Lowcountry Romance Books in Order

The Lowcountry Romance series is Hauck’s love letter to coastal South Carolina. Set primarily in and around Beaufort, these three novels follow different heroines whose lives intersect through friendships, churches, and a quaint cafe on the marsh.

Sweet Caroline introduces Caroline Sweeny, a people‑pleasing waitress who has spent years putting her own dreams on hold. When her boss unexpectedly leaves her the worn‑down Frogmore Cafe, she suddenly owns a landmark she never asked for. At the same time, an offer to work overseas and the return of an old boyfriend pull her in opposite directions. The story tracks Caroline as she weighs loyalty to friends and community against the call to finally choose a life for herself.

Love Starts with Elle shifts the spotlight to Elle Garvy, an artist and gallery owner who seems to be living a charmed life in Beaufort. She is engaged to a rising pastor and surrounded by friends, yet cracks show when his ambitions uproot her from the coast and then falter. Left heartbroken, Elle returns to her creekside cottage just as widowed New York lawyer Heath McCord and his young daughter move in as long‑term renters. The slow, sometimes awkward friendship that grows between them forces both to confront grief and redefine what a future might look like.

Dining with Joy adds a splash of humor and food‑show drama. Joy Ballard has inherited her father’s regional cooking program and its loyal fan base, but she has a secret: she cannot actually cook. When a national network picks up the show and producers bring in real chef Luke Redmond as a co‑host, Joy’s carefully managed image starts to wobble. Public embarrassment, romantic sparks, and family tension push her to ask where her worth really comes from and whether honesty could be more freeing than success.

Although each book features a different lead couple, the Lowcountry itself acts like a recurring character. Spanish moss, shrimp boils, and sandbars show up alongside church suppers and front‑porch conversations. Roz, Pastor Jeremiah, and other side characters weave in and out, giving longtime readers the sense of dropping back into the same circle of friends.

These stories sit somewhere between romance and women’s fiction. The love interests matter, but so do questions about calling, vocation, and what it means to listen for God in the middle of job offers, broken engagements, and televised failures. Readers who like gentle Southern settings, ensemble casts, and heroines who are allowed to wrestle with real‑life choices will feel at home here.