“Hope Harbor” by Irene Hannon

Tracy Campbell never wanted to leave Hope Harbor, Oregon, or the idyllic three-generation cranberry farm where she grew up. But life–and love–altered her plans. Now she’s home again–with a floundering farm to run . . . a tragic secret . . . and a wounded heart. Romance is not on her agenda. Nor is it on Michael Hunter’s. The visitor from Chicago has daunting secrets and devastating regrets of his own. But when Tracy recruits him to help with a project that is close to her heart, winds of change begin to sweep through Hope Harbor, bringing healing, hope, and love to countless lives–including their own.

Hannon hooked me from the very first glimpse at Hope Harbor.  There’s not really one main character, but instead three who share the lead and all have mysteries in their pasts, and that’s how Hannon keeps you turning page after page:  you are completely and unabashedly curious about their pasts, and you’ll keep sticking your nose into their stories into you find out everything.

Michael needs to find a way out from under his grief, and it’s obviously fresh and all-consuming.  Tracy is desperate for a way to keep her family home, and Anna is aching with loneliness.  As a reader, you can see that each person has the potential to be a really great friend, and yet their pasts are keeping them shuttered off from the world.  Hannon writes a meandering, yet purposeful path to wholeness through a unique set of circumstances that will keep you guessing at every turn. 

Hope Harbor reads like a breath of fresh air.  Although the story contains past pain, it’s main focus is the redemption and forgiveness of that hurt – and so it’s mostly peaceful.  The action is the romantic and spiritual kind, with no major crimes or heart-stopping action sequences.  While I love crime novels, the sweet nature of Hope Harbor is refreshing to read.

I think only one thing is seriously lacking from this book:  Charlie’s recipe for fish tacos.  As one of my most-favorite foods, after reading description after description of them throughout the book, I really want to go make some of my own – or, rather, Charlie’s.

Maybe that could be included in the next Hope Harbor story?

I received a free copy of Hope Harbor in exchange for an honest review.