Harbor Lights (Chesapeake Shores) [Mass Market Paperback]

Sherryl Woods (Author)

Book Description

Series: Chesapeake Shores | Publication Date: May 26, 2009

Struggling in his role as a newly single father, former army medic Kevin O'Brien moves home to Chesapeake Shores. He wants a haven for himself and his toddler son, surrounded by the family he knows he can count on, and a future that's nothing like his past. But Kevin is suddenly facing a risk he hadn't anticipated, in the form of Main Street bookseller Shanna Carlyle.

Shanna immediately recognizes Kevin as a wounded soul—she's had way too much experience with the type. Still, this charming O'Brien man and his son are almost impossible to resist.

Then, just when the barriers are toppling, someone from Shanna's past appears. Confronted with a threat to their hard-won serenity, Kevin and Shanna face their toughest challenge—learning to trust again.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. She's also especially partial to small towns, wherever they may be. A member of Novelists Inc., Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, Sherryl divides her time between her childhood summer home overlooking the Potomac River in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and her oceanfront home, with its lighthouse view, in Key Biscayne, Florida. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778326411
• ISBN-13: 978-0778326410
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. She's also especially partial to small towns wherever they may be. In Amazing Gracie, as in her later Trinity Harbor series, Woods creates a fictional version of the town where she spends summers on the shores of the Potomac River. "This town just lends itself to fascinating characters and a charming locale," she says.

A member of Novelists Inc., Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, Sherryl divides her time between her childhood summer home overlooking the Potomac River in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and her oceanfront home with its lighthouse view, in Key Biscayne, Florida. "Wherever I am, if there's no water in sight, I get a little antsy," she says.

Sherryl also loves hearing from readers. You can join her at her blog, www.justbetweenfriendsblog.com, visit her Web site at www.sherrylwoods.com or contact her directly at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a little disappointing, June 8, 2009

By 

Lynne Thomas "hyperreader" (PNW) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harbor Lights (Chesapeake Shores) (Kindle Edition)

I have read Sherryl Woods for many years and enjoyed her well-woven tales of family, friends, and life along the eastern seaboard. Harbor Lights was a letdown. I found myself not caring about Mick and Megan anymore, because, after all, they are adults and should have behaved better in the first place so I didn't want to agonize over their stupid resistance anymore. This is the third book in the series, and Mick and Megan should have resolved this somewhere in the middle of the second. As for the main characters, Kevin and Shanna, I thought they were going along just fine. Things were progressing well and the relationship was truly developing. Then the book ended. Suddenly, everything resolves and the world is inexplicably in HEA mode. Why the rush? Maybe deadline loomed, or perhaps she just got tired of writing this story line. I felt actually pushed to accept the resolution of this romance; shoved like a good little romance reader into a corner and bullied into accepting that it could happen this way. Well, Ms Woods, romance readers are a little more savvy than that, thank you. I have no intention of reading this book again.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No. Three - A disappointment!!, June 11, 2009

By 

R. Palmer "RP" (SAINT CHARLES, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harbor Lights (Chesapeake Shores) (Mass Market Paperback)

The INN was great, Flowers on Main - great, Harbor Lights - slow, reptetive. I will complete the book as it must 'get better' as I have confidence in Ms. Woods writing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Time to Heal and Move On!, July 14, 2009

By 

Viviane Crystal (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Harbor Lights (Chesapeake Shores) (Mass Market Paperback)

Kevin O'Brien has returned to the beloved O'Brien clan with his son Davy, devastated from his wife's death while serving in the Army in Iraq. He just wants to be left alone to freely and fully grieve. His family honors his needs for a while, but then they realize he has a son who needs him. In other words, he needs to slowly join the living in spite of and through his grief. A large, daunting task to be sure! But the O'Brien clan is up to the task as well.

At the same time young Shanna Carlyle has arrived in Chesapeake Bay and is about to open her dream store, a place where the locals and tourists can buy books, games, small toys and puzzles, as well as have a place to have a cup of coffee while they relax and browse through the merchandise. She's got an accounting background to put to good use here but she's also hoping to escape a searingly painful past that she views as damaged.

The day comes when Kevin is finally talked into visiting his sister who owns the store next to Shanna. Finding her shop closed, he stops by and thus begins one of the most cautious, intriguing and endearing romances a reader could imagine. Both are initially ultra-gun shy about calling their relationship anything more than a casual friendship, but to other eyes the sparks are flying whenever they are together.

You'll meet some other fascinating characters, all of whom are desperately trying to matchmake this burgeoning relationship but who have issues of their own that frequently cause conflict between Kevin and Shanna. Is there hope for the couple? What is it that each character needs to face and admit before they can even dream of more than the frightened and grief-filled moments they suffer? Be warned; this sounds complex and heavy but it's definitely not so. Sherryl Woods has a knack of putting just enough tension into a story and then relieving it graciously and beautifully with a scene where the bonds between all of these characters begins to heal and strengthens.

The fictional tale also turns to a realistic, very important environmental issue as well, done lightly but with significant focus!

Harbor Lights is a glorious, enchanting, light-hearted, intriguing and precious story written by an author who just keeps improving with time! Wonderful story to be cherished by readers in any time of the year!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on July 14, 2009