Series: Thunder Point, #1
Publisher: Mira
Released: March 26, 2013
Source: Review copy from NetGalley

Nestled on the Oregon coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land’s unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he’s been left an old friend’s entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community’s destiny in his hands.

Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.

With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.

———

I’ve recently read the first couple of books from Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series and absolutely loved them, so I was excited to get started with her new series on the ground floor. It did not disappoint! Once again, Ms. Carr delivers strong characters who draw you into the story with their depth and emotion, and an amazing small-town setting that is an engaging character in and of itself.

The story takes place in Thunder Point, a remote community on the rocky coast of Oregon. Hank Cooper comes to town after his friend Ben dies and leaves him an old run-down bar/bait shack and a huge chunk of beachfront property. I enjoyed how the book started out with a mystery – even though there was no evidence found, Cooper suspects there was foul play involved in Ben’s death. He befriends Mac McCain, the town’s deputy sheriff, and together they look for clues as to what really happened to Ben.

Cooper is a loner-type who doesn’t like to stay in one place long, but he owes it to Ben to fix up his place and decide what’s best for the property. Along the way he meets Sarah, a Coast Guard helicopter pilot raising her teenage brother, Landon. There is a strong attraction between Cooper and Sarah, but Sarah’s been burned by men in the past, and doesn’t want to risk she and Landon being abandoned again. How can an emotionally unavailable man and an emotionally scarred woman overcome their hurdles and make it work?

This book seems to have set the foundation for the series, and much like Virgin River, the secondary characters in Thunder Point have their own stories too. There’s Mac, the deputy sheriff, and Gina, a single mom and waitress pursuing a Social Work degree. There’s also Landon and Eve, Mac’s 16-year old daughter. A big part of the story was Landon’s troubles in school, and I loved the bond that formed between Cooper and Landon as a result.

Maybe the only thing I didn’t like was that Sarah and Cooper didn’t actually meet until the book’s half-way point. There was a lot of introducing the town that happened before, which I understand as a first book in the series. But still, I wanted them to get together sooner. :-)

THE WANDERER laid a strong foundation for the Thunder Point series, and I really enjoyed it. Eagerly waiting for more!

Rating: 4 Stars

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.