Friday Harbor Books In Order

Publication Order of Friday Harbor Books

Friday Harbor is a series of romance novels authored by a bestselling American author of romance, literature and fiction books, Lisa Kleypas. The series is set in San Juan Island off the Washington State Coast and is centered on Nolan family. Lisa Kleypas began publication of Friday Harbor in 2010 when Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor the first book in the series was published. The series lasted four novels concluding in 2013 when Crystal
Cove was released.

In 2012, the first book in Friday Harbor series was adapted into a Canadian-American TV film by the name Christmas with Holly. The film was initially aired on ABC as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on 9th December 2012 and features Eloise Mumford starring as the main character.

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor

New York Times bestselling novelist Lisa Kleypas series debut novel kicks off during the most magical time of the year. At the age of six years, Holly lost her mom, Victoria in a tragic car crash and since then, the little girl has never said a single word to anyone. Because her mother is not around to take care of her anymore, Holly finds herself sent to live with her sexy but yet shy Uncle Mark Nolan who has no idea of how to take care of her niece. But soon a bonding between the two develops, and with time he learns of how to take care of Holly.

Later, Uncle Mark meetsa charming and optimistic woman named Maggie Conroy who had lost her husband to cancer a couple of months ago, and surprisingly, she and Holly seem to have a liking to each other. Could this be the beginning of a new friendship between the handsome Mark and the beautiful Maggie or will it their friendship sprout into love?

The first in Friday Harbor series is a brilliant and well woven contemporary romantic read. Lisa’s characterization is brilliantly done. The heroine of this story is Mark Nolan; a small business owner who has just had his life hit a giant rock in the road. Not only does his sister die in a grisly car accident but he has also been named as the guardian of his 6-year-old niece. But since raising such a young one in a one bedroom condo is nearly impossible, he moves in with his brother. To add to Mark’s misery, Holly has stopped talking to anyone in the wake of her mother’s deaths, and clearly, Marks has his hands full.

On the other hand, there is Maggie Conroy, a fellow small business owner in the small
island community of the coast of Seattle. Unlike Mark who was born and raised on the small island, she didn’t grow up there and only moved in a couple of months ago to start a toy store. She has decided to move someplace new to start fresh and afresh after her husband died. She is Mark’s opposite in quite many ways- but Mark is completely enthralled by her ability to instantaneously bond with Holly and coaxes her out of her silent shell. Additionally, Maggie is also drawn to Mark’s good looks and quiet calm even though she declares him off-limits since he is involved with someone else and she is not willing to risk her heart, especially after her husband’s death.

All of these make up a great set up for a tragic as well as the romantic story. The readers can clearly see how niminy-piminy Mark is worried of marriage and commitment especially after witnessing his parent’s controversial relationship would be attracted to the exotic toy store owner from a famous, big, happy family.

It makes sense however that Maggie finds herself drawn into to Mark. The author well-woven characters and the excellent plot makes this beautiful story come alive. The dynamics
between Maggie, Mark, and Holly is interesting. At first, it appears that Maggie would be the fairy godmother who would make everything right with Holly and Mark, but it turns out that Holly and Mark do a lot of healing for Maggie. Helping her recover from losing her husband, sworn off never to marry again and having kids of her own and is also afraid and believes that she has nothing to give.

If you need a book that will remind you why Christmas is more than just a marketing gimmick and hassle, but a wonderful time of the year to enjoy with family and friends then you will find that in this intriguing debut novel, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor.

Rainshadow Road

In the second book in Friday Harbor series, Lisa Kleypas introduces another of Nolan’s brother named Sam aka the geeky brother. He owns a local vineyard in San Juan Island and is the no strings attached type of man.

For some people, he is the best remedy for a broken heart, but unfortunately, that is not what Lucy wants at the moment. She suffers from the worst type of betrayal by two critical people in her life. Her fiancé, Kevin Pearson abandons her for another woman and adding insult to injury is the fact that the woman is her younger sister, Alice.

When Lucy’s parents disapprove Kevin’s relationship with Alice, Kevin calls in for a favor and request Sam to take Lucy out on a date. He and Alive are assured that Lucy would be happy on if she got over her bitterness which would then make their parents happy and approve their relationship. Sam finds a way into Lucy’s life, and steamy romance blossoms between the two despite Lucy’s initial hesitance in the beginning and Sam reluctance as things get “more strings attached.”

Lucy and Sam’s love story has Lisa Kleypas trademark all over it, fusing the both the sweet and not so sweet sides of life, the author manages to weave together two broken souls who find solace in one another and makes them whole.

What makes this story sweet is the fact that Kleypas adds in some small magical element into it. For example, Lucy can turn glass into living organisms such as fireflies. If you like contemporary romance novels, then Friday Harbor series by Lisa Kleypas is a series worth your time.