Chasing Waves: A Coastal Women's Fiction Romance

by Aspen Hadley

She calls him the Mayor of Flirt.
He simply keeps showing up.

At forty, Gretchen Holloway is finally back on her own two feet. After a marriage that slowly taught her to make herself smaller, she returned home to Marler Island and got to work. Now, she’s managing the spa she loves, surrounded by family and friends, and adjusting to life with her daughter away at college.

The last thing she needs is a disruption.

Yet Rhodes Wilder—charming landscaper, childhood friend, and devoted single dad—has been getting under Gretchen's skin since she returned to the island. One spectacularly bad interaction convinced her his attention is better avoided, and she’s stuck to it.

But when a worsening problem with her arm threatens the career she's worked so hard to build, Rhodes does something Gretchen never expects.

He shows up. Over and over again.

As autumn settles over Marler Island, quiet acts of kindness, an unexpected trip to the mainland, and one very unconventional first date begin to dismantle everything Gretchen thought she knew about Rhodes—and maybe a few things she believed about herself.

Because the right kind of love doesn't ask you to become less—it gives you room to grow.

Tender, uplifting, and full of found family, later-in-life love, and the beauty of beginning again, Chasing Waves is a closed-door women's romance about discovery, healing, and growth – with a little romance to make you swoon.

306 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2026

About the author

Aspen Hadley loves nothing more than a great story. She has devoted herself to story-telling for the majority of her life, writing her first novel at her kitchen table in the 8th grade. Aspen writes what she wants to read: clean, sassy, romantic comedy novels that give you a break from real life and leave you feeling happy.

Outside of writing, Aspen's number one hobby is reading. Number two is sneaking chocolate into and out of her private stash without being caught. Other favorite things include: playing the piano, listening to classic rock, telling jokes around the dinner table, eating ice cream, traveling, a good case of the giggles, and riding on ATVs over the trails around her home in Utah.

Aspen shares her life with a patient husband, 4 hilarious children, and 1 grumpy dog in a quiet suburb next to her beloved mountains.

Given the choice she would road trip her life away, singing along to the radio and sleeping in every morning.

You can also find her on Facebook at facebook.com/aspenthewriter and Instagram @aspenhadley_author.