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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MIX OF MYSTERY AND HISTORICAL ROMANCE IN THE GRAND COBLE TRADITION, October 12, 2010
This review is from: The Lightkeeper's Bride (Mercy Falls Series #2) (Paperback)
Men & women. The 1908 north coast of California gets no more suspenseful than what Colleen Coble has put into "The Lghtkeeper's Bride" story. It's second in "A Mercy Falls" series but in no way is second place to the first story. Both are good as stand-alone books, but some characters do travel from inside one cover to the other. After all, coastal Mercy Falls is a small town. Pirating and murder are witnessed by the new lighthouse keeper, Will. Events encourage him to take upon himself the care of a one-year-old girl whose mother disappears suspiciously. He knows nothing about keeping a lighthouse or a baby...oops. Telephone operator, Katie, long a Mercy Falls resident, knows this is not right. The town newcomer is not to be trusted. From this point the plot becomes even more complex. Admittedly, I bought this, having read the first in this series; and expected another great Christian historical novel from Colleen Coble. I'm not disappointed. Desire, blackmail, disease, adultery, crime, bankruptcy, secrecy, defection, and more in Katie's family association is much to much to endure--BUT, it sure keeps readers turning pages in this fast-paced mystery filled with action and suspense around every corner. Oh sure, amidst the pirate fighting and clue gathering is a bit of romantic sparking too. Suspense fans will call this book a mystery. Romantics will love its Christian drama. Coble is a master at mixing romance and mystery, like meringue on lemon pie. SWEET, yet TART! It was enchanting to read in the acknowledgments at the end of the book that the baby Jennie's cute actions were somewhat based the author's real granddaughter. As a grandparent, I found that heartwarming. Even more exciting was the page that introduced the title, "The Lightkeeper's Ball", book 3, coming to Mercy Falls in January of 2011. I'll be saving my Christmas stocking cash for that book. Mercy Falls Series is proving to be as great as this author's "Rock Harbor Mystery Series."
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Historical romantic suspense. I like it!, September 28, 2010
This review is from: The Lightkeeper's Bride (Mercy Falls Series #2) (Paperback)
Review by Jill Williamson Telephone operator, Katie Russell, is working the phone lines one evening when she overhears a frightening conversation between her friend Eliza and a familiar male voice. Katie reports it to the constable right away, but discovers that Eliza has gone missing, leaving behind her toddler daughter. Katie decides to take charge of the child, only to discover that the lightkeeper has offered to take her. Katie doesn't trust this lightkeeper. He very well may have done something to Eliza. Yet he is so set on taking care of the child, Katie finds herself helping him. Her finance does not like this arrangement at all, but there is nothing to be done about that. Katie and the lightkeeper begin to investigate Eliza's disappearance on their own, which only draws them closer together. A dangerous situation for the mystery and for Katie's heart. This was my very first Colleen Coble book. I liked it a lot. It's a historical romantic suspense novel. Heavy on the mystery, medium on the romance, and light on the history. I was drawn in by her characters and dialogue and the 1920'ssetting. The book moves along at a brisk pace with pirates, missing treasure, a missing woman, and a budding romance. If you like that combination, you'll love this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as the first book in series, May 8, 2011
This review is from: The Lightkeeper's Bride (Mercy Falls Series #2) (Paperback)
I didn't like this book as much as I did the first book in the series The Lightkeeper's Daughter. I didn't feel the suspense to be as scary nor did I find the characters that likable (at least to me). You don't' need to read the first book before starting this one but I will say that I missed Gideon the dog as well as other characters from the first story. While the overall story is intriguing, the actual suspense part of this book fell quite flat for me. What could have been a good suspense plot kept having revelations happen too early and then lots of unnecessary plots kept getting thrown in. The question of "Who Is Jennie's Father?" didn't seem as if it was getting enough attention so that when it's finally revealed, you're like meh. Other than the two main characters, the supporting cast didn't win any points with me. Katie's parents seem to have a lot of issues that never get talked about or resolved and they seem to want to keep it that way. The ending didn't really interest me. It got so to the point where I stopped caring about what happened and why it happened and who did it. Something that did bother me a bit was what is up with all the men in this series being with two sisters??? I swear in the first book, TWO guys did it and now it happens again! I understand that in upper class families of the time period, this might have been somewhat norm to keep money in the family and keep outsiders from infiltrating above their rank. But still, I'm a bit skeeved out at how often it's happening in this series. I know there's nothing technically wrong with it but I honestly wouldn't want a guy who's been with my sister, I'll find another new guy thank you very much! And everyone seems to be ok with it too! I will say that I do enjoy the time period and I do like how Coble mixes suspense with historical settings and time periods. Also the cover of this book is beautiful. Hopefully the third book goes back to the good stuff from the first one.
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