The Cottage on Morning Bay

She came to sell the house. The house had other plans.

Sophie Lind hasn't spoken to her aunt in twenty-four years. Then a lawyer calls to say Jo is gone, and the weathered cottage on Morning Bay is Sophie's.

Burned out after fourteen years in New York kitchens, Sophie flies across the country to do one thing: sell. She has buyers within a week and a closing date in June. That should be the end of it.

But the cottage holds things she can't explain. A pencil mark on a bedroom doorframe. A yellow kitchen she remembers from a summer she has almost forgotten. And down the slope, in the old boatworks, a faded napkin pinned to the wall with a child's drawing on it, in her own handwriting.

Then there's Wes Calder, the reserved boatbuilder next door. He inherited Jo's shop, her tools, and an unfinished wooden boat he won't explain. He knew Jo better than anyone. He knows why she never called. And he made her a promise he won't break, even for Sophie.

As spring comes to the bay, Sophie finds herself picking up a hammer, cooking eggs at the waterfront diner, and falling for a quiet man who keeps his word no matter what it costs him. But the clock is running on the sale. And the truth Jo left behind involves a secret Sophie's own mother has kept all her life.

Some promises are meant to be kept. Others are meant to bring you home.

A heartfelt, clean romance about second chances, family secrets, and building something that lasts.