Fortunate Harbor »

Join five women connected only by their growing friendship and the road that runs like a lifeline between their cottages in a run-down Florida development called Happiness Key.

Tracy Deloche finally gets a chance to swap business for a romantic evening with Marsh Egan, but dinner goes cold when she spots her ex-husband prowling outside her cottage. CJ is supposed to be in prison and out of her life for good. Exactly what is this modern-day pirate seeking and what will it mean for Tracy's future?

Janya Kapur envies every pregnant woman she sees, but Rishi, her husband, is suddenly reluctant to talk about children. Is he disappointed in her inability to conceive? Their marriage was a contract between strangers. Can they ever hope for anything more?

Waitress Wanda Gray loses her job after new owners turn the Dancing Shrimp into a tapas bar. Wise neighbor Alice Brooks's suggestion that Wanda start her own business seems like a brilliant solution, until Wanda starts Pie War I with the owners of the local bakery.

When the empty cottage at Happiness Key is rented by single mother Dana Turner, everything seems perfect. With Alice volunteering to watch Dana's daughter while she works and Wanda's offer of a job, this spit of Florida Gulf Coast land should be a fortunate harbor for a mother and daughter who have moved far too often. Except for Dana's shocking secret.

As the women of Happiness Key struggle to discover the truth in time to help their new neighbor, their only weapon is friendship. But will friendship be enough?

Publishers Weekly

A juicy, sprawling beach read with a suspenseful twist, Richards’s sunny sequel to Happiness Key reveals the next life step for Tracy Deloche and her tenant friends in Florida. The group of seaside cottages are the only asset Tracy retained after her ex-husband, CJ Craimer, landed in prison because of some shady business dealings. The former Bel-Air trophy wife now works at a recreation center while treasuring her support system: Rishi and Janya Kapur, a young Indian-American couple trying to have a baby; pie maker entrepreneur Wanda and cop husband Ken Gray; Alice Brook and her granddaughter, Olivia Symington; plus secretive newcomers Dana Turner and her daughter, Lizzie, who dish up a poignant mystery for Tracy and friends to solve. When CJ unexpectedly shows up, wanting to reconnect after he’s released from prison pending a new trial, Tracy ponders giving him a second chance. But then there’s Marsh Egan, her off/on environmentalist boyfriend whose troublemaking ex, Sylvia, is also back in town. Secrets, friendships, and the Florida gulf coast all come into play in Richards’s engaging latest. (July)