Why Newport, Rhode Island Is the Heart of My Coastal Escape Series

Some places become more than a setting. For me, Newport, Rhode Island became the emotional center of the Coastal Escape Series—a place where second chances, homecoming, and love feel completely at home.

With its historic streets, harbor views, ocean air, elegant mansions, winding coastal roads, and sunsets over the water, Newport has always felt like a place where stories could begin again. That made it the perfect home for my Coastal Escape Series, a collection of contemporary romances centered on second chances, homecoming, friendship, family, and finding your way back to what matters most.

A Setting That Feels Like Part of the Story

When I began writing Where the Tide Brings You Back, I knew I wanted Newport to be more than a beautiful backdrop.

I wanted readers to feel the harbor lights, the waterfront, the historic streets, and the rhythm of a coastal town where memories seem to linger around every corner.

For Harper Quinn, returning to Newport means returning to a place filled with history — including the history she shares with Luke Sullivan. Their second chance unfolds against a setting that constantly reminds them of the lives they once imagined and the choices that pulled them apart.

That connection between place and emotion became one of the foundations of the series.

Newport can feel romantic and nostalgic at the same time. It is a place that naturally lends itself to stories about returning home, confronting the past, and wondering whether something you thought was over might still have a future.

Why Second Chances Fit Newport So Well

Second-chance romance has always appealed to me because it asks an interesting question:

What happens when two people meet again after life has changed them?

It is not simply about rekindling an old relationship. It is about deciding whether two people who once mattered deeply to one another can build something new from everything that came before.

That theme runs through the Coastal Escape Series in different ways.

In Where the Tide Brings You Back, Harper returns to Newport and is forced to confront memories and feelings she believed she had left behind.

In When Newport Calls You Home, Lilia Bennett and Theo Callahan face their own complicated history while dealing with changes along Newport’s waterfront.

And in Where It Was All Along, the series continues with another story of love, loss, connection, and discovering that sometimes the life you are searching for may already be closer than you realize.

Each book stands on its own, but together they create a connected coastal world filled with familiar places, friendships, relationships, and characters whose lives continue beyond a single story.

Writing a Place I Know and Love

One of my favorite parts of writing the series is bringing real Rhode Island locations into the stories.

Newport offers endless inspiration — from Bowen’s Wharf and Thames Street to the Cliff Walk, Bellevue Avenue, the harbor, and the view of the Newport Bridge.

Readers who have visited Newport often tell me that they recognize the atmosphere and can picture themselves walking through the scenes.

For readers who have never been there, I hope the books provide a little escape — the feeling of spending time by the water, wandering through a historic coastal town, and becoming part of a community where everyone seems connected in some way.

That sense of place matters to me because Rhode Island is home.

The coastline, the changing seasons, the harbors, and the small communities throughout the state all influence the kinds of stories I want to tell.

Building the Coastal Escape World

When I wrote the first book, I did not simply want to tell one love story. I wanted to create a place readers might want to return to.

That is how the Coastal Escape Series began to grow.

Each new book introduces a different couple while keeping the larger world familiar. Characters cross paths. Friendships continue. Relationships evolve. Readers may finish one story while already wondering what is happening with someone they met along the way.

For me, that is part of the fun of writing a series.

The romance may belong to one couple, but the world around them keeps moving.

An Invitation to Escape to Newport

At its heart, the Coastal Escape Series is about people finding their way home — sometimes to a place, sometimes to another person, and sometimes to themselves.

If you enjoy heartfelt contemporary romance, second chances, slow-burn relationships, coastal settings, and stories filled with a strong sense of place, I hope you will visit Newport through the pages of the series.

Start with Where the Tide Brings You Back, continue with When Newport Calls You Home, and then return once more for Where It Was All Along.

Some memories fade with time.

Others return with the tide.

Learn more about the Coastal Escape Series at:
https://www.alisadumond.com