The Lighthouse (Five Island Cove #1) by Jessie Newton

 

 

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Women's Fiction, Romance
Content: Clean

 

After the death of a childhood loved one, 5 best friends reunite in the small coastal town of Five Island Cove. One doesn't expect to find love with a high school crush. Another isn't prepared to find the strength she needs to take control of her life. And none of them are ready for the secrets they'll uncover at the lighthouse...As the truth comes to light, these five best friends will learn what really friendship, family, and faith.

When Joel Shields dies, Robin Grover's only goal is to get her four best friends back to Five Island Cove to celebrate the life of Kristen's husband. She alone has stayed in the cove while everyone else couldn't wait to get away.

Alice Keller comes instantly, because her mansion in the Hamptons and her husband's infidelity is smothering her. Not only that, but Kristen has always been like a mother to her, and she wants to support her.

Eloise Hall comes quickly too, because she's not teaching at the university this summer, and she might as well visit her mother—and the house she secretly bought years ago. Her first night on the island, she runs into an old high school crush, and a flame ignites that hasn't been there before.

But Kelli Thompson and AJ Proctor are more resistant, and as Robin, Alice, and Eloise uncover secret after secret in the books, journals, and files in Joel's office, Robin becomes more determined to reunite them all.

When Kelli and AJ finally arrive in the cove, the women are embroiled in secrets the lighthouse has hidden for decades. Robin tries to hold them all together, but she too breaks down and admits that her perfect-on-the-outside life isn't so perfect.

As these 5 best friends work together to find the truth, they must learn to let go of what doesn't matter and cling to what faith, family, and most of all, friendship.

 

I've had this book on my reading list for a while now and I owned the audio. I think I may have gotten it for free, so I decided a light romance was in order. So this was a case where I had read the description at the time I added it to my list and then when I finally got around to reading it, I didn't reread the description and just assumed it was a light romance. This ended up being more women's fiction that romance, which isn't a bad thing itself, but the book dealt with some depressing topics such as cheating spouses, loveless marriages, the death of a spouse, etc. It wasn't what I was in the mood for. I could give it a pass on that account. It wasn't the book's fault I didn't read the description. That being said, I really wanted to love this despite the fact that it wasn't what I was expecting, but unfortunately I found the characters hard to connect to. I think there are too many characters in the story and it was hard for me to keep them all straight. There were a few times I got them mixed up while I was listening to the book.