Echo Lake

February 15, 2015

Thrilled to be chosen to oversee the renovation of retired diplomat Vic Scarlatti's 1912 country house on Echo Lake, Heather Sloan is determined to do her family--of the restoration firm Sloan & Sons--proud. But the return of bad-boy diplomatic security agent Brody Hancock after years away has her off balance and on edge. Brody left under a cloud right out of high school--thanks to Heather's older brothers--so why is he back after so many years, supposedly looking into some unexplained things that have Vic concerned, and why is he suddenly interested in Heather? VERDICT With her unerring knack for creating compelling, sympathetic characters and vivid, realistic settings, Neggers does the near impossible: she brings a small-town, family-loving heroine and a footloose hero together in an engaging romance that has its fair share of surprises. Neggers (Harbor Island) lives in Vermont.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Except for college, Heather Sloan has lived in Knight's Bridge, Massachusetts, her whole life. The town's bad boy, Brody Hancock, left years ago and now returns as a squeaky-clean Diplomatic Security Service agent. Their paths cross again as Heather supervises the renovation of retired diplomat Vic Scarlatti's 1912 lake house. Brody doesn't have many memories of Heather, the kid sister of his best friends, but she has had a crush on him since girlhood. Now he is certainly interested in the woman she has become. Meanwhile, someone is sneaking into Vic's house, moving his things around to let him know he is not alone. Neggers' tale of a young woman working in an old house where something creepy is going on has a nice gothic feel. Because Neggers makes lots of references to characters from the earlier Swift River Valley books (Secrets of the Lost Summer, 2012; That Night on Thistle Lane, 2013; Cider Brook, 2014), Echo Lake works best as part of the series, and libraries will want the entire run by this master of romantic suspense.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)