Rating: Really Liked It
Source: Publisher
Description: Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.
Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.
As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.
Genre: Fiction
Why I Picked This Book: I've enjoyed other books from this author and loved the last book set in Winthrop Island.
My Impression: I really enjoyed this read. Winthrop Island has a complex and sometimes dark history and I really enjoyed getting another peek into it. This time we see events unfold in the early 1700s as a family battles both pirates and a blizzard and tries to survive. The bulk of the book takes place in modern day as Lucy and her daughter Elise (aka Punkin) returns to Winthrop Island after the disappearance and suspected death of her father.
There she reunites with Ben, the guy who got away who has had a tough time of it himself. I was pulled in not only by their story but also what was happening around them. It took Lucy a bit too long to realize something was not as it should be but she is pretty overwhelmed though I did get frustrated in her handling of a few aspects that seemed far more serious than she treated them. The reveal was nicely done and a bit of a surprise and I very much enjoyed getting there.
Williams' books are frequently linked together which can make them confusing at times. I am glad I read the previous book (Under the Stars) but haven't read any of the previous books set on the island and had no trouble keeping up with everything. I am really looking forward to reading the previous books that took place on Winthrop Island though.
This was a good read with mostly likable characters, a poignant history featuring pirates, and an interesting mystery.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Definitely! I want to do a bit of a dive into her backlist and read more Winthrop Island books as well as finally finishing the Schuyler sisters books.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy books with multiple timelines and interesting history this is a good choice though I would pick up Under the Stars first.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
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