Across the Crying Sands by Jane Kirkpatrick
Series: The Women of Cannon Beach
Publisher: Revell
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 304
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A Tale of Uncharted Adventure and Discovery Inspired by a True Story

In 1888 Mary Edwards Gerritse is a witty and confident young woman who spends as much time as possible outdoors on the rugged Oregon coast where she and her husband, John, have settled. The two are a formidable pair who are working hard to prove their homesteading claim and build a family. But as Mary faces struggles of young motherhood and questions about her family of origin, she realizes that life is far from the adventure she imagined it would be.

After losing the baby she’s carrying, grief threatens Mary, but she finds an unconventional way to bring joy back into her life–by taking over a treacherous postal route. As Mary becomes the first female mail carrier to traverse the cliff-hugging mountain trails and remote Crying Sands Beach, with its changing tides and sudden squalls, she recaptures the spark she lost and discovers that a life without risk is no life at all.

Deep Blue Sea by Valerie Howard
Series: New England Inspirations
Publisher: Valerie Howard Books
Publication Date: December 28, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Christian
Pages: 235
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Who’s to blame when tragedy strikes?

Jamie blames herself.

And her secret is killing her.

When someone starts digging into the past, her already-tattered life begins to fall apart at the seams. With her marriage, her job, and her sanity in jeopardy, Jamie is desperate to escape everything that reminds her of that fateful night.

If only the nightmares would stop.


Pastor Byron lost both his wife and teenage son in the same weekend.

One in an accident, the other in an argument.

Determined to win his son back, no matter the cost, Byron strikes out at every turn until he gets injured at work. Forced to visit him in the hospital, his son makes it clear he doesn’t appreciate Byron’s intrusion into his life.


When Jamie meets Byron, the peace in the old pastor’s eyes tells her he might be able to help with her problems. In return, she’s determined to help him reconcile with his son.

As the pastor teaches Jamie about God’s forgiveness, she must make a choice between seeking forgiveness from her family or keeping her mouth shut forever.

Either way, her life will never be the same.

Hearts Aweigh by Shannon Sue Dunlap
Series: Love Overboard
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance | RomCom
Pages: 374
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Cheeky septuagenarian matchmakers, the “Shippers” are on a mission to secure a dreamy Mr. Right for Abby O’Brien, a sunny, optimistic childcare worker for Monarch Cruises. She loves her job looking after the children of vacationing parents, but harbors one unfulfilled desire: to be a wife and a mother.

With his shy five-year-old daughter in tow, divorced elitist lawyer Spencer Randolph Masterson has anything but romance in mind. His goal on the MS Buckingham is to persuade his mother, Daisy, to leave her ridiculous cruise ship lifestyle and return to New Orleans. But Daisy isn’t interested in life on land. Besides, she and her matchmaking posse have a marriage to arrange.

When a secret from Daisy’s past surfaces and threats of blackmail start flying, the Shippers must protect their own while attempting to convince Spencer’s scarred heart to weigh anchor and boldly set sail for a future with Abby.”Inspirational romance readers will relish every cozy moment they spend with the Shippers!”

An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart
Series: Wyndham Beach
Publisher: Montlake
Publication Date: May 1, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 373
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An endearing novel of friendship, forgiveness, and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart.

It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

Meet Me at Sunset Cove by Sarah May Warren
Series: Jonathon Island
Publisher: Sunrise Publishing
Publication Date: August 5, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 286 
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She needs a house to rebuild her career. He needs a fiancée to keep his home. Neither planned on rebuilding their hearts in the process. Daisy Decker didn’t plan to ruin her career by making her hit home renovation show choose between her and her cheating co-host, but she’s got a plan to fix it. Step one, find a house on the world’s most adorable island. Step two, film herself giving it a total “Decker” remodel to restart her YouTube channel. Step three, crush her ex in ratings until the network comes crawling back. The only problem? The only house she can afford belongs to the guy who got away. Local contractor Hunter Barrett won’t sell his family’s legacy-especially not to the woman who broke his heart. But when the family trust threatens to force the sale on his thirty-first birthday, he’s out of options… unless he can find a fiancée overnight. Maybe there is a way for them both to get what they want by helping each other? With time running out and walls coming down, Daisy and Hunter discover that sometimes the strongest foundations are built on second chances.

Smile for Me by Jan Thompson
Series: Vacation Sweethearts
Publisher: Georgia Press LLC
Publication Date: July 5, 2016
Genre: Multicultural & Interracial Romance
Pages: 478
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She is laid-back. He is uptight. Never the twain shall…kiss?

A deadline-driven workaholic assistant school principal who meticulously plans his schedule months in advance meets an easygoing art teacher and studio potter with no sense of time, living her life as the seasons come and go. When they cross paths again at the Summer by the Sea Day Camp sponsored by his church in Nassau, Bahamas, how can they get along if they cannot see eye to eye?

Sometimes You Stay by Liz Johnson 
Publisher: Revell
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 304
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He was never going to leave the island, and she wasn’t going to stay. But if she walked away, she would always wonder . . .

For digital content creator Cretia Martin, home is wherever her carry-on suitcase lands. And it’s constantly landing in new places as she travels the world. She’s never been interested in settling in one spot–after all, houses are just places that collect junk and tie you down. But when she literally bumps into local dog breeder Finn Chaffey on Prince Edward Island and all the tools of her trade end up in the harbor, she can’t exactly leave until she gets things sorted out.

Finn is horrified by the part he played in the accident and offers to help, arranging for Cretia to stay with a friend at the beautiful Red Door Inn. The longer Cretia is forced to remain in one place, the more she discovers what she’s been missing with life on the road–and the more she wants to see Finn and his business succeed. But helping him means staying put, the one thing she always swore she wouldn’t do, and risking the only thing she’s never put on the line–her heart.

As Sure as the Sea by Jamie Ogle 
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
Publication Date: February 11, 2025
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 368
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Eastern Roman Empire, AD 310. In the shadow of Emperor Diocletian’s anti-Christian edicts, Demitria makes a meager living harvesting coral and pearls for a merchant who turns a blind eye to her faith. By night, Demi goes upriver with her brother, Theseus, to obtain provisions for fellow believers in the port city of Myra. While willing to risk her own life to ensure others are safe and fed, Demi lives with a desperate fear for those she loves and carries secret shame over her greatest failure. When Theseus is injured in a diving accident, all seems lost, until a stranger named Nikolas appears on the beach and offers help.

Arriving in a sinking boat, Nikolas is burdened by guilt over his older brother’s tragic death. Though the wealth he inherited from a prosperous shipping business now rests at the bottom of the sea, as the new pastor in Myra, he is determined to recover it and use it for good. As the violence against Christians increases, Demi helps Nikolas retrieve his lost fortune and distribute it to those in dire need.

Despite wondering if she can ever be worthy, Demi is drawn to Nikolas and longs to trust in his belief that freedom can be found in forgiveness. Then one terrifying night, everything changes as the Roman Empire’s fury rains down. Demi has no other choice but to decide if she has the courage to do what she once failed to . . . and if the faith she calls her own is sure enough to carry her.

Until the Blue Mist Fades by Donnah M Cole
Series: The Carolina Series
Publisher: Independently published
Publication Date: October 25, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 357
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In the mist of the Blue Ridge, she lost herself…and found her truth.

Emrielle Drayton’s life in the sun-soaked luxury of Kiawah Island seems flawless—until tragedy rips it apart. Forced to leave her coastal home, she is swept into the misty, rugged beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the small town of Catawba Vale. There, she meets Cade Johnson—the all-American boy with a heart as deep as the mountain valleys. Their summer romance blooms, full of promise, until a shocking revelation destroys the world Emrielle thought she knew.

Separated for eight years, the carefree days of their youth dissolve into distant memories. Yet the mountains call her back, pushing her to confront secrets left behind and the betrayals that broke her trust. As old wounds reopen and long-buried truths emerge, Emrielle must decide—can she forgive those who wronged her, and can a love once born of innocence find its way back into her life?

What the River Keeps by Cheryl Grey Bostrom
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
Publication Date: August 12, 2025
Genre: Christian Fiction
Pages: 368
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Hildy Nybo is a successful biologist, her study of the Pacific Northwest’s wild fish both a passion and a career. But behind her professional brilliance, Hildy’s reclusive private life reflects a childhood fraught with uncertainty. Despite her father’s love and her mother’s sympathy, she grew up constantly losing even her most cherished belongings, unable to recall where she misplaced them. Haunted by the confusion of those early years, she now records her life in detailed diaries and clings tightly to memory-prompting keepsakes.

Then her mother’s health fails, and Hildy accepts a job near her childhood home, joining a team of scientists who will help restore her beloved Elwha River after the demolition of two century-old dams. There Hildy settles into one of the cabins on her family’s rustic resort―a place she both loves and dreads, for reasons she can’t fully explain.

When local artist Miranda Rimmer rents an adjacent cabin for her pottery studio, Hildy shrinks from such a close neighbor. But then Miranda’s carpenter brother, Luke, shows up to help with construction and captures Hildy’s attention. Now a few years beyond a tragedy that brought him to his knees, Luke recognizes a kindred soul in Hildy, and they build a relationship that dismantles the walls Hildy’s built to keep people out. As troubling pieces of the past surface, Hildy dares to wonder if she can banish the shadows that have burdened her and follow her river’s course to freedom.

Which of these water-side reads is calling your name?
Tell me in the comments!

Thank you to The Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday!