Independence Island Contemporary Romance Series
Welcome to the Independence Islands page, where you can stay up to date with fun giveaways, background information and lots more about each of the books in this fun contemporary series -which includes my first published contemporary novel, Restoring Fairhaven (now available!)
This month's release: Finding a Memory by Chautona Havig
He loved her then. Will she love him now?
When Mallory Barrows finds an old diary in a box of books, the story she finds within sends her on the hunt for the owner–and maybe more.
Theirs is a story ripped from a country song. A wedding, a former love presumed dead, her new love stepping aside. And over forty years later, their story is one few remember.
With Mallory determined to find the people in the pages of that diary, one couple is offered the second chance of a lifetime.
This “second-chance / seasoned romance” novel introduces the next island in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.
The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.
Buy your copy of Finding a Memory at Amazon.com
You can also enter the giveaway to win an ebook of Finding a Memory here AND a $5 Amazon gift card. How fantastic is that?
Visit all the blogs and enter the giveaways & find out each author's posts about best friends with the authors of the Independence Islands series.
Listen to 'The Horses' here
What song chokes you up?
Hmm. I've never really been a 'this is our song' kind of girl.
But one song that means a lot to us Aussies is Daryl Braithwaite's cover of 'The Horses.' Apparently this is one of THE most requested songs at Australian wedding receptions, and when played at sporting events, entire stadiums will burst into song.
For me, its release in 1990 came during those crucial years when I was a teenager, something which took on a surprising twist two decades later when I was teaching high school and my year 11 class LOVED to sing this song too.
Who knew a song about loss and growing up and support would still prove so popular 30 years after its release? Regardless, it's a song that Aussies around the world will sing almost like an unofficial national anthem - and one I love to sing too.
RESTORING FAIRHAVEN ~ now available
Samantha Green of Greener Gardens gets more than she bargained for when she is employed to restore the overgrown gardens of the estate owned by a reclusive writer, whose romances about unrequited love have become bestsellers and movies, despite never having a happy ending. New to this role, Sam is determined to succeed, despite facing challenges with the business and her family.
Max Fairhaven just wants to be left alone. But the green-thumbed intruder to his island hideaway is stubborn, and her quick wits and sunny disposition
soon get under his skin. Between banter and garden renovation she gradually brings some much needed life to this widower, as he begins to engage with the real world.
Can happily-ever-afters be found in real life as well as fiction?
REGAINING MERCY ~ now available
A mother ready to do anything for her son. A man determined to win the woman he loves.
Going on Love at First Glance had seemed like such a good idea. She didn’t care about finding Mr. Right. Mindy Murray chose the reality TV show for more mercenary reasons. A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do when it comes to feeding her son.
When Mindy returns to Elnora, the girl from the “wrong side of the island” just wants a chance to rebuild her reputation. Too bad the folks at church don’t practice what the preacher preaches.
Enter Dermott Reilly. The interim boss at Greener Gardens has always had a soft spot for Mindy and her son, but with his new responsibilities and an important garden contest, he finds it difficult to prove himself to her. A tropical storm and a missing child prove that sometimes grace appears in the most unusual ways.
RECLAIMING HOPE ~ Coming December 7, 2021
Opposites attract - but can they last?
Callie Steele might be a bit… focused on work, but despite what her employers say, she enjoys her well-ordered, productive life. When she’s sent to meet the owners of an estate requiring post-hurricane landscaping, Callie meets their son, Kai Brody, a super-chilled pro surfer, who is as opposite from her as they come.
Though initially smitten, Callie knows a relationship with Kai is a bad idea—a very bad idea. Kai, however, can’t help but be intrigued by someone who challenges him to make something of his life again. He’s determined to pursue her, if she’ll give him half a chance.
The more time they spend together, negotiating the challenges of work, illness, and family, the more their opposing outlooks clash and connect. What do these unlikely friends really want from life? Kai and Callie must consider if such complete opposites have enough in common to make a relationship last.
REBUILDING HEARTS - Out June 28, 2022
Who knew a bank robbery could show a girl that good guys still exist?
Tim Franklin. Quiet, shy, almost incapable of speaking to a girl, and a budding horticulturist. Oh, and he survived a bank robbery five years ago, not to mention its resulting trauma.
Bookworm Bella Dwyer just wants to feel safe, and Tim’s actions during the robbery made her believe there might be guys who live up to her fictional heroes. Trouble is, a chance with Tim seems as remote as this year’s celebrity heartthrob. Instead, she settled for a relationship with a guy who’s commitment-phobic.
So when Bella encounters Tim on tiny Sparrow Island, the challenges of her past and present collide, and she questions whether there really is a future with a man who can't commit. In a leap of faith, Bella dumps her boyfriend, even before shy-guy Tim can make a move. But in wanting to live by faith and conquer fear, has she made the right choice, or are her hopes for freedom and a future destined to fail?
My Garden >
I suppose it was inevitable that my Independence Islands books would focus on gardening. Anyone who knows me knows I love gardens - perhaps that's partly due to the fact that I'm married to a horticulturalist. When we moved into our house our garden was very bare. Over the past twenty years my hubby has planted many decorative and useful plants, including a pear tree with over twenty different varieties grafted on it!
Australian plants >
These are just a sample of some of the flowers, trees and plants you can find here in Australia
Gardens Around the World >
I've been very fortunate to visit a number of gardens in interesting parts of the world. In England, many of the grand estates have equally fascinating gardens and grounds to explore. My husband worked at Lyme Park, the setting of the 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy)! Poison gardens are another fascinating thing to explore, as have been gardens in the US, Canada, New Zealand and closer to home.
If you enjoy looking at pictures of plants, flowers and gardens, then please follow me on Instagram, where I regularly post pictures of what's growing in my garden, as well as fabulous pictures from my travels - in addition to my bookish posts, too.
Follow me on Instagram at @carolynmillerauthor