The Cottages on Silver Beach. RaeAnne Thayne

Published: HQN Books
Date:
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source:
Rating:
                           

For the sake of her brother’s children, innkeeper Megan Hamilton has put her entire life on hold to become their guardian. The last person she wants to ever see again is Elliott Bailey, who she feels is responsible for her brother’s current predicament. But the heat between them is undeniable, and she agrees to help Elliott investigate the cold case that tore their family apart…as long as they keep their attraction under control.

With the  the scent of  pine and spruce and the picture of lake and mountains in my imagination as I read the first chapters of The Cottages on Silver Beach, I was hooked into another small town contemporary romance. I'd enjoyed the previous couple of books in the Haven Point series and so it was with anticipation I read into this story.

I liked very much Elliot Bailey the wounded FBI hero, who has carried all the expectations on his shoulders of being the eldest in the family, someone who doesn't want to disappoint his family and maybe reveal that his halo has slipped... or has it.  I loved his values and totally agreed with him on many points, but none more on an important decision he took and his reasons why.   He is as well as being a FBI agent - a crime writer and I really enjoyed seeing him embarrassed by the fan base he has engendered.

Megan the heroine is a talented photographer who also manages the family Inn. She has a difficult family background and many times doubts herself too often.  When she is placed in close proximity to Elliot a long time attraction has time to develop between them. Mostly its a good one, with some great personal sharing, yet when the chips are down some disappointing miscommunications happen. I so hate that, but have to be honest and say in real life it happens so I can't be too hard on my bookish characters!

A mystery of what happened to  Megan's brother Luke's wife threads its way through the book,  she has been gone for many years. Luke has many a time been blamed for her murder, but what really happened. Well guess who can't keep out of that one. Elliot makes it his business to pursue it. 

The final chapter had me looking forward in great anticipation to Luke's story and how that is going to pan out. So just lets say I am hooked into making that an auto read in my reading future!  That's quite a turn around for me as some of this present book is set in Hope's Crossing and well... I just did not connect with the first book in that series and ditched the whole series. I just may have made a mistake!