Wild Harbor Beach Collection: Sweet Romance Book Series

by Grace Worthington

A charming and heartwarming clean romance book series!When you need a delightful sweet romance with all the love, laughter, and small town friendships you could ask for, then escape to Wild Harbor.

This five-book series follows the lives and love stories of four siblings as they discover the meaning of family, finding home, and falling in love.

This sweet romance collection

Love at Wild Harbor
One chocolate shop. Two fixer uppers. Three feisty sisters. One sweet love story to bring it all together! A second chance romance about a chocolate shop owner who falls for the guy who broke her heart years ago. Now he’s back to help her with her fixer upper and he’s not going to leave until she says yes. Will she let him back into her life…and her heart?

Summer Nights in Wild Harbor
A competitive newspaper journalist meets her handsome the guy she’s forced to team up with at work and not fall in love with. Will she get the promotion she desperately wants or will her heart give in to the man who’ll do anything for her? A heartwarming enemies-to-love story!

Christmas Wishes in Wild Harbor
She needs a date for Christmas. He doesn’t want to spend Christmas alone. They make an agreement to fool everyone in town with their fake relationship, only to discover their feelings are anything but pretend. The perfect Christmas book for those who like an idyllic small town Christmas love story!

The Inn at Wild Harbor
A beachside inn and her best friend's brother. How could she resist either one? Aspen inherits an inn from a relative only to discover her best friend’s brother (and the guy she has a secret crush on) is the handyman there. Can she survive running the inn without her feelings getting in the way? Or will the secrets uncovered in the inn finally bring them together? A delightful friends-to-more romance story!

A Wedding in Wild Harbor
She needs someone to save her beloved bookstore. He needs to satisfy his mom’s wishes and find a girlfriend. Can this grumpy-sunshine pair survive an impossible agreement and pretend to be in love? Or will their budding relationship turn into something more? A delightful and surprising happily ever after!

The Wild Harbor Beach Collection is a feel-good, heartwarming clean romance series! Don't miss your chance to get all five stories in one delightfully sweet collection!

1217 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2022

About the author

Grace Worthington is a three-time award-winning author who lives and breathes sweet closed door romcoms.
A former musical theatre gal and playwright, she brings that same energy, heart, and comedic timing to her stories, crafting witty banter and lovable characters you can’t help but root for.
She holds a master’s degree in psychology and human development and has also completed graduate studies in creative writing. Her inspiration comes from charming coastal towns and classic romcoms from the ’80s and ’90s.
When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are 5 books in this set. Therefore, this will be a longer review (and I will probably only get credit for reading one book). I will separate the general observations from the book reviews and the books from each other with a series of hyphens.
The books follow the Sutton siblings and their close friends on their trip to their happily-ever-afters. The stories aren't bad, but there are some overall issues I had with the series. First, there were spots where the reader has to go over an error to figure out what or who is being addressed, and some places where quotation marks are misplaced or missing so you have to figure out how much was spoken by a character, if a character was the one speaking, or whether it was a quotation at all. Second, and this might just be me, but following who the Sutton siblings were v. who their almost-like-a-sibling friends were was difficult. I thought one was a close friend in one book but then she was listed as a sibling in another. By the end, the only 2 characters I knew for certain were siblings were Lily, the eldest girl, and Matt, the only boy in the family, and I knew Jessica and Aspen weren't their siblings but were like family, but might have been cousins to the Suttons if Great Aunt Lizzie was also a great aunt to the Sutton kids. Third, there were inconsistencies in the timelines and relationships, mostly minor, but there was one exception that was pretty big. A new arrival who has set up a coffee shop and is into making Wild Harbor a year round tourist attraction is reminiscing to himself about his past growing up on the wrong side of town. He paints a picture of a dilapidated house where, after the tragic death of his baby sister, his mother divorces his father and leaves him and her 2 sons to fend for themselves. His dad has no idea how to care for kids and so the boys are left on their own, and spend their Saturdays with sugary junk cereal and cartoons most of the day. It seems that the boys were close in age, and their father's alcoholism was binge drinking in its expression. Towards the end of the book, his brother texts him to come see his dad in hospice. He ignores it and his brother calls. Knowing he will just keep calling, the character answers the phone and says no, he won't come. When his brother chides him, the character says that his big brother left less than a year after the divorce and never had to suffer the abuse and drinking, and implies constant, not binge, drinking and going hungry so his dad could drink. So, which was it?
Despite all that, the romances themselves are enjoyable except for the flow being broken in the first objection I raised.
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The first book, "Love at Wild Harbor," is about the oldest Sutton daughter, Lily, who has started her own business making and selling high end chocolate. She's not on the main drag and she's not in an area where any type of food is sold, and things are not going well. Her father recently had a stroke and so is unable to help her renovate her fixer-upper beach house on Lake Michigan. She had dated and fallen for a boy in high school, who worked with his father doing construction...but who wanted to act, took some acting classes, and moved to LA, but had to support himself between occasional and low paying acting gigs and flipped houses to do so. He was good at it and landed a contract to flip houses for a TV show. He's back in town to do a reno on the in-even-worse-shape-than-hers beach house right next door to hers. When he realizes she's next door and sees the house, he proposes a dual reno with her making an appearance helping out from time to time. Their attraction is growing. His contract renewal will involve a lot of travel and a lot more money, but he figures he can do the same sort of thing back at home so he has to decide what to do, stay with Lily or go even bigger in LA. Meanwhile, he puts in an appearance at an open house for Lily's chocolate shop, hoping it will boost her business, which it does, as his show is a big deal as the local boy who made the big time.
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The second book, "Summer Nights in Wild Harbor," is about Megan, who seems to be Lily's sister. Megan is a reporter for the local paper, the old fashioned kind we don't see on mass media but only on independent outlets, the kind that research thoroughly to make sure they are reporting honest and verifiable facts in their reporting. Her editor is about to retire. Megan has brought in more ad revenue than anyone else. Some have quit, or gotten sick, and she feels like she should be a shoo-in for the next editor. Then the editor calls a meeting to introduce Finn. Megan has met Finn. He rescued her from a handsy blind date she was tricked into by her friend Aspen, one whose handsy approach was becoming physically abusive. Not knowing where he had come from or why he was there, Megan kept fighting the abusive guy and swung her purse, but connected with Finn, not the handsy guy. Now he's being introduced as the new reporter and the person being groomed as the next editor, the son of a friend of her current editor. And Megan is not only expected to train him, and partner with him, but also to share her office with him since the office he will eventually take is currently being very slowly packed out by the quitting reporter who has started mortuary school. Finn is attracted to Megan. Megan is not about to admit she's attracted to the man hired to replace her. And the editor is upset that they aren't working well together and has no idea why Megan seems to have an issue with Finn. As she is challenged to expand her horizons and nearly drowns for the 2nd time in her life while covering a story, will she and Finn be able to get past the competition for editor and recognize their nutual attraction?
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The 3rd book, "Christmas Wishes in Wild Harbor," featires Mila, who once owned a wedding shop in Wild Harbor but had to close down due to poor traffic and sales and financial woes. Now, she has opened a shop in Chicago, but is once again in a financial crisis with this shop. She finally has a great assistant, Hadley, who sees her boss working nonstop from the time she gets up until she finally goes to bed, and volunteers to cover the shop until the New Year to give her boss a break. Mila's Grams, as she calls her grandmother, says that if Mila will bring a date to Lily's Christmas wedding, she will loan Mila enough to put her back in the black from the inheritance due her, and she can repay as she succeeds. Mila concedes to the deal; she needs the time off desperately. On her way in, she finds herself in a traffic jam as signs indicate a winter festival. As she detours down a back street, through the snow, she is unable to stop her car before hitting the front wheel of the bike that darted out in front of her. She lets him put his bike in her trunk and she takes him - his name is Max - to his destination - his new coffee shop. She discovers he is behind turning Wild Harbor into a year round tourist attraction, but explains the shops are highly sucessful businesses now and suggests she open a wedding shop. He is trying to avoid Lexy, the girl who stole Mila's fiance, who left her standing at the altar for Lexy, but didn't have the guts to tell her and cancel beforehand. Max asks her if she will go with him next day to an event as a fake date to keep Lexy away, and she realizes if she does, she can ask him to be her wedding date. But they end up dating more and more, and Lexy does her best to come between them. Can Mila see past the way Lexy aggressively pursues Max and the way his being cornered is something Lexy makes seem intimate? Past the way her town is changing because of him? Can Max learn that forgiveness will do him more good than it does the recipient of the forgiveness, and forgive his mom, who is with his dying father, his father, and his brother? Can Mila make her Chicago store a success?
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The 4th book, "The Inn at Wild Harbor," is about Matt, Lily's only brother, who lives rent free at the inn as payment for the odd handyman repair and groundskeeping, plus meals once in a while. As children, Jessica and Aspen were regularly dumped by their professional parents into Great Aunt Lizzie's lap for the summer. They did chores, played, and read books, but as they got older, their parents found other places to dump the girls. Both knew that when Lizzie died, they would inherit the inn. Jessica, voluptuous and flirtatious, had married a financial planner who was doing well, but now, they had just divorced. Aspen had been Megan's roommate. Aspen was also an art major with a degree, and a talented amateur photographer. She also worked 5 years as a receptionist for a boss whose employees stole her photos for an ad campaign, never compensated her while making big bucks off her images, had a boss in the running to win a national Worst Boss competition, and had finally just walked out, after having seen a photo contest for Himetown Heroes, had decided to enter for the $5000 prize and see if she could travel the world as a professional photographer, a dream of hers. After she walked out, she had come by to see Lizzie, but discovered an ambulance there. Matt had discovered Lizzie was still not up and had called them, only to discover Lizzie had died in her sleep. Jessica told Aspen to do whatever she needed to do to get a good sale price. Jessica wanted money. Aspen didn't feel she would be able to run the inn, so she'd have to sell it. To renovate it, she took over Lizzie's apartment to max out rooms so she could take the odd guest they couldn't cancel and use the income for renos, and still proceed with renos on empty rooms. Matt and Aspen had always been pseudo siblings. Both had also always had feelings for each other but Matt had pushed Aspen away and said he had no intention of marrying anyone ever, but he had nixed every boyfriend she had for one reason or another. Then Jessica comes early and flirts with Matt, wanting a casual dating scene. Aspen gives up any rights to dating Matt, except the one she promised him, to help Jessica. Aspen also finds a ring and a mystery note Lizzie wrote a long time ago to a suitor she never married. Later, she returns home and her window is. open, and she hadn't left it open. Lizzie's note to her suitor is gone and in its place is a riddle Lizzie wrote for Aspen, to be delivered posthumously. Solving it is supposed to lead to something big. As Matt helps her renovate the place, she doscovers the first clue...Matt gets the 2nd from Joshua, the town's mysterious wise man and fix-it guru for old things, and they get the final clue together. She also wins the contest, but has to travel to Vegas to get it. Matt follows, to be there for her award. But will they get a clue about their mutual attraction, which seems to be a surprise to both of them?
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The 5th and final book is, "A Wedding in Wild Harbor." Cassidy attends college part time on loans and what she can earn, and has one semester left to finish her degree. She works part time at the Inn (from the 4th book) and in a failing book shop that is going bankrupt from too many charity projects that, because it's a store, makes the projects ineligible for grants. Cassidy's favorite is the kids' after school reading program, which has helped many slow readers gain the reading skills they need without the pressures from teachers, parents, and peers. She has made an inviting space, but the kids and their parents can't always afford to buy books. Nor can many of the elderly or veterans for whom they have programs. With large book chains and online bookstores cutting into sales, the owners of the store and the building it's in are forced to sell.
Liam has sworn off love, from the time he saw his father collapsed on the floor and the EMTs couldn't rouse him, to the accident that killed his brother and left his 8 year old niece his ward, the devastation it had caused his mother especially left him soured on marriage. Then his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and was fighting for her life. One thing she constantly bugs him about is wanting to see him at least seriously dating and happy before she dies. She has gone so far as to have her 8 year old granddaughter help her set up a dating profile of Liam online and crop a photo of him to be placed on a billboard advertising for someone to date him and make his dying mother happy. His father also had left him with a business mess to clean up as well as his taking over the operation and learning the ropes. Now, he has an Alfa Romeo, a wardrobe of high end suits, and he is looking for a beachfront property when he comes across the bookstore. His market research tells him a fancy new gym kitted out with the ability to sync with smart watches and mobile apps to make a custom workout plan would be a huge success, especially in the absence of a gym of any sort in the area. Cassidy is the only employee of the bookstore, but they meet when he accidentally wanders into the opposite lane, she swerves to miss him, and she and her bug end up in a muddy cornfield. He tries to help push her out and aside from getting muddy from her attempts to back out (which just keeps digging a bigger hole under each rear tire) and pushing, his back gets strained, she refuses his money for a tow, and with his back hurting and his bragging about the car's safety features, she ends up driving the rest of the way to Wild Harbor. Later, she discovers he is destroying her bookstore dreams. He asks, at some point, if she will fake date him to ease his mother's mind, and he finds out Cassidy can drive a hard bargain. But as they date, she finds herself falling for him...and he for her. As they're discovering this nascent attraction, the creep who dumped her because she has epilepsy, and because she might embarrass him, or die young, or give it to any kids they might have, returns to win her back and as usual, plays dirty. This time, she isn't as gullible. And she has met his mother Jane and his niece Abby and has fallen in love with them. But can their love survive her ex's attacks, the news that the dating was originally fake when they tell Jane and Abby, and some of the cruel things Liam has said and done in the past? And will the bookstore and Cassidy's programs last?

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good, Long Stay in Wild Harbor

What I liked best about this series is how each story/book built on the previous story and the same characters show up in different ways throughout the whole series. I felt myself in the stories enjoying the beach and hot sun, and then in the middle of winter and Christmas time. The characters were well written and developed. I was kind of sad there wasn’t one more sibling to have another book to read. This is good, clean fiction with a Christian base!

[Lynn Hyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small Town Romance

Read this series in order. I love the characters, although I sometimes wished they'd get over what was holding them back from love. Each sibling had issues, but love won out every time. The last book of weddings was a great way to end the series.

[Debra Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done

I enjoyed each book in this series. They were well written with likeable, believable characters. The relationships between the family members were heartfelt.

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection of christian romance that is clean and a relaxing easy read on those evenings when you're brain just can't handle anything too heavy.