Treading Water

The story left unfinished at the end of Marking Time picks up 10 years later when Kate Harrington goes after the man she left behind when she set out to chase her dream of music superstardom. Now she has everything she ever wanted, except for the man she can't live without. What will Reid say when she shows up unannounced in St. Kitts, looking to reclaim their lost love? And what will Jack, Kate's father, have to say when he hears she's gone back to her first love, a man Jack once considered a friend?

In a drunken stupor, Brandon O'Malley frightens his brother Aidan's girlfriend, enraging his brother and the rest of his family. Aidan offers Brandon the choice of rehab or jail, and Brandon reluctantly enters treatment. While in rehab, he confronts the lifetime of secrets and resentments that fueled his spiral into alcoholism, and these revelations have a major effect on his entire family.

Clare Harrington is considered a miracle, but everything that's happened since she recovered from a three-year coma has been something less than miraculous. Her 18-year-old daughter, Kate, a talented singer and songwriter, sets out to pursue her musical dreams in Nashville. Her parents have agreed to allow Kate to spend a year there, but they couldn't have anticipated Kate falling in love with a much older man. Her newly divorced parents are forced back together to confront their wayward daughter.

Terminated for inappropriate behavior. I couldn’t believe the letter in my hands. Nine years. Nine damn years I’d worked my butt off for one of the largest companies in America, and I was fired with a form letter when I returned home from a week in Aruba. All because of a video taken when I was on vacation with my friends - a private video made on my private time. Or so I thought.... I cracked open a bottle of wine and wrote my own letter to the gazillionaire CEO telling him what I thought of his company. I didn’t think he’d actually respond.

Finn McCarthy is at a crossroads. As the lease on his Gansett Island rental comes to an end, he's making plans to return to his “real” life on the mainland. He’s enjoyed the nearly two years on Gansett with his boisterous fun-loving family, but it’s time to get back to the life he put on hold. With renovations to the Wayfarer, the family’s latest business endeavor, all but completed and the grand opening slated for Memorial Day weekend, the time is right to make a move. That is, until he stops by the local salon for a quick trim that turns his life plan upside down.

In the morning, she was gone and had taken my solace with her. I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania. When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget. And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen. Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right.

Wade Abbott is one and done. One look, one conversation, one weekend, and he knows who he wants. Except Mia Simpson is not free to return his affection. In fact he suspects she's in an abusive marriage, but she never confirms that, and he has no choice but to mind his own business where she's concerned.

Gansett Island midwife Victoria Stevens loves taking care of people, in her job and in her personal life, especially when it comes to her boyfriend of one year, sexy Irishman Shannon O'Grady. Fueled by combustible chemistry, her relationship with Shannon has been H-O-T from the first night they met. But she's begun to wonder whether theirs is destined to be a short-term fling or possibly the love of a lifetime.

Mary enjoys her predictable, satisfying life in Butler. If it's a little lacking in excitement, that's okay with her. But after meeting Patrick and getting to know him better at his daughter's wedding, Mary is intrigued by the well-known, sexy billionaire businessman. Patrick is equally intrigued. For the first time since he lost his wife 30 years ago, he has met a woman who makes him feel less lonely, and all he wants is more of his Sweet Mary from Vermont. Flirty phone calls become a weekend away together that takes his relationship with Mary to the next level.

Grayson Coleman has just moved home to Butler, Vermont after spending years working for a high-powered law firm in Boston. He's looking for a simpler, less stressful existence in the sleepy little mountain town where he grew up with his siblings and Abbott cousins. Once the holidays are over, he plans to hang out a shingle and open a new general law practice. After helping to raise his seven younger siblings, the last thing on Grayson's mind is a family of his own.

It's the dead of winter on Gansett Island, and Riley McCarthy's mood matches the lousy weather as he and his family work to bring their new business, McCarthy's Wayfarer, back to life. He can't deny that he's been in a funk since Nikki Stokes and her twin sister, Jordan, left the island last fall without saying good-bye. 

Joe Cantrell, owner of the Gansett Island Ferry Company, has been in love with Janey McCarthy for as long as he can remember. At the same time, Janey has been dating or engaged to doctor-in-training David Lawrence. When things go horribly wrong between David and Janey, she calls her "fifth brother" Joe, one of the few people in her close circle who lives on the mainland. Janey decides a few days with Joe is just what she needs before she goes home to the island to face her parents and family with the news of her broken engagement.

I have no idea how to survive without my beloved Ava. She had no choice but to move on with her life during my six-year deployment and has now married Eric. I hate him for taking her from me. I’d prefer to wallow in my depression and heartbreak, but the whole damned world wants a piece of the SEAL Team leader who helped capture the world’s most-wanted terrorist.

A peaceful morning is shattered when Washington Metro Police Lieutenant Sam Holland’s beloved father succumbs to injuries from an unsolved shooting while on duty four years ago. As the community rallies around Sam and her family, one thing becomes crystal clear: Her father’s death has turned the unsolved case into a homicide - and it’s on her to bring her father’s killer to justice. But the case has been cold for years...until an anonymous tip that’s too shocking to believe leads Sam down a dark and dangerous path.

Since he won the Academy Award for best original screenplay a few years ago, Grant McCarthy's personal and professional lives have fallen apart. Abby, the woman he was supposed to marry, is engaged to someone else, and Grant is back at home on Gansett Island helping to run the family marina business while his father recovers from a serious injury. While all Grant's focus should be on winning back the love of his life, pesky Stephanie, who runs the marina restaurant, is working her way under his skin and into his bed. As Tropical Storm Hailey cuts off Gansett Island from the mainland, Grant suspects Stephanie is hiding something .