The Beach Cottage Books in Order

The Beach Cottage series is a compact, two-book arc that zooms in on a single marriage set against the Connecticut shore. Instead of chronicling a whole community over many volumes, these linked novellas focus on Mack and Avery Martinelli and the way one tucked-away cottage shapes the course of their life together.

In The Beach Cottage, Mack brings Avery to his family’s shingled cottage by the sea for what should be a perfect honeymoon week. The choice is symbolic as much as practical: the cottage sits on a quiet stretch overlooking Long Island Sound, reached by dusty beach roads and surrounded by dune grass. Here they can nap on the deck, wander the shoreline, or lose track of time as gulls wheel overhead.

At first, every decision is theirs to make—whether to go out or stay in, to explore or simply watch the tide come and go. That freedom feels expansive, a blank page at the start of their married life. But an unexpected shift upends those easy plans. Faced with a sudden change neither of them saw coming, Mack and Avery are left to confront not only the future they imagined, but also the fault lines already running through their relationship.

The follow-up, Back to the Beach Cottage, returns to the same place in a very different season. Years have passed, it is winter now, and the drive down the nearly hidden road feels heavier. Mack steers his truck through a snowy New England landscape, trees frosted white and the sky early-dark, finally ready to bring everything that happened back into the open.

That return trip is as much emotional as physical. The cottage holds memories of joy and of fracture, and walking through its rooms again means looking honestly at what was lost, what might still be salvaged, and what love looks like after the first bright summer fades. Snow, salt air and silence become part of the conversation between husband and wife.

Together, the two novellas create an intimate portrait of a couple at a crossroads, told through the lens of a single beloved place in two different seasons. Readers familiar with DeMaio’s Seaside Saga will recognize the coastal Connecticut setting, but the Beach Cottage books stand alone, offering a shorter, more concentrated read.

For those who like stories about marriage under pressure, or who want a quick visit to the shore without committing to a long series, The Beach Cottage and Back to the Beach Cottage make a natural pair. Read back-to-back, they trace how one week at the water’s edge can echo for years, and how returning to the scene—with all its beauty and ghosts—can open the door to a different kind of future.