HARBOR SECRETS

A Peaceful Coastal Town…Threatened by a Storm of Secrets

It’s 1916 when newspaper woman Anna McDowell learns her estranged father has suffered a stroke. Deciding it’s time to repair bridges, Anna packs up her precocious adolescent daughter and heads for her hometown in Sunset Cove, Oregon.

Although much has changed since the turn of the century, some things haven’t. Anna finds the staff of her father’s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief role, but her father insists he wants her at the helm.

Anna is quickly pulled into the charming town and her new position…but just as quickly learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous secrets.Click To Tweet

With Oregon’s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept along the seacoast and invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant to get to know her father again over the summer, but instead she finds herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen—and trying to keep her daughter safe from it all.

About the Author

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women, and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, True Colors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including RT’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita, and the Gold medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their yellow Lab.

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My Review

An easy and enjoyable story with quite complimentary characters who get reacquainted and stir things up in a lovely location.  Set on the Oregon coast during prohibition-era 1916, Harbor Secrets deftly explores the emerging independence of women and the very real challenges of coming home again. I was drawn to the empowered, intelligent and independent Anna McDowell; and I do hope to read more of her story in future volumes.  I was a bit dismayed though that Anna’s 59-year-old father, Mac, was portrayed as a frail old man.  All in all, this is a quick read that features very real historical, familial and personal issues.  Enjoy!

One of my favorite spot-on quotes from the witty and clever Anna McDowell, as she replies to her male “friend”: “You’re not suggesting women’s wiles?” He grinned.  “No, of course not. But if a man assumes I’m not too smart because I’m a woman and that helps me to make some discoveries, well, I’m not above it.”

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book.  A favorable review was not required, no compensation was received, and all views expressed are my own.