The Things We Most Desire

Welcome to Hope Harbor where the pace is slow, but news travels fast; where visitors arrive to relax and clear their mind of distractions and then come away with new perspective.  It’s an unlikely destination for Eric Nash with his partner-track position at a high-end Portland law firm.  But when “a strategic repositioning” leaves him jobless and questioning all his cherished assumptions about security, he returns to Hope Harbor to fall back and regroup.

Eric is surprised to find his widowed father in the midst of a huge remodeling project with plans of starting a B&B in the family home.  Of course, a fender bender with his dad’s construction manager on his first day in Hope Harbor gets them off to a rocky start, but what was it about this contractor’s intelligent green eyes and the dusting of freckles across her nose that sent a sizzle of electricity through the air? Was it only Eric’s imagination, or had B.J. sensed it as well?

As Eric’s confusion about his future increases, the pounding hammers begin to echo the collision of choices warring in his head and heart.  Was a return to the fast track what he really wanted?  Or was it time to slow down and make space for his long-neglected love of painting — and a meaningful and committed relationship?

Return visitors to Hope Harbor will be delighted to know that Charlies’s Fish Taco Stand is still doing a booming business, and that Charlie is still observing the town’s citizens with his enigmatic combination of quirky humor and sensitivity.  Did he train Floyd and Gladys to guard the  bench near his stand or were those two seagulls just captivated by Charlie’s charm like every one else in town?

Irene Hannon’s background as a suspense writer sneaks into her unfolding plot in Sea Rose Lane.  With Eric’s uncertainty about his future and B.J.recovering from a disastrous run-in with a smooth operator who was as ambitious and handsome as Eric, the pair seems unlikely to synchronize the pitch and sway of their feelings for each other.

The good citizens of Hope Harbor keep Eric and B.J. on the move and, ultimately, it is through the use of their gifts in the service of others that God begins to direct their paths in surprising ways.  With a balance of delightful whimsy and piercing insight reminiscent of Jan Karon’s Mitford series, Irene Hannon has created an engaging community and populated it with characters whose journeys capture the imagination and invite the reader to ponder important life lessons.  Through the twists and turns of the narrative arc, Sea Rose Lane reinforces the truth that in order to gain the things we most desire, we sometimes have to let go of things that are less important.

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Curious about author Irene Hannon?  I interviewed her last summer here on the blog.  I have also reviewed the first book in the Hope Harbor series as well as two of her earlier books.  Enjoy!

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This book was provided by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my review.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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