"Another Mystery in the Tiny Oregon Town"

SUMMER IN ECLIPSE BAY is the third installment in the Eclipse Bay trilogy, which features the lives and loves of the feuding Harte and Madison clans. Ever since Claudia Banner, a beautiful, conniving woman, stole them blind and made their partnership dissolve in resentment and anger, the patriarchs of each family have been enemies. The feud carried on through their children and eventually their grandchildren.

SUMMER is the story of Nick Harte, a famous crime writer, and Octavia Brightwell, a gallery owner and niece of the late Claudia Banner. Obviously this is not a fact that Octavia shares with the people of Eclipse Bay, Oregon. Nick has asked her out five times; she accepts the sixth invitation.

Eclipse Bay is the home of very odd people, among them Arizona Snow, a conspiracy theorist, and a group of new-age hippies called the Heralds. As it turns out, AZ (as Arizona is called) and one of the Heralds inherit the belongings of a late local eccentric and among the piles of stuff is a painting by a famous artist. The painting turns up missing from Octavia's gallery, which is where everyone agreed to store the painting until it could be authenticated.

The mystery of where the painting is and who took it pulls Nick and Octavia together. Their romance progresses quite normally. Both of them are decent, hard-working people without obvious hang- ups or neuroses. There is nothing new or unique in their love story. That's not to say it isn't interesting or well-written, it just doesn't stand out from other romances.

What sets this trilogy apart is the characters and the citizens of the tiny Oregon town. AZ and the Heralds are flat-out strange. Nick's son Carson is a fabulous six-year old that parents around the world wish for. Sullivan Harte and Mitchell Madison, the original feuding partners now in their seventies, are born meddlers who have interfered in all the relationships of their grandchildren and interfere again with Nick and Octavia.

As always, Krentz has provided us with a well-written and fast- reading novel of love, mystery, and Oregon. Many of her books are set either along the Oregon/Washington coasts or in Seattle.

Reviewed by Kelley Hartshorn
Posted October 4, 2002

Summary

Word gets around fast in Eclipse Bay. Nick Harte should know --- his family's legendary feud with the Madisons fueled the local gossip mill for years before finally cooling off. But people are still talking--and rumor has it Nick's involved with someone new...

Art gallery owner Octavia Brightwell doesn't take chances-- especially on handsome, charming men. But that's only part of the reason why she turned Nick down six times before-- finally--agreeing to a date. Octavia's related to the woman who sparked the long-running family feud--and fears that falling hard for Nick would only ignite the flames again. Octavia knows her family's past is best kept hidden. But her secret isn't safe in Eclipse Bay--and neither is her heart...