Books by Marybeth Whalen

It's not the life she planned. Hopefully it's much better . . .

A surprise gift from her late husband will give a young widow the chance to do the hardest thing in the world . . . move on.On their honeymoon, the new Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Shaw made a pact: No matter the sacrifices along the way, one day they would return to Sunset Beach, North Carolinathis time to buy their own home.But that dream was not to be. Seven years into a beautiful marriage, Emily is left a widow, heartbroken, and way past caring about anything.Until a man approaches her, claiming to have something left to her from Ryan. Something secret.Unsure if she can ever embrace a new life without her husband, but even less sure about continuing to stay where she is, Emily heads to the coast to keep her end of the promise she once made.Without delay, she becomes immersed in the lives of the locals, including the reclusive bridge tender with an unexpected past. As the community debates over building a new bridge, Emily must decide whether she will build a bridge of her own, one that will take her out of a painful past and into the new lifeand new lovethat her lost love made possible.

Twenty-five years after she began exchanging drawings with a mysterious boy in the guest book of a Carolina beach house, Macy Dillon is back at Sunset Beachthis time toting a hurting heart and a broken family. Questions of childhood, loss, and longing for love are explored in The Guest Book. When Macy Dillon was five years old her father encouraged her to draw a picture in the guestbook of a Carolina beach house. The next year, Macy returned to discover a drawing by an unidentified little boy on the facing page. Over the next eleven years the children continue to exchange drawings until tragedy ends visits to the beach house altogether. During her final trip to Sunset, Macy asks her anonymous friend to draw her one last picture and tells him where to hide the guest book in hopes that one day she will return to find itand him.Twenty-five years after that first picture, Macy is back at Sunset Beachthis time toting a broken family and a hurting heart. One night, alone by the ocean, Macy asks God to help her find the boy she never forgot, the one whose beautiful pictures touched something deep inside of her. Will she ever find him? And if she does, will the guestbook unite them or merely be the relic of a lost childhood?

Happily ever after begins today. The honor of your presence is requested at three summer weddings . . .A June Bride by Marybeth WhalenWynne Hardy never thought she'd get engaged on a reality TV show, but when she met Andy the two of them hit it off. Now he's asked her to marry him, and they're all set to wed on live TV in a seaside ceremony. But just as Wynne thinks all her dreams are coming true, her ex-boyfriend walks back into her life at the worst possible time. Steve broke her heart years ago, and she's still sorting through her feelings for him. Will Wynne go through with her televised wedding and be the perfect June bride the network is looking for?A July Bride by Beth WisemanIt was the happiest day of her life when Alyssa Pennington walked down the aisle to be united with the man of her dreams. But when Brendan left her at the altar, Alyssa was consumed by humiliation, embarrassment, and a broken heart that wouldn't allow her to trust anyone. Brendan Myers knows he will spend the rest of his life regretting what he did to Alyssa, the only woman he's ever loved. Now he plans to win her back. But winning back his bride might prove much more difficult than he can imagine.An August Bride by Debra CloptonAfter a cowboy broke her heart, Kelsey Wilcox traded in her boots for flip-flops and a bistro on the beautiful sandy beach of Corpus Christi. Two years later, still not believing in happy endings, she is about to endure a weekend of torture at her cousin's beach wedding. Brent Corbin has had his share of bad luck with women and isn't looking for love or looking forward to the weekend of wedding festivities as a groomsman for his friend, but his attention is instantly captured by Kelsey. Thrown together through the weekend and with the meddlesome encouragement from some matchmakers, Brent is determined to pursue Kelsey and change her mind about cowboys.