Showing results by author "Joanne DeMaio" in All Categories

After years of pursuing a denim design career, Maris Carrington never imagined trading her Chicago studio for a New England shingled cottage. But a forgotten home movie tucked inside a dusty attic box leads to an unexpected summer ... One of uncovering family secrets while settling her father's estate, one of inheriting a forlorn German shepherd, one of reconnecting with old friends on a weathered boardwalk, beneath starlit skies on a beach nestled in a crook of the Connecticut coast.

Every summer has a story. That couldn't be more true for Jason and Maris Barlow, the Bradford brothers, soon-to-be innkeepers Elsa and Celia, and the rest of The Seaside Saga cast. But this particular summer is leaving its mark on the New England beach town of Stony Point. As lone lobsterman Shane settles in for another week at his rented bungalow by the sea, emotional tides turn. Relationships come unmoored. Secret love affairs surface. Family bonds are tested.

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. The wedding is a reason for old friends to gather again; to meet in their shabby beach hangout and get the jukebox cranking; to walk that weathered boardwalk beneath a starry sky; to breathe the sweet salt air. "Cures what ails you," one of the friends, Neil, always said long before his life was sadly claimed. But his legacy was not.

As a noted coastal architect, Jason Barlow designs homes that evoke the sea. Gabled, shingle-style New England cottages are his forte. Cottages that beautifully weather in the salt air. Cottages with grand porches; and rounded turrets; and fortress-like stonework speaking of the land, as well as his father's legacy. Cottages with floor-to-ceiling windows bringing in the sea, the sky, that his brother so loved. But it's not only incredible homes Jason builds and restores—it's relationships and friendships and histories, all set against the backdrop of a beach that's defined him.

Behind every cottage door is a liar. Look past the tended lawns and screened windows open to the sea breeze and dusky porch lights shining on waning summer nights. And listen closely. Are those whispers of swaying marsh grasses? Or hushed secrets floating in the salt air? Walking the sandy roads, it's hard to tell. There. There's the imposing Barlow cottage on the bluff. Elsa's shingled inn by the sea. The Fenwicks' last-standing cottage on the sand. Cliff's ramshackle beach trailer. Celia's tucked-away guest cottage.

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.

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. Depending on the tides, those stairs lead to a tiny secluded beach. But for years, the stairs have been nearly forgotten. Until now.

In the dark of a summer night, everything can change. A moment can tip on edge. The salt air might stir. Or still. The waves might roll in. Or recede. A heart might fill. Or break. In two different cottages, the night is coming undone. As the sun sinks into the sea, as evening presses in, the summer calm is broken. Until an unexpected visitor arrives.

Jason and Maris. To the residents of Stony Point, they're simply known as the Barlows. Their home is a shingled New England cottage on the bluff, where salt air breezes stir and gulls cry and spirits roam. But like wisps of sea fog, darkness has touched upon their lives this summer. Will light and love return to their old weathered cottage by the sea?

In the New England beach town of Stony Point, everyone is waiting for something. Or someone. They're waiting for an answer. Waiting for something to believe in. Waiting for the right time. Waiting for a friend. Some are waiting to come home. Others are waiting to make a move. Then, there's that shabby coastal table at twilight, awaiting a secret dinner guest. And The Seaside Saga continues.

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. Seafood shacks are strung with fishing net and lobster buoys. You're driving on Shore Road.

How do you know when it's good-bye? When something's over. When it's the last perfect day of the summer. When it's the last time you'll see a face, hear a voice. The last time you'll close a shingled cottage's door. How do you know when you'll never be somewhere again, that you've had your last glimpse of a certain sea? For the tangled cast of beach friends in Stony Point, it's a question some of them face. Because as the golden late-summer sun shines, good-byes are due. But to whom?

New England in December is a special world. Wreath-topped lampposts shine, balsam garland drapes across picket fences, and fresh snow dusts the land. Then there are the decorated houses: saltboxes, Victorians, farmhouses, Tudors. Tiny lights shimmer on front porches; candles glow in paned windows. But one imposing stone colonial towers dark in the night. Since moving to town, Millie Ives has heard hushed whisperings of that house - and of the mysterious man who lives and works there. A chance happening leads Millie to this Mr. Winter's spellbinding shop just past the bell tower.

Winding to the sea is a nearly hidden dirt road. Acres of wooded forest engulf it. Reaching skyward alongside that road are towering trees, their branches gloved in icy white. In the middle of winter, few turn onto this tucked-away Connecticut road. Truthfully, most wouldn't know it leads to a secluded beach community. Mack Martinelli sure does, though. He fell even more in love with his wife, Avery, there. As Mack steers his pickup down the frost-heaved road, night settles in. Salt air presses close. It's been a long time, but he's finally ready to come back to the beach cottage.

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. In this deftly woven novel, love, secrets, and surprises are in store.

From New York Times best-selling author Joanne DeMaio comes a love story set at a tucked-away cottage by the sea. For Mack and Avery Martinelli, the summer is their oyster. They can spend all day on the beach, or not. Cruise the dusty beach roads, or never leave their deck overlooking Long Island Sound. Fill their itinerary with excursions on the Connecticut shore, or while away the hours in a shingled cottage. Every decision this week is theirs to make.

Jason and Maris, Shane and Celia, Elsa and the rest of the tangled cast of beach friends are back in their coastal New England town. A novel of summers sad and sweet, this episode further layers the ongoing 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. With the passing summer days, each secret - sad, shocking, and sweet - unfurls like a breaking wave.

Harry Dane lives an ordinary life. From his days working alongside his father at a New England general store to Harry's endearing and heartbreaking relationships to sudden snowstorms to quirky fiascoes of found kittens and spilled jam jars, always...always, there is a curious constant. Through it all, each and every winter, a Christmas card arrives at Harry's Craftsman bungalow from a mysterious woman named Sadie Welles.

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. Well, the cottage was for rent...until one particular lobster man booked a summer stay there.

Little Beach Bungalow follows Shane's simmering summer days back on the Connecticut shore, and much is in store.