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On Tall Pine Lake
Dorothy Garlock
Hachette
November 2007
ISBN#: 9780446695329
General Romance
Buy from Amazon
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Synopsis:
Nona Conrad has been making it through "by the hardest." Each day is a
struggle-to go on after her parents' sudden death, to win her rightful
inheritance from her untrustworthy half-brother, and to raise her
high-spirited younger sister. So when Nona is unexpectedly hired to manage a
fishing camp deep in the Arkansas woods, it seems like a heaven-sent
opportunity to settle down at last.
Yet it isn't long before the strong-willed redhead clashes with two men. One
is a mysterious, well-dressed stranger who grabs her arm and calls her by
name before driving off in a big sedan. The other is the camp's new owner,
Simon Wright. Straightforward, self-assured, and protective, he seems to
know a lot about Nona…and presents a peril she never imagined.
Simon has his own very good reasons for dogging her steps and hovering over
the sisters to keep them safe. He just wasn't prepared for Nona's
self-reliance and refusal to trust him-or the instant, irresistible
attraction drawing him all too close.
While Nona decides whether Simon is an ally or a charmer with his own
agenda, someone driven by greed will do anything to find out what she
knows…and an unsuspected enemy is making sure that Nona and Simon will soon
have nowhere to run.
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 SRR GRADE:
A+
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This contemporary romance novels has several components,
there is mystery, suspense and intrigue. On Tall Pine Lake starts out
with a simple hook, a box and a letter. Upon the death of Nona’s parents
death, she is placed in charge of her younger sister. Their half-brother is
in charge of settling their father's estate, but after five years, they
still haven't seen a cent. Nona takes odd jobs whenever she can to support
herself, her sister, and their older "adopted" mother. When Nona gets a
phone call with a job offer to manage hunting and fishing camp, she is
thrilled. During the move, the mysterious box and letter arrive. It is from
her half-brother and says not to open the box, just to keep it safe. Simon
is a rich boy full of secrets. The biggest secret is that he has been in
love with Nona for years, even though she has never met him. When he hears
Nona is in trouble, he does all he can to protect her. Since she doesn't
know she is in trouble, it makes things pretty difficult. He arranges a safe
place for her and her family to stay where he can watch over them. As an
added bonus, he gets the chance to get her fall in love with him. Poor
Maggie is a normal fourteen-year-old girl. She loves her sister very much,
but is honestly a little sick of being over-protected. Once they get to the
camp, she is in heaven. She can run about and enjoy herself without getting
into trouble.
Thanks to whatever trouble her half-brother is in, trouble follows Nona and
Maggie. Nona can trust no one except her sister Maggie, and her adopted
mother, Mabel. Someone is plotting to hurt her and Maggie and she will do
all she can to stop it. In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people she
doesn't know or trust, she is scared out of her wits. Simon has too many
secrets to trust him. The only others around are a severely pregnant tenant,
an aged caretaker, a handyman and his wife who fade into the background, and
Simon's friend Jake.
With the many components of the story, it felt like you where going on a
roller coaster ride, never knowing what to expect. I can truly understand
why Dorothy Garlock is one of the many queens in romance, she keeps us
guessing. It is the true mark of a great book to keep me from doing that.
Dorothy Garlock had me so encompassed in her world that my mind shut down
and enjoyed the ride. Though it doesn't read quickly, the reader is kept
captivated to the very end.
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| ~Reviewed by
Renee |
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