A New Hope

April 20, 2015
Carr continues her romance series set on the Oregon coast with a smoothly written story of two people who find healing and love after bad marriages. Ginger Dysart, still recovering from her baby’s SIDS death, punches farmer and professor Matt Lacoumette after he drunkenly gropes her breast during his sister’s wedding reception. After he apologizes, the two begin a friendship that realistically turns romantic. Their major stumbling block is anger; she’s gotten past hers, and he needs to give his up. Occasionally meddling large families broaden the scope, and a secondary story line involving ALS patient Winnie Dillon (mother of the heroine in One Wish) and her entourage—her nurse, the nurse’s teenage son, and a skating coach—adds depth and surprising humor. Carr falters only when using large moralizing brush strokes to paint the breakup of Matt’s marriage.

May 15, 2015
After a horrible introduction, Matt Lacoumette makes amends to Ginger Dysart and the two become fast friends-before realizing they might be perfect for each other. After losing her baby to SIDS, Ginger falls into a depression and has a hard time considering the future. Moving to the small Oregon town of Thunder Point to live with a cousin offers her a fresh start, and she settles into the friendly community and her new job at a florist's shop with an unexpectedly hopeful attitude. When she attends the wedding of a new friend, however, the bride's drunken brother embarrasses her with his unwelcome come-on, which lands him in the emergency room when she pushes him away and he can't stay upright. When Matt tracks her down to apologize, the two find that they've both recently had to deal with difficult divorces. Ginger was married to a self-centered wannabe rock star who abandoned her when she became pregnant and barely acknowledged the death of their baby. Matt married a party girl who was ill-fitted to his farmer's lifestyle, then became resentful when he felt her trying to change him. Matt and Ginger are falling in love and considering a future together but not before they find a little healing and learn from their past mistakes. Carr continues her brilliant community-building as a number of storytelling threads come together in a rich narrative tapestry. Matt and Ginger's romance is sweet though slow-moving, but there's a lively cast of secondary characters to keep us engaged and invested. Fans will be delighted to get back to Thunder Point and another poignant romance.

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June 15, 2015

Gradually getting on with her life after losing her four-month-old son to SIDS, Ginger Dysart doesn't want to get involved with an out-of-control man with issues--like the tipsy wolf who came on to her at her boss Grace's wedding, handsome Matt Lacoumette, Grace's brother. But beneath all that dangerous, outward charm, Matt is a decent yet troubled guy, and a caring, understanding friend such as Ginger is exactly what he needs--and what she needs, as well. Friendship slowly turns into love as they each come to terms with their separate challenges in a compelling story that brings a new couple together and seamlessly updates the lives of the rest of the Thunder Point folk. VERDICT Two deeply scarred people find unexpected healing, love, and new hope in a touching romance that adds another chapter to Carr's engaging series that hovers at the borders of women's fiction and romance and is sure to appeal to fans of both. Carr (One Wish) lives in the Las Vegas area.

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