Dear friends...
It’s the start of what I hope will be an exciting new year for all of you. I know it’s going to be one for me.
For one thing, I’ll get to introduce you to a whole new family and a wonderful new community on the North Carolina coast in the Ocean Breeze novels, scheduled for this spring. In the tradition of the O’Briens, the Castles are tight knit, but have their share of issues I suspect many of us can relate to.
Each of the three Castle sisters is at a major turning point in her life, the point at which she must choose love or career or some seemingly impossible balance of the two. There are some sibling rivalry issues to be resolved, as well, along with their relationships with their workaholic, uninvolved father. Hmmm? Does that sound a little like Mick O’Brien? Trust me, Sam Castle is an entirely different kind of father, one who completely missed out on the meddling gene.
In Sand Castle Bay, which kicks off the series (in stores at the end of March), you’ll meet ambitious interior designer Emily Castle, who’s torn between a successful and fulfilling career in Los Angeles and her old love, Boone Dorsett, maybe the sexiest man living along the North Carolina coast! Their bumpy road to romance has taken some emotional twists and turns.
What she faces, though, is nothing compared to the dilemma faced by Gabriella Castle, the daughter whose ambition has been fueled by a desperate need to earn her father’s approval. When her life takes a dramatic turn in the late-April release of Wind Chime Point, dreamy hero Wade Johnson is right there to pick up the pieces. Gabi’s story is proof positive that there’s more than one way to fulfill a lifelong dream.
But while both Emily and Gabi have eager and willing heroes, oldest sister Samantha is in for a tough fight to win the heart of her old crush, Ethan Cole, now a physician trying to make a difference for kids with traumatic disabilities. Sea Glass Island, in stores at the end of May, is an emotional story of a man who doesn’t believe he’s capable of love and a woman with the patience to prove him wrong.
If the new world of Sand Castle Bay isn’t enough to keep you occupied this year, the long-awaited reissue of After Tex is already in stores and its sequel, Angel Mine, will be there at the end of January. Two other books, absent from store shelves for years — Temptation and Twilight — will be reissued in the fall.
And for you Chesapeake Shores fans, there will be a brand new story in the series — A Seaside Christmas — in stores at the end of September, just in time to get you into that warm and wonderful holiday spirit! More on that later.
In the meantime, I wish you all the happiest new year ever and enough books to warm your hearts all year long!
All best,
Sherryl Woods
