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The Stories By The Sea: A heartwarming second chance romance
A heartwarming small town, second chance romance.
Every book in the Northlight Cove series can be read as a standalone.
Four years ago, in New York, Sam Reeves did something Nora Hadley has spent every day since not thinking about. Now her magazine is sending her to profile him for eight weeks — and they have agreed, very sensibly and very professionally, not to bring it up.
Nora Hadley writes profiles for a national magazine. Her job is to pull the thread in a person and see what comes loose.
Sam Reeves dives Penobscot Bay for shipwrecks and builds ships in bottles. His job is to seal things inside glass and capture history.
They have not been in the same room since New York.
The assignment is straightforward. Eight weeks in Northlight Cove, Maine, writing about maritime archaeology, independent scholarship, and the ethics of underwater salvage. Nora has the recorder. Sam has the boat — and a golden retriever named Buoy, for whom every day is the best day, ever. They have a mutual, extremely professional agreement not to discuss the thing that happened in April, four years ago, in front of everyone.
What Nora does not have a plan for is that while she might have forgotten her home town, and the bookshop she grew up in, it hasn’t forgotten her.
Or the ship in a bottle she has carried unopened through three apartments, which she has only just noticed has a hairline fracture in the seal. Sam Reeves spent three days on that seal. It is not a flaw.
She is going to file the piece. She is going to leave.
They are not going to talk about New York.
Ever.
Every book in the Northlight Cove series can be read as a standalone.
Four years ago, in New York, Sam Reeves did something Nora Hadley has spent every day since not thinking about. Now her magazine is sending her to profile him for eight weeks — and they have agreed, very sensibly and very professionally, not to bring it up.
Nora Hadley writes profiles for a national magazine. Her job is to pull the thread in a person and see what comes loose.
Sam Reeves dives Penobscot Bay for shipwrecks and builds ships in bottles. His job is to seal things inside glass and capture history.
They have not been in the same room since New York.
The assignment is straightforward. Eight weeks in Northlight Cove, Maine, writing about maritime archaeology, independent scholarship, and the ethics of underwater salvage. Nora has the recorder. Sam has the boat — and a golden retriever named Buoy, for whom every day is the best day, ever. They have a mutual, extremely professional agreement not to discuss the thing that happened in April, four years ago, in front of everyone.
What Nora does not have a plan for is that while she might have forgotten her home town, and the bookshop she grew up in, it hasn’t forgotten her.
Or the ship in a bottle she has carried unopened through three apartments, which she has only just noticed has a hairline fracture in the seal. Sam Reeves spent three days on that seal. It is not a flaw.
She is going to file the piece. She is going to leave.
They are not going to talk about New York.
Ever.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 26, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 28, 2026
Northlight Cove is a place I'd like to visit!
Just finished the second book in this series and I'd love to see more!
The chacterizations are wonderful. The only character I don't care for is the dog Mr. Pickles. I'm so thankful Mrs. Kowalski found and loves him.
After five years, Nora returns home to interview an old boyfriend for them magazine that employs her.
Within minutes of her arrival, she's walking on a dock and is knocked flat by an overly friendly golden retriever. The fog is standing on her licking her face when his owner shows up.
The owner shows up and it's none other than than the ex-boyfriend.
As Nora works to interview him, she meets other people she knew from before. She visits with the owner of the book store she used to love--her grandfather.
The way the story moves as she meets old friends, makes new friends and compares what she has now versus what she had in New York is a story that is well worth reading.
Just finished the second book in this series and I'd love to see more!
The chacterizations are wonderful. The only character I don't care for is the dog Mr. Pickles. I'm so thankful Mrs. Kowalski found and loves him.
After five years, Nora returns home to interview an old boyfriend for them magazine that employs her.
Within minutes of her arrival, she's walking on a dock and is knocked flat by an overly friendly golden retriever. The fog is standing on her licking her face when his owner shows up.
The owner shows up and it's none other than than the ex-boyfriend.
As Nora works to interview him, she meets other people she knew from before. She visits with the owner of the book store she used to love--her grandfather.
The way the story moves as she meets old friends, makes new friends and compares what she has now versus what she had in New York is a story that is well worth reading.
May 4, 2026
This is the second book in the Northlight Cove series. Set in a small fishing village in Maine, Northlight Cove is a small village where its inhabitants look after their own.
In this book, Nora, the grandaughter of Thomas, the bookshop owner, comes home from New York to write an in depth profile of Sam, her former boyfriend. She works for a magazine which has commissioned the article. She's not been home for five years after they broke up.
Of course there's a cat, Byron who Nora rescued from New York. Sam has an exuberant retriever, Buoy, who has a habit of bringing you things if he likes you.
I loved this book and cannot wait until the third book is released.
The books in this series are best read in order of publication to preserve continuity of the characters and wider storyline.
If you liked this book, please read the Leafwood Falls series by the same author, its just as good.
In this book, Nora, the grandaughter of Thomas, the bookshop owner, comes home from New York to write an in depth profile of Sam, her former boyfriend. She works for a magazine which has commissioned the article. She's not been home for five years after they broke up.
Of course there's a cat, Byron who Nora rescued from New York. Sam has an exuberant retriever, Buoy, who has a habit of bringing you things if he likes you.
I loved this book and cannot wait until the third book is released.
The books in this series are best read in order of publication to preserve continuity of the characters and wider storyline.
If you liked this book, please read the Leafwood Falls series by the same author, its just as good.
May 7, 2026
Headspace poetry
Unlike this author, I'm not a writer but an avid reader. This book was a lovely gift wrapped with a soft velvet bow. The expensive kind that is soft and malleable, filled with comfortable murmurings that make you close your eyes for a moment and just feel.
Thank you for sharing these moments with me. I feel warm soft comfort in a frantic world.
Noelle
Unlike this author, I'm not a writer but an avid reader. This book was a lovely gift wrapped with a soft velvet bow. The expensive kind that is soft and malleable, filled with comfortable murmurings that make you close your eyes for a moment and just feel.
Thank you for sharing these moments with me. I feel warm soft comfort in a frantic world.
Noelle
May 6, 2026
Amazing story
I loved this second book in the Northlight Cove series. It was heartfelt and relatable with characters that make small towns so loveable. It was about coming home and nit knowing that you were there to stay.
I loved this second book in the Northlight Cove series. It was heartfelt and relatable with characters that make small towns so loveable. It was about coming home and nit knowing that you were there to stay.
April 27, 2026
Amazingly good!
This was a fantastic story! I don't really like details in most cases. But just the detailing along with exceptional descriptions was great!
This was a fantastic story! I don't really like details in most cases. But just the detailing along with exceptional descriptions was great!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews