Stand-Alone Novels
Table for Five
Passing Through Paradise
The Goodbye Quilt
Home Before Dark
Lakeside Cottage
The You I Never Knew
How I Planned Your Wedding
Summer By the Sea
The Ocean Between Us
Just Breathe
Lord of the Night
The Drifter
The Lightkeeper
Table for Five
Mira (January 2012)
ISBN-10: 0778313824
ISBN-13: 978-0778313823
Published in 2005
Sometimes it takes a leap of faith in order to soar . . .
A gifted teacher, Lily Robinson adores her students, but fiercely guards her independent lifestyle. Deep inside, she is afraid of loving too deeply for fear of getting hurt. Only her best friend, Crystal, has ever been able to get close. Now an unthinkable tragedy has drawn Lily into the shattered lives of Crystal's family -- a family that suddenly needs her.
Sean McGuire is a rolling stone used to living in the shadow of his famous brother, Derek. He's made his own way in life, playing by his own rules. Then one April night everything changes when a fatal car crash orphans Derek and Crystal's three children. In an instant, Sean finds himself in the role of guardian.
Sean and Lily are brought together by tragedy, joined in their grief and their mutual love for these children. But raising three kids is a monumental job, and Sean realizes he's in over his head. And though Lily has been the unofficial aunt to these children since they were born, planting emotional roots means taking risks -- and Lily's not sure she can.
The ups and downs of love and family life can be a roller-coaster ride -- thrilling, unpredictable and downright terrifying, yet filled with incredible delight. and Sean and Lily are about to discover the possibilities that make everything seem worthwhile -- a future filled with hope, happiness and the certainty that trusting love is the best choice of all.
Read an excerpt | Reading Guide
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Passing Through Paradise
Grand Central Publishing (December 2011)
ISBN-10: 0778329658
ISBN-13: 978-0778329657
Published in 2008 and 2002
It's been two years since the mysterious accident that took Sandra Winslow's politician husband, Victor - the favorite son of a town called Paradise - and left Sandra under a cloud of suspicion. She decides to sell her beach house on the edge of town and hires Mike Malloy, who touches her lonely heart. Can she trust a man with unbreakable ties to a community she's eager to leave behind-and who is determined to unearth her deepest secrets?
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The Goodbye Quilt
Mira (October 2011)
ISBN-10: 0778313220
ISBN-13: 978-0778313229
Originally published 2011
Linda Davis's local fabric shop is a place where women gather to share their creations: wedding quilts, baby quilts, memorial quilts, each bound tight with dreams, hopes and yearnings.
Now, as her only child readies for college, Linda is torn between excitement for Molly and heartache for herself. Who will she be when she is no longer needed in her role as mom?
As mother and daughter embark on a cross-country road trip to move Molly into her dorm, Linda pieces together the scraps that make up Molly's young life—the hem of a christening gown, a snippet from a Halloween costume. And in the stitching of each bit of fabric, Linda discovers that the memories of a shared journey can come together in a way that will keep them both warm in the years to come…
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Home Before Dark
MIRA (September 2011)
ISBN-10: 0778312488
ISBN-13: 978-0778312482
Originally Published in 2003
She left her child behind, but couldn't let her go
As an irresponsible young mother, Jessie Ryder knew she'd never be able to give her newborn the stable family that her older sister could, and the security her child deserved. So Luz and her husband adopted little Lila and told her Jessie was but a distant aunt.
Sixteen years later, having traveled the world with the winds of remorse at her back, Jessie is suspending her photojournalism career to return home—even if it means throwing her sister's world into turmoil.
Where life once seemed filled with boundless opportunity, Jessie is now on a journey to redeem her careless past, bringing with her a terrible burden. Jessie's arrival is destined to expose the secrets and lies that barely held her daughter's adoptive family together to begin with, yet the truth can do so much more than just hurt. It can bring you home to a new kind of honesty, shedding its light into the deepest corners of the heart.
Read an excerpt | Reading Guide
Other covers:
Lakeside Cottage
Mira (July 2011)
ISBN-10: 0778312526
ISBN-13: 978-0778312529
Published in 2005
Each summer, Kate Livingston returns to her family's lakeside cottage, a place of simple living and happy times—a place where she hopes her son, Aaron, can blossom. But her quiet life gets a bit more interesting with the arrival of a mysterious new neighbor, JD Harris.
JD has a good reason for being secretive. In a moment of sheer bravery, the Washington, D.C., paramedic prevented a terrible tragedy—and became a national hero. He's hardly able to remember who he was before the media frenzy…until he escapes to this lovely, remote part of the Northwest.
Now Kate and Aaron have rekindled the joy of small pleasures and peace, something JD thought he'd never have again. But how long will his blissful anonymity last before reality comes banging at his door?
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The You I Never Knew
Grand Central Publishing (March 2011)
ISBN-10: 0446584908
ISBN-13: 978-0446584906
Published in 2008 and 2001
Michelle thought she had lost everything at 17. Her father, a Hollywood legend, had summoned her to his Montana ranch. When he had learned of his daughter's affair with a hired hand, he had fired him and destroyed his family. Michelle, pregnant, had fled to Seattle. Years have passed. Her son is lost to her. Her father needs her.
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How I Planned Your Wedding
Harlequin (February 2011)
ISBN-10: 0373892276
ISBN-13: 978-0373892273
Bestselling romance novelist Wiggs (The Lakeshore Chronicles series, et al.) and daughter Elizabeth, an M.B.A. candidate, have pooled their talents to create a humorous, informative guide to planning a wedding. Alternating narratives balance the authors' viewpoints, and "cheat sheets" at the end of each chapter sum up the tips and strategies. The authors offer tips for typical wedding tasks like choosing a dress and a photographer, plus strategies for handling unexpected problems, such as mom's insistence that young cousins be included in daughter's carefully selected bridesmaid pool. Tucked in among the wedding-planning advice in this enjoyable read are thoughtful musings on the emotional implications of an impending wedding, from a mother's realization that she's no longer the center of her daughter's world to a daughter's struggle to balance showing appreciation while asserting her own wishes.
Summer By the Sea
Mira (May 2010)
ISBN-10: 0778329658
ISBN-13: 978-0778329657
Originally published in 2004
With a little determination and a lot of charm, Rosa Capoletti took a run-down pizza joint and turned it into an award-winning restaurant that has been voted "best place to propose" three years in a row. For Rosa, though, there has been no real romance since her love affair with Alexander Montgomery ended without explanation a decade ago. But guess who's just come back to town?
Reunited at the beach house where they first fell in love, Rosa and Alexander discover that the secrets of the past are not what they seem. Now, with all that she wants right in front of her, Rosa searches for happiness with the man who once broke her heart--and learns that in love, as in life, there are second chances.
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The Ocean Between Us
MIRA (May 2010)
ISBN-10: 0778328635
ISBN-13: 978-0778328636
Originally Published in 2004
After years of following her navy officer husband on assignment around the world with their three children, Grace Bennett realizes that she's left something behind—herself.
Steve Bennett can't understand the unraveling of his wife's heart. He wants to set things right, but when a secret from his past is revealed just as he's sent out to sea, their already-strained relationship is pushed to the edge. Now, with plenty of space to ponder the true distance between them, Grace begins to reinvent herself.
Just as her new self is coming to terms with her family life, the unthinkable happens. A disaster aboard Steve's ship shatters Grace's world and all she can do is gather her children around and wait for news to come, good or bad. A navy wife's worst nightmare collides with the cold truth that life's biggest chances can slip away while you're busy looking for guarantees.
Read an excerpt | Reading Guide
Other covers:
Just Breathe
MIRA (September 2009)
ISBN-10: 077832656X
ISBN-13: 978-077826564
Originally published in 2008
Chicago cartoonist Sarah Moon tackles life's real issues with a healthy dose of sharp wit in her syndicated comic strip Just Breathe. As Sarah's cartoon alter ego, Shirl, undergoes artificial insemination, her situation begins to mirror Sarah's own difficult attempts to conceive. However, Sarah's dreams of the future did not include her husband's infidelity: snag number two in Sarah's so-called perfect life.
With Chicago and her marriage in the rearview mirror, she flees to the small Northern California coastal town where she grew up, a place she couldn't wait to leave. Now she finds herself revisiting the past, an emotionally distant father and the unanswered questions left by her mother's death. As she comes to terms with her lost marriage, Sarah encounters a man she never expected to meet again: Will Bonner, the high school heartthrob she'd skewered mercilessly in her old comics. Now a local firefighter, he's been through some changes himself. But just as her heart is about to reawaken, Sarah discovers she is pregnant. With her ex's twins.
It's hardly the most traditional of new beginnings, but who says life and love are predictable or perfect? The winds of change have led Sarah here. Now all she can do is just close her eyes and breathe.
Read an excerpt | Reading Guide
Lord of the Night
Avon (June 2009)
ISBN-10: 0061080527
ISBN-13: 978-0061080524
Originally published in 1993
Under cover of night. . .
Sandro Cavalli, Lord of the Night, is legendary for bringing criminals to justice. But in the city's shadowy alleyways, a new, deadly plot is afoot—a sinister threat that even Sandro needs help to uncover.
He enlists the aid of an alluring, sensuous beauty, Laura Bandello. But Laura's innocent loveliness may hide a dark secret, and Sandro vows to keep his distance. Yet the deeper he delves into the underworld, the harder he falls for Laura. Pursued by unspeakable danger, Sandro risks his honor, his reputation, and even his heart—all for the love of a mysterious beauty he can't quite trust.
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The Drifter
Mira (March 2003)
ISBN-10: 1551666898
ISBN-13: 978-1551666891
Published in 1998
He wanted to tell her everything. About the lost years that had changed him from a desperate young boy into a man hardened by life. About the night he'd sold his soul for a woman who wasn't worth the price . . .
But Jackson Underhill said nothing. After all, he was an outlaw, clearly on the run -- reason enough for silence.
The truth was Dr. Leah Mundy scared him. She made him want to trust again, to share his burden. She made him want a home, a family. And it was dangerous to want such things. Because the past would find him if he stayed -- and there could be no future with a woman who would not leave.
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The Lightkeeper
Mira (March 2002)
ISBN-10: 1551668802
ISBN-13: 978-1551668802
Originally published in 1997
Hiding from his past, Jesse Morgan vows never to give his heart again. Keeper of a remote lighthouse, he has locked himself away from everything but his bitter memories. Mary Dare, the sole survivor of a shipwreck, washes ashore. Penniless and pregnant, she carries painful memories of her own. Soon, Mary and her child bring light into Jesse's world while friendship evolves into love.
