It’s my week for Irene Hannon—and a switch from suspense/mystery to straight romance—and Irene satisfies both needs. She is equally facile in both genres.
Michael Hunter, a recent widower, drives from Chicago to Hope Harbor to honor a promise to his wife. She loved Hope Harbor and wanted him to feel the same. When he arrives, tired and hungry, to his surprise, the hotel where he had reservations is closed. Finally, turning on the cell phone he’d shut off for peace and quiet, he found several messages from the proprietor trying to advise him of their closing. She finds him a room in nearby Coos Bay—a disappointing turn of events for Michael.
Following a near disaster after almost bumping into a bicycle carrying a beautiful young woman, which crashes avoiding him, he slumps on a bench in the town gathering area, and attempts to regroup—Hope Harbor definitely doesn’t seem to offer him hope. A reclusive woman, Anna Williams, sees him sitting there as she orders her lunch from Charley Lopez’ fish taco stand. Neither recognizes the stranger on the bench. Charley sends Anna over to Michael with a bag of tacos and a note. As Anna sits next to him, she is shocked to realize he looks almost exactly like her estranged son, John.
The bicyclist, Tracy Campbell, loves Hope Harbor. She has been working overtime to try to keep her late parents’ business, Harbor Point Cranberries, solvent. In addition to part-time work as a CPA, she also volunteers many hours at Helping Hands. Crashing because of the clumsy stranger was not on her agenda for the day.
Hope Harbor is a wonderful, well-written story of triumph overcoming life’s tragedies; a heart-warming tale of people who are believable and lovable characters, albeit carrying deep secrets. I loved Michael and Anna and Tracy and Charley Lopez. You will too. Four stars and well-worth the pleasurable read.
Irene Hannon
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, gave me a copy of Hope Harbor in exchange for my unbiased review.
I’ll have to add this to my list of books to read.