Ten years ago, ASHLEY HALE left the Inn at Loon Lake, her family's business, frustrated by her father's apprenticeship that treated her more like a personal assistant than heir apparent. Her childhood best friend turned husband, CHRISTOPHER LEWIS, stayed behind, breaking her heart. After her father's sudden passing, Ashley discovers that he changed the terms of the will to include either her or her husband, whoever stays for thirty consecutive days following his death.
To claim her rightful legacy and her only chance at a happy future, Ashley sneaks into the lighthouse behind the Inn with the intention of scaring her estranged husband off the premises by pretending to be a ghost. Unfortunately for Ashley, Christopher knows she's back. He's spent the last decade running the business and hating himself for not following her. Her father forbade him from telling her the truth of the Inn's financial circumstances. In an act of love, he saved the resort and has been supporting her with an allowance ever since.
When Ashley accidentally sets the lighthouse on fire, she runs into Christopher's arms. He hopes her return means a relationship resolution and a chance to show how much work is involved in managing the property, hoping she will gladly hand over the reins. However, Ashley isn't giving up, and Christopher doesn't want her to leave. Convinced the Inn's lighthouse is haunted, she starts an investigation. Together, they uncover one mystery after another. Will they discover the secret to a happy future and a second chance at love?
PJ's Thoughts:
I have mixed feelings about this one. Parts of the story were enjoyable while others left me frustrated. I guess the bottom line is, I just wanted more. This is a husband and wife who have been separated without contact for ten years which presents a good opportunity for hashing out emotions on the road to a possible reconciliation. Good potential that had its moments but didn't quite live up to my expectations.
I'm not a huge fan of secrets, especially when in this case those secrets were kept - and continue to be kept - for the other person's "own good." Ashley and Christopher grew up together, fell in love, married, and are still married, though estranged. This is not an age-gap romance yet he's still treating her like a child, just as her father did. Yes, some of the things she's done have been immature but maybe if the men in her life had been upfront and open with her instead of withholding facts and opportunities from her, her life would have taken a different course. As it is, both main characters need to do some growing up - and they do - but, for me, it took way too long to accomplish. Others may feel differently. By the end of the book I did feel better about them as a couple but I'm also hopeful that we'll continue to see their relationship grow and solidify in the rest of the series. And yes, I do plan to give the next book in the series a go. There are locals introduced in this book who have me intrigued.
While the romance part of the book wasn't all I had hoped for, the mystery was well crafted, keeping me guessing with unexpected twists and on the edge of my seat with some suspense-filled moments.
In the end, I'd give The Ghost of Loon Lake 3.5 stars. It didn't keep me up reading late into the night but it piqued my interest in Loon Lake and her citizens enough to return for the next book in the series.
I was rather surprised that the heroine was behaving like a teenager. Thanks for the review. Another new to me author.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review, I might take a chance and put it inmy ever growing TBR list
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review. It sounds interesting, but I can see where the issues are. To not have any contact with either her dad or husband for 10 years and then expect to get everything they worked for is immature and wrong. Their no treating her like an adult didn't help. It does still sound like a book I would give a try.
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