The Homecoming

July 21, 2014
The captivating sixth installment of Carr’s Thunder Point series (after The Promise) brings up big emotions in the tiny coastal Oregon hamlet. Hometown boy Seth Sileski left in triumph with a football scholarship and went on to play in the NFL—until a serious injury ended that dream forever. Iris McKinley, now a guidance counselor at the Thunder Point high school, is the girl he’s never been able to forget. When Seth returns to run the sheriff department substation in town, he can’t understand why his former friend is so icy, until Iris reveals a secret she’s carried around for years: in a drunken stupor in high school, Seth took Iris’s virginity. Seth, who has no memory of the encounter, is devastated by the revelation and is determined to make up for it, but Iris won’t accept his apology quickly. Carr’s gift for writing lovably flawed heroes and heroines is evident on every page, and she includes a host of enjoyable side characters and glimpses of the subjects of earlier books. While laying the groundwork for the next installment, she delivers a first-class happy ending.

August 1, 2014

Although they were next-door neighbors and best friends since childhood, it took only one disastrous misunderstanding to drive impulsive Iris McKinley and football star Seth Sileski apart, leaving Seth in clueless confusion. Now, 15 years later, Seth is back in town to head up the sheriff's office and, wiser but still in the dark, is determined to reconnect with Iris. But high school guidance counselor Iris is not about to trust her heart to the man who broke it, even though she knows he is the only one for her. Faulty communication, domestic abuse, teenage relationships, and family strife ramp up the action as Thunder Point continues to blossom in Carr's expert hands. VERDICT A hero with fences to mend and a heroine who needs to trust her heart sort out their feelings as they deal with everyday issues in a laughter-laced story that overflows with familiar faces and small-town warmth and admirably continues Carr's engaging, soul-satisfying series. Carr (The Promise) lives in the Las Vegas area.

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