Review: Wildest Dreams by Robyn Carr + Giveaway

wildest dreams by robyn carrFormat read: ebook provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Thunder Point #9
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: August 25, 2015
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Blake Smiley searched the country for just the right place to call home. The professional triathlete has traveled the world, but Thunder Point has what he needs to put down the roots he’s never had. In the quiet coastal town he can focus on his training without distractions. Until he meets his new neighbors and everything changes.

Lin Su Simmons and her teenage son, Charlie, are fixtures at Winnie Banks’ house as Lin Su nurses Winnie through the realities of ALS. A single mother, Lin Su is proud of taking charge and never showing weakness. But she has her hands full coping with a job, debt and Charlie’s health issues. And Charlie is asking questions about his family history—questions she doesn’t want to answer.

When Charlie enlists Blake’s help to escape his overprotective mother, Lin Su resents the interference in her life. But Blake is certain he can break through her barriers and be the man she and Charlie need. When faced with a terrible situation, Blake comes to the rescue, and Lin Su realizes he just might be the man of her dreams. Together, they recognize that family is who you choose it to be.

My Review:

The Wanderer By Robyn CarI’ve read the entire Thunder Point series, starting with The Wanderer (reviewed here) over two years ago. This is a town where people like each other and really pull together. It’s the sort of place that most of us would like to live.

Over the course of the series, we’ve gotten to know the people, so whenever there is a new book, it is great to find out how everyone is doing. Updates on everyone we already know are interspersed with each book’s particular love story.

It’s also usually pretty obvious by the end of each book who at least one of the protagonists will be in the next story. However, in Wildest Dreams there are no clues. This feels like the last book in the series, and that we’re saying goodbye to this town and these people.

If it is goodbye, it’s a pretty good one.

There are two stories competing for attention in Wildest Dreams. One underlying thread in the last three books of the series, starting with One Wish (reviewed here) is the story of Grace Dillon Headly’s mother and former coach, Winnie Banks. After a tempestuous relationship that was both mother/daughter and coach/Olympic figure skater, Winnie and Grace have finally made peace. Winnie has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and wants to have a good relationship with her daughter before it’s too late. Grace brings Winnie to Thunder Point, and the whole town befriends the newer, more approachable, Winnie.

one wish by robyn carrBut ALS is a degenerative disease, and one of the threads of the story in Wildest Dreams is the way that Winnie, her daughter, her entourage and the whole town help Winnie cope with the inevitable.

Part of that coping is Winnie’s nurse, Lin Su Simmons and her 14 year old son Charlie. Lin Su is a single mother and an excellent nurse. Those skills have served her well, as Charlie is asthmatic and required a lot of care earlier in his life. But he’s 14 now and ready to grow up and escape his mother’s extremely tight apron-strings. He just needs to learn to manage his condition for himself, instead of by his mother’s constant nagging and worrying.

And into that particular breach steps Blake Smiley, world-class triathlete and Winnie’s new next-door neighbor. Blake is willing to coach Charlie so that he can become stronger, and inculcate the self-discipline to manage his condition and himself. It’s time for Charlie to learn, if not to fly, at least to bike and swim and run like other boys.

But in the process of befriending Charlie, Blake runs right into his beautiful and fierce dragon of a mother, who is too scared to let Charlie manage his own care, and too proud to accept help from anyone. Especially a man who might betray her just the way that Charlie’s father did.

Escape Rating B-: So in this story we have Winnie and her management of her condition, as well as how everyone around her is coping with it. We see the way that Winnie has found happiness by finally letting people into her life, while at the same time she mourns the loss of her independence. There is a lot of bitter mixed in with the sweet. And the other way around.

So many of the women in the previous stories are not just pregnant, but very pregnant as this book continues. Including Grace. They are all hoping that their children will be born together, and will become friends for life. Maybe there is a Thunder Point Next Generation somewhere down the road.

But the interlocking pregnancies give readers a chance to catch up with the other couples. One always wishes them happy.

The other main thread of the story is Charlie, Lin Su and Blake. Charlie is growing up. Lin Su isn’t anywhere near ready to cope. He was very, very sick as a baby and little boy, and she is used to being the authority on all things. But 14 is when we start breaking away from our parents if we haven’t already, and it’s time.

Lin Su has had a rough life. It’s not just that she is a single mother, but the way that it happened, and also the way that she has coped with it. She has concealed her origins from Charlie as much as possible, and refuses to discuss his father, her family or any part of the past that has made her so closed off and bitter.

At 14, Charlie is not merely old enough to challenge those assertions, but he is more than internet savvy enough to look for his own answers.

Then there’s Blake Smiley. If Charlie had been shopping for a role model, Blake would be it. But Blake’s views on what Charlie wants to do run absolutely opposite of the way that Lin Su needs to keep control. The problem is that Blake is right, and Lin Su is angry about it. Angry enough to keep pushing him away, not just his desire to help Charlie, but also his desire for her. And hers for him.

Blake is awesome. He’s a really great guy. And when Lin Su continually rejects him and rejects his help for Charlie, she shows just how angry and bitter and closed off she is. While the reasons for her behavior make sense from her perspective, I cringed every time she held Charlie back. Even with his childhood asthma, she was crippling him from being everything he could. She thought she was holding him closer, but what she was really doing was pushing him away.

Having finished the story, I’m not sure the romance was necessary for this one. And I’ll admit I didn’t feel it. While it was easy to see how Lin Su turned out the way she did, it did not make her an easy character to like. Blake’s training and mentoring of Charlie made for enough of an emotional connection that the emphasis on that part of the equation worked much better than the romance.

However, the non-romantic part of the HEA that the author gave Lin Su and Charlie packed an incredible punch.

~~~~~~ GIVEAWAY ~~~~~~

I’m giving away a paperback copy of Wildest Dreams to one lucky U.S. commenter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: One Wish by Robyn Carr + Giveaway

one wish by robyn carrFormat read: ebook provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, hardcover
Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Thunder Point #7
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: February 24, 2015
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Grace Dillon was a champion figure skater until she moved to Thunder Point to escape the ruthless world of fame and competition. And though she’s proud of the quiet, self-sufficient life she’s created running a successful flower shop, she knows something is missing. Her life could use a little excitement.

In a community where there are few eligible singles, high school teacher Troy Headly appoints himself Grace’s fun coach. When he suggests a little companionship with no strings attached, Grace is eager to take him up on his offer, and the two enjoy…getting to know each other.

But things get complicated when Grace’s past catches up with her, and she knows that’s not what Troy signed up for. Faced with losing her, Troy realizes Grace is more than just a friend with benefits. He’s determined to help her fight for the life she always wished for but never believed she could have—and maybe they can find real love along the way.

My Review:

One of the features of Robyn Carr’s Thunder Point series is the way that she introduces new characters to the town for future romantic possibilities. The hero and heroine in this book have been in town for a while now. Troy Headley is a history teacher at Thunder Point High School. He came to Thunder Point for the extreme sports that are available nearby. Troy is an adrenaline junkee, but he is also a damn good teacher.

homecoming by robyn carrHis failed romance with Iris McKinley formed some of the backdrop for The Homecoming (reviewed here). Where Troy failed, Seth Sileski returned from Iris’ past for a second chance at love. This leaves Troy at loose ends, there aren’t a lot of single women in the 20-40 age range in tiny Thunder Point. But in the wake of his breakup with Iris, Troy finally discovers Grace Dillon.

Grace has been there all along. She bought her flower shop from Iris after Iris’ mother died. But even though Grace and Iris have become best friends, Grace has mostly kept herself to herself. Because Grace has a big (but not bad) secret. Grace used to be Izzy (Grace Dillon) Banks, a world champion gold medal figure skater, who disappeared after she won everything at the Olympics.

Grace is hiding from her high-pressure past, and her even higher-pressure mother. She doesn’t want anyone to recognize Izzy Banks in Grace Dillon, because she’s happy and completely self-sufficient as Grace, while Izzy flamed out emotionally.

But Troy, in need of a playmate, sees Grace’s “ all work and no play” life as a challenge. He appoints himself her “fun coach” and gets her to take a bit of time off from her “nose to the grindstone” life for a few simple pleasures, like picnicking and watching movies.

They start out as friends, and eventually end up as friends with some very nice benefits. But even as they get more involved, as their relationship shifts from friendship to more – Grace keeps her very big secret to her very scared self.

It all crashes down when her domineering mother reappears in Grace Dillon’s life, through a couple of underhanded tricks designed to force Grace back into Izzy, or at least back to mother. When all is finally revealed, Grace discovers that she has a chance to make one of her very own wishes come true – she has a chance at a real relationship with her mother.

The only problem is that it is her last chance. And that once Troy discovers who Grace really is, he can’t figure out what place he can fill in her overwhelming rich, “old money” lifestyle. His case of testosterone-poisoned inferiority complex almost costs both of them everything they have found.

Escape Rating B+: I think my own personal “one wish” for the Thunder Point series would be that it go on forever. The only problem I can see is that if the town continues adding new people, it will eventually stop being a small town. But it would take a lot of books before that would happen.

I love Thunder Point. As each story unfolds, it becomes more and more a place I would actually want to live, if only to be able to have coffee and gossip with the marvelous people who live there. One of the terrific things about this series is the way that the author weaves in characters from previous books, so that we all know how everyone is doing.

As might have been obvious from my recent posting of a review a week in this series, I got behind and took this opportunity to catch up before One Wish came out. I’ve enjoyed the series a lot, it’s definitely become a comfort read between some of the creepier and spookier books I’ve had recently.

Chance by Robyn CarrBack to Thunder Point. I will say that the plot of One Wish reminded me a LOT of an earlier book in the series, The Chance (reviewed here). Not just because Troy almost makes the same mistake that Eric did, but particularly because Grace’s relationship with her mother, and the ways that it goes wrong as well as the crisis forcing a final resolution is very, very similar to Laine’s relationship with her father. The dilemmas, and their attendant heartbreak, are all too similar.

Which does mean that I didn’t enjoy the story, because I did. The problems facing both women and their aging parents are all too real, as is the reality that it is usually women who end up dealing with the work and the fallout.

Troy and Grace are a terrific couple, and their friends-into-lovers romance burns slow but bright. I also liked the way that Carr introduced the next heroine, while giving us an update on a previous couple in the series. Ray Ann’s niece Ginger has come to town so that her aunt can help her get back on her feet after a tragedy. I wonder who will come to town to help Ginger reach her own happy ending.

I can’t wait to find out, hopefully in A New Hope, coming in July.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Robyn is giving away a paperback copy of One Wish to one lucky U.S. winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Chance by Robyn Carr

Chance by Robyn CarrFormat read: ebook provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, hardcover, audiobook
Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Thunder Point #4
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: February 25, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

With its breathtaking vistas and down-to-earth people, Thunder Point is the perfect place for FBI agent Laine Carrington to recuperate from a gunshot wound and contemplate her future. The locals embraced Laine as one of their own after she risked her life to save a young girl from a dangerous cult. Knowing her wounds go beyond the physical, Laine hopes she’ll fit in for a while and find her true self in a town that feels safe. She may even learn to open her heart to others, something an undercover agent has little time to indulge.

Eric Gentry is also new to Thunder Point. Although he’s a man with a dark past, he’s determined to put down roots and get to know the daughter he only recently discovered. When Laine and Eric meet, their attraction is obvious to everyone. But while the law enforcement agent and the reformed criminal want to make things work, their differences may run too deep…unless they take a chance on each other and find that deep and mysterious bond that belongs to those who choose love over fear.

My Review:

Now that I’m on my fourth book in Robyn Carr’s Thunder Point series, I have come to a couple of conclusions.

Thunder Point is a really terrific small town, one that I might like to live in. Possibly live in more than visit – it seems like it is not unconscionably far from Portland, or even Seattle, but still has the small-town feel that turns newcomers into friends very easily.

Thunder Point also seems to be the place where second chances finally make it all the way to the finish line, no matter how much has gone wrong in between. Sometimes its a second chance at a first love, and sometimes its a second chance in life. Most of us need one of those sometime in our lives, so that idea has a lot of resonance.

(Bliss County Wyoming, in Linda Lael Miller’s Brides of Bliss County series, seems to be another place of the same lovely type. More on that Thursday)

Back in Thunder Point, Eric and Laine are both people who have come to Thunder Point for a second chance at something. Eric is there for a second chance with the daughter he never knew he had. (The mother of said daughter married the sheriff back in The Newcomer (reviewed here))

The Hero by Robyn CarrLaine was the undercover FBI agent who rescued Devon and her daughter Mercy, and helped shut down the cult in The Hero (reviewed here). Laine is taking some leave from the FBI to recuperate from her gunshot wound and to do some reassessment about what she wants from her life. She’s also on the west coast to get as far away as possible from her father on the east coast. Dad has always disapproved of Laine’s career in the FBI, but on her last visit, he said that she wasn’t saving lives or doing anything important by being an agent, and that he wasn’t interested in watching her get a medal for wasting her life.

If you think there is something wrong with that scenario, you are not alone. Because the other chance that Laine needs is a chance to have a real relationship with her father, before it is too late.

Eric and Laine gravitate towards each other instantly, even though neither of them is looking for a relationship. Eric is working all hours starting a new business in town, and Laine is only planning to be in the area for six months at the most. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, neither of them is the type of person for casual sex. They are both in their 30s, and casual hookups have lost their appeal.

They are the last two people who should ever get together. Laine is an FBI agent, and part of Eric’s past where he never checked up on the possibility that he left his girlfriend pregnant all those years ago included 5 years in prison for a crime committed by his friends. But they had involved parents, and he was wild and on his own. But those 5 years made him examine his life and turn it around before it was too late.

So Eric and Laine walk into this relationship trying not to think about the expiration date until they are both in much too deep to think of walking away. And then a kind of backwards miracle happens.

Laine’s father shows up on her doorstep, with no luggage but an intense desire to straighten out their relationship while he still can. Her father is a doctor, and has been self-medicating for Alzheimer’s for several years. His time to make amends is running out. But as his symptoms increase, Senior not only needs Laine more than ever, but he has finally come to appreciate her.

Laine finally has the relationship with her father that she always wanted, but at a terrible price. He is slipping away, but in order to give him the best care she can, Laine has to go back east and make arrangements that take forever.

Nearly letting her relationship with Eric slip away in her exhaustion and frustration. The rest of her family has to stage an intervention to get her to go back home to see if the man she loves is still waiting for her.

Escape Rating B+: Having read four of the books in this series, it’s starting to feel like one single long and lovely story. Each book flows right into the next, almost seamlessly. And while I think you could pick up the series at almost any point, I can’t imagine why anyone would. Thunder Point is a terrific place and its a joy to spend time there.

The Wanderer By Robyn CarThat being said, each book does have a defined beginning, middle and end, and the major threads of the single story are pretty much resolved by the end of the book. (The exception to this is the first two books, The Wanderer and The Newcomer. That really is one story.)

In this fourth book, we do get glimpses of people we’ve met in the previous books, especially the ones who helped rescue Liane and Devon’s daughter Mercy at the end of The Hero. They are all important people in Laine’s life, and she feels a lot of gratitude, as well as the experience of shared danger that never goes away.

Because the big problem in this stoy is about Laine’s relationship with her dad, rather than a direct crisis in her relationship with Eric, we see a lot more of Laine than we do Eric, or we spend more time inside her head. She wants her father’s approval, and she feels she has never had it. It’s a gaping wound in her life that she can’t move past. Most of us have difficulty moving past issues with our parents.

Laine didn’t do what was expected, the way that her brother did. So it seemed as if her father gave Pax his conditional approval and benefit of the doubt, where Laine always got an argument. Most parents would be proud of Laine’s job. Most parents would also be scared to death. But with our parents, our logic and theirs tends to go out the window. Dad wanted her safe, and he acted as if the only way to achieve that was to suppress who she was. The way that their relationship gets patched up in the middle of a dreadful crisis was sadly wonderful.

Laine’s dilemma was realistically portrayed. Her father really does need her, and he clings to her. She has the relationship with him that she has always wanted. She is also caught in the mental and emotional trap that the only way to take care of him properly is to do it all herself. Which is unrealistic and exhausting and emotionally draining, but Laine past the point where she couldn’t find a solution through her exhaustion.

This was a bittersweet happy ending that felt emotionally right.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Cider Brook by Carla Neggers

cider brook by carla neggersFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, audiobook, large print
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Swift River Valley #3
Length: 379 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: January 28, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Unlikely partners bound by circumstance…or by fate?

Being rescued by a good-looking, bad-boy firefighter isn’t how Samantha Bennett expected to start her stay in Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. Now she has everyone’s attention—especially that of Justin Sloan, her rescuer, who wants to know why she was camped out in an abandoned old New England cider mill.

Samantha is a treasure hunter who has returned to Knights Bridge to solve a 300-year-old mystery and salvage her good name. Justin remembers her well. He’s the one who alerted her late mentor to her iffy past and got her fired. But just because he doesn’t trust her doesn’t mean he can resist her. Samantha is daring, determined, seized by wanderlust—everything that strong, stoic Justin never knew he wanted. Until now…

My Review:

After having finished this story and had a chance to think about, it feels like the theme of Cider Brook is finding peace with the ghosts of the past. And that applies whether they are they are the ghosts of the long-dead past, or your own past.

A lot of the characters in the story are seeking redemption for something that they feel they did wrong, or think might have been the wrong thing. Part of the story is that the people they think they wronged have died. So they are searching for peace within themselves.

I feel like I should start the way that A Christmas Carol starts; Duncan McCaffrey was dead, to begin with. Yet the story centers around him and his death, even though he isn’t still around.

Duncan was a larger-than-life treasure hunter and explorer. And so was Harry Bennett, Samantha Bennett’s grandfather, also lately deceased. While cataloging and processing her grandfather Harry’s huge and disorganized collections, Sam comes across a painting of a mill over Cider Brook and a handwritten romance novel between a pirate and an English Lady.

Sam recognizes the scene in the painting and is fascinated with the book. She has been hunting pirates all of her professional life, and the story points her towards Knight’s Bridge. Sam was there once before, when she briefly worked for Duncan McCaffrey.

That’s where Sam feels the need for redemption. She concealed her investigation of Knight’s Bridge and her identity as a member of the slightly infamous Bennett family from Duncan. He fired her because he couldn’t trust her after that.

Now she’s back in Knight’s Bridge chasing her pirate legend, and everyone is pretty wary of her and her motives. She wasn’t exactly above board the last time, after all.

A freak thunderstorm forces her to break into that very same Cider Bridge mill for shelter, and when the place catches fire, she gets rescued by Justin Sloan, the same man who outed her presence to Duncan.

The Sloans do their level best to keep her around while Justin investigates what she is there for. He wants to keep her from treasure hunting, and she’s out chasing pirate legends. They strike sparks from the beginning.

As Sam investigates the local legends, she discovers that her pirate may really have been part of the history of Cider Brook and Knight’s Bridge. Her confirmation of that history lies in a little secret that Justin has been keeping from her all along.

Escape Rating B: In the end, it’s the historical story that turns out to be more interesting than the slow-burning love story between Sam and Justin in the present.
I enjoyed the way that the entire Sloan clan adopts Sam and involves her in the wedding and the other events going on while she is there. Even though I haven’t read the first two books in the Swift River Valley series, Sam’s introduction to everyone served as my introduction as well. (Although I am curious enough about the previous stories that I’m planning to read them!)

Sam and Justin arrive slowly at a relationship; they need to trust each other, and at first they really, really don’t.

But the historical investigation is what held my interest. Sam is trying to find a 17th century pirate, and her trail has led her to Knight’s Bridge. The more she digs, the more she discovers, and the closer she comes to a piece of her own past. The way that this thread circled around to the present was very cool.

Sam’s past with Duncan, and why she felt so bad about what happened, is never quite clear. But the subplot it introduces with Duncan’s lawyer, Loretta, and how she felt about encouraging Duncan to fire Sam, as well as Loretta’s inability to move on after Duncan’s death, was a poignant side-plot.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Wanderer by Robyn Carr

The Wanderer by Robyn CarrFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Series: Thunder Point, #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Number of pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, mass market paperback, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Author’s website | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Nestled on the Oregon Coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land’s unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he’s been left an old friend’s entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community’s destiny in his hands.

Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.

With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.

My Thoughts:

There isn’t just “one” wanderer in Robyn Carr’s The Wanderer, there are actually two. Hank Cooper and Sarah Dupre. Sarah has some pretty good reasons for her wandering. Cooper, maybe not so much. He’s just one of those guys who has a hard time putting down roots.

And The Wanderer is kind of a “slow-build” romance, but that’s okay. In spite of what sounds like some pretty nasty weather, part of the point of the story is to understand what makes Thunder Point on the coast of Oregon a special town, and why Cooper finds himself staying, and staying. In spite of his original intent.

He falls in love with the town first. And so does the reader.

The usual type of romance comes later. And then there are two of those. One has been even longer in coming than Cooper and Sarah’s. And so it should be. Thunder Point seems to be a place where everyone gets a second chance.

Cooper is in Thunder Point because an army buddy has died just before they were supposed to meet up for a vacation. They’ve both been out for quite a while, but they kept in touch. Cooper wants to see where Ben ended up, show his friends that someone cared.

He discovers that there are suspicions surrounding Ben’s death, and that Ben left his property to him. A lot of property, and a cryptic message to take care of things.

Cooper discovers that Ben took care of a surprising number of things and people around Thunder Point, and now that Cooper has taken over his beachfront deli and bait shop, taking care of all of that has now become Cooper’s job. If he wants to take it on.

Starting with stepping between young Landon Dupre and a whole posse of football players who are planning to beat him up. Again.

Landon leads to Sarah. Looking into Ben’s death leads to the Deputy Sherriff. Taking care of things leads to getting involved with the people of Thunder Bay.

But the beachfront land he’s inherited is worth a whole lot of money. Should he take the money and run, just like he’s always done? Or does “taking care of it” mean it’s finally time for him to stay?

Verdict: It’s surprisingly easy to get involved with the small-town life of Thunder Point as Cooper gets involved. The slowly-building romance between Cooper and Sarah doesn’t even start until one-third or more through the book, and I was more than fine with that!

The introductions of each character as Cooper met them and then their stories spun off just worked. The secondary love story between Deputy Sherriff McCain and his best friend was almost heartbreaking at the beginning, but I was definitely rooting for Mac to finally get a clue!

Cooper’s involvement with Sarah doesn’t initially begin with Sarah. He starts out befriending her younger brother Landon, who definitely needs a friend. The portrayal of high school bullying and how Landon was trying to ignore it in the hope it would go away felt true to life. Also the unfortunate but highly likely scenario that the locals would side with the long-resident family against the new guy.

Sarah initially lashed out against Cooper because she was concerned about his motives. Why was a man in his mid-30’s befriending her 16-year-old brother? She had serious trust issues and with good reason, however mis-aimed they might have been.

Even as their relationship changes, Sarah continues to try to keep it as less than it is to protect herself. She’s been burned, and badly, before.

In addition to the romances, there is also a suspense subplot involving Ben’s death and Landon’s bullying that went just a bit over-the-top.

But I had a terrific time visiting Thunder Point, and I’m looking forward to more of this series, especially since I came in with Cooper at the beginning!

4-Stars

I give  The Wanderer by Robyn Carr 4 lightning-struck stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.