Candice Poarch: Lighthouse Magic

BET Books (Paperback), ISBN 1583143491

On her death bed, Marva Edmonds casually mentions three facts that alter her daughter Cecily’s life in a major way. The late Otis Edmonds filled in for her biological father, Marva’s true love. Cecily’s real name, Sissieretta, came from a great-grandmother. And Cecily owns property on an island in North Carolina.

Within six months, Cecily packs her things, says “so long” to New York and opens a tea shop on Coree Island, intent on clearing her mother’s name among the residents of the island’s close-knit community. Glenda, a woman Cecily grew up calling “aunt,” accompanies her to Coree, providing emotional support for Cecily and baked scones for the tea shop.

Forget about asking logical questions like how Marva could keep such secrets from her only daughter for more than twenty years, why Cecily had no problem dropping her life in New York, or who were Cecily’s friends? With a title like Lighthouse Magic, one should expect at least a slight element of corniness. Keep reading to uncover the themes of family loyalty, revenge, danger and romance, of course. Forget, too, about trying to keep up with the characters. In this book about extended family, great-grandmothers dated grandfathers who raised uncles whose second cousins played football in high school with brothers whose ex-girlfriends took in foster kids. (Or so it feels.) The significant characters stand out.

When Ryan, an islander who owns a campground adjacent to Cecily’s property, approaches Cecily hoping she’ll sell some of her land, the two reluctantly become an item. They convincingly steam things up, as do Ryan’s parents and Glenda and her love. (That said, if the idea of baby boomers and retired couples getting “lovey dovey” gives you a slight shiver, plan to skim a section or two.) Married and undoubtedly in love, the older couples provide identifiable and respectable characters for more seasoned readers who may find a dearth of their peers in cookie-cutter romances.

Stacey Carter-Lane

Stacey Carter-Lane reads just about anything she can squeeze into a busy work and family schedule. Her husband hopes she’ll follow through with at least one of her book ideas, so he can spend days at the gym instead of the office.