Treading Water

Marking Time continues the story begun in Treading Water as Clare Harrington begins a new life. Shes Marking Time continues the story begun in Treading Water as Clare Harrington begins a new life. Shes considered a miracle, but everything thats happened since she recovered from a three-year coma has been something less than miraculous. Now left to grapple with the aftermath of a selfless decision, she is home from the hospital and trying to figure out what the next chapter in her miraculous recovery has in store for her. Meanwhile, her eighteen-year-old daughter Kate, a talented singer and songwriter, sets out to pursue her musical dreams in Nashville. Her parents have agreed to allow Kate to spend a year there, but they couldn't have anticipated Kate falling in love with a much older man. Her newly divorced parents are forced back together to confront their wayward daughter. Spanning from Newport, Rhode Island, to Nashville, Tennessee, to Stowe, Vermont, "Marking Time" is the story of new beginnings and new loves.

In a drunken stupor, Brandon O'Malley frightens his brother Aidan's girlfriend, enraging his brother and the rest of his family. Aidan offers Brandon the choice of rehab or jail, and Brandon reluctantly enters treatment. While in rehab, he confronts the lifetime of secrets and resentments that fueled his spiral into alcoholism, and these revelations have a major effect on his entire family. When he returns home expecting to resume his supervisory role in the familys construction business, Brandon learns his father has retired and put his younger brothe, Colin,r in charge. Brandon is unhappy to be given the job of renovating an apartment building where he loses his heart to an adorable five-year-old tenant named Mike. After he falls hard for Michaela, Brandon becomes involved with her mother Daphne, who is running from a past that will later test his sobriety and his mettle as a man.

The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 4 Since he won the Academy Award for best original screenplay a few years ago, Grant McCarthy's personal and professional lives have fallen apart. Abby, the woman he was supposed to marry, is engaged to someone else, and Grant is back at home on Gansett Island helping to run the family marina business while his father recovers from a serious injury. While all Grant's focus should be on winning back the love of his life, pesky Stephanie, who runs the marina restaurant, is working her way under his skin and into his bed. As Tropical Storm Hailey cuts off Gansett Island from the mainland, Grant suspects Stephanie is hiding something big from her past. When he finds out what it is, what will be more important to him? Winning Abby back or helping Stephanie to right a terrible wrong?

The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 5 All her life, Grace Ryan was the fat girl. Taunted and teased and ignored by her peers, she tried every diet ever invented to no avail. Desperate to change her life as her twenties slipped away, she decided it was time for drastic measures and had lap-band surgery. More than a year later, she's lost 130 pounds and is venturing into the dating world for the first time. During a boat trip to Gansett Island with the new guy in her life, Grace refuses to have sex with him and finds herself abandoned without a dollar to her name at McCarthy's Gansett Island Marina. At home for the summer awaiting the launch of his debut CD, music star-in-the-making Evan McCarthy is performing at the Tiki Bar when he notices Grace looking lost in a sea of happy people. Evan comes to her aid and quickly finds himself smitten. But the last thing Grace needs after all shes been through is a guy who doesn't do relationships. Will Evan change his ways to win Grace's heart?

The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 3 For four of the best summers of his young life, Luke Harris was in love with Sydney Donovan, a wealthy seasonal visitor to Gansett Island. Then Sydney went off to college and never came back. She married another man and had two children while Luke remained on the island, working at McCarthy's Gansett Marina and wondering what had gone wrong between him and the only woman he ever loved. Fifteen months after Sydney suffers the tragic loss of her husband and children, she's returned to Gansett to figure out what's next, and that may very well be a rekindled love affair with the one man from her past shes never forgotten. But is she ready for a second chance at love?

His idea of permanence is the VW van that takes him from one gig to the next. . .Owen Lawry has made a living as a traveling musician and enjoys his footloose and fancy free lifestyle. But after meeting Laura McCarthy and helping her to land the job as manager of his grandparents' hotel on Gansett Island, Owen decides there's something to be said about a roof over his head and a warm, sexy woman in his bed.Laura, a newlywed who discovered that her husband never quit dating, came to Gansett for her cousin's Janey's wedding, but ended up staying after she met Owen and took on the renovations to the dilapidated Sand & Surf Hotel.As Owen and Laura's attraction simmers during months of close proximity, they form a tight bond that will be tested when her estranged husband refuses to grant her a divorce. As summer turns to autumn and Laura and Owen take baby steps toward love, favorite characters from past Gansett Island stories continue to live their happily ever afters.With the McCarthys of Gansett Island, Marie Force makes you believe in the power of true love and happily ever after. Over and over again. Carly Phillips, NY Times Bestselling Author of the Serendipity series

The story left unfinished at the end of Marking Time picks up ten years later when Kate Harrington goes after the man she left behind when she set out to chase her dream of music superstardom. Now she has everything she ever wanted, except for the one thing she can't live without. What will Reid say when she shows up unannounced in St. Kitts, looking to reclaim their lost love? And what will Jack, Kate's father, say when he hears she's gone back to her first love, a man Jack once considered a friend? And what do you think will happen when Jill Harrington, Kate's sister, attorney and manager, faces off with Ashton Matthews, Reid's son, the same man who made life miserable for Kate many years ago? The sparks will fly when the Harrington, Matthews and O'Malley families gather in Nashville for a Christmas none of them will ever forget!

While Coming Home is a stand-alone story, you will enjoy it more if you read Treading Water, Marking Time first and Starting Over first.

The Treading Water Series
Book 1: Treading Water
Book 2: Marking Time
Book 3: Starting Over
Book 4: Coming Home

"Treading Water is a definite must read! Treading Water creates an emotional firestorm within the reader. It shines the light on the good and the bad in life and proves that one moment can change everything and it's never too late to find love. Marie Force grabbed my heart and squeezed every ounce of emotion out of it but most importantly her monumental story left me blissful. Treading Water may be fiction but it gives me hope; hope in everyday people and happily ever after. I cannot wait for the next book in this trilogy, Marking Time."
– Joyfully Reviewed, a "Recommended Read" for November 2011!

"Treading Water isn't your typical romance where you're positive you're going to get the happy ending you were hoping for at the beginning. It will rip your heart out at times and having you weeping for joy at others. A stunning story about learning to love again and learning when to let go to those you love."
– Night Owl Reviews, Reviewer Top Pick

As with any Marie Force book, you are immediately immersed in this storyline and connect with the characters. Once you start, you are hard pressed to put this down and you're smiling or holding your breath through all their ups and down. Another excellent read! —Marking Time, A Reviewer Top Pick at Night Owl Reviews

Marie Force has worked her magic once again with Marking Time.
– Joyfully Reviewed, A Recommended Read

Even as I sit here a day after finishing Starting Over I have happy tears in my eyes thinking about how this trilogy ended. Hat's off to you Ms. Force for creating a stunning masterful trilogy that I will be recommending to everyone!
– Joyfully Reviewed, A Recommended Read

"The finale to the Treading Water trilogy was an enchanting lesson in ensuring a low point in your life doesn't define the person you become. It is wonderfully written with characters that envelope you in their world. This book is an excellent ending to a series of books that truly pulled at my heartstrings." Starting Over, A Reviewer Top Pick, Night Owl Reviews

Back from their honeymoon, Senator Nick Cappuano and D.C. Police Lieutenant Sam Holland are ready for some normalcy after the whirlwind of their wedding, but someone has other plans for them. When Sam discovers wedding cards containing thinly veiled death threats, she's not sure if she or Nick is the target.

Already on edge, Sam and her team start investigating a series of baffling murders. The victims are well-liked with no known enemies, and the murders are carried out in a clean and efficient manner. Unable to find a clear motive for the deaths, she feels like she's chasing her tail.

With no obvious connection between the victims, Sam soon suspects that she may be the ultimate prize in the killer's clever game. When the danger starts to hit a little too close to home, she has two goals: find the elusive murderer and manage to live long enough to enjoy her happily-ever-after.

Book 4 of the Fatal series.

98,000 words

She looked into the dead face of the man she'd dined with the night before

Standing over the body of a Supreme Court nominee, Lieutenant Sam Holland is hip-deep in another high-profile murder case. The fact that she was one of the last people to see Julian Sinclair alive just complicates things even more. On the plus side, her relationship with Senator Nick Cappuano is heating up-but it's also attracting a lot of unwanted media attention and blinding flash bulbs.

The pressure is on for Sam to find Sinclair's killer, but a new lead in her father's unsolved shooting puts her in unexpected danger. When long-buried secrets threaten to derail her relationship with Nick, Sam realizes that while justice can be blind, mixing romance with politics has the potential to be fatal...

Book 2 of the Fatal Series by USA TODAY bestselling author Marie Force

94,000 words