Porthkennack Books in Order

Garrett Leigh’s Porthkennack stories, now also linked under the Porth Ewan Bay banner, are set in a fictional Cornish seaside town where the wind is sharp, the sea is cold, and the locals carry more history than they let on. The books combine small‑town romance with themes of escape, recovery, and the quiet comforts of coastal life.

House of Cards begins with Calum Hardy, whose life has come apart at the seams after a brutal betrayal. With nowhere else to go, he boards a train heading south and lands in Cornwall almost by accident. At Truro station he runs into Brix Lusmoore, a tattoo artist and one of his oldest friends, who fled London years earlier with a secret he never had the courage to share. Their reunion leads Calum to Porth Ewan, where Brix owns a tattoo shop and has slowly built a new life.

Working side by side, the two men rebuild their friendship and face the simmering attraction they never dealt with in the past. The Cornish coast gives them space to breathe, but ghosts from London still tug at their heels. The book balances the solace of sea air and community with the hard work of facing trauma and mistrust.

Junkyard Heart follows Jas Manning, a photographer who has burnt out on the London grind and the heartbreak that came with it. He returns to Porth Ewan, where he spent his childhood summers, expecting quiet and a chance to reset. Instead he meets Kim Penrose, an artsy carpenter known locally for rescuing and repurposing the junk that washes up on the beach. Their chemistry is instant, but Kim’s history with addiction and Jas’s habit of self‑sabotage make anything lasting feel risky.

Over the course of renovations on Jas’s family farm and a new canteen project, their connection deepens into a relationship that has to withstand relapse scares, old patterns, and outside judgment. The sea and the town frame everything: storms rolling in, markets on blustery days, and the sense that everyone more or less knows everyone else’s business.

These books sit in a wider shared universe originally published under the Porthkennack name, but Leigh’s focus stays tight on her own characters. You will find hurt/comfort, tattoos, slow‑burn friends‑to‑lovers, and a strong sense of place. The town itself feels like a character, full of second chances for people who washed up there when they had nowhere else to go.