Enter the World of Turn-of-the-Century Coastal California
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter
A storm brings an injured stranger and a dark secret to Addie Sullivan’s California lighthouse home. The man insists she is not who she thinks she is, but rather the child long lost and feared dead by the wealthy Eaton family.
Addie secures employment in the Eatons’ palatial home, keeping her identify a secret. As dusty rooms and secret compartments give up their clues about her past, Addie finds faith and a forever love.
The Lightkeeper’s Bride
Working the phone lines one evening, Katie Russell overhears a chilling exchange between her friend Eliza and a familiar male voice. Katie soon learns that Eliza has disappeared, and the crime may be linked to another investigation headed by the handsome new lighthouse keeper, Will Jesperson. Katie and Will soon form an alliance—an alliance that blossoms into something more.
The Lightkeeper’s Ball
Olivia Stewart is heiress to an empire. Her family numbers among the Four Hundred—those considered the most distinguished in America. But their wealth has evaporated and now their security rests upon Olivia marrying well.
Using her family’s long-forgotten English title, Olivia travels to Mercy Falls, California, as Lady Devonworth. There she plans to marry Harrison Bennett, a wealthy bachelor. Harrison soon falls for her, but it turns out they’ve both been hiding something.
USAToday bestselling author Colleen Coble lives with her husband, Dave, in Arizona. She is the author of dozens of novels including the Rock Harbor Series, the Aloha Reef Series, the Mercy Falls Series, the Hope Beach Series, the Lonestar Series and two Women of Faith fiction selections, Alaska Twilight and Midnight Sea. She has more than 6 million books in print.
The first few chapters of this book were a little confusing to muddle through at first because it feels like you are thrown into the action immediately without knowing who the characters are or how they all connect, however, that can be a good thing since you are wanting to find out what is going on! I'll bet nobody is riveted by the first few lines of a book being something like this, "My alarm clock rang. Ugh. I hate Mondays." Real riveting. 😒 There were many characters who didn't seem to really connect in any way until a few chapters after introducing them. Maybe I was just really tired the entire time I was reading this book, though, and that's why it took me so long to connect these things.
One surprising thing I liked (and also disliked) was that so many people were not what they appeared to be. Like, oh, you think so-and-so is safe? Checkmate, they're not!! And you think such-and-such-person is a total threat? Wrong! Gentle and caring like a lamb! Would never harm anyone or anything. So I totally thought I had certain parts figured out but was shocked in finding out I was wrong on certain things.
The main character had a strong reliance on God and tried to make sure that she was doing the right thing, which is admirable in my opinion. I didn't find this book to full of preachiness but rather there were threads of a relationship with God woven into the fabric of this book, making it natural and unforced. It was just a part of the Addie's life—not added or an afterthought.
Sometimes Addie seemed a little (or a lot) naïve, but I mean, how "worldly-wise" would you be if you hardly ever went to town and you hung around the beach and lighthouse all the time with your dog & family and had no friends to speak of outside that?
There was quite a few kisses in this book, but most are not detailed. I just skipped past the detailed ones because it's a little weird to read about the details of someone's kiss.
I feel like I wasn't able to be in their shoes quite a bit through the book. Like, it was like I was reading and not actually being transported into these people's lives, like I was in the character's lives.
Also one little issue is that some of the words and phrasing were a little 'modern.' In one part, someone says to another that they have a "wicked arm," as in how people use the word nowadays to describe something as cool or great. (pg. 298) I don't think they used that word like that back then, but I am open to correction, since I am not a historical scholar or anything like that. I could be wrong.
Overall, a unique story about the search to prove a woman's identity to her family that thought she was dead along with a dose of romance and action!
3 stars.
The Lightkeeper's Bride
This story felt like it was all over the place—there was a disappearance, then a smallpox outbreak, pirates, a lightkeeper, then add a baby into the mix, and Bart, Katie's suitor, whom one wants to pity because he doesn't realize what's coming (or does he? We may never know.). There is heaps going on! People get thrown over waterfalls, thrown down mine-shafts, and held hostage on a boat. I felt like there was almost too much happening with too many people involved.
Will and Katie kissed each other a lot. And then they were both like, "Do they want to be in a relationship with me? I'll just let them say it first, I don't want to force anything." Maybe we should be asking those questions before kissing each other.
I liked Jennie, the baby! Her character showed really well and one didn't have to stretch their imagination far to make her seem believable.
Finally, Katie realized some very important things that I feel like most character's would not get. That is one thing I have liked in both the first and second books in this series. The author does an excellent job of instilling sense into areas that other author's might just skip over and dramatize upon instead of examining the issue closely. One example of this is that someone was trying to blackmail Katie. Katie is afraid and wants to give the person the money they want out of her. Katie realized that the person blackmailing her has just as much to lose as she does and confronts the person upon realizing that.
I also really liked that Katie had spirit and action to accompany it. She was no pansy!
Will seemed sweet and I liked the scenes that showed how much he loved Jennie. So thumbs up on that!
3 stars.
The Lightkeeper's Ball
This was probably my favorite out of the entire series. Olivia seemed believable and easy to empathize with. Harrison seemed strange at first but he turns out to be quite likeable in the end.
And totally did not realize who the bad guy(s) were until close to the end! (I need to work on my skills haha.) They seemed like a bunch of psychopaths.
Harrison happened to be in the right place at the right time more than once, saving people's lives left and right.
Olivia acted like a drama queen once or twice towards the end there, but I don't know if I would have acted differently if it had been me in her shoes. I hope so! She soon snapped out of it though and worked things out after that instead of jumping to unfair conclusions.
Also, there was kissing in this one too. So losing a star for that in my book.
I didn't like how Olivia kept her real name from Harrison for so long because it felt drawn-out, but she did end up telling him.
Interesting story and plenty of plot twists and turns.
Sebenernya milih buku ini random aja sih... on-sale di kindle, paketan gitu, 3 buku seri, cek sekilas di GR, rating 4... OK kan... eh ternyata baguusss.... Walaupun ada pesan2 Kristen gitu, tapi masih OK lah... gak preaching banget... Dan ceritanya gak pure romans... ada suspense-nya sedikit, jadi ala2 misteri detektif gitu dan bunuh2an juga.
Paling gak ketebak misterinya yang buku ke-3.
Kalo tokoh perempuannya paling suka yang pertama, Addie... paling mandiri. Yang kedua, rada2 galau gitu... yang ketiga tipe2 orang kaya banget...
Kalo tokoh prianya aku suka Will, buku ke-3... cerdas dan tough ☺️
Buku penutup dan pembuka di tahun baru.. semoga tahun 2020, bisa lebih baik ngatur waktu bacanya...
A lightkeeper a widower and an airplane maker find love on the California coast.
Enjoyed being with this author again. Addie and John story was sweet and exciting. Addie wanted to know her real family. That came with heartache and love. Katie and Will story was one of solving robberies, taking care of a little one and finding love. Olivia and Harrison was one of deceit, murder and finding love in the end. Each one of the stories were sweet. The little ones made them fun too. Will read more by this author.
You will enjoy each one of these novels as you read them. They are in the same location, one following the other in a timeline. All three are lovely love stories and very clever mysteries with captivating and surprising final endings. Really good reads...don’t miss them.
I enjoyed the light mystery involved in these historical romances. They were cleverly written, with the last one keeping me on the edge of my seat, not wanting to put the book down. I also highly recommend the way this author writes historically. Not only are you getting a wonderful tale, but a lesson in all things from the era you are transported to.
The characters were easy to connect with. The stories about the lives of the light house keepers was interesting. I was grateful that their christian faith was important to their lives. I recommend the book and the author
The Lightkeeper’s Bride is by far the best out of this series! The other two are well written and have good mysteries, but the second book really caught my attention.
There were a few parts that I still feel needed refined or edited better but that didn't take away from the series. Great books and I thoroughly enjoyed them!
It was refreshing that each book could stand on its own in this series. The main character in one book becomes a secondary character in the next. The Christian themes were well placed and not overbearing. The second one, The Lightkeeper's Bride, was a little overly convoluted. It seemed like new intrigue kept getting added in unnecessarily. Overall, they were pleasant to read but not something I would reread.
This was a good read, loved having all three books in one volume. There was mystery and romance. Not too much romance to make it over the top, so I enjoyed it. There were just a couple of spots where the scene jumped ahead without enough detail but other than that it was good
Loved all 3 stories. Colleen really keeps you at the edge of your seat and writes in such a way that never want to put them down. All 3 had great characters and plots. Only had 1 problem when reading them and I won't say as it does reveal major parts to the stories.