Friday, April 8, 2016

Hope Harbor by Irene Hannon

Come home to Hope Harbor—where hearts heal…and love blooms.
        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 though Hope Harbor, bringing healing, hope, and love to countless lives—including their own.


        Hope Harbor is the first book in Irene Hannon’s Hope Harbor series, and is also the first book I have ever read by her. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going in, but I had a very good feeling about this novel, and I wasn’t disappointed. I really, really enjoyed this sweet, touching story, and I know I will be reading more of Irene’s books in the future. Namely the next book in this series, but I’ll read other books as well. Irene is a very talented writer, who does a wonderful job of weaving together stories that touch your heart and leave you wanting more, and I know I’m going to be a fan of hers from now on.
        Tracy Campbell is an extremely strong, hardworking character, who is very, very hard on herself. I feel like that is often the case with us as humans, we absorb guilt and convince ourselves that things beyond our control are all our faults and therefore we should be punished for them, and that is so often simply not true. Tracy struggles with this on a deep level in this book, for reasons I won’t reveal to you, but I can say that once I found out her secrets I was begging her to give up her guilt and open herself to healing. Hope Harbor was named aptly, she just needed to find that out for herself.
        And so did Michael Hunter. He went to Hope Harbor for a reason, and as I slowly found out all about his past, I found myself hoping he would find what he was looking for as well. Both he and Tracy had been through unimaginable things, and both of them carried a weight of guilt on their shoulders. Michael’s guilt was just as misplaced as Tracy’s, though for somewhat different reasons, the main one being that he just has one of the biggest hearts of anyone ever created. His heart for people, especially people in need, is astounding, and I cannot help but wish there were men like him all over the world as we would have so much less problems and so many more ways to solve them.
        Anyway, I really loved all of the characters, especially Anna (you’ll find out later), and I hope they are at least mentioned in Sea Rose Lane, because I already miss them. Irene did a wonderful job on this story, and I have to give it all five bookshelves and say I highly recommend reading it. You will melt for sure—I know I did—and you’ll fall in love with Hope Harbor forever.
        Happy reading!


To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Irene Hannon and Revell Publishing.

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