Seth Sileski returns to Thunder Point in the latest instalment of this popular series. Set on the Pacific coast of Oregon, the town has seen drama and love in the earlier books by Robyn Carr. Seth has been away for sixteen years, bar occasional visits, but now he's proud to be a deputy. He's not up with all the latest news though! Checking that the teenagers aren't too wild is his first priority.
Another person involved with teens is Iris McKinley, a youth counsellor, who used to be good friends with Seth in school when she was an awkward kid. There's more of a distance between them now, so Seth's return really means less to her than helping sports jocks get good maths grades. Or so she pretends to her friend Grace who runs the florist shop. In truth, Iris feels that Seth - as an immature lad - let her down badly, and she can't get past that time which he barely remembers. Since then Seth was badly injured in a car crash, destroying his football career, so he can be forgiven for having other priorities as he slowly recovered mobility.
I found rather more recollections of school than we'd expect in a novel for adults. Iris got a master's in social studies and set up a career guidance and self-esteem programme in the school she had left, Thunder Point High. This modern-thinking young woman eclipsed the past guidance counsellor who hadn't been much use. Anyone considering such a career, or looking for ways to boost their own school programmes, might find useful ideas. Similarly readers in the late teen years might learn that youthful idealism is not pragmatic and adolescent people will let you down, though they don't mean to do that. They are just being young.
I applauded Iris's reaction to feeling upset and lonely; she cleans and declutters her house. That's guaranteed to make us feel better. The place quickly gets into a state again when the poor lady comes down with flu, though. That's the nice thing about Robyn Carr's books - they are populated by people just as human as the rest of us. With serious issues confronting them, such as relationship abuse, the friends Seth and Iris learn to find out who they each are now. This adult romance will be loved by the followers of this series and THE HOMECOMING could also be enjoyed as a standalone by new readers.
In a small town, reputation is everything. In her latest
novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr
explores the burden placed on a young man returning home to
face his mistakesβthe first step in claiming the life he was
meant to live
At the age of nineteen, Seth Sileski had everything. A
superb athlete and scholar, handsome and popular, he was the
pride of Thunder Point. Destined for greatness, he lost it
all in a terrible accident that put an end to his
professional football career when it had barely begun. The
people in his hometown have never forgotten what might have
been.
Seth has come to terms with the turns his life has taken.
But now he's been presented with an opportunity to return
home and show his fatherβand the people of Thunder
Pointβhe's become a better, humbler version of his former
self.
Winning over his father isn't the only challenge. Seth must
also find a way to convince his childhood neighbor and best
friend, Iris McKinley, to forgive him for breaking her
heart. With his homecoming, will Seth be able to convince
the town, his family and especially Iris that he's finally
ready to be the man who will make them all proud?
No excerpt available.
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