Madison Alcott was back in her hometown, caring for her sick mom and working long hours at the best resort in Laguna Beach. She never imagined she'd return to the place where she became famous on the hit reality TV show Laguna Nights, and the place where she was humiliated on national television. Fortunately, the past had stayed tucked away until her old high school boyfriend appeared in the lobby.

Josh Welsh was a superstar by age eighteen, the bad boy break-out star of Laguna Nights. Since then, his star had lost its shine and he barely was holding onto his Hollywood status. When he was asked to host a new reality travel show, he jumped at the chance. The only problem was the first episode was shooting in Laguna Beach. Of all the reasons Josh didn't want to return home, he hadn't even imagined the worst scenario: running into Madison "Holly" Alcott.

Josh's connection to Madison was still as strong as her anger at his betrayal. When the new reality series forces them together, they must face Laguna Nights past and present, and navigate a journey where nothing is as it seems. 

Laura Kinkaid’s glamorous Hollywood life is falling apart. After years of reality television stardom beginning in high school on Laguna Nights, her career and relationship with her long-term boyfriend Scott are fizzling.  Laura decides to go home to Laguna Beach for the weekend to attend a shower for her high school friend. That decision – and a car accident – will lead her to a new future if she’s ready to take a chance at love.

 

Paul Dorn’s former life in New York City is far behind him and he’s working in a popular Laguna Beach surf shop when fate brings the most beautiful woman he’s ever met into his life.  The attraction is instant and he has an overwhelming desire to protect her. While Paul’s retail sales career is a short-term job for market research purposes, his focus on Laura is long-term.

 

Will Laura allow a handsome stranger to help her create a future unlike her past or will the bright lights of Hollywood pull her back to LA?

 

 Phillip Kensington has been a lucky man. His wine business is booming, he’s engaged and about to marry a woman he thought he loved. But she has changed since he slipped the ring on her finger. When Amanda, a beautiful stranger needs his help, he jumps into action. In the process, she helps him realize his future must change.

Amanda Crown is suffocating under the bright spotlight of her mother’s dreams for her future. Running off the studio lot in Hollywood after a particularly embarrassing scene, Amanda meets the man of her dreams. And then his fiancée. Amanda decides it’s time to follow her dreams and make a big move, what she didn’t realize was her step toward her future would bring her back into Phillip’s world.

Will he be able to take the steps to make their dreams come true?

Once you're a star, can you trust other people’s intentions? 

Scott Cassidy has lived a blessed life. Growing up in Laguna Beach with a loving family, he was discovered in high school when he appeared on the popular reality TV show, Laguna Nights. Now cast as a doctor on the number one soap opera, his star keeps rising. Finally free from his long-term girlfriend, Scott isn’t looking for love, but when a popular dating app matches him with Jamie Kane, he can’t deny the sparks. But is she really everything she seems? 

Jamie Kane isn’t lucky in love or life. Her childhood was tumultuous with a single mom who moved to Hollywood for fame but ended up waiting tables in Malibu. Certainly not one of the spoiled kids she went to high school and college with, Jamie has worked hard to achieve her dreams of being an actress, even as she begins to realize it’s not her calling. Jamie believes Scott may be the answer to everything unless a past mistake makes him doubt their future together. 

Is the price of fame the chance at true love? 

***Laguna Sights can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone novel. And if you enjoy Scott and Jamie's love story, please consider reading the rest of the Laguna Beach series. 

Laguna Nights (Laguna Beach Book 1), Madison and Josh's story 
Laguna Heights (Laguna Beach Book 2), Annie and Hank's story 
Laguna Lights (Laguna Beach Book 3), Laura and Paul's story 

Laguna Sights (Laguna Beach Book 4), Jamie and Scott's story 

From the bestselling author of HERE, HOME, HOPE, comes a novel of suspense and choices, with a nod to the best of Susan Isaacs's tales of suburban murder.

What choices would you make if you knew you may
die soon?



From the multi award-winning, best-selling author of four books, including Here,
Home, Hope, a gripping and heart wrenching novel about a young mother who
has it all. The only problem is she may be dying.



In her previous works including All the Difference, Rouda's characters
"sparkle with humor and heart," and the stories are "told with
honest insight and humor" (Booklist). "Inspirational and
engaging" (ForeWord), these are the novels you'll turn to for
strong female characters and an "engaging read" (Kirkus).



In the Mirror is the story of Jennifer Benson, a woman who seems to have
it all. Diagnosed with cancer, she enters an experimental treatment facility to
tackle her disease the same way she tackled her life - head on. But while she's
busy fighting for a cure, running her business, planning a party, staying
connected with her kids, and trying to keep her sanity, she ignores her own
intuition and warnings from others and reignites an old relationship best left
behind.



If you knew you might die, what choices would you make? How would it affect
your marriage? How would you live each day? And how would you say no to the one
who got away?



"Kaira Rouda has created relatable characters you'll care deeply about.
Emotionally gripping and heart-achingly beautiful, In the Mirror will
make you think about what's truly important." 
~ Tracey Garvis Graves, New
York Times bestselling author



“Balancing sadness and humor, the retrospective tone of this novel is both
therapeutic and affecting. In the Mirror is an emotion-packed novel
about a mother facing terminal cancer. It is a nostalgic tribute to the things
that really matter: family and friends.” 
~ Foreword



"Rouda writes with a fluent, psychologically subtle realism that cuts
Jennifer’s pathos (and occasional self-pity) with humor and irony, and she
surrounds her with characters—doting dad; vain, shallow mom; mensch of a gay
business partner; sarcastic gal pals—who are sharply etched and entertaining.
Jennifer is a winning heroine, and readers will undoubtedly root for her as she
reaches for a more mature, if achingly uncertain, future. An absorbing story of
a woman grasping at life in the midst of death. 
~ Kirkus Reviews

 Mary's son is an autistic teen. Julie's son is a precocious 10-year-old. Lynne's son is six-months old. None of the moms realize it, but on this one day, one tragic act will connect them, reawakening each woman to her own special gifts, while strengthening her love for her own son. Three mothers. Three sons. Six lives that will be positively changed forever.

Stepping off the ferry onto Indigo Island for her new job at Melrose Inn, Dorsey Pittman, is excited to have a fresh start, far from heartbreak and tragedy. Signing the no romantic relationship with staff clause is easy, as Dorsey’s determined to focus on her career and not romantic entanglements, but every time the resort’s tall, handsome and oh so sexy lifeguard, Jack Means, is close, sparks fly, and Dorsey feels like she’s about to catch fire.

Twenty-seven-year old Jack Means has secrets of his own and is only lifeguarding at Melrose Inn to ensure his advancement at Top Corp, where he’s in line for a management position. But it’s hard to remember why he’s signed the no romantic relationship clause, when twenty-six-year-old Dorsey Pittman arrives on the island. For promises to stick out one more summer of life guarding before attaining his dream of a management position with Melrose Inn and Plantation. She’s beautiful, adventurous, and impossible to ignore—but dating her could get him fired. Can Jack keep it casual and walk away from love when Dorsey might be the one woman who can hold, and heal, his heart?

 Wealthy business tycoon Blake Putnam isn’t looking for love, he just needs a date for a family wedding he’s dreading. Alpha male to the core, Blake’s idea of being a man leaves little room for emotional connection. He comes up with the perfect solution to the dreaded wedding: he’ll find a controllable date. He has everything planned to perfection. 
Samantha Jones agrees to spend the weekend with the hot boss. She’s attracted to him, but she’s sworn off men after her embarrassing recent break up. She’s determined to ignore the attraction and focus on business when he hands her an opportunity to be part of the biggest business pitch in Blake Genetics’ history. It could change everything. She’s not looking for love, she won’t jump off that cliff again. But she will take the chance to further her career. 

What neither of them expected was the weekend to take flight. Is this a risk they’re willing to see through to the end? 

 At 35-years-old, Cole Stanton is burned out. His high-paced, uber-successful career has left him yearning to start over. He finds Indigo Island, buys a restaurant and settles into an uncomplicated life. But Christmas is a mess. He has over-committed the small restaurant’s resources again, and is over his head. He finds himself longing for everything he has left behind, until a chance encounter with gorgeous Lily offers a spark of salvation to his business and, perhaps his life. 
Beautiful pastry chef Lily Edmonds is thirty years old and heartbroken. It’s just before Christmas and she’s just been dumped via telephone by her fiancee. Her best friend Avery Putnam invites her to Indigo Island, hoping to add joy back into Lily’s life. A chance encounter with the sexy owner of a local restaurant makes Lily feel an attraction she thought she’d never feel again, and offers her a business challenge to keep her mind focused on something other than her broken heart. 

Cole Stanton and Lily Edmonds are both starting over. Will the joy of the holiday season bring them together or will the troubles with Christmas push them apart? 

Once you're a star, can you trust other people’s intentions? 

Scott Cassidy has lived a blessed life. Growing up in Laguna Beach with a loving family, he was discovered in high school when he appeared on the popular reality TV show, Laguna Nights. Now cast as a doctor on the number one soap opera, his star keeps rising. Finally free from his long-term girlfriend, Scott isn’t looking for love, but when a popular dating app matches him with Jamie Kane, he can’t deny the sparks. But is she really everything she seems? 

Jamie Kane isn’t lucky in love or life. Her childhood was tumultuous with a single mom who moved to Hollywood for fame but ended up waiting tables in Malibu. Certainly not one of the spoiled kids she went to high school and college with, Jamie has worked hard to achieve her dreams of being an actress, even as she begins to realize it’s not her calling. Jamie believes Scott may be the answer to everything unless a past mistake makes him doubt their future together. 

Is the price of fame the chance at true love? 

***Laguna Sights can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone novel. And if you enjoy Scott and Jamie's love story, please consider reading the rest of the Laguna Beach series. 

Laguna Nights (Laguna Beach Book 1), Madison and Josh's story 
Laguna Heights (Laguna Beach Book 2), Annie and Hank's story 
Laguna Lights (Laguna Beach Book 3), Laura and Paul's story 

Laguna Sights (Laguna Beach Book 4), Jamie and Scott's story 

Laura Kinkaid’s glamorous Hollywood life is falling apart. After years of reality television stardom beginning in high school on Laguna Nights, her career and relationship with her long-term boyfriend Scott are fizzling.  Laura decides to go home to Laguna Beach for the weekend to attend a shower for her high school friend. That decision – and a car accident – will lead her to a new future if she’s ready to take a chance at love.

 

Paul Dorn’s former life in New York City is far behind him and he’s working in a popular Laguna Beach surf shop when fate brings the most beautiful woman he’s ever met into his life.  The attraction is instant and he has an overwhelming desire to protect her. While Paul’s retail sales career is a short-term job for market research purposes, his focus on Laura is long-term.

 

Will Laura allow a handsome stranger to help her create a future unlike her past or will the bright lights of Hollywood pull her back to LA?

 

Madison Alcott was back in her hometown, caring for her sick mom and working long hours at the best resort in Laguna Beach. She never imagined she'd return to the place where she became famous on the hit reality TV show Laguna Nights, and the place where she was humiliated on national television. Fortunately, the past had stayed tucked away until her old high school boyfriend appeared in the lobby.

Josh Welsh was a superstar by age eighteen, the bad boy break-out star of Laguna Nights. Since then, his star had lost its shine and he barely was holding onto his Hollywood status. When he was asked to host a new reality travel show, he jumped at the chance. The only problem was the first episode was shooting in Laguna Beach. Of all the reasons Josh didn't want to return home, he hadn't even imagined the worst scenario: running into Madison "Holly" Alcott.

Josh's connection to Madison was still as strong as her anger at his betrayal. When the new reality series forces them together, they must face Laguna Nights past and present, and navigate a journey where nothing is as it seems. 

 Handsome tycoon James Putnam is acting CEO of his family’s logging company, Putnam Industries. He needs to land a big deal to prove to the board he’s capable of leading the company. If not, his father’s right-hand-man is more than willing to fill the role. James hurries to Indigo Island alone, certain he has what it takes to win the bid, earn the CEO title and save the island from uncontrolled logging. 
Aubrey Templeton is a gorgeous magazine reporter facing a mountain of debt after her parents’ tragic deaths. The only asset she has to leverage is 2,500 acres of old growth forest on Indigo Island. She hires Dirk Cooley, a forester, to create a forest management plan for her family’s land and to solicit multiple logger bids to lease the land. Aubrey insists James Putnam’s company is included since she still hasn’t forgotten the one night of incredible sex they shared over a year ago, and she’s sure he’ll be eager for a repeat performance.  

What Aubrey doesn’t know is that James is a changed man, who is determined to prove he didn’t get his job as a birth right. He is determined to never again mix business with pleasure, although keeping Aubrey at arms length during their negotiations tests James’ discipline and will power, especially as he finds himself in the role of tour guide for the sexy landowner and later as her protector when an unscrupulous forester targets them both in a revenge plot hatched to destroy the Putnam family.

 Phillip Kensington has been a lucky man. His wine business is booming, he’s engaged and about to marry a woman he thought he loved. But she has changed since he slipped the ring on her finger. When Amanda, a beautiful stranger needs his help, he jumps into action. In the process, she helps him realize his future must change.

Amanda Crown is suffocating under the bright spotlight of her mother’s dreams for her future. Running off the studio lot in Hollywood after a particularly embarrassing scene, Amanda meets the man of her dreams. And then his fiancée. Amanda decides it’s time to follow her dreams and make a big move, what she didn’t realize was her step toward her future would bring her back into Phillip’s world.

Will he be able to take the steps to make their dreams come true?

Stepping off the ferry onto Indigo Island for her new job at Melrose Inn, Dorsey Pittman, is excited to have a fresh start, far from heartbreak and tragedy. Signing the no romantic relationship with staff clause is easy, as Dorsey’s determined to focus on her career and not romantic entanglements, but every time the resort’s tall, handsome and oh so sexy lifeguard, Jack Means, is close, sparks fly, and Dorsey feels like she’s about to catch fire.

Twenty-seven-year old Jack Means has secrets of his own and is only lifeguarding at Melrose Inn to ensure his advancement at Top Corp, where he’s in line for a management position. But it’s hard to remember why he’s signed the no romantic relationship clause, when twenty-six-year-old Dorsey Pittman arrives on the island. For promises to stick out one more summer of life guarding before attaining his dream of a management position with Melrose Inn and Plantation. She’s beautiful, adventurous, and impossible to ignore—but dating her could get him fired. Can Jack keep it casual and walk away from love when Dorsey might be the one woman who can hold, and heal, his heart?

In the bestselling, page-turning vein of The Couple Next Door and The Dinner, Kaira Rouda weaves a gripping, tautly suspenseful tale of deception and betrayal dark enough to destroy a marriage…or a life.

“I glance at my wife as she climbs into the passenger seat, and I am bursting with confidence. Today will be everything I’ve promised her…and more…”

Paul Strom has the perfect life: a glittering career as an advertising executive, a beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in a wealthy suburb. And he’s the perfect husband: breadwinner, protector, provider. That’s why he’s planned a romantic weekend for his wife, Mia, at their lake house, just the two of them. And he's promised today will be the best day ever.

But as Paul and Mia drive out of the city and toward the countryside, a spike of tension begins to wedge itself between them and doubts start to arise. How much do they trust each other? And how perfect is their marriage, or any marriage, really?

Forcing us to ask ourselves just how well we know those who are closest to us, Best Day Ever crackles with dark energy, spinning ever tighter toward its shocking conclusion.

Praise for Best Day Ever

“An unreliable and chillingly unrepentant narrator.” — Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia and The Outliers

“Highly entertaining and truly surprising!” — Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year

 Wealthy business tycoon Blake Putnam isn’t looking for love, he just needs a date for a family wedding he’s dreading. Alpha male to the core, Blake’s idea of being a man leaves little room for emotional connection. He comes up with the perfect solution to the dreaded wedding: he’ll find a controllable date. He has everything planned to perfection. 
Samantha Jones agrees to spend the weekend with the hot boss. She’s attracted to him, but she’s sworn off men after her embarrassing recent break up. She’s determined to ignore the attraction and focus on business when he hands her an opportunity to be part of the biggest business pitch in Blake Genetics’ history. It could change everything. She’s not looking for love, she won’t jump off that cliff again. But she will take the chance to further her career. 

What neither of them expected was the weekend to take flight. Is this a risk they’re willing to see through to the end? 

Kelly Mills Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her middling middle-American existence and her neighbors' seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding. But Kelly's own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan.
From page one, Kelly's witty reflections, self-deprecating humor, and clever tactics in executing that plan—she places Post-it notes all over her house and car—will have readers laughing out loud. The next instant, however, they might rant right along with Kelly as her commitment to a sullen, anorexic teenager left on her doorstep tries her patience or as she deflects the boozy advances of a divorced neighbor. Readers will need to keep the tissue box handy, too, as Kelly repairs the damage she inflicted on a high school friend; realizes how deeply her husband, Patrick, understands and loves her; and ultimately grows into a woman empowered by her own blend of home and career.
Here, Home, Hope will surely appeal to readers of chick lit and other women's fiction titles who are ready to transition into something new in their own life.

From USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda, a collection of four of her bestselling, award-winning women's fiction stories all sharing the upscale suburban setting of Grandville, Ohio. 

Winner! Indie Excellence Book Award Mainstream/Literary Fiction 
Winner! USA Book Awards Women's Fiction 
Honorable Mention! Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Writer's Digest Book Awards 

HERE, HOME, HOPE: 
Kelly Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her middling middle-American existence and her neighbors' seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding. But Kelly's own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan. 
"Reading Kaira Rouda is like getting together with one of your best friends - fun, fast, and full of great advice! Here, Home, Hope sparkles with humor and heart." --Claire Cook, bestselling author of Must Love Dogs 

ALL THE DIFFERENCE: 
Once again, everything isn't what it seems in the wonderful suburb of Grandville. This is the story of three women whose lives become entangled by the choices they make and how, ultimately, one of them turns to murder to achieve her goals. 
"There are few things more entertaining than stories revealing the seamy underside of suburban life." -- The US Review of Books RECOMMENDED 
"An intriguing cast of characters and an untimely death set the stage for a chick-lit, murder mystery in Rouda's (Here, Home, Hope, 2011) latest novel. A light, engaging read that keeps readers guessing until the end." -- KIRKUS Reviews 

IN THE MIRROR: 
Jennifer Benson is a woman who seems to have it all. Diagnosed with cancer, she enters an experimental treatment facility to tackle her disease the same way she tackled her life - head on. But while she's busy fighting for a cure, running her business, planning a party, staying connected with her kids, and trying to keep her sanity, she ignores her own intuition and warnings from others and reignites an old relationship best left behind. If you knew you might die, what choices would you make? How would it affect your marriage? How would you live each day? And how would you say no to the one who got away? 
"Rouda writes with a fluent, psychologically subtle realism that cuts Jennifer’s pathos (and occasional self-pity) with humor and irony, and she surrounds her with characters—doting dad; vain, shallow mom; mensch of a gay business partner; sarcastic gal pals—who are sharply etched and entertaining. Jennifer is a winning heroine, and readers will undoubtedly root for her as she reaches for a more mature, if achingly uncertain, future. An absorbing story of a woman grasping at life in the midst of death. ~ Kirkus Reviews 

A MOTHER'S DAY: A SHORT STORY 

Three mothers. Three sons. One day that connects them. Kaira Rouda tackles the big issues of life and death with candor and hope in this tribute to motherhood. A tragic event reawakens each woman to her own special gifts, and her love for family and friends is reborn. Three mothers. Three sons. Six lives that will be changed forever.