On Sanctuary Island, Ariel Highbridge seeks refuge from crippling writer's
block and a disillusioned heart. As a writer of Regency romances who's been
betrayed by love herself, Ariel struggles to weave tales of romance when her
own faith in it has frayed.
Tom Fuller is a devoted schoolteacher and a widower, whose life orbits
around his daughter Shauna. He has sworn off the possibility of new love. Yet,
the arrival of their enchanting neighbor stirs an unexpected warmth in both
father and daughter's lives.
As the island's Yuletide enchantments weave their spell, Tom and Ariel find
themselves drawn to each other. Ariel's burgeoning belief in love and Tom's
tentative steps towards healing suggest that perhaps, this Christmas, they
could write a love story of their own.
But their fledgling romance will soon face its ultimate test, and it will take the magic of the season and the island's charm for their love story to prove the most enchanting tales don't end—they simply transform into new beginnings.
...my thoughts...
Sanctuary Island, with all its crisp icy weather,
sounds like just the place to kick back and let the quiet respond like a muse,
escaping to inspire a bestselling book for a weary writer. It is remote, with little
of the noisy, everyday intrusions that Ariel faced at home. It was with
pleasure, then, that this woman who sought solace found just the opposite.
Sanctuary Island, after all, is not the place for the fainthearted. Once the
ice hits, you are simply there for the duration of winter. Cabin fever, a very
real thing, can creep up on the least suspecting person.
Ariel was not that person. She couldn't hope to get
so lost and bored on that island because her life was anything but dull, quiet
or lonely. Living right next door was a dog who loved to dig under the
fence, belonging to an adorable little girl who happened to have a very handsome
dad, who was also a widower. Wow, a lot to take in for a Regency romance author
who was very short on romance.
Tom and Shauna quickly entered Ariel's daily life as she
began to navigate this small community. He was a school teacher, busy raising
his daughter alone. As neighbors go, they had a lot to offer Ariel as she
balanced writers block, providing
inspiration to Shauna with a school writing project all while working to
overcome the betrayal of her former love. It takes courage to put oneself in a
new location that is as different as night and day from home, not only move on, but pick up your career
where your life left off.
Robin Lee Hatcher is a masterful writer who adds just the
right touch of magic while making a story believable. Often, we see movies or
read books where there are a lot of cookie cutter stories where one piece is
cut off the dough, so to speak and added someplace else to cobble together what
may look like a plausible story. She has written many books, as I know, since I
have read most of them. All exceptionally good. This book, coming at this
special time of year, is very special. It is a time of hope and faith that life
can change for the better. New beginnings are often so difficult, even for the
very young. This story is about three people, all looking forward to life with
both faith and hope. I could share a lot more, but why give it all away and
spoil the story. The characters are wonderful in their own right, but they come
together just right for this story.
