A Bayberry Island novel

A mermaid statue could be the cause of heartbreak or everlasting romance for a practical-minded police chief and his first love. Every instinct told Police Chief Clancy Flynn that his island's claim to fame was nothing but a silly tourist attraction. But now and then, he couldn't help but wonder if his lifetime of bad romances-- starting with the pretty tourist who broke his fourteen-year-old heart-- could be traced back to a childhood prank involving that very statue. Then one day the pretty tourist comes barreling back into Bayberry-- all grown-up and on the run with her niece. Though Evelyn McGuinness is wanted for kidnapping, she tries to persuade Clancy that there's more to the story. Now the by-the-book police chief must make the toughest decision of his life: to take Evelyn into custody-- or into his arms....

"Duncan Flynn long ago said goodbye to his hometown of Bayberry Island, Massachusetts, where a mermaid statue allegedly grants true love to the pure at heart. So when the injured Navy SEAL gets sent home--just in time to help his family prepare for the annual Mermaid Festival--he's not in the mood to celebrate. Nor fall in love. But during a night run on the beach, a magnificently naked woman emerges from the surf who bears an uncanny resemblance to the mermaid in Fountain Square. Adelena Silva's otherworldly mermaid paintings have made her famous and wealthy, but Lena herself is a recluse--at least until Duncan Flynn comes home. She's secretly loved him her whole life, and is determined not to let him get away again. But will revealing her truth win his heart, or cause Lena to lose him?"--