Tess Thompson

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  • Bibliography:
    57 Books (9 Series)
  • First Book:
    April 2011
  • Latest Book:
    September 2024
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About the Author

Tess Thompson Romances...hometowns and heartstrings.

Tess Thompson is the USA Today bestselling author of small-town romance and historical fiction, with more than 20 titles across multiple series that focus on heartwarming journeys of triumph and humanity for colorful characters you'd love to be friends with in real life.

Tess holds a degree in theater from the University of Southern California, and can be found most days at her desk in suburban Seattle, where she also makes her home with the hero of her own love story and their blended family of two sons, two daughters, and five cats.

Tess loves music, dancing, books, bubble baths, cooking, wine, movies, snuggling, Seahawks football, and hearing from her readers. Drop her a line at tess@tthompsonwrites.com. Please note: Tess is not affiliated with writing duo Charlene Tess and Judi Thompson.

Full Series List in Order

Blue Mountain

1 - Blue Midnight (Jul-2014)
2 - Blue Moon (Aug-2015)
3 - Blue Ink (Jan-2019)
4 - Blue String (Sep-2020)
4.5 - Blue Twilight Short: The Prologue, 1989 (Feb-2021)
5 - Blue Twilight (Mar-2021)

Castaway Christmas

1 - Come Tomorrow (Dec-2020)
2 - Promise of Tomorrow (Dec-2021)

Cliffside Bay

1 - Traded: Brody and Kara (Feb-2018)
2 - Deleted: Jackson and Maggie (May-2018)
3 - Jaded: Zane and Honor (Jul-2018)
4 - Marred: Kyle and Violet (Sep-2018)
5 - Tainted: Lance and Mary (Dec-2018)
6 - Missed: Rafael and Lisa (Mar-2019)
6.5 - Cliffside Bay Christmas (Apr-2019)
7 - Healed: Stone and Pepper (Jun-2019)
7.5 - Christmas Wedding (Jul-2019)
8 - Scarred: Trey and Autumn (Sep-2019)
9 - Jilted: Nico and Sophie (Nov-2019)
9.5 - Chateau Wedding (Dec-2019)
9.6 - Kissed (Jan-2020)
10 - Departed: David and Sara (Jun-2020)

Crescent Moon Ranch

1 - Mama Moon (Nov-2023)
2 - Swoony Moon (Dec-2023)

Emerson Pass

1 - The School Mistress (Apr-2020)
2 - The Sugar Queen (May-2020)
3 - The Spinster (Jan-2021)
4 - The Patron (May-2021)
5 - The Scholar (Jul-2021)
6 - The Problem Child (Nov-2021)
7 - The Seven Days of Christmas (Dec-2021)
8 - The Pet Doctor (Mar-2022)
9 - The Musician (May-2022)
10 - The Correspondent (Jul-2022)
11 - The Wordsmith (Sep-2022)
12 - The Innkeeper (Nov-2022)
13 - The Rebel (Jan-2023)

Legley Bay

1 - Caramel and Magnolias (Jan-2013)
2 - Tea and Primroses (Feb-2014)

The Midnight Stars Saga

1 - When Stars Fall at Midnight (Jul-2024)
2 - When Stars Rise at Midnight (Sep-2024)

The Mystery Matchmaker of Ella Pointe

1 - The Making of a Matchmaker (Feb-2023)

River Valley

1 - Riversong (Apr-2011)
2 - Riverbend (May-2013)
3 - Riverstar (Sep-2013)
3.5 - A River Valley Christmas: Tommy's Wish (Nov-2016)
4 - Riversnow (Mar-2017)
5 - Riverstorm (Aug-2017)

Multi-Author Series List

Romancing the Rink

2 - Checking Holly Twice (Nov-2021)

Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge

1 - Christmas Sisters (Aug-2020)
6 - Christmas Rings (Nov-2020)
11 - Christmas Star (Dec-2021)

Book List in Order: 57 titles

  • Riversong

    River Valley - 1

    City girl returns to her roots in this suspenseful small-town romance. Lee Tucker left River Valley and never looked back. Until tragedy thrusts her into danger and the little town in the middle of nowhere Oregon is her only chance for survival. Tiss...

  • Caramel and Magnolias

    Legley Bay - 1

    An adoption agency owner who is obsessed with Cleo suggests an unorthodox arrangement. One date with Cleo and he'll place Sylvia and her husband at the top of the adoption list.After a pregnant high school student is found murdered, the investigation...

  • Riverbend

    River Valley - 2

    Annie Bell never expected to get as lucky as the day she was made head chef of Riversong, the hottest restaurant to hit her quaint Oregon town. What starts as a quiet gig, quickly grows as Annie's reputation soars to new heights and she becomes known...

  • Riverstar

    River Valley - 3

    After ending a dysfunctional affair with a powerful movie producer, feisty Hollywood makeup artist Bella Webber finds herself back in the quaint Oregon town of River Valley, the location of a famous director’s latest film. Despite trying to distrac...

  • Tea and Primroses

    Legley Bay - 2

    Nothing is as it seemed in calm, quaint Legley Bay. Famous novelist, Constance Mansfield lived a seemingly straightforward â€" if private â€" and somewhat predictable life. Friends, beloved daughter Sutton, a beautiful home, and all the success an au...

  • Blue Midnight

    Blue Mountain - 1

    What if the road not taken was actually the path meant to be?Finn Lanigan kissed a young Blythe Heywood one last time under a star-scattered Idaho sky. "If you change your mind, here's this."It was the last kiss that ever weakened her knees, the last...

  • Duet for Three Hands

    Set against the backdrop of the American South between 1928 and 1934, four vibrant voices blend to tell a tale of prejudice, fear, and ultimately...love. The Bellmonts are the epitome of Atlanta society's rich and elite. Yet, behind their picture per...

  • Blue Moon

    Blue Mountain - 2

    Readers met Kevan Lanigan and Blythe Heywood in Book One of the Blue Mountain Series. In Book Two, the family saga continues, featuring the romance between their siblings, Ciaran Lanigan and Bliss Heywood. See where this powerful love story will lead...

  • A River Valley Christmas: Tommy's Wish

    River Valley - 3.5

    All Tommy and Lee want for Christmas is another baby, but with his infertility, it would take a miracle. However, in River Valley during Christmastime anything's possible. Join this cast of familiar River Valley heroes in a short story of faith, frie...



  • Miller's Secret

    War is hell, even after it’s over. Just ask the men who fought and the women they left behind in this suspenseful post-war drama about America’s Greatest Generation from USA Today bestseller Tess Thompson.An injured war hero returns home to an em...

  • Riversnow

    River Valley - 4

    This small-town romance is ripped from the headlines! A famous actress goes against one of America's most powerful politicians in this socially relevant romance about a brave woman who dares to name her abuser publicly. Genevieve Banks is one of Holl...

  • Riverstorm

    River Valley - 5

    Alert! The author apologizes if this book makes you late to work. This second chance small town romance about two hard-headed attorneys by USA Bestselling author Tess Thompson might keep you up all night. Tissues recommended for this feel good love s...

  • The Santa Trial

    Neither Ryan nor Rena is thrilled about jury duty. He's a widower with a small daughter who needs him. She's a struggling single woman who can't afford to miss a day's pay. But when they spot each other across the courtroom, suddenly jury duty doesn'...

  • Stolen Laughter

    Bryce Cameron, a struggling author, plans to isolate himself in a Colorado cabin to write his second novel. On the plane to Denver, he meets a beautiful psychologist, Hannah Brody. Their chance encounter turns their lives upside down. They fall deepl...

  • Traded: Brody and Kara

    Cliffside Bay - 1

    Brody Mullen is the best quarterback in the AFL, and his Super Bowl win only confirms what he's suspected his entire career: romantic entanglements are bad for his game. No women. No sex. No problems. But after hiring a beautiful nurse to care for hi...

  • Deleted: Jackson and Maggie

    Cliffside Bay - 2

    Jackson Waller has loved Maggie Keene since they were six years old, but their dueling dreams ultimately tore them apart. First love--true love--wasn't enough to overcome their individual desires to pursue dreams on opposite coasts. When Jackson lear...

  • Jaded: Zane and Honor

    Cliffside Bay - 3

    These two jaded souls with an instant connection just might find that true love is a joy best savored in the aftermath of life's hardships and pain.

    The third installment of The Cliffside Bay Series by bestselling author Tess Thompson follow...

  • Marred: Kyle and Violet

    Cliffside Bay - 4

    A playboy with a painful past finds help he never expected to need, in the most unlikely of places, in this standalone, opposites-attract romance from USA Today bestseller Tess Thompson. Real estate developer Kyle Hicks only has time for three things...

  • Tainted: Lance and Mary

    Cliffside Bay - 5

    In love, there are no mistakes, only detours. Find out for yourself in this standalone, swoon-worthy, small town romance from USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson. Businessman Lance Mullen is no stranger to mistakes, but he’s determined to ge...



  • Blue Ink

    Blue Mountain - 3

    From USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson, visit Blue Mountain yet again in this standalone tale that celebrates underdogs, family secrets, and forbidden love. Charlotte Wilde’s life is a flop. She gives her heart to the wrong men, her first ...

  • Missed: Rafael and Lisa

    Cliffside Bay - 6

    Return to the beloved beach town of Cliffside Bay, where USA Today bestseller Tess Thompson spins another emotional, intriguing tale about overcoming adversity and finding strength in love in this standalone story about Lisa and Rafael. After years o...

  • Cliffside Bay Christmas

    Cliffside Bay - 6.5

    The presents are wrapped. The stockings are hung. And two precious miracles are preparing to make their debuts. The most wonderful time of the year becomes even more joyous for Zane and Honor when their surrogate, Sophie, gifts them with an extra spe...

  • Healed: Stone and Pepper

    Cliffside Bay - 7

    It's Cliffside Bay and beyond in this heartwarming enemies-to-lovers romantic adventure from USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson. Stone Hickman is the last of a dying breed. The former Marine believes in integrity, service to his country, a ha...

  • Christmas Wedding

    Cliffside Bay - 7.5

    It's supposed to be the wedding of Lisa's dreams: the picturesque ski town of Emerson Pass, Colorado, her closest family and very best friends, and the love of her life waiting for her at the altar. But when the mother of the groom sets out to rid he...

  • Scarred: Trey and Autumn

    Cliffside Bay - 8

    For Autumn Hickman, online dating has been an exercise in nothing more than coffee and failure. There simply isn’t a man on the planet who can compare to her best friend, Trey Wattson. And while Trey is everything Autumn has ever wanted in a partne...

  • Jilted: Nico and Sophie

    Cliffside Bay - 9

    Despite being young and romantically inexperienced, Sophie Woods is an old soul who believes in true love, working hard at her bar, and always trusting her instincts. And from the moment she meets Nico, she knows without a doubt that he is her one-an...

  • Chateau Wedding

    Cliffside Bay - 9.5

    After a decade of searching for 'The One', Pepper Griffin is intent on having the wedding she's always dreamed of. But as the Cliffside Bay crew makes their way to Europe to celebrate Pepper and Stone, fate intervenes and threatens to ruin everything...

  • Kissed

    Cliffside Bay - 9.6

    Rosa Soto hasn't been kissed in thirty-five years. Yet when the darling woman known as Mama Soto to half of Cliffside Bay meets the handsome Dominic Perry, she's suddenly ready for her dry spell to end. Even if the rich and powerful Dominic could nev...

  • The School Mistress

    Emerson Pass - 1

    How easily can an open heart unlock the door to happily-ever-after?When Miss Quinn Cooper arrives in Emerson Pass, Colorado, her entire life is packed into one small suitcase. Her widowed mother and baby sister are depending upon her for their surviv...



  • The Sugar Queen

    Emerson Pass - 2

    True love requires commitment, and many times unending sacrifice. . . At the tender age of eighteen, Brandi Vargas watched the love of her life drive out of Emerson Pass, presumably for good. Though she and Trapper Barnes dreamed of attending college...

  • Departed: David and Sara

    Cliffside Bay - 10

    The final installment of the wildly popular Cliffside Bay Series weaves a heartwarming enemies-to-lovers meets marriage-of-convenience tale in the style readers have grown to expect from USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson....

  • Christmas Sisters

    Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge - 1

    Random circumstances brought them together. Love made them family.When a terrible accident takes Madeline Kirby's husband and only child, the school guidance counselor is sure she can't go on. Left behind with nothing but her work and an empty heart,...

  • Blue String

    Blue Mountain - 4

    Costume designer Teagan Lanigan only has time to love her work and the young son she's raising by herself. But when she decides to give up the glitz and glam of the film industry for a quiet life near her family, she'll face two unique challenges: r...

  • Christmas Rings

    Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge - 6

    Random circumstances brought them together. Love made them family. Kind, funny, successful, and adoring, Jed Marsh is the man of Alissa Mann's dreams. But Jed's parents don't think Alissa, who supplements her kindergarten teacher's salary as a cockta...

  • Come Tomorrow

    Castaway Christmas - 1

    One chance meeting. A single act of kindness. Can young soulmates find each other in adulthood, or will hidden truths tear them apart?Twelve-year-old Luci Quick never forgot the boy who saved her life that fateful Christmas Eve. But when he disappear...

  • The Spinster

    Emerson Pass - 3

    She gave her heart to a lie. He craves a family he never had. Can they reach past deceit to discover true love?Colorado, 1920. Josephine Barnes wrote every day to her beloved fiancé battling in the trenches of the Great War. Devastated when he...

  • Blue Twilight Short: The Prologue, 1989

    Blue Mountain - 4.5

    The prologue for Blue Twilight begins on a warm summer evening in 1989. Sixteen-year-old Carlie Webster is flying high when Cole Paisley confesses his love and seals it with a kiss. Later that night, their young worlds come crashing to the ground whe...

  • Blue Twilight

    Blue Mountain - 5

    A murder left her broken. A rumor sent his family packing. When they reunite years later, will their spark lead them to finding the killer?Carlie Webster remains haunted by the past. After a messy failed marriage sends her packing for her small homet...

  • The Patron

    Emerson Pass - 4

    She's afraid to take risks. He's an incurable daredevil. When tragedy throws them together, will it spark a lasting devotion?Crystal Whalen isn't sure why she should go on. Two years after her husband's death on a ski trip, she's devastated when a fi...



  • The Scholar

    Emerson Pass - 5

    She's marrying him out of necessity. He's secretly hoping to sway her heart. Will their friendship deepen into happily ever after?Colorado, 1924. Louisa Lind is a dutiful daughter to her adoptive parents. After the boy she loves marries someone else,...

  • Checking Holly Twice

    Romancing the Rink - 2

    Famous actress Holly Turner arrives in Garland Grove with a bang when she crashes her sports car in the middle of the town square. Facing humiliation after getting very publicly dumped by her fiance for another actress, she's looking for a place to e...

  • The Problem Child

    Emerson Pass - 6

    Cymbeline Barnes has been waiting for something exciting to happen her whole life. Instead, she's frustrated and lonely. Everyone seems to be moving on without her. Even her nemesis, Viktor.Viktor Olofsson has been entranced with the lovely Cymbeline...

  • Christmas Star

    Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge - 11

    Two years into their marriage, Alissa and Jed are busy with babies and dogs. Jed's craft distillery is growing in popularity. But will his efforts be thwarted when his father's company tries to do a hostile takeover? When Jed surprises Alyssa with a ...

  • Promise of Tomorrow

    Castaway Christmas - 2

    He's the humble son of a chauffeur. She's a prisoner in her father's mansion. Can he break her free from her ivory tower to teach her about love and kindness or will darkness prevail?Millicent Cashmere appears to have the life of luxury. But inside t...

  • The Seven Days of Christmas

    Emerson Pass - 7

    Merry Christmas from Emerson Pass in this surprise bonus novella full of holiday cheer, romance, and family. Flynn Barnes and his wife Shannon have had an idyllic marriage. Until she discovers the dangerous secret he kept from her. One that threatens...

  • I'll Be Home For Christmas

    He betrayed her when she needed him most. She kept a secret from him for decades. Will they be able to forgive each other for the sake of their child? Jennifer Whalen left Emerson Pass when she was just out high school. Pregnant and alone, she forged...

  • The Pet Doctor

    Emerson Pass - 8

    He's a small-town veterinarian who loves animals and naps. She escaped from a cult as a teen and started a new life under a new identity. Love is not an option, now or ever.TiffanyI barely escaped a cult when I was a teenager. The years that followed...

  • The Musician

    Emerson Pass - 9

    Fiona Barnes has a secret. One so big she's afraid it will destroy everything she holds dear. Not even her music can save her.Li Wu has faced prejudice his entire life. Despite the love and acceptance he's always received from the Barnes family, he y...

  • The Correspondent

    Emerson Pass - 10

    She can't stand him. He loathes her. Fate has other plans. When a snowstorm strands these enemies in an abandoned cabin, will they begin to see each other in a whole new way? StormiAfter being broke for way too long, I'm finally getting somewhere in ...



  • The Wordsmith

    Emerson Pass - 11

    She's loved him from afar. He thinks of her as his best friend's little sister. Will these forbidden lovers find their way before they lose each other forever? As a child Adelaide Barnes felt sure she wouldn't live to be an adult. However, she was w...

  • The Innkeeper

    Emerson Pass - 12

    It was supposed to be a night to forget. Fate disagreed.JamieI have no tolerance for men who leave and as far as I can tell, they all do. My dad destroyed our family in exchange for a new wife, a woman the same age as me. Even sizzling hot Darby, wit...

  • The Rebel

    Emerson Pass - 13

    She watches helplessly as the man she loves leaves to fight with the Allies overseas. He promises her he will return to her alive and well. Will he be able to keep his promise, or will he be yet another lost soldier in a war against tyranny?After fou...

  • The Making of a Matchmaker

    The Mystery Matchmaker of Ella Pointe - 1

    In the fall of 1910, a violent patriarch with many enemies is murdered, freeing his long-suffering wife and four misfit children. Can a secret matchmaking plan find love for the eccentric members of the Tutheridge family?The four Tutheridge siblings ...

  • Mama Moon

    Crescent Moon Ranch - 1

    When her world is shattered, a single mother must summon every ounce of strength and determination to rebuild a future for herself and her five precious boys. Can she save her Montana ranch and protect her babies? StellaI'm a mother above all else. M...

  • Swoony Moon

    Crescent Moon Ranch - 2

    As children, they'd made a pact to marry until a mutual family tragedy ripped them apart. Can a Christmas miracle bring them back together in this clean and wholesome, small-town romance or will the cruel demons of the past ruin their second chance?A...

  • When Stars Fall at Midnight

    The Midnight Stars Saga - 1

    1921EstelleCast out and alone, I lost everything weeks before my wedding—my betrothed, my family, my future. With nowhere to turn, I accept the help of a compassionate stranger, not knowing it may lead me towards a path I swore never to tread....

  • When Stars Rise at Midnight

    The Midnight Stars Saga - 2

    Falling in love was the last thing they wanted. Can they resist their feelings to protect the ones they care about?EstelleAfter the trauma of my family's abandonment and the forced adoption of my baby, I find solace in New York City, living in a fine...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Tess Thompson has published 57 books.

Tess Thompson does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, When Stars Rise at Midnight, was published in September 2024.

The first book by Tess Thompson, Riversong, was published in April 2011.

Yes. Tess Thompson has 9 series.
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