Independence Islands: The Book Barrow

One man’s last Christmas wish might change two lives forever. Mallory Barrows has one last Christmas with her uncle. She’s determined to make it the best one he’s ever had. She knows when she asks what he wants as his final gift, it won’t be a tie or a new mug. He won’t need those where he’s going, and he’s quite happy about that. Mallory just didn’t think he wanted a miracle wrapped in paper and tied with a shiny red bow! In a twist on a "last chance romance," Christmas on Breakers Point is the first book in the republished Independence Islands: The Book Barrow series.

All they wanted was a happily-never-after. When Richard Danforth inherits the family estate on Merriweather Island, he doesn’t have time to deal with it — especially not from halfway across the globe. He’s too busy working to become the world’s newest billionaire and avoiding the women who would detract him from his goals. Enter Lyla Santana. Fresh out of Oxford University with a degree in antiques and a relationship that nearly killed her to leave, she’s eager for the isolation and treasure trove that is Danforth Hall. Lyla also is determined to avoid men at all costs. Forever.

If it ain’t broke, why’s she so intent on fixing it? Tessa Booker hates romance. For 25 years, Tessa Booker has insisted that romance is something Hollywood cooked up to sell books and movies. Yes, she knows the word existed before movies. She doesn’t care. That’s her story, and she’s sticking to it. So, when Ross gets a gentle nudge from Mallory Barrows to look into what Tessa’s doing every day while he’s at work, he discovers a romance in the works — one that sounds a little too “ripped from the pages of his life"! Who is this woman, and what has she done with his wife?

When a hurricane rips through Hooper Island, a tidal wave of TV crews follows and upsets the locals. Brooks Crawforth agreed to volunteer crews helping to clean up and repair things on the island, not a whole home and garden series on the total renovation of several houses and a bit of cleanup on the side. He’s furious, and the show host is spitting nails at the person who blew it in the first place.

He loved her then. Will she love him now? When Mallory Barrows finds an old diary in a box of books, the story she finds within sends her on the hunt for the owner–and maybe more. Theirs is a story ripped from a country song. A wedding, a former love presumed dead, her new love stepping aside. And over forty years later, their story is one few remember. With Mallory determined to find the people in the pages of that diary, one couple is offered the second chance of a lifetime.

The course of true love sometimes flounders on choppy waters. Falling in love with Benjamin wasn’t in the plan, but Mallory finds she’s all but lost her head and her heart after two and a half years of banter, memories, and now shared books. But when her ex-fiancé (does it count if it was just for a few hours?) shows up right in the middle of a writing project with Benjamin, the guy manages to ruin her happiness… again. Benjamin has been keeping one tiny part of him back from Mallory–just the one thing that’ll repel her for good.