Review - - Treasure Coast Promise

Treasure Coast Promise

by Leigh Duncan

Emerald Bay - Book 2

Publisher: Gardenia Street Publishing

Release Date: August 22, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

 

She has a new career and a promising relationship, but will the secrets of her past ruin her hopes for the future?

No matter where she lived, Kimberly Ann Dane considered the Dane Crown Inn her home. As a child, Kim looked forward to frequent visits to the inn where she enjoyed building sand castles on Emerald Bay’s sandy beaches, learning to cook in the inn’s spacious kitchen and hunting for buried treasure with her cousins. As she grew older, she paid her way through college by working summers and school holidays at the inn. It’s no wonder that—divorced, at odds with her grown children and hoping to make a fresh start—Kim returns to the one place she’s always been welcomed with open arms. But things have changed. Kim’s cousins have scattered and face problems of their own. And the inn, which was once hailed as the “gem of Florida’s Treasure Coast,” has lost its luster. Kim has barely settled into her old room at the top of the stairs when her Aunt Margaret shocks the entire family with the news that she has decided to sell the estate that has been in the Dane family for more than fifty years. Before she does, though, Margaret asks Kim and her cousins to make one final wish come true.

While Kim and her cousins work to fulfill their aunt’s last request, they begin to rebuild the closeness they once treasured. As the women work to restore the inn to its former glory, a new career and a promising relationship with Emerald Bay’s most eligible bachelor open up a world of fresh possibilities for Kim. But when hidden secrets come to light, will her past ruin Kim’s hopes for a second chance at happiness?

PJ's Thoughts:

Events surrounding the Dane cousins continue to unfold in this second book of Leigh Duncan's Emerald Bay series as we begin to know each of the characters and the challenges in their lives. One cousin's marriage is falling apart. Another is in the first bloom of a surprising new relationship. Still another is about to hit rock bottom following employment woes. One by one, they each begin to gravitate back to the Dane Crown Inn, the location of their fondest childhood memories, the place that needs them as much as they need it. 

I'm already hooked on this new series of Duncan's. Meeting her characters is like meeting new friends in real life, with first impressions slowly evolving as bits of their lives are revealed. These are multi-layered characters with relatable flaws, complicated relationships, and the strong, core-deep bond of cousins who may have scattered as adults but grew up more as siblings. She brings them to life on the page, makes me care for them, cry with them, and cheer them on to better days. I'm totally invested in each of the cousins, in Aunt Margaret, in their happiness, and the future of the Dane Crown Inn. I have a feeling there will be many twists in the four books remaining in the series as all of the cousins reunite, find their own paths, and move forward, hopefully stronger, happier, and more confident. I'm eager to make the journey with them.