Luanne Rice Books in Order (The Lemon Orchard, Little Night, The Silver Boat, Beach Girls)

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Luanne Rice is an award-winning best-selling American novelist from New Britain, Connecticut, who’s writing since her teen years – her first short story was published in American Girl when she was fifteen. Angels All Over Town, her debut novel, was published in 1985. Since then, she published more than 30 more books about love and family, some of which were even adapted for television like Crazy in Love (TNT), Blue Moon (CBS), Follow the Stars Home (Hallmark), Silver Bells (Hallmark), and Beach Girls (Lifetime).

How to read Luanne Rice’s Books in Order?

The Hubbard’s Point/Black Hall Series

1. Firefly Beach (2001) – Coolly sophisticated and steadfastly single, Caroline Renwick has always been the sister everyone could count on. As she and Clea and Skye gathered at Firefly Hill, their childhood home, Caroline thought that they had all put the past behind them. But as summer gets underway, a mysterious man arrives–a man who has the power to bring it all back…
2. Safe Harbor (2002) – Artist Dana Underhill has always been a free spirit, traveling the world, filling her canvases with the mysterious colors of the seas she and her sister have sailed since childhood. Then on a calm, moonlit night, an inexplicable “accident” occurs and Dana is called home to Hubbard’s Point to become a mother to her two young nieces, a challenge unlike any she’s ever known.
3. True Blue (2002) – Schoolteacher Rumer Larkin never felt the need to stray from Hubbard’s Point. Rich with legends of seafaring spirits and lost treasures, the rustic village still echoes with the memories of Rumer’s past–even after those she loved have left. But now, so many summers after Zeb Mayhew broke her heart, he has returned with his teenage son, and Rumer knows her quiet life will never be the same again.

4. The Perfect Summer (2003) – Bay McCabe relishes life’s simple pleasures, her children, her home by the sea. She has never forgotten the values of her Irish granny–the everyday happiness of family, good friends, and hard work. Bay and her husband, Sean, have weathered rough spells and moved on. Now a perfect summer, filled with the scent of beach roses, lies before them.
5. Beach Girls (2004) – Childhood friends Emma, Maddie and Stevie enjoyed their summers together at Hubbard’s Point, Connecticut. Years later, Maddie’s brother Jack married Emma, and they had a daughter, Nell. After Emma is killed in a car wreck–with Maddie driving-Jack is unable to forgive his sister for what happened that fateful day. He decides to bring Nell to Hubbard’s Point the next summer, and the lonely little girl insists on finding Stevie, who’s rumored to be living at the beach as a broken-hearted recluse. Nell adores Stevie, while even Jack finds himself attracted to the gentle violet-eyed beauty. Can these broken-hearted people ever become a family, or will Jack, afraid of taking another chance at love, lose everything?
6. Last Kiss (2008) – A face on a poster, a name in the news, an inexplicable tragedy. A promising young man goes out one warm summer evening and is found dead–murdered–less than twenty-four hours later. No motive. No clues. No answers. Most people reflect briefly on the disturbing headlines, perhaps say a silent prayer of safely removed sympathy, and go on with their lives. But what if the young man was your son? Or your true love?
7. The Night Before (short story, 2014) – On the eve of a wedding by the edge of the sea, a once-in-a-lifetime storm sweeps through a family Christmas tree farm on the Connecticut Shoreline and sets in motion the events of The Night Before.

The Nova Scotia Summer Series

1. Summer’s Child (2005) – On the first day of summer, Mara Jameson went out to water her garden–and was never seen again. Years after her disappearance, no one could forget the expectant mother whose glowing smile had captured the heart of everyone who’d known her: Maeve Jameson, still mourning the loss of a granddaughter she had struggled to protect…Patrick Murphy, a dogged police detective obsessed with a vanished woman…and Lily Malone, drawn to the rugged beauty of the Nova Scotia coast and its promise of a new life.
2. Summer of Roses (2005) – On the windswept coast of Nova Scotia, two friends and their young daughters have found refuge in the rugged community of Cape Hawk. Lily Malone and nine-year-old Rose are making a new home with a man who will do whatever it takes to protect them. Marisa Taylor and young Jessica are beginning to recapture the music that once filled their world with joy.

The Star of the Sea Academy Series

1. Sandcastles (2006) – Painter Honor Sullivan had the perfect love and the perfect life with her husband, a renowned photographer, and sculptor-until the day John’s passions led him to disaster, shattering their family and her heart. Since then, Honor has struggled to make a safe haven for herself and their three daughters at Star of the Sea Academy on the magical Connecticut shore.
2. What Matters Most (2007) – What if you could relive one time in your life? What would you choose if you could make one thing right? For Bernadette and Tom, it is a return to their roots in Ireland and a love that broke every rule and could have withstood any consequence–but the one that broke their hearts. For James and Kathleen, whose indelible bond was forged in a Dublin orphanage before one was adopted and carried across the sea to America, it is a reunion they’ve dreamed of all their young lives, even if it defies reason. From the Emerald Isle to the Connecticut shore, four lives are about to come together in a confrontation that will challenge each of them to leave behind the past and all they once thought was important, and to embrace at last what matters most.

The Newport, Rhode Island Series

1. The Geometry of Sisters (2009) – The storm off Mackinac Island that engulfed Maura Shaw’s husband and elder daughter, Carrie, also swept away the illusion of her life as the perfect midwestern wife and mother. Now, after years away, Maura has returned to Rhode Island to teach English at the fabled Newport Academy and to seek a new beginning. Newport has never failed to infuse Maura with a sense of mystery and hope, but ever since the accident, her younger daughter, fourteen-year-old Beck, has retreated into the safe, predictable world of mathematics. Without Carrie, Beck has lost half of herself–the half that would have fit into the elite private school she and her brother, Travis, will attend. The half that made things right. Sixteen-year-old Travis is also struggling to adjust-juggling a long-distance first love and an attraction to a girl with a wicked sparkle in her eye. And for Maura, ghosts linger here–an unresolved breach with her own beloved sister and a long-ago secret that may now have the power to set her free. . . .
2. The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners (2009) – Years ago, Lyra Davis left behind a world of wealth and privilege and the people she loved most in the world, unable to reconcile the expectations of her celebrated family with the longings of her own wild heart. Now she lives quietly among a community of expatriates on the isle of Capri, slowly, carefully learning to live fully for the first time, flourishing in the friendship of a singular man who recognizes in her a kindred spirit.

Other Novels by Luanne Rice

• Angels All Over Town (1985) – Una Cavan doesn’t believe in ghosts. But ghosts seem to believe in her. At least, her father’s ghost does, walking into and out of her life as casually as if he were entering and exiting a room. Una has always believed the Cavan women had the power of witches, and from the beaches of Connecticut to the bustle of New York City they’ve shared the special unbreakable bond of sisters. No man has been able to come between them…until Lily marries the “perfect” man and begins to drift away and Margo gets engaged. With another failed relationship behind her, and a thriving career as an actress ahead of her, Una wonders if she’s destined to be alone–or if there isn’t something more, something magical that life has in store for her. Then an unexpected encounter gives her the answer she’s been seeking….
• Crazy in Love (1988) – Georgie Symonds didn’t think anything could shake her perfect marriage. She and Nick were meant for each other, everyone said so, and their life on the Connecticut shore, among Georgie’s close-knit family, is picture-perfect. But lately, Nick has been consumed with his job on Wall Street, and Georgie finds herself plagued with suspicions too awful to contemplate. To distract herself, she plunges into her work with the Swift Observatory, examining the stories of people whose lives have been changed by an unexpected tragedy. But it’s when a handsome stranger arrives on her doorstep that Georgie learns firsthand that when your dreams are in danger of collapsing, it’s time to create new ones…
• Stone Heart (1990) – Nomadic archaeologist Maria Dark is returning home again to the Connecticut shore–a magical place where she, her sister Sophie, and their brother Peter spent their childhood on the banks of Bell Stream. After fifteen years away, Maria hopes that she can rediscover the joy and optimism of her youth in the arms of her family. But things have changed. Maria’s siblings and her mother have weathered difficult times…and Sophie and her children are not as happy as they seem. Now Maria will embark upon an emotional journey–navigating the memories of a tender past–toward the truth at the heart of her family and the chance for a new beginning.

• Secrets of Paris (1991) – Lydie McBride has always embraced life to the fullest. But when an unthinkable tragedy strikes her family, everything she believes in is shattered. Her architect husband, Michael, watches the passion disappear from Lydie’s eyes and from their marriage, and hopes that an assignment to Paris will help them reclaim a love that once seemed unassailable. But the City of Lights holds secrets and seductions for them both. As Michael pursues his design project at the Louvre-and falls into the orbit of a mysterious, alluring Frenchwoman-Lydie finds new inspiration for her work as a photo and art stylist and begins a friendship with two dramatically different women that will enable her to find a new life. Will there be a place for the man with whom she always wanted to share that life . . . if she can find him again?
• Blue Moon (1993) – Restauranteur Cass and her fisherman husband Billy have a passionate marriage, filled with steamy sex. But the strain of raising a hearing-impaired daughter is wearing their love thin. When a disaster at sea strikes, Cass must lean on her family for the support she needs.
• Home Fires (1995) – Anne Davis has returned to the house where she grew up, trading her glamorous Manhattan lifestyle for a harsh winter on a wind-whipped New England island. Her marriage has crumbled in the wake of a tragic accident. Now she has returned to the home on Salt Whistle Raod that has always meant shelter, security, family and love. When she awakens one snowy night to a fire that roars through the old house, Anne escapes–but runs back into the blaze to save something so precious that it’s worth risking her life for. It is that reckless act of blind desperation that sets a miracle in motion.

• Cloud Nine (1999) – Sarah Talbot thought she’d never see another birthday. But against all odds, she beat the illness that could have killed her, reopened her bedding shop, Cloud Nine, and vowed to make the most of a fresh start that few are given. With Thanksgiving approaching, Sarah charters a small plane to take her to Elk Island, a remote spot off the rugged Maine coast where she spent some of her happiest days and where she hopes to reunite with the two most important people in her life. She arrives on the island with pilot Will Burke, a kindred spirit with whom Sarah forges a bond that will give them the courage to confront the past and have faith in the future…no matter how uncertain.
• Follow the Stars Home (2000) – Being a good mother is never simple: each day brings new choices and challenges. For Dianne Robbins, being a devoted single mother has resulted in her greatest joy and her darkest hours. Weeks before her daughter was born, she and her husband, Tim McIntosh, received the news every parent fears. Tim had not reckoned on their child being anything less than perfect and abruptly fled to a solitary existence on the sea, leaving Dianne with a newborn–almost alone.
• Dream Country (2001) – It was just an argument, one of hundreds Daisy Tucker must have had with her teenage daughter, Sage, over the years. But this one had ended differently, with Sage gone from their Connecticut home the next morning, leaving behind only a brief note: “I have to go.” Daisy tried not to overreact, tried to remind herself this was different from what had happened thirteen years earlier to Sage’s twin brother, Jake. This was different from a three-year-old boy disappearing in the canyons of Wyoming, never to be found. Sage was sixteen and resourceful. She would be found.

• Summer Light (2001) – May Taylor works as a wedding planner, passing on the timeless traditions of her grandmother and mother. The Taylor women have always believed in the presence of magic in everyday life–especially the simple magic of true love and family. Yet May’s own faith in true love was shattered when she was abandoned by the father of her child. Still, she finds joy in raising her daughter Kylie, a very special five-year-old who sees and hears things that others cannot. . .
• The Secret Hour (2003) – Beneath his controlled demeanor, attorney John O’Rourke is a man in turmoil. Since the death of his wife, he has been juggling the rigors of a controversial capital murder case and the demands of raising two children. As eleven-year-old Maggie and fourteen-year-old Teddy long for the past, they must also contend with the hostility that swirls around them since their father took on the defense of a despised killer-including a brick through their window one autumn morning.
• Dance with Me (2004) – Jane Porter left the apple orchards of rural Twin Rivers, Rhode Island, years ago, fleeing memories that could tear two families apart. Now she has been unexpectedly drawn home to her mother and only sister. Dylan Chadwick has come back, too, shedding the steely exterior he wore as a federal agent in order to follow in the footsteps of his apple-farming father and forget the life he once lived. Amid this landscape of loss and renewal, a haunting story of converging lives, small-town secrets-and the magical sway of unexpected miracles-unfolds.

• Silver Bells (2004) – On a quaint, snowy Chelsea street, librarian Catherine Tierney and a widowed Christmas tree seller from Nova Scotia will rediscover the magic of the season, in a chance encounter that leads to a holiday surprise of love and hope powerful enough to last a lifetime.
• The Edge of Winter (2007) – Neve Halloran and her daughter have shared a fierce love for the austere beauty of Rhode Island’s South County ever since Neve guided Mickey’s first baby steps along the sandy shore. Now, with Mickey a teenager and Neve’s last hope for happiness with her daughter’s loving but unstable father gone, both will struggle to make a new life together amid the windswept landscape that sustains them.
• Light of the Moon (2008) – An accomplished anthropologist, Susannah Connolly suddenly finds herself adrift in the wake of a failed love affair and the loss of her mother. Boarding a transcontinental flight on the evening of her birthday, she’s decided to give herself a long-deferred gift. Encouraged by her late mother’s magical stories, she is traveling from the Connecticut shore to the fabled French Camargue, to see its famous white horses and find a mysterious “saint” linked to her family’s history.

• The Letters (2008) (with Joseph Monninger) – Sam and Hadley West are both trying in their own ways to survive after the unthinkable loss of their only son in Alaska. For Sam, a sports journalist, acceptance means an arduous trek by dogsled across the bleak and beautiful arctic wilderness to find the place where Paul died. For Hadley, it means renting a benignly haunted, salt-soaked cottage off the Maine coast where she begins to paint again.
• The Silver Boat (2011) – The portrait of three far-flung sisters who come home to Martha’s Vineyard one last time. Their mother’s beach house is the only place any of them ever found true happiness and they need to begin the difficult process of letting go. Memories of their grandmother, mother and their Irish father, who sailed away the year Dar turned 12, rise up and expose the fine cracks in their family myth – especially when a cache of old letters reveals enough truth to send them back to their ancestral homeland.
• Little Night (2012) – Clare Burke’s life took a devastating turn when she tried to protect her sister, Anne, from an abusive and controlling husband and ended up serving prison time for assault. The verdict largely hinged on Anne’s defense of her spouse-all lies-and the sisters have been estranged ever since. Nearly twenty years later, Clare is living a quiet life in Manhattan as an urban birder and nature blogger, when her niece, Grit, turns up on her doorstep.

• The Lemon Orchard (2013) – In the five years since Julia last visited her aunt and uncle’s home in Malibu, her life has been turned upside down by her daughter’s death. She expects to find nothing more than peace and solitude as she house-sits with only her dog, Bonnie, for company. But she finds herself drawn to the handsome man who oversees the lemon orchard. Roberto expertly tends the trees, using the money to support his extended Mexican family. What connection could these two people share? The answer comes as Roberto reveals the heartbreaking story of his own loss – a pain Julia knows all too well, but for one striking difference: Roberto’s daughter was lost but never found. And despite the odds, he cannot bear to give up hope.
• The Secret Language of Sisters (2016) – When Ruth Ann (Roo) McCabe responds to a text message while she’s driving, her life as she knows it ends. The car flips, and Roo winds up in a hospital bed, paralyzed. Silent. Everyone thinks she’s in a coma, but Roo has locked-in syndrome — she can see and hear and understand everything around her, but no one knows it. She’s trapped inside her own body, screaming to be heard. Mathilda (Tilly) is Roo’s sister and best friend. She was the one who texted Roo and inadvertently caused the accident. Now, Tilly must grapple with her overwhelming guilt and her growing feelings for Roo’s boyfriend, Newton — the only other person who seems to get what Tilly is going through. But Tilly might be the only person who can solve the mystery of her sister’s condition — who can see through Roo’s silence to the truth underneath. Somehow, through medicine or miracles, will both sisters find a way to heal?
• The Beautiful Lost (2017) – Here are three things to know about Maia:1. Ever since her mother left, Maia’s struggled with depression — which once got so bad, that she had to go to an institution for a while. She doesn’t want to go back.2. Maia’s sure that if she finds her mother, if the two of them can talk about whale songs and constellations, then everything will be okay again.3. She’s in love with Billy, the handsome, brooding boy who lives in the group home in town. He doesn’t seem to know that Maia exists… until now.

• Pretend She’s Here (2019) – Emily Lonergan’s best friend died last year. And Emily hasn’t stopped grieving. Lizzie Porter was lively, loud, and fun — Emily’s better half. Emily can’t accept that she’s gone. When Lizzie’s parents and her sister come back to town to visit, Emily’s heartened to see them. The Porters understand her pain. They miss Lizzie desperately, too. Desperately enough to do something crazy.Something unthinkable.Suddenly, Emily’s life is hurtling toward a very dark place — and she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to return to what she once knew was real.
• Last Day (2020) – Years ago, Beth Lathrop and her sister Kate suffered what they thought would be the worst tragedy of their lives the night both the famous painting Moonlight and their mother were taken. The detective assigned to the case, Conor Reid, swore to protect the sisters from then on. Beth moved on, throwing herself fully into the art world, running the family gallery, and raising a beautiful daughter with her husband Pete. Kate, instead, retreated into herself and took to the skies as a pilot, always on the run. When Beth is found strangled in her home, and Moonlight goes missing again, Detective Reid can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.
• The Shadow Box (2021) – After artist Claire Beaudry Chase is attacked and left for dead in her home on the Connecticut coast, she doesn’t know who she can trust. But her well-connected husband, Griffin-who is running for governor-is her prime suspect. Just before the attack, Claire was preparing for an exhibit of her shadow boxes, one of which clearly accuses Griffin of a violent crime committed twenty-five years ago. If the public were to find out who her husband is, his political career would be over. Claire’s certain her husband and his powerful supporters would kill her to stop the truth from getting out.

• Last Night (2023) – A fierce blizzard is burying the eastern seaboard, but on the icy Rhode Island shore renowned artist Maddie Morrison finds warm sanctuary from a contentious divorce at the legendary Ocean House. Hours later, her body is found buried under a blanket of snow and her little daughter, CeCe, has disappeared without a trace.
• If Anything Happens to Me (2024) – It’s been eight months since the body of Eloise Parrish was found in the woods. Eloise’s surviving sister, Oli, is numb with grief and shock. But Oli’s also angry. Her sister’s killer was never identified or caught. There are no leads, no clues. The case is growing cold, and only Oli seems to care. Until Oli finds another girl left for dead, in the exact spot Eloise’s body was found. Except this girl is alive. She can’t remember how she got there, but Oli knows that she’s the key to solving Eloise’s murder. The two girls join forces to unravel a mystery that is all too real — and all too dangerous.

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