After thoroughly enjoying the first two books of this series, I eagerly grabbed Summer off the shelf and settled in for an entertaining read. But Nick and Octavia never came alive like the Madison men and Harte women of the previous books. JAK continues her wonderful cast of secondary characters, human and non (especially Winston who she portrays so strikingly in just a few sentences that he becomes a major figure). However, even the two family patriarchs lost some of the punch of the earlier books. It was at best an okay read.
I really liked Nick Harte and his son Carson. When Nick met Octavia Brightwell, he was hurting from a previous marriage though not why everyone thinks. And Octavia had family issues of her own. The attraction is instant but Octavia knows that getting involved with hard-hearted Nick would be a huge mistake. It's fun to watch them connect and back-pedal. This is romantic courting at it's finest. Jayne Ann does it again. A great conclusion to the Eclipse Bay trilogy.
Setting: A small town on the Oregon Coast
Sensuality: 6
Art gallery owner Octavia Brightwell turns down six dates with handsome Nick Harte before she finds the courage to say "yes." She knows that not only does Nick have a "no-commitment" reputation, but he's also a member of one of Eclipse Bay's foremost families. Octavia, on the other hand, is the niece of the infamous woman who started a feud between Nick's grandfather and another prominent family, the Madisons, years ago. Sheer attraction wins out, however, and after one date, Nick is determined to make Octavia more than his dinner partner. Before the two have time to explore their relationship, a valuable painting is stolen from Octavia's art gallery and when the town names her as the prime suspect, she turns to Nick to solve the mystery. The investigation unravels an old scandal, heals a broken friendship, and forces Nick and Octavia to face and resolve the passionate attraction that binds them.
In this third tale in Jayne Ann Krentz's trilogy about life and love in a small town on the Oregon Coast, readers get to revisit the quirky characters that populate Eclipse Bay. The supporting cast also includes the fascinating members of the Harte and Madison families who starred in prior books. While the mystery element in the plot is light, the banter between hero and heroine is fun, and watching these two tread warily through the land mine-strewn road of their developing relationship is a pleasure. --Lois Faye Dyer
This book is well written with very developed and believable characters.
third book in trilogy, where scandalous passions and decades old resentments swirl with the relentless fury of a summer storm
Danny N. (Alameda) - 
