The Architect by Joanne DeMaio
Book 27: The Seaside Saga Series
Publisher: Independent Self-Publishing
Publication Date: June 2, 2026
Format: Paperback - 244 pages
Audiobook - 6 Hours 24 Minutes
Kindle - 207 pages / 2.3 MB
Nook: 207 pages
ISBN (Paperback): 979-8248241422
ASIN (Audiobook): B0GQWJN9KC
ASIN (Kindle): B0GL9H46Z3
BNID: 2940185231074
Genre: Women's Fiction
Buy The Book:
Buy The Series: The Seaside Saga Series
Book 1: Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans
Book 2: The Denim Blue Sea
Book 3: Beach Blues
Book 4: Beach Breeze
Book 5: The Beach Inn
Book 6: Beach Bliss
Book 7: Castaway Cottage
Book 8: Night Beach
Book 9: Little Beach Bungalow
Book 10: Every Summer
Book 11: Salt Air Secrets
Book 12: Stony Point Summer
Book 13: The Beachgoers
Book 14: Shore Road
Book 15: The Wait
Book 16: The Goodbye
Book 17: The Barlows
Book 18: The Visitor
Book 19: Stairway To The Sea
Book 20: The Liars
Book 21: The Mistake
Book 22: Miss Moonchild Starbeam
Book 23: The Shack
Book 24: August Dove
Book 25: Hush
Book 26: The Diner
Book 27: The Architect
Book 28: The Novelists (Publication Date: September 2, 2026)
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review.
Book Description:
From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes The Architect, Book 27 of The Seaside Saga.
As a noted coastal architect, Jason Barlow designs homes that evoke the sea. Gabled, shingle-style New England cottages are his forte. Cottages that beautifully weather in the salt air. Cottages with grand porches; and rounded turrets; and fortress-like stonework speaking of the land, as well as his father’s legacy. Cottages with floor-to-ceiling windows bringing in the sea, the sky, that his brother so loved. But it’s not only incredible homes Jason builds and restores—it’s relationships and friendships and histories, all set against the backdrop of a beach that’s defined him.
After his very life is threatened, however, Jason Barlow shares a simple request with those to whom he’s closest. A request that has an old friend turn to The Architect now more than ever.
And The Seaside Saga continues.
My Book Review:
In The Architect, the beach friends' story continues where The Diner left off. Author Joanne DeMaio transports the reader back to the tranquil seashore town of Stony Point, Connecticut. The story takes place during late October where the readers will catch up with the beach friends' lives.
The Architect opens up with Shane telling Jason and Kyle some big news, and his spontaneous big news also surprises all of the beach friends, especially Celia. Then there is Jason who has a lingering reaction to the traumatic diner robbery, and he feels so grateful for his family and friends that he and Maris hold a thank you dinner with a Halloween theme. When the guests gather around Jason, the message he gives them is to live with purpose, which inspires everyone to embrace life more fully. As Jason struggled with the aftermath of the incident, I thought it was very sobering, but I loved Jason's message to everyone because it really puts life into perspective, and I too felt inspired by it.
I loved how this installment also continued to focus on Celia and Shane's relationship. As Shane's big news surprises everyone especially Celia, it changes the meaning of their long-distance relationship. While Shane flip flops if he made a rash decision or the right one, it is put to the test when Elsa and Cliff take a road trip to visit Shane in Maine. The visit was going well until Elsa confronts Shane about Celia, and he's left panicking about how the relationship will weather this storm, especially when Elsa tells him not to tell Celia about their conversation. Shane calls Jason and begs him to come up with a plan for him to save his relationship, that he's desperate and since Jason is an architect who draws up plans that can help him fix it ... but the author once again leaves the reader with another cliffhanger ending, we'll have to wait and see what Jason's plan is, and can Shane fix everything in The Novelists, the twenty-eighth installment of the series.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I loved a segment of the story where Jason and Shane film an abandoned property that features a historical architectural seaside mansion that was used as the old Seaside Sanatorium in Waterford, CT, that once housed children who had tuberculosis in the 1930s.The seaside property was used to cure the children with extensive exposure to the sea air and sunlight. "The sea air cures what ails you." I was so fascinated by this segment of the story that I googled it and was amazed at the beauty of the hospital. The Seaside Sanatorium is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. I loved that I learned something new, and Jason and Shane's filming definitely piqued my curiosity to research the abandoned property.
So now that I have whet your interest in the beach friends' latest comings and goings, drive under the railroad trestle and enter the enchanting beach town of Stony Point ... pull up a beach chair ... and visit with the close-knit longtime friends in author Joanne DeMaio's novel, The Architect.
RATING: 5 STARS
About The Author
Joanne DeMaio is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She enjoys writing about friendship, family, love and choices, while setting her stories in New England towns or by the sea. The Architect is her newest novel. She is currently at work on her next novel. Joanne lives with her family in Connecticut.
