Harbor Secrets by Melody Carlson

Welcome!  Melody Carlson has written over 200 books for children, teens and women.  Melody considers herself a storyteller.  Her young adult novels appeal to teenage girls around the world (Diary of a Teenage Girl, True Colors).  Her annual Christmas novellas (The Christmas Angel Project, The Christmas Bus, Christmas at Harrington's, The Christmas Shop, The Christmas Joy Ride) become more popular each year (I just love her Christmas stories).  Ms. Carlson has won the Rita, the Gold Medallion, and RT's Career Achievement Award.  Some of her novels have been optioned for film and television.  Melody is married with two grown sons and a yellow lab.  She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest.  I especially like the novels Ms. Carlson has written for Tales from Grace Chapel Inn series.

Harbor Secrets by Melody Carlson has readers traveling to Sunset Cove, Oregon in June of 1916.  Anna McDowell is returning home after seventeen years with her daughter, Katy after learning that her father has suffered a debilitating stroke.  Anna has not been in contact with her father, Mac McDowell but she hopes it is not too late to reconcile.  While Mac is recovering, he asks Anna to take over the running of the paper.  It will not be an easy task since some men do not like taking order from a woman and that includes the assistant editor-in-chief, Wesley Kempton.  Anna and Katy settle into Sunset Cove taken in by charming town plus the beach and sea at their doorstep.  Anna soon learns, though, that there are people with secrets and danger is lurking for those who get too close.  Prohibition went into effect at the beginning of 1916 in Oregon and, with this new law, comes opportunity.  Anna has noticed that alcohol seems abundant despite the law and wonders who is behind it.  She cannot resist the opportunity to seek out answers in the hopes of breaking a big story.  But what happens when she gets too close to the danger.

Harbor Secrets captured my attention right away and held it until the very end.  I liked the characters and the quaint town of Sunset Cove.  Anna McDowell is a strong, intelligent and independent female protagonist who has become a successful reporter at the Oregonian.  When she receives word of her father’s illness, Anna quits her job and heads home with her daughter, Katy.  This is Anna’s chance to end the estrangement between her father and herself.  She did not anticipate becoming editor-in-chief of the Sunset Times which was started by her grandfather.  Then Anna stumbles onto a big story, but there are those that will do anything to keep their secret.  I thought Harbor Secrets was well-written, plotted and paced.   The author crafted a novel with family drama, mystery, friendship, intrigue, danger, and a hint of romance. Melody Carlson captured the time period especially with how men (not all men) felt about women in the workplace.  Katy added lightness and humor to the story with her easy going manner.   Harbor Secrets is a jam-packed novel with rum-running, a dirty mayor, the running of the newspaper, the upcoming mayoral election, Anna’s mother returning to town, Mac’s rehabilitation and Anna’s search for answers.  The mystery was intriguing and kept me reading to find out more.  I look forward to reading the next book in The Legacy of Sunset Cove series.  Harbor Secrets has secrets, illegal hooch, family drama, handsome men, and one determined newspaperwoman.

Harbor Secrets is available at Amazon. The next novel in The Legacy of Sunset Cove is Riptide Rumors.  Melody Carlson's Christmas book for 2019 is Christmas in Winter Hill which comes out September 3.  Thank you for stopping by today.  Tomorrow I will be sharing my review of Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert.  It is the first novel in An Exotic Pet-Sitter Mystery series.  May you have a splendid day.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader