect not only a change in her life, but also a change of heart.

Maia helped her friends find their happily-ever-afters ~ Now she's ready for her own happy future. Along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Crystal Coast ~ from THE FRONT STREET GALLERY in Beaufort, NC, to the beaches of Emerald Isle and across Bogue Sound to Morehead City...Maia Donovan watched her friends find true love and has dreamed of her own happily-ever-after, but wishes and reality don't always match up. When Maia met Joel Sandeford, she thought she'd found a man worth the risk of another broken heart. But she's hesitant. Joel lives out of town and always seems to be working. Maia, too, works long hours and spends most of her time managing “The Front Street Gallery”. She fears the distance and their work ethics may spell disaster. Both Joel and Maia have assumptions and memories from their pasts that make living fully in the present a challenge, but Maia doesn't realize the biggest obstacle to her happily-ever-after may be herself, and the memories she's hiding in her heart-that part of her heart that still belongs to her first true love. If Maia can't resolve her fears and give up those old feelings, then finding her happily-ever-after may become an impossible dream.