Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Coming Home
    Coming Home
    Coming Home
    Audiobook8 hours

    Coming Home

    Written by Mariah Stewart

    Narrated by Xe Sands

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In the wake of his wife's murder, agent Grady Shields turned his back on the FBI-and everything else-to retreat into the vast solitude of Montana, grieve for his lost love, and forget the world. But after years in seclusion, his sister's wedding draws him to St. Dennis, a peaceful town on the Chesapeake Bay. Though he swears he isn't interested in finding love again, Grady can't ignore the mutual sparks that fly when he meets Vanessa Keaton.Although her past was marked by bad choices, Vanessa has found that coming to St. Dennis is the best decision she's ever made. Bling, her trendy boutique, is a success with tourists as well as with the townspeople. She's made friends, has a home she loves, and has established a life for herself far from the nightmare she left behind. The last thing she's looking for is romance, but the hot new man in town is hard to resist. And when Vanessa's past catches up with her, Grady finds that he's unwilling to let her become a victim again. As they fight her demons together, Grady and Vanessa discover that life still holds some surprises and that love doesn't always have to hurt.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 20, 2012
    ISBN9781452679112
    Coming Home
    Author

    Mariah Stewart

    Mariah Stewart is the award-winning New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous novels and several novellas and short stories. A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and two rambunctious rescue dogs amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she savors country life and tends her gardens while she works on her next novel. Visit her website at MariahStewart.com, like her on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuthorMariahStewart, and follow her on Instagram @Mariah_Stewart_Books.

    More audiobooks from Mariah Stewart

    Related to Coming Home

    Titles in the series (10)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Typewriter

      Aug 2, 2021

      Chère Madame. Vous ne vous rappelleriez pas de moi, mais de ma part… Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap… She flicks the return bar – PING – and her fingers fall back into rhythm. Catherine’s French comes as naturally as the movement of her

      5 min read

    • Article

      HEART Of The Community

      Aug 3, 2021

      HEART Of The Community
      12 min read

    • Article

      Local Life

      May 7, 2020

      Local Life
      8 min read

    • Article

      Hardly Never in Vegas: Fat Johnny Little and Salty Salt Sue make a break for the desert.

      Aug 8, 2013

      Salty Salt Sue met Fat Johnny Little at a card game so hot it burned a girl, the sultry Louisiana night dampening her clothes, making her tingle from the waist down. She sat next to Vinnie DeLuca, who bore a passing resemblance to Dillinger—his penci

      11 min read

    • Article

      Hardly Never in Vegas: Fat Johnny Little and Salty Salt Sue make a break for the desert.

      Jun 18, 2015

      Salty Salt Sue met Fat Johnny Little at a card game so hot it burned a girl, the sultry Louisiana night dampening her clothes, making her tingle from the waist down. She sat next to Vinnie DeLuca, who bore a passing resemblance to Dillinger—his penci

      11 min read

    • Article

      Nothing to Declare

      Jun 15, 2019

      All the senior partners were having a laugh about a movie they’d seen. Forty-Five Years. Something, something about the movie taking forty-five years to sit through. The woman McGuinness thought he recognized was in it with them at the far end of the

      24 min read

    • Article

      Feeling Scene

      Jun 14, 2023

      One of UK rap’s bright young things, Sainté is making a name for himself with his characteristic mellow flows and charisma. Born in Zimbabwe but raised in Leicester, his Midlands hometown is always close to his heart Wakaze. The gyozas and katsu curr

      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘Cygnet’: Featured Fiction from Season Butler

      Jun 25, 2019

      A excerpt from Butler's debut coming-of-age novel, set in an appealingly rich world with quirky, flawed characters and a dramatic oceanfront landscape. The post ‘Cygnet’: Featured Fiction from Season Butler appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Hole In The Fence

      Oct 6, 2020

      The Hole In The Fence
      9 min read

    • Article

      Yohanca Delgado

      Mar 9, 2021

      The widow arrived at LaGuardia on a Sunday, but the rumors about the woman who had rented a big apartment, sight unseen, had taken an earlier flight. We had already reviewed, on many occasions and in hushed tones, in the quiet that comes after long h

      15 min read

    • Article

      A Puzzle Of Nostalgia

      Aug 26, 2022

      A Puzzle Of Nostalgia
      5 min read

    • Article

      Honeymoon

      Mar 15, 2019

      Honeymoon
      15 min read

    • Article

      Chimes

      Jun 29, 2021

      Three friends and I spent two weeks in a 400-year-old Tuscan villa in a small Italian village called Pergine Valdarno, approximately forty miles southeast of Florence. It was early autumn, and the weather each day was ideal for exploring the surround

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Man With No Name

      Oct 1, 2021

      The Man With No Name
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ghost Girl, Banana

      Aug 21, 2023

      By the time I was 25, there were only two things I remembered about Mumma. The first was that she smelled of watermelons, the second was that we were happy. We’d taken our father’s name of course, but a name is only half a story. The other half exist

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Nice Day Out

      Jan 8, 2021

      A Nice Day Out
      5 min read

    • Article

      Manhattan, 2035

      Mar 26, 2021

      There were problems with being the daughter of a former it girl. First of all, the designation, which, as her mother grew older, warped slightly across the society pages, affecting her mood. Most people remembered her mother’s modelling stints, brush

      4 min read

    • Article

      Salt On The WIND

      Apr 1, 2020

      Salt On The WIND
      6 min read

    • Article

      Such a Nice Guy

      Feb 1, 2021

      We call them The Smugsons. Or we used to, before one of them was found dead on the Astroturf at the cricket club. Because it’s difficult to look smug when you have landed face down after falling from the balcony of a bar, blood spilling out from your

      6 min read

    • Article

      End Of An Era

      Dec 29, 2017

      End Of An Era
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ladies’ Night

      Aug 15, 2023

      Ladies’ Night
      5 min read

    • Article

      The_best_BARS In_america

      Jun 2, 2022

      The_best_BARS In_america
      14 min read

    • Article

      The Beach Hut

      Mar 29, 2022

      The Beach Hut
      5 min read

    • Article

      Les Fleurs

      Sep 24, 2019

      Les Fleurs
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Cup Of With A Local

      May 26, 2021

      As many know, Lisa MacIsaac is one half of the Juno-nominated singer-songwriting duo Madison Violet, along with Brenley MacEachern. (The video for their song “Tell Me,” from 2019’s Everything’s Shifting, has received a whopping 1.7 million views.) Cu

      3 min read

    • Article

      Tricia Stringer The Party’s Over!

      Nov 4, 2020

      Tricia Stringer The Party’s Over!
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Coming Home

    3.5/5

    86 ratings21 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      My previous experience with Mariah Stewart has been with her romantic suspense novels. The (absolutely beautiful) pastel cover on this led me to expect something much more sedate. The cover copy left me unsure: "sister's wedding", "peaceful town" both go with the quieter story, "FBI", "victim again", "fight her demons" all led me to think there might be more of an excitement factor.The book was both, and they worked together very nicely for me.At its heart, Coming Home is a book about people in a small town. I started out writing that it was the characters that made the book work for me, but that isn't quite true. I liked Vanessa, and I found her story interesting, but she's not really going to stick with me. Same with Grady. He had interesting demons to fight, but he was in many ways a stock romance character leading man (although I did like his sense of humor with his sister).It was the town-- the collection of secondary characters-- that really pulled me in. Some of them will probably be getting their own books down the line, although Grace (the woman that retired from the local hotel to run the local paper) seems likely to keep to her observer role. There were just enough characters to be interesting without being overwhelming.And yes, there was suspense. There was a bad guy doing bad things, and several ex-FBI characters to go after the culprit. It's not a mystery, since there's not much time spent wondering who it is, but rather how to stop the danger.All in all, I enjoyed reading this book, and am looking forward to continuing with the series.
    • 4/5
      #1 in the Chesapeake Diaries Series – This is my favorite thus far (not reading them in order). Grady Shield (former FBI agent) is living in solitude in Montana after the murder of his wife and comes to St Dennis for his sister’s wedding. Of course his sister has him secretly matched up with her best friend Vanessa, who owns Bling the boutique town (with a troubled past which is coming back to haunt her). Mix in a bad childhood, love spells, gossip, break ins, good friends, secrets from the past, weddings, horrible mother, stand in dad, and a budding romance! Reminds- me of writing style and series of Sherryl Woods, Susan Wiggs, and Debbie Macomber.
    • 4/5
      Mariah Stewart
      Coming home
      ★☆★☆

      Oh my my my, let me tell you I am so glad Julie from my local bookstore recommended this series. I am hooked :)

      Vanessa gosh I just love her. Whats not to love about her? I didnt like the last few pages in the book lol, I thought for the first time she was a little whiney but I also understand shes not used to hiking :)

      I love how in this romance novel no one threw the word I love you around after a only 10 days. I love that when he came back he didnt profess his love all cheesy like, and believe me I expected it. I enjoyed the closeness and the family touch.
      I liked the little bit of mystery.

      There isnt much I disliked about this book. I even like maggie though she does remind me a lot of my own mom.

      I would def recommend this book
    • 4/5
      Coming Home by Mariah StewartLike this series and catching up on the older books.St. Dennis, MD on the shores of the Chesapeake. Vanesssa runs the Bling shop and her brother Beck is the local cop.His wife to be is in Montana hoping to get her brother to walk her down the aisle to Beck.The book also follows the life of Mia's brother, Grady. he's left the FBI after the death of his wife and he's settled in over the years.He agreed to the family week long event before Mia's wedding. I loved hearing of his travels hiking and his future plans of excursions.Some in town are attempting to set Vanessa up with Grady and they appear to like one another and enjoy each others company. Love the hikes!Grady opens up to her about his life but she doesn't tell him of her troubles....hot steamy sex scenes. Others relationships go forward as do their businesses in town. Love how they all step up to help one another out.Tragic events the day of the wedding and it sends a message to Vanessa...Grady helps her figure out some of the clues and who is after her..I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 5/5
      I don't like to give reviews that give away any spoilers and I certainly don't want to review a book with a shortened copy of the book and plot, My review is I liked this book very much and When I won the early reviewers copy they also sent me the sequel to this which I actually can not wait to read so I can move even further into this series. Mariah Stewart's books are well written and keep me entertained. Thanks so much for the early copies.
    • 4/5
      I adore books that talk about family, second choices and hope. This is one of them.Grady Shields is an ex-FBI agent that lives like a reclusive on a ranch in Montana until her sister summons him to her wedding. Grady comes to St. Dennis, a lovely town on the Chesapeake Bay, to walk Mia in the aisle and then go back to his hiking and camping but he doesn't count with the sassy and attractive Vanessa Keaton, the sister's groom.Vanessa had made terrible choices in the past and finally feels like home on St. Dennis: she has a family, a job and a house of her own as well as a place among the society. When she meets Grady, sparks fly between the two but both of them know that when the wedding is over, Grady returns to Montana and Vanessa back to her life. But, Vanessa shop is vandalized and Grady decides to stay to help her and the local police until the suspect is caught.I love these stories about family, about wrong choices that makes people grow and change, about second chances. I like a lot this kind of romance, full with characters and their story, full of passion and love, with flaws and fears and doubts; the fact that this book is only the first of a series is also a major plus (at least for me) because you get to know what happens next to all of them. Because there are books that made you feel part of a big adoring family and this is one of them.
    • 4/5
      Coming Home, by Mariah Stewart, is a typical, yet enjoyable romance novel. Vanessa is a woman with a violent past who has made a new life for herself in a small town. She's found family, friends, and opened a business. Grady has his own past and is living alone in a remote area of Montana. When Grady travels to his sister's wedding, he meets Vanessa, sister of the groom. They circle around each other until Vanessa is targeted by someone from her past. They have to work together to survive. I did enjoy this novel a lot. I haven't had much patience for romance novels lately but I was pleasantly surprised by the likeable characters, the small town charm, and the promise of at least two more sequels. It's well written and worth a look.
    • 4/5
      Mariah Stewart does it again! A romance that takes place in a small town when everyone. Comes together for a wedding. It was difficult at the beginning to determine who the main characters were, but as the story unfolded the many secondary characters were more interesting.
    • 5/5
      This romance was a nice surprise to receive and review. The main characters at first glance couldn't be more different with loads of unresolved issues that seem unlikely to be overcome. However, Ms. Stewart weaves their motivation into an intriguing and entertaining story with many side threads like burglary, kidnapping, and a strained mother/daughter reconciliation brought about by a crazed killer. Loads of interesting characters and a satisfying ending leaving you wanting to follow these folks further. I recommend it!
    • 4/5
      It’s been a while since I’ve read any books by Mariah Stewart. After reading, Coming Home, I want to go back and read the books I’ve missed; I enjoyed this book that much.I liked the characters, the interactions between them and the small town in the fictional St. Dennis, Maryland on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. When the next book in the series comes out, I’ll be rushing to the bookstore to get it – can’t wait to see what’s been happening in St. Dennis and how everyone is doing.
    • 3/5
      Vanessa Keaton has made a life for herself in the small town of St. Dennis. She owns her own boutique and has put her two failed marriages behind her. When Grady Shields comes to town for his sister's wedding, sparks fly between Vanessa and Grady. When Vanessa's shop is vandalized she and Grady work to discover who from Vanessa's past wants to harm her.This is a light entertaining romance.
    • 4/5
      After his wife’s ismurdered, agent Grady Shields turned his back on the FBI and friends and moves to Montana to grieve for a love lost. Years later, he goes to St. Dennis, a peaceful town on the Chesapeake Bay, for his sisters wedding. Even though he says he isn’t interested finding love agian, he can’t ignore the sparks that fly when he meets Vanessa Keaton.In the past Vanessa made some very bad choices, but thinks coming to St. Dennis is the best decision she’s ever made. She's opened a boutique and is loved by everyone she meets. Like Grady, she isn't looking for romance either, but feels herself drawn to him. When Vanessa’s past catches up with her, she and Grady fight together to keep the past where it belongs, in the past, and find that love is what they both really want....and need.This was so well written that I felt like I was eavesdropping on a conversation. I felt that I was there with Grady and Vanessa, and grew to love them both. If you're a romance fan, check out this book!This is the first book by Mariah Stewart, and is the first in the Chesapeak Diaries series. Book two will be out in September and I can't wait to read it.*Thanks to Ballantine Books through Early Reviewers @LibraryThing for this copy*
    • 4/5
      A spin-off from Stewart's FBI series, featuring brother Grady. A light romance, with a crime sub-plot, but not enough to classify this as romantic suspense.Enjoyable but forgettable.
    • 4/5
      Coming Home, written by Mariah Stewart, is the first book in the new Chesapeake Diaries series.When I started to read the book the characters and details led me to believe there was a previous book...Last Words stars the main characters siblings.Vanessa's stepbrother, Beck, is marrying Mia. Mia's recluse brother, Grady, ex-FBI, is coming to the wedding. Vanessa and Grady meet at the rehearsal and immediately hit it off. At the same time Vanessa is being targeted...possibly by her abusive ex-husband. I really enjoyed the book and will definitely pick up the next book in the series, Home Again, when it is released in the fall of 2010.
    • 3/5
      Grady Shields, ex FBI agent and self imposed recluse, is coming to St. Dennis for his sister's wedding. Little does he know that he will meet Vanessa, the beautiful sister of the groom. Overcoming a terrible past, she has made a life for herself. Can Grady protect her when her past comes back?Overall this was a pretty good book. I like romance/mysteries so this was right up my alley. Stewart developed the story well and had believable characters and situations. I'm not sure if this book is part of a series but the author wrote it like it was. She included a lot of background info, a lot of it seemed unnecessary. It's a pet peeve of mine when an author needs to 'explain' things instead of letting the story reveal it. This author did this some but not enough to make me put the book down. I liked that she didn't overemphasize the sex scenes. A little information can go a long way in my opinion on that matter. I will look for more books by this author and would recommend her to friends who like reading this genre of book.
    • 2/5
      This suspense/romance barely kept me interested, I longed for it to end.
    • 3/5
      Vaness Keaton has been living in St. Dennis. a small town on the Chesapeake, for three years now since she escaped an abusive marriage. She owns her own home and boutique; two things she thought she would never have. Life is finally okay thanks to meeting her half brother Beck and his father Hal who takes Vanessa under his wing and helps her regain a self of self- respect There is no one special in Vanessa's life and that's the way she plans to keep it. As she too well knows, there are no fairy tales out there. She has the emotional and physical scars to prove it.But now when her half brother Beck is getting married, his fiancee asks her to show her brother Grady around town during the week of pre-wedding festivities. Grady himself is still recovering from the death of his wife, Melissa, and has been living in a remote part of Montana after quitting the FBI. Despite their feelings about past hurts, Vanessa and Grady hit it off. When part of Vanessa's past comes back to haunt her in a very dangerous way, Grady and Vanessa discover how much they really do mean to each other. As Vanessa tells Grady, "sometimes you have to let go of the past for the sake of the future."This book is mostly a romance story, extremenly predictable though it is, the little bit of suspense and danger element helps to make the story more interesting. Stewart manages to bring the small town atmosphere of St. Dennis to life and peoples it with likeable and believable characters. The secondary thread of Vanessa's and Beck's troubled relationship with their mother, Maggie, gives the plot a little more depth. All in all, an enjoyable , quick read perfect for romance fans who are just looking for something light.
    • 3/5
      Coming Home was a nice little romance/mystery story. It was quite slow reading until just past the middle of the story. Then it held my attention. This is not a book that I shall remember. As my mother used to say,"It does not have enough meat to it." I doubt if I will seek out the previous or yet to be published books from this author.
    • 2/5
      This is a perfectly adequate romance as it contains almost all the elements that the genre requires but to call it romantic suspense would not do it justice. I found the plethora of characters annoying to keep straight and the tempo of the story to be painfully slow. It didn't engage me, make me laugh, shiver with apprehension or desire a cold shower for it's steaminess.A beach read yes...but not a keeper.
    • 3/5
      A classic beach read, mystery/romance with lighthearted dialogue,family drama, and enough FBI characters and dysfunction to lend intrigue. This is part of a series interesting enough that you will want to buy the next book.
    • 4/5
      This book is hard to characterize. It is far more romance than suspense even though the hero is a former FBI agent with a dark past and the heroine has her own scars (literal and figurative) that put her in danger. She's menaced in a couple of different ways, but the danger is never of the heart-pumping, nail-biting variety. And yet, even though there's the requisite happily ever after, this is not so much a romance, either, because the other relationships in the book (family, friendships) are just as important as the romance. If the romance weren't so prominent, you could almost classify this as women's fiction, but that doesn't work, either, because the happily ever after *is* so important to the book.OK, all that muddling stuff aside, the story here is quite sweet and definitely worth reading if you're a romance fan. Two damaged people who are slowly emerging from the messes of their pasts come together and begin to see a future. The setting is well-described, almost a character in itself, and all the secondary characters are fully developed.The only weaknesses of this book are that 1) it tends to get a bit repetitive and 2) it can be a bit on the sugary side. But it verges into those territories only rarely and they're easy enough to ignore.I'd begun to despair of Mariah Stewart after the last couple of Mercy Street novels, but she's definitely found her feet again here.