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Shores of Indian Lake Books in Order

Part ofCatherine Lanigan Books in Order

See the Shores of Indian Lake books in order by Catherine Lanigan, with short summaries, series background, and an easy guide to where to start.

Last updated: July 12, 2026

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Shores of Indian Lake books in publication order

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13 books

1

Heart's Desire

by Catherine Lanigan

2014

Cafe owner Maddie Strong finally has her future mapped out, until former sweetheart Nate Barzonni comes home eleven years after breaking her heart. His return forces her to choose between the life she's built and the love she thought was over.

2

Love Shadows

by Catherine Lanigan

2014

Widower Luke Bosworth is stuck in grief and barely keeping his family together when Sarah Jensen crashes into his life. Both are carrying loss, and both have to decide whether love is worth risking again.

3

The Sweetest Heart

by Catherine Lanigan

2014

Maddie Strong is ready to grow her cupcake business until her first love, Nate Barzonni, returns to Indian Lake after years away. Torn between the life she's building and the man she never forgot, Maddie has a hard choice ahead.

4

A Fine Year for Love

by Catherine Lanigan

2015

Liz Crenshaw lives for her family's vineyard and has every reason to distrust Gabe Barzonni. When Gabe starts circling both her land and her heart, old warnings and new attraction make for a stubborn, slow-burning clash.

5

Katia's Promise

by Catherine Lanigan

2015

Chicago insurance ace Katia Stanislaus heads to Indian Lake to win a reclusive millionaire as a client, and finds her first love instead. Austin McCreary may still matter far too much for this deal to stay strictly business.

6

Fear of Falling

by Catherine Lanigan

2016

Olivia is drawn to Rafe Barzonni, but his link to horse racing stirs painful memories of her father's gambling addiction. The more she tries to keep her distance, the harder it is to ignore what she feels.

7

Sophie's Path

by Catherine Lanigan

2016

ER nurse Sophie Mattuchi can't forget the night Jack Carter lost his friend, or the blame he puts on her. Anger, guilt and attraction collide as both try to figure out what really happened and what comes next.

8

Family of His Own

by Catherine Lanigan

2017

Scott Abbott has loved Isabelle Hawks for years, but her growing art career keeps pulling her away from Indian Lake. As Scott starts thinking about home and family, both must decide whether friendship is enough.

9

His Baby Dilemma

by Catherine Lanigan

2017

Grace Railton returns from Paris with life-changing news for Mica Barzonni, he is a father. Still recovering from a devastating accident, Mica sees a chance to build the family he wants, if he can persuade Grace to stay.

10

Protecting the Single Mom

by Catherine Lanigan

2017

Cate Sullivan built a safe life in Indian Lake for herself and her young son, until her dangerous ex-husband resurfaces. Detective Trent Davis wants to protect them, but both carry secrets that make trust hard.

11

Rescued by the Firefighter

by Catherine Lanigan

2018

When a fire tears through her children's camp, Beatrice Wilcox is saved by firefighter Rand Nelson. His help may also threaten the camp she loves, leaving them to balance attraction, risk and a future neither planned for.

12

Hers to Protect

by Catherine Lanigan

2019

Police officer Violet Hawks arrests a speeding celebrity and discovers he may be tied to a local investigation. Josh Stevens is charming, but as sparks fly, Violet has to decide whether her instincts or her heart can be trusted.

13

Home for Christmas

by Catherine Lanigan

2019

Joy Boston returns to Indian Lake to sell her grandfather's beloved poinsettia greenhouse and finds old feelings waiting for her. Widowed dad Adam Masterson wants a second chance before Christmas, if Joy can imagine a future back home.

Shores of Indian Lake books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Love Shadows"

    Love Shadows

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2014Shores of Indian Lake, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "The Sweetest Heart"

    The Sweetest Heart

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2014Shores of Indian Lake, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Heart's Desire"

    Heart's Desire

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2014Shores of Indian Lake, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "A Fine Year for Love"

    A Fine Year for Love

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2015Shores of Indian Lake, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Katia's Promise"

    Katia's Promise

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2015Shores of Indian Lake, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Fear of Falling"

    Fear of Falling

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2016Shores of Indian Lake, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Sophie's Path"

    Sophie's Path

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2016Shores of Indian Lake, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Protecting the Single Mom"

    Protecting the Single Mom

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2017Shores of Indian Lake, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Family of His Own"

    Family of His Own

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2017Shores of Indian Lake, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "His Baby Dilemma"

    His Baby Dilemma

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2017Shores of Indian Lake, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Rescued by the Firefighter"

    Rescued by the Firefighter

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2018Shores of Indian Lake, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Hers to Protect"

    Hers to Protect

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2019Shores of Indian Lake, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Home for Christmas"

    Home for Christmas

    by Catherine Lanigan

    2019Shores of Indian Lake, Book 13

Series background & context

Shores of Indian Lake is Catherine Lanigan's small-town romance series set in northwestern Indiana, in and around an imagined lake community inspired by La Porte. These are clean contemporary romances, but they are also town stories. Each book focuses on a different couple while the wider community keeps expanding around them.

Indian Lake is full of people with history. Cafe owners, vineyard families, nurses, police officers, firefighters, farmers and single parents keep crossing each other's paths. The Barzonni family threads through many of the books, but so do the Hawks, the Strongs and other longtime locals whose friendships, feuds and family ties give the series its shape.

This is a series that likes second chances.

Some of the romances begin with reunions, especially Heart's Desire, where old love comes back at the worst possible time. Others begin in upheaval: grief, professional pressure, family trouble or real danger. A widower who thinks he is done with love, a woman hiding from a dangerous ex, a camp director and the firefighter who saves her, a police officer and a celebrity outsider, all get stories that mix attraction with the slower work of trust.

The setting matters as much as the plots. Lanigan uses the rhythms of a Midwestern town, its local businesses, vineyards, farms, greenhouses and lakeside routines, to make the romances feel lived in. Even when there is suspense on the page, the tone stays warm and hopeful rather than bleak. These are books where community still means something, and where people notice when a neighbor is struggling.

You can read the novels one at a time, because each love story stands on its own. But the series is more satisfying in order. Supporting characters keep returning, background tensions deepen, and the emotional payoffs land harder when you have watched the town grow book by book. Indian Lake starts to feel less like a setting and more like a place with its own memory.

It starts to feel like somebody's hometown, even if it isn't yours.

One extra note for Hallmark viewers: Heart's Desire was adapted into the movie The Sweetest Heart. That makes sense, because the whole series is built around the same appeal, comfort, emotional honesty and the idea that people can come home, make better choices and try again.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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