thanks

I find that I have to read them in order. I think my first one was #3 and it made many references to the previous books that I had to find them and re-read #3.

The lives of the residents are continuous throughout the series.

yes - people continue book to book. you could probably figure out the 'main'story but you'd miss out on some previous couples mentioned in previous books.

I think I read 74 Seaside first and then went back and read the first 6 in the series.  I don't remember feeling totally lost with the characters.  I picked up pretty quick who was who.  It did make more sense when I had read the previous books.  I would not recommend randomly reading them since they have the same characters from book to book.  It isn't like other romance series where there is a different couple in each book--there may be a "main" story, but there are many sub-plots going on that continue to the next book.

I definitely recommend reading them in order. The books are about the lives of an entire community so while one may be focused on a particular couple or family you get to "catch up" on what is going on with everyone else in the community.