Hope Harbor, An Anthology

ANTHOLOGY: Six talented authors team up to write their own short story using a storyline of a pirate, a magical emerald ring, a lighthouse, and combine them into one spellbinding novel.

“A Pirate’s Ring” by Tina Susedik lays the foundation, explaining the origins and importance of the timeless ring. This features pirate Gideon O’ Shay and Temperance Hopewell. “A Light in the Darkness” by Jane Yunker follows Annalise Hopewell O’ Shay and Conner Hunter in the Civil War area where they meet at Hope Harbor. “Cara’s Dream” by Teresa Keefer’s: Cara O’ Malley has a dream from an ancestor who urges her to leave Ireland to travel to America where she meets Landon Gentry, and they join forces to find the missing magical ring. “Emma’s Hope” by C.J. Bennet introduce Emma and Ash, attorneys who work in the same office, have known each other since they were young, and have deliberately put the other in the ‘friend zone’. The ring might have other ideas. “Night Treasures” by Sherrie Lea Morgan launch Freddie, and the town’s dock master. Despite their long-standing attraction, they absolutely cannot get along until a Nor-Easter storm and a vile boat captain puts Freddie’s life in danger. “A Thread of Hope” by Mona Casey shows a mourning widow, Abby Summers, who cannot move past the loss of her husband three years ago. Ben, his best friend, also misses his buddy. He promised to watch over Abby and her son, but when a stalker intrudes, Ben might have to let Abby know how he feels.

Need a feel-good reason to read a book? This collection benefits Operation Underground Railroad, an organization to rescue stolen and exploited children. The book begins in 1719 and travels through two US wars and wraps up in contemporary time. Like most collections from various authors, there are strong points and lesser areas. Each story is creative, with good pacing and characterization. They are all clean, with closed door bedroom scenes, or no sex scenes. Some are meatier, some more shallow, some in need of more editing, and some lacking believability in the overall plot. Most characters are well-fleshed and easy to invest in. Overall, this is a charming collection of multi-genre romance short stories, spanning generations, and benefiting a worthy cause.

Emerson Matthews