By The Sea, Book Three: Laura (23 page)

The toboggan was six feet long; it would
certainly fit. Neil pulled on a jacket, then a thick hat and
gloves, all knit by Irene, and rushed out the door. In five seconds
he was back in again. "Mom! It's a
Saratoga
! They're the
best of the best! Wait until everyone sees it, I can't believe it,
it's just such a swell—
thanks
, Colin! I can't believe
it."

Back out he went, to try on his new toy.

"There goes the happiest kid in Newport,"
Laura said, warmed by his glee. "Did you drag that thing behind you
all the way up the coast?"

Up the coast, looking for them. For her. She
could see it in his eyes.

He laughed at the idea of it and said,
"Actually, I got it from a shop on Thames. I was slogging past in
the snow, saw it, and, well, hey. It had Neil's name all over
it."

Laura had no idea what he was actually
saying; she was simply absorbing his presence. Colin, in her house.
It was like Colin on her boat, only so much better. Blame it on the
stars and snowflakes and fairy dust still wafting around the
room.

"It's good to see you again, Colin," she
said softly. Overcome with emotion, she stood up and went to the
window and looked out at the falling snow, just to have something
to do.

"Good? Only good?
Laura
."

The way he said her name: they were on the
beach again, and she was walking away from him without looking
back, shaking her head.

This time, she turned around to him. "It's
incredibly wonderful to see you again, Colin."

He was three strides away. "And so the
answer is—?"

"Yes," she said, her voice catching. "The
answer is yes."

In his rush to have her in his arms, he set
the tree ornaments tinkling merrily against one another again, in a
sweet little ditty of pure hope and joy.

Coming in October, 2013:

BY THE SEA, Book Four: THE HEIRS

"A quality novel [that] contains many of
those little epiphanies, those moments of recognition."

—
Providence Journal

THE HEIRS is the dramatic conclusion to the
four-book series BY THE SEA.  Economic hard times are a
distant memory in high-flying, recent-day Newport, home of the
oldest and most prestigious trophy in the world, the Holy Grail of
sport—the America's Cup. Here, the descendants of Tess, Amanda and
Laura play out their destinies, their paths crossing in unforeseen
ways:  Mavis Moran, Neil Powers, his daughter Quinta, and
America's Cup skipper Alan Seton all find themselves caught in a
web of mystery, sabotage, and conflicting desires.

Select here
to read an
excerpt from BY THE SEA, Book Four: THE HEIRS.

A Charmed Place

"Buy this book! A truly fantastic read!"

—Suzanne Barr
,
Gulf Coast
Woman
USA TODAY
bestselling author Antoinette Stockenberg delivers
an original and wonderfully romantic story of two people -- college
lovers separated for twenty years -- who have the chance to be
happy together at last.  But family, friends, an ex-husband, a
teenaged daughter and an unsolved murder seem destined to keep the
lovers star-crossed, until Dan takes up residence in the Cape Cod
lighthouse, with Maddie's rose-covered cottage just a short walk
away ...

Select here
to read an excerpt from A CHARMED
PLACE.

Tidewater

"A spellbinding thriller that is both
intense and riveting."

—
Romantic Times
Newly married to a man of wealth and reputation who's very willing
to be stepfather to her child, Sara Bonniface would seem to have
all she's ever wanted. But her young daughter has other ideas,
embarking on a crusade to learn more about her birth father. And
that's where Sara's life begins to spin slowly out of control
....

Keepsake

"Deeply emotional … unforgettable"

—
amazon.com review
KEEPSAKE ... a postcard-perfect town in Connecticut. When
stonemason Quinn Leary returns after seventeen years, he has one
desire: to prove his father's innocence of a terrible crime
committed when Quinn and Olivia Bennett, town princess, were
high-school rivals. Class doesn't matter now but family loyalties
do, and they're fierce enough to threaten the newfound passion
between two equals.

A Month at the Shore

"An addictive, captivating story of love,
family and trust."

—
Romance Reviews Today
Laura Shore has fled her humble past on Cape Cod and made a name
for herself on the opposite coast. But when she returns and joins
forces with her two siblings to try to save Shore Gardens, the
failing family nursery, she finds that she hasn't left the past
behind at all. Kendall Barclay, the town's rich son and her
childhood knight in shining armor, lives there still, and his hold
over Laura is as strong as ever. Like a true knight, he's
attentive, courteous, and ready to help -- until a discovery is
made that threatens the family, the nursery, and Laura's deepening
relationship with him.

BY THE SEA, Book One: TESS

"A riveting saga/mystery."

--
Rave Reviews

From the wild decadence of late
nineteenth-century Newport comes the tale of Tess Moran, a
beautiful Irish housemaid in one of the grand summer "cottages,"
who makes a dark bargain with a man of commanding wealth — and
falls in love in the bargain.

BY THE SEA, Book Two: AMANDA

"A quality novel [that] contains many of
those little epiphanies, those moments of recognition."

—
Providence Journal

Marrying American money to an English title
is a tradition of its own; but Amanda Fain, a brash heiress with
money to burn, has a fondness for Bolsheviks and bootleg liquor
that makes her an unlikely match for the reluctant, ironic, and
impoverished English aristocrat Geoffrey Seton, who has been
ordered to America to find someone who can pay the bills for the
family estate back home.

Embers

"A deft blend of mystery and romance … sure
to win more kudos"

—
Publishers Weekly
To Meg Hazard, it seemed like a good idea at the time: squeezing
her extended family into the back rooms of their rambling Victorian
home and converting the rest of the house into a Bed and Breakfast
in the coastal town of Bar Harbor, Maine.  Paying guests are
most welcome, but the arrival of a Chicago cop on medical leave
turns out to be both good news and bad news for Meg and the Inn
Between.

Dream a Little Dream

"A truly wonderful modern fairy tale "

— Kristin Hannah,
New York Times
bestselling author

Three Generations Under One Turret
:
from bestselling author Antoinette Stockenberg comes a witty,
modern fairy tale of romance and family and ghostly star-crossed
lovers.

Beyond Midnight

"Full of charm and wit, Stockenberg's latest
is truly enthralling."

—
Publishers Weekly
In 1692, Salem, Massachusetts was the setting for the
infamous  persecution of innocents accused of
witchcraft.  Three centuries later, little has changed. 
Helen Evett, widowed mother of two and owner of a prestigious
preschool in town, finds her family, her fortunes, and her life's
work threatened —all because she feels driven to protect the sweet
three-year-old daughter of a man who knows everything about finance
but not so much about fathering.

Sand Castles

"A riveting story of selfishness, betrayal,
and love that readers will find hard to put down."

—
Library Journal
Wendy Hodene thinks she has it all: a charming husband, a great
kid, a house that she loves (even if it doesn't have enough closet
space), and family nearby. And then her husband manages to win a
multi-million-dollar lottery, kicking off a tidal wave that sweeps
all of her assumptions into the sea like castles in the sand. The
man she thinks she knows becomes a virtual stranger, and the
stranger she hardly knows at all is the reason why.

Beloved

"Richly rewarding … a novel to be
savored."

—
Romantic Times Magazine
A Nantucket cottage by the sea: the inheritance is a dream come
true for Jane Drew. Too bad it comes with a ghost —and a soulfully
seductive neighbor who'd just as soon boot Jane off the island.

Safe Harbor

"Complex … fast-moving …humorous …
tender"

—
Publishers Weekly
SAFE HARBOR. That's what Martha's Vineyard has always been for
Holly Anderson, folk artist, dreamer and eternal optimist. If she
could just afford to buy the house and barn she's renting, fall in
love, marry the guy and then have children as sweet as her nieces,
life would be pretty much perfect.

Poor Holly. She has so much to learn.

Emily's Ghost

RITA Award Winner

"Booksellers' recommended read."

—
Publishers Weekly
A showdown between a U.S. Senator (with a house on Martha's
Vineyard) who believes in ghosts and a reporter who doesn't. 
What could possibly go wrong?

Time After Time

"As hilarious as it is heart-tugging ... a
rollicking great read."

—
I'll Take Romance
In Gilded-Age Newport, an upstairs-downstairs romance between a
well-born son and a humble maid is cut short of marriage. A hundred
years later, the descendants of that ill-fated union seem destined
to repeat history. Or not.

USA Today bestselling novelist Antoinette
Stockenberg grew up wanting be a cowgirl and have her own horse
(her great-grandfather bred horses for the carriage trade back in
the old country), but the geography just didn't work out: there
weren't many ranches in Chicago. Her other, more doable dream was
to write books, and after stints as secretary, programmer, teacher,
grad student, boatyard hand, office manager and magazine writer (in
that order), she achieved that goal, writing over a dozen novels,
several of them with paranormal elements. One of them is the RITA
award-winning EMILY'S GHOST.

Stockenberg's books have been published in a
dozen languages and are often set in quaint New England harbor
towns, always with a dose of humor. She writes about complex family
relationships and the fallout that old, unearthed secrets can have
on them. Sometimes there's an old murder. Sometimes there's an old
ghost. Sometimes once-lovers find one another after half a lifetime
apart.

Her work has been compared to writers as
diverse as Barbara Freethy, Nora Roberts, LaVyrle Spencer and Mary
Stewart by critics and authors alike, and her novels have appeared
on bestseller lists in USA Today as well as the national bookstore
chains. Her website features sample chapters, numerous reviews,
many photos, and an enchanting Christmas section.

Visit her website at
antoinettestockenberg.com
to read sample chapters of all of her books.

THE HEIRS is the dramatic conclusion to the four-book series BY THE
SEA.  Economic hard times are a distant memory in high-flying,
recent-day Newport, home of the oldest and most prestigious trophy
in the world, the Holy Grail of sport—the America's Cup. Here, the
descendants of Tess, Amanda and Laura play out their destinies,
their paths crossing in unforeseen ways:  Mavis Moran, Neil
Powers, his daughter Quinta, and America's Cup skipper Alan Seton
all find themselves caught in a web of mystery, sabotage, and
conflicting desires.

Summer 1986

Men have no idea about ball gowns. They
think of them as dressy dresses, when every woman knows that a
proper ball gown is not clothing at all, but an extension of her
soul. Why else does a wealthy woman have her own couturier? The
designer is a high priest at her altar, striving to interpret the
ineffable. If her soul is blond, he will wrap her in blue. If her
soul is old-money, he will set off her pearls with simple satin.
One way or another, the couturier will make a wealthy woman's
special beauty shine forth.

Of course, other souls have to be happy with
ready-to-wear, and Neil Powers' daughter Quinta was one of them.
For one thing, there was not enough time to have a gown designed
and made for the
Pegasus
ball, even if her father did take
out a second mortgage. For another, she did not wish to rely on
someone to tell her what her best feature was, or what color suited
her, or which fabric was in vogue. So she set out, innocently
enough, with a hundred dollars in cash and at least one caveat in
mind: the gown must be long, even if it were made of
bed-sheeting.

Which, for one hundred dollars, she soon
found, was about all she could hope for. Anything she saw under
that price looked frilly and silly—a prom gown, not a ball gown.
She had a vague idea that a ball gown was different, that a ball
gown was grown-up. After hovering timidly in front of a Bellevue
Avenue shop window filled with dazzling, jeweled ensembles, Quinta
found the courage to step inside.

"Yes, ma'am. May I help you?"

"Ah, no. I'm just browsing," replied Quinta.
How dumb. You browsed at Sears and J. C. Penny, when there was
nothing to watch on TV. Here you tried on, and then you bought.

Still, Quinta went gamely through the
motions, sliding each beaded and bejeweled dress carefully along
the recessed rack, afraid almost to touch them, let alone ask to
try them on. Her worst fears were realized when a bright-blue
sequin came off one dress and stuck to the palm of her hand.
Horrified and feeling like a shoplifter, she dropped it inside the
neckline and kept looking. She thought it might be boorish to check
a price tag, but she did it anyway, unable to bear not knowing. Her
eyes widened. Eight hundred dollars. Well, she could see it. It was
a stunning dress, silver and black, wildly dramatic. When you
thought about the labor involved ... each little bead … even in
India, that had to add up.