Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1361770 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Story
After her divorce from "the weasel", Savannah Townsend returns to her childhood home in Coldwater Cove, Washington. She decides she would like to turn a dream into reality and buys the Far Harbor lighthouse and begins to transform it into a bed and breakfast. Savannah has the support of her family: grandmother and retired doctor Ida, her eccentric mother Lilith, and her step-sister lawyer, Raine. These four women and strong willed and stick together when the going gets tough. Events will happen that will slow down Savannah's progress on her lighthouse but will bring the family even closer together.

Far Harbor was a great book. The characters are so real they seem as if they could actually be your neighbors. Their lives are that of the everyday person. The setting was great and the town seemed like Anytown, USA. The romantic storyline with Savannah and Dan was even written in to seem natural and real. It is so nice to read of people falling in love without hating each other first as they do in most romance novels.

This was my first book by this author and it won't be my last. Far Harbor reminded me of books written by Debbie Macomber. Common, everyday people living their lives in the best way they can. This was a great book and should be shared among family and friends.

A nice sequel...
Savannah Townsende has just been through a bitter divorce that has broken her pride and her spirit. Leaving the sandy beaches of California as a chef of an exclusive resort, Savannah returns to Coldwater Cove, Washington where her family lives. Upon arrival, Savannah realizes her dream of opening her own bed and breakfast might not be as far fetched as she originally thought. She then decides to make an offer to the owner of the lighthouse that is on the edge of the cove. While she wasn't ready for any emotional or romantic entanglements, Savannah couldn't avoid her feelings for Dan O'Halloran. Soon she was smack in the middle of an affair that she didn't want to end, or to change from no strings to commitment.

Dan O'Halloran ran from Savannah after their one and only date when she was still in high school. She made men dangerously think of forever thoughts, and as an eighteen year old, Dan decided he better get far away, and fast. What he didn't count on was seeing Savannah all these years later and still feeling the feelings he did then, but intensified from that of a boy to a man. He knew that she had been burned in her marriage, but he knew that he wouldn't let that stop him from convincing her that they belonged together.

Dan and Savannah's story is sweet and will make the reader smile. Ross also brings the reader the story of John Martin, Dan's nephew who was orphaned after a car accident that his parents died in. We also meet Savannah's grandmother Ida Lindstrom who finally realizes that just because she's been a doctor for longer than five decades, doesn't mean that she is immortal.

A good read!

A Perfect Sequel
This sweet, romantic, and well-written delight is the sequel to JoAnn Ross's lovely "Homeplace." It continues the story of a family of strong-willed women: Ida, the matriarch whose long life of medical service is only part of her strength (she would have been played beautifully by the late Colleen Dewhurst; I imagine Ida looking just like her); Lilith, her nutty, gorgeous hippy dippy daughter, who has finally settled down with the love of her life at age 50; and Lilith's two daughters (by two different husbands).

The story of Lilith's daughter Raine was told beautifully in "Homeplace," and ended with her marriage. "Far Harbor" concentrates on the other daughter, impossibly beautiful but emotionally fragile Savannah, who has returned to her hometown of Coldwater Cove, WA, after a disastrous failed marriage. Savannah and her late husband had run a famous catering business in California. But now, Savannah is on her own, and although she is shaky inside, she is also determined to make a go of her new life.

Accordingly, she purchases a Coldwater Cove landmark, the Far Harbor Lighthouse. In her mind's eye, Savannah can see the enchanting bed and breakfast inn it will become, but in reality, the place is a dump, and will take back-breaking work to restore. But Savannah isn't Ida Lindstrom's granddaughter for nothing. She feels equal to the challenge--as long as her woman's heart is not involved. For Samantha is convinced that love, and particularly marriage, are off limits for her now, and she wants nothing to do with any man who might challenge that belief.

Daniel O'Halloran, a rugged, gorgeous lawyer and cousin to Raine's new husband Jack, once dated Savannah in high school. He has returned to Coldwater Cove as well, after the tragic death of his sister and her husband left him guardian to their mentally challenged son. Daniel too has had a failed marriage. But when he sees Savannah...well, enough said.

Subplots involve troubled teenager Gwen, whom we met in Homeplace, who is struggling to forget the baby girl she put up for adoption; Ida, whose health may not be what it was; the cranky former owner of the lighthouse, Henry, who has no family of his own; and Savannah's biological father, a British rock star who sounds just like Mick Jagger.

Sound good? It is. A good, solid read in the old-fashioned vein. I enjoyed this book very much, and derived much satisfaction from the ending, which of course I will not reveal. Read it and see for yourself!