Olivia Lockhart

16 Lighthouse Road

Cedar Cove, Washington

Dear Reader,

You don’t know me yet, but in a few hours that’s going to change. You see, I’m inviting you to my home and my town of Cedar Cove because I want ou to meet my family, friends, and neighbors. Come and hear their stories — maybe even their secrets!

I have to admit that my own secrets are pretty open. My marriage failed some years ago, and I have a rather … difficult relationship with my daughter, Justine. Then there’s my mother, Charlotte, who has plenty of opinions and is always willing to share them.

Here’s an example: I’m a family court judge and she likes to drop in on my courtroom. Recently I was hearing a divorce petition. In Charlotte’s view, young Cecilia and Ian Randall hadn’t tried hard enough to make their marriage work — and I agreed. So I rendered my judgement: Divorce Denied.

Well, you wouldn’t believe the reaction! Thanks to an article by Jack Griffin, the editor of our local paper (and a man I wouldn’t mind seeing more of!), everyone’s talking.

Cedar Cove — people love it and sometimes they leave it, but they never forget it!

See you soon …

Olivia

I go from the town of Virgin River to Cedar Cove. lol.

I enjoyed reading this one. there are several story lines going on this book but I didn’t feel overwhelmed or that one story was cut short. To me, it all seemed to flow. With the exception of Grace’s story, they were all tidied up at the end of the book.

One of the characters kind of annoyed me. That was Cecilia but her story was one of my favorites. Go figure. Cecilia and Ian tried to get a divorce but it was denied. They had a whirlwind courtship. When their baby dies, there was a lot of anger and hurt. It didn’t help Ian was away on a submarine (Navy boy) and he couldn’t be there with Cecilia to grieve with her.

Long story short: Cecilia files for a divorce. Because the judge denied it, they are kind of forced to figure out what to do. Neither of them have money to try and appeal. Ian wants to reconcile. Cecilia says no. They argue. Ian deports. Ian write. They finally talk about what happened between them. Cecilia has a lapse of brain cells and in self pity she tells him it’s over. Ian remain patient. They continue to write. At the end of his tour, Cecilia is waiting for him and wants to make marriage work.

With Grace, Olivia’s best friend, her husband disappears. The only things she knows is that he bought a trailer with cash. She has the suspicion there was another woman. We find out what happened with her hubby in the second book. Which I do plan on reading cause I want to know what happened too!

A light and fast read.

Grade: 4/5

This is what happened . . .

I met him at the candy store. He turned around and smiled at me and I was surprised enough to smile back. This was not a children’s candy store, mind you—this was the kind of place you went to buy expensive imported chocolate truffles for your boss’s wife because you felt guilty for having sex with him when you were both at a conference in Milwaukee. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

I’ve been hit on plenty of times, mostly by men with little finesse who thought what was between their legs made up for what they lacked between their ears. Sometimes I went home with them anyway, just because it felt good to want and be wanted, even if it was mostly fake.

The problem with wanting is that it’s like pouring water into a vase full of stones. It fills you up before you know it, leaving no room for anything else. I don’t apologize for who I am or what I’ve done in—or out—of bed. I have my job, my house and my life, and for a long time I haven’t wanted anything else.

Until Dan. Until now.

After I read Broken, I checked out Megan Hart’s website. I realized this book comes before Broken. It’s about Elle, who is Sadie’s patient in Broken.

So I know Elle and Dan would end up together. However, had I not read Broken first, I would have had my doubts.

Elle has some issues. And the way Megan Hart wrote Elle’s character, it wasn’t annoying. Like, move on from them already. I really was pulling for Elle to open up to Dan. To let him in. There were times I hurt for Dan. Dan who wanted to give Elle the world but didn’t understand why Elle wouldn’t let him.

Dan had a lot of patience. It would have been easy for him to just walk away but he didn’t. And when he finally did, I hurt from them both. When Elle finally told him her secrets, I cheered because I know it wasn’t easy for her but I wanted to hug Elle also.

I also have to give Elle kudos for not bitch slapping her mom cause there were several times I wanted to do it. Sex scenes: hot. Sexy. Yeah baby. lol. Nothing kinky like ass slapping, plugs or corny little sayings like hot like summer sweet like spring.

Another book I really enjoyed.

Grade: 4.5/5