Judy Duarte (Cathy Lamb) Books in Order

The Judy Duarte and Cathy Lamb crossover section centers on collections where both authors share the stage. The best known of these is Almost Home, a four story anthology built around the idea of going back to the place you once left and finding out whether love is still waiting there.

In Cathy Lamb's Whale Island novella, a woman named Chalese returns to her family inn on a beautiful Pacific Northwest island. Family secrets, pushy relatives, and an unexpected revelation make her feel like a stranger in her own home, until she is forced to look more closely at the people around her and at the man she never quite forgot.

Judy Duarte's Queen of Hearts takes a different path to the same question. Advice columnist Jenn Kramer cannot imagine anything worse than her high school reunion until she locks eyes with Marcos, a once forgettable classmate who has grown into someone harder to ignore. Their story plays with old labels, new attraction, and the risk of rewriting the past.

Read together, the novellas show two sides of a second chance romance. Lamb leans into extended families, a crowd of side characters, and a heroine who has to wrestle with long simmering hurt. Duarte narrows the focus to two people in a familiar social minefield, surrounded by classmates who think they already know the ending.

On this page you will find reading order notes and background on these shared projects so you can decide whether to read only the Cathy Lamb stories, only the Judy Duarte pieces, or settle in and enjoy the full mix. However you approach them, these collaborations are designed for readers who like heartfelt, hopeful love stories about finally coming home.