"Harbor Secrets"

Book Description from the publisher:   A Peaceful Coastal Town...Threatened by a Storm of Secrets...It's 1916 when newspaper woman Anna McDowell learns her estranged father has suffered a stroke. Deciding it's time to repair bridges, Anna packs up her precocious adolescent daughter and heads for her hometown in Sunset Cove, Oregon.Although much has changed since the turn of the century, some things haven’t. Anna finds the staff of her father’s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief role, but her father insists he wants her at the helm. Anna is quickly pulled into the charming town and her new position...but just as quickly learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous secrets.With Oregon’s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept along the seacoast and invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant to get to know her father again over the summer, but instead she finds herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen—and trying to keep her daughter safe from it all.

About Melody Carlson

My Review:

Melody Carlson is one of those authors that really brings the story to life allowing the reader to feel as if she is a part of the story.  While reading "Harbor Secrets" I felt as if I were right there in Sunset Cove with Anna.  This is set during the prohibition period and I really liked the historical details woven throughout as this was a time period  of secrets, deception as evidenced through the characters and the secrets that have been hidden in this town.  Anna finds herself in the midst of drama honestly as her father wants her leading this paper, although others do not want her to.  Then she finds herself privy to some information and suddenly in the midst of a huge story, but she has her daughter to protect throughout it all.  This book was a quick read for me as the suspense, drama and possible love interests kept me turning the pages and wanting to keep on reading to find out what would happen next.  This is an excellent start to the series!

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women, and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, True Colors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including RT’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita, and the Gold medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog.