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Beyond Tomorrow
In Bar Harbor, Maine, the Noble family is the next thing to royalty. But when Adam Noble hires Carly Andrews to help him find his dream home, she soon realizes she has much more on her hands than the simple task of helping a prince find his castle. She isn't about to put her heart and career on the line to play Cinderella for any man...or is she?
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
2 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
About the author
Fern Michaels
427 books6,546 followersFern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.
As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.
Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.
Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.
READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/
As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.
Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.
Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.
READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
October 31, 2017
I'm giving this just one star but I also deserve one star myself for picking it in the first place. That said, this is truly bad in virtually every way -- story, characters and writing. I can almost always find something redeeming to say about a book, but I've got nothing here.
February 28, 2024
Not feeling so much for this one as I do for the Sisterhood series
April 29, 2022
Is zero stars an option? This was the most idiotic, ridiculous character in existence and certainly falls within the top 5 worst books I’ve ever read. I wanted to quit reading 100x, but I guess I couldn’t stop punishing myself. For the record, I usually enjoy Fern Michael’s slightly suspenseful remove novels. This just took cheesy romance novel with zero plot to a whole new level. 🤢🤢🤢 Stay far far away.
August 15, 2013
Have a very hard time saying this, because I typically enjoy Fern Michael's stories, but this one is a dud!! Very predictable and hard to hold my interest. Glad the audio book was only 5 CDs!! If I would have had another audio book available to listen to I would have done something I don't normally do--I would have quit listening to the story. 1 out of 10 for me.
March 26, 2016
This was a terrible book.
August 27, 2017
I chose this book because I had 6 hours to spend in the car this weekend and out of the very SMALL choices from my library for books on CD, this was the only one that seemed interesting, and would get me through most of my drive, without being longer than my drive.
I'm glad I had it for what turns out to be a 7 hour drive. But, if I hadn't been driving and listening to it, I probably wouldn't have finished it. While I did want to know what happened, and I was intrigued, the heroine kind of drove me crazy. She took way too long to stand up for herself. I also didn't like that when the H/H were arguing they never actually let each other explain anything. It was really annoying. Also, while the heroine saw lots of good things in the hero (she liked that he was intelligent, that he was charming, yada yada) the hero literally only ever told her she was beautiful. It's like that was her only redeeming quality....
I also had a lot of other issues that others have already mentioned.
I did think the audio was well done though, I could tell exactly who each character was. It was my first ever audiobook, and I would definitely want to listen to an audiobook on a long drive again. Even though I had issues with the book, it really helped with my long drive.
I'm glad I had it for what turns out to be a 7 hour drive. But, if I hadn't been driving and listening to it, I probably wouldn't have finished it. While I did want to know what happened, and I was intrigued, the heroine kind of drove me crazy. She took way too long to stand up for herself. I also didn't like that when the H/H were arguing they never actually let each other explain anything. It was really annoying. Also, while the heroine saw lots of good things in the hero (she liked that he was intelligent, that he was charming, yada yada) the hero literally only ever told her she was beautiful. It's like that was her only redeeming quality....
I also had a lot of other issues that others have already mentioned.
I did think the audio was well done though, I could tell exactly who each character was. It was my first ever audiobook, and I would definitely want to listen to an audiobook on a long drive again. Even though I had issues with the book, it really helped with my long drive.
December 18, 2025
I read the Captives series in middle and high school. I devoured those books! I am more of a sci- fi or fantasy reader so drifted away from Michaels even though I had a fond remembrance of the books I‘d read. Hearing that she had passed this week spurred me to choose an audio book to listen to while doing house work and driving around town.
I enjoy a Tess Bailey novel every once in a while so even though I couldn’t find a historical novel, I thought I’d try this one. It was not great. It read like it had been phoned in just to get a story written. The characters could have had depth but they were just doing the expected without any of the compulsions or choices an individual would make.
This book didn’t bring back the fond memories of the tumultuous and adventurous adventures of the Captive series. It was just a fairy floss story that will dissolve in my memory.
I enjoy a Tess Bailey novel every once in a while so even though I couldn’t find a historical novel, I thought I’d try this one. It was not great. It read like it had been phoned in just to get a story written. The characters could have had depth but they were just doing the expected without any of the compulsions or choices an individual would make.
This book didn’t bring back the fond memories of the tumultuous and adventurous adventures of the Captive series. It was just a fairy floss story that will dissolve in my memory.
June 13, 2021
I enjoyed this story for many reasons. I married a Maine-iac and we lived there for six years so I was familiar with the setting in this intriguing novel. The Lord brought a new man into my life after my husband's death and we've been bosom buddies ever since. We're now octogenarians. Reading is how I passed many hours during the pandemic. As I shared an incident from this book with my friend, he asked me to read aloud the rest of the story. That was a first for me, as well as a pleasant experience.
We appreciated the story line and the large bold font made the text much more readable.
Hope Irvin Marston, author of AGAINST THE TIDE: THE VALOR OF MARGARET WILSON.
We appreciated the story line and the large bold font made the text much more readable.
Hope Irvin Marston, author of AGAINST THE TIDE: THE VALOR OF MARGARET WILSON.
November 10, 2017
This was a short quick read, and I felt that I didn't have a whole lot of time to get to know the characters. However, I enjoyed this book tremendously.
The characters were real, and true to life. This book painted a picture of a very fast moving romance between two people. It showed how many things can go wrong, how hard communication could be, but how important it has to be.
For a short novel it was wonderful. Maybe I would have liked a little more character development, but it really didn't detract too much from the story or the out come.
The characters were real, and true to life. This book painted a picture of a very fast moving romance between two people. It showed how many things can go wrong, how hard communication could be, but how important it has to be.
For a short novel it was wonderful. Maybe I would have liked a little more character development, but it really didn't detract too much from the story or the out come.
November 11, 2025
Exhausting.
Everyone is horrible.
No one communicates.
Main character takes no agency for her life whatever and is “in love” with a man who constantly manhandles and literally tackles her more than once.
“He alone could lead her to the heights of fulfillment and topple her into the realms of sensuality”-is this parody?”
Trite trivial and tiresome.
Everyone is horrible.
No one communicates.
Main character takes no agency for her life whatever and is “in love” with a man who constantly manhandles and literally tackles her more than once.
“He alone could lead her to the heights of fulfillment and topple her into the realms of sensuality”-is this parody?”
Trite trivial and tiresome.
September 1, 2017
Picked this because I had a car ride ahead of me and Fern Michaels is an author I enjoy listening to. The book seemed very forced and seemed to take forever to get to the point that we knew it was headed towards.
June 2, 2020
Nice love story taking place in Bar Harbor Maine. Carly is manager of real estate firm; her mother works with her. Carly falls in love with a client looking for a special house. She finds him his house of his dreams. She dreams too.
May 2, 2023
Very dated story - 80s romance where mother wants daughter married at all costs, female lead is an annoying idiot with no common sense and male lead is overbearing jerk. Quick listen via audiobook but still annoying.
November 12, 2025
I always enjoy Ms. Michaels' books, and this was no exception. I read the audio from Hoopla. It was interesting to watch Carly and Adam interact, and Quincy was worth 1000 laughs. Great read as usual.
May 15, 2017
A typical, formula romance.
Not many surprises and not too interesting, but a light beach read.
Not many surprises and not too interesting, but a light beach read.
August 21, 2018
DNF. So bad, so very very bad!
October 5, 2018
One ⭐️ only because it was written by Fern Michaels.
December 5, 2019
Very Good!
August 9, 2020
Traditional romance. 2 people meet and fall in love.
November 5, 2020
A bit too cheesy and predictable. I don't mind predictable romance, but I wasn't a fan. I didn't connect with the characters.
September 21, 2022
I couldn't stand Carly! She had the immaturity and the coping strategies of a teenager! She couldn't stand up for herself and then when she did, she was so childish about it! Yuch!
December 27, 2022
Amateur writing ! This was horrible and stupid! It gave me a headache!
August 1, 2023
A good quick read.
September 18, 2023
Cute love story.
September 8, 2024
5 star narrator. I gave 5 stars due to wanting to remember if I should marry. I would want the man to be a man of beyond tomorrow.
Read
February 5, 2025La vida de sus sueños
September 4, 2025
Wow. Carli is a bit dramatic!
November 19, 2025
Great read!
Read
January 9, 2026Not a very substantial story. Predictable and annoying characters.
On a positive note it was Clean not smutty.
On a positive note it was Clean not smutty.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews