Laguna Shores
Welcome to Laguna Shores, California. Below are the stories that begin, end, or simply linger in this fictional, North County San Diego beach and college town.
The Town That Lives In Our Hearts
Welcome to Laguna Shores, California—the quintessential Southern California beach town. From a distance, Laguna Shores looks like the California coast daydreaming about itself. Shimmering Pacific blues crash against rugged golden bluffs that hold the town aloft. You see the whitecaps, the long wooden spine of the pier, and the red-tiled roofs of the Mediterranean villas that have looked over the water for a century.
As you move closer, the silhouette of Seabreeze Pacific University (SPU) dominates the center of the city. Its sprawling, ornate Spanish Colonial campus anchors the heart of Laguna Shores, where the prestige of a world-class education shares space with the rhythmic thwack of a volleyball and the quiet hum of the marine labs. There are no football stadiums here—only the relentless pursuit of knowledge and the next big swell. Go Sand Crabs!
Stroll down the palm tree lined streets and the town’s residents begin to reveal themselves. Laguna Shores is a beautiful architectural contradiction. You’ll find historic California Victorians sitting just blocks away from sleek, modern gated communities. It’s a place where legacy wealth and artistic grit share the same salt-air breeze.
Finally, you reach the downtown core—the living room of the town. Here, the buildings are warm brick and the sidewalks are shaded by towering King Palms. This is where the scholars, the surfers, and the seekers collide. Heading toward the pier in rubber flip-flops, everyone here is bound by the same truth: time moves a little slower when you’re living by the tide.
Laguna Shores, of course, is a fictional North County San Diego gem. If you’ve spent any time driving the 101 or hiking the bluffs, you might find the landmarks familiar. You might recognize the specific golden hue of the cliffs at sunset or the way the marine layer clings to everything in this town.
While I’ll never point to an exact spot on the map, the town is real in every way that matters. It exists in the space between the salt spray and the stories lived here. It doesn't need a GPS coordinate to exist in our hearts—it just needs a high tide and a good book.
Laguna Shores is a central focus in a number of my novels. Some of these MM romances are otherwise unrelated, linked only by this stretch of coast. Each could stand as part of a series, united by Laguna Shores. Below are the stories that begin, end, or simply linger here.
Diego Marsden, a San Diego native and employee of the Strand Hotel, is also a college student at Seabreeze Pacific University in Laguna Shores.
Later, Logan Kensington, a Philadelphia native transfers to SPU to finish his degree, and he and Diego never left Laguna Shores.
You may also see their names come up in other books that take place here.
Both Jude and Landon grew up in Coronado, where their parents still live.
Much of this book focuses on these two coming of age, best friends, who share a townhome in Laguna Shores while the attend college at SPU.
You'll get the pier, the fish tacos, and the full Laguna Shores experience in this one, before Jude and Landon eventually settle in San Diego.
Both Aiden Kensington (brother of Logan Kensington) and Kelly O'Brien were Philadelphia guys. Both were unwavering east coast, that was until they were seduced by the gentle rhythm of Laguna Shores.
Aiden and Kelly's story wasn't an easy one, but once they figured out who they were, and how they made each other better men, they settled into a happily ever after in this funky little beach town.
For Brody Harrington, Laguna Shores was just a necessary pitstop he would have to endure while he completed his degree at SPU.
Callum Rhode's was looking for a new start and a roof over his head, after a rather strange inheritance from his kooky great aunt Celeste Moon.
Neither were looking for love—and neither expected to become as much a part of Laguna Shores as it became of them.
This book is not yet published (expected early March 2026)