"Enjoyable relationship drama"

Ian Randall was out at sea when his young wife Cecilia gave birth to a baby with a defective heart. Not long afterward, Cecilia stands alone burying their daughter. Unable to cope, Cecilia and Ian agree to divorce, but Cedar Cove, Washington Family Court Judge Olivia Lockheart denies their petition. She believes the grief is coloring their decisions and both remain in love with one another.

The new Cedar Cove Chronicle editor Jack Griffin attended the court on the day that Olivia issued her surprising ruling in the Randall case. He writes a laudatory editorial praising the decision. Jack wants to start seeing Olivia, who he admires for her courage and conviction to avoid the easy road of granting the divorce decree. However, he has quite a road to travel, as she never recovered from her divorce. Meanwhile her mother interferes in her cases and her daughter drives her crazy while her son joins the navy. This is a normal scenario for Judge Lockheart.

16 LIGHTHOUSE ROAD is an enjoyable relationship cozy that looks at life in a small town, mostly through the women. When God created Eve, he must have asked Debbie Macomber for advice because no one does female characters any better than this author. The story line is somewhat fragmented between the several different subplots whose link is Olivia. Still, the cast is superb and the town seems so real that the audience will stroll through the pages of this novel and want more Cedar Cove books in the future.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 23, 2001