Harbor of the Heart

Harbor of the Heart by Katherine Spencer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

5th in the Angel Island series, Harbor of the Heart continues the storyline between inn owner Liza Martin and carpenter/EMT Daniel Merritt. With summer approaching Daniel is considering taking his board exams over to return to the medical field but it means a season away from Liza and the inn. Plus, it means facing and overcoming his old fears. Meanwhile as he and Liza consider the cost to their relationship, a small white sailboat flounders off the shore near the inn and the sailor is thrown into the churning water, nearly drowning - if not for Daniel's quick reactions, with Liza and Claire's help. Who is this sailor that reportedly has no family except for a huge friend named Edison?

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The Way Home

The Way Home by Katherine Spencer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Katherine Spencer's Angel Island series are gentle reads - and companions to her Cape Light series. In this book Claire North, the inn's cook and Liza's right hand woman, takes a more prominent role. Jamie Carter, twenty and out of work, veers back into her life and Claire remembers the once little boy she almost adopted many years ago. Can Claire help Jamie set upon the right path or will Jamie once again stray and return to his old life back in Boston? At the same time Avery Bishop is excited about opening her new cafe, The Peregrine, on the busier side of the island. Avery finds out that her only competition is the Lazy Tuna, a happening, crazy burger joint that the island's visitors flock to in droves. How can her culinary expertise and fancy dishes compare to fish and chips?

A relaxing, inspirational read...and as Reverend Ben says, “…when people are trying to change their lives for the better, the road to becoming whole isn’t always a straight one. People tend to fall off the path now and then, or take wrong turns. Especially if they’ve been damaged, they can’t always make all the right choices.”

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A Season of Angels

A Season of Angels by Thomas Kinkade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another sweet Christmas novel about Angel Island from the team of Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer - widow and now 90 year old Adele Morgan has come to the island to mend the estrangement between her son Joe, living in Cape Light and younger son, Kevin. Many years before, when Kevin was a desperate alcoholic, Adele's late husband gave him their thriving business in hopes of giving him a purpose in life. But, since the business had really been promised to Joe, it created a terrible, unforgiving chasm between the brothers. Adele has promised herself, before she passes from this life, to do anything to bring them both back together. Even with the help of her grandchildren, Molly and Sam, a miracle by Christmas - if even her lifetime - seems impossible. Also staying at the lovely, old Angel Inn is grad student Jonathan Butler, eager to write his dissertation paper on disproving the existence of the legendary visit of angels to the island during the 1600s,. While doing his research at the Cape Light Historical Society at Lilac Hill, he meets waitress/undergrad student Tess Wyler who also works as a docent and helps Jonathan find the needed information. As Adele and Jonathan remain longer than intended at the Angel Inn, the island seems to work its divine presence upon them.

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A Wandering Heart

A Wandering Heart by Thomas Kinkade

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Book 3 in the series, An Angel Island Novel, is another sweet read by the team of Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer, where island folklore told of angels that helped a community of residents near death. Actress Charlotte Miller, who covers a world of past hurts with a beautiful smile, has come to the island to stay at the inn with a movie crew, all set to film her new and upcoming with co-star Nick Dempsey. When a rogue wave tumbles the troubled Charlotte into the ocean, it is fisherman Colin Doyle who jumps in and rescues her. As the two form a quick attachment, Charlotte knows that the attraction can not last and sadly breaks it off. Meanwhile, goat farmer and cheesemakers Audrey and Rob are having heartaches of their own - will they have to give up their beloved Gilroy Farm in order to move to Boston for fertility treatments....

The world lost a beloved artist on April 6 - the Painter of Light and author Kinkade passed away at his home.



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