My first book by this author. It won’t be my last. Was such a lovely feel good read. Beautiful idyllic location. Thistle Island. Lovely characters that all blend well with one another The plot was lovely. Loved the authors descriptive writing skills. Made me wish I was the one relocating there. Only issue I had was the book wasn’t long enough9 s Pypa213

Interesting enough to stay with it but not enough to read the next installment in the series.9 s Amy109

How does this book have a 4+ ?? rating? It’s not well written. The plot is weak. And…anyone who’s ever been to the NC coast knows there are NO mountains anywhere nearby. 4 s Sue Bergeson9

Serialized incomplete story

Most series have a complete story in each book. This does not. It barely has a plot. Trash. And poorly written. What a waste of time.2 s Ksb Nh537 1 follower

Very light reading, a short story. Romance without heavy breathing. Low-key mystery, to be continued in the next book. I suspect that at least 3 books could have been just one.2 s Rosie AmberAuthor 1 book135

The Harbor House is book one of the Thistle Island series of contemporary small town mysteries.

Recently redundant magazine features writer Robyn answers a job advert for a lady’s companion on a small island off of the North Carolina coastline. As she settles into island life, Robyn discovers a washed up bottle with a message inside. Fellow islanders explain that there have been other bottles with messages and they can all been seen on display in the town. Interested in the story behind the bottle, Robyn agrees to help research the messages, and her journalist background kicks in with ideas to solve the mystery.

This is a light novella style story, with little time to really get to know Robyn. There are some interesting secondary characters, but I felt the story was a little rushed in places. I would have been happy with a bit more depth to the characters and storyline and a longer tale to enjoy them in.
contemporary cosy-mystery1 ?? Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ??1,639 157

Need more!

What a sweet and sad story but I can see that some of these characters will learn something about themselves. If course being in a small island where everyone will a lot of your secrets of your business will be something that Robyn will need to understand but I think she'll be find with it. Especially when she's trying to find her new self and she might have found something she is good at. Can't wait to see what happens next. 1 Katie41 2

I really enjoyed this story of a woman discovering herself and starting over on a small coastal island. I can't wait for the mystery to be solved in book 2 so I can follow Helen's love story during WW2. 1 Holly Bovee30

This was a free book on FreeBooksy, I chose it for the cover. This was a sweet quick read and I will read the next as the story continues. I think you'll it.2 s Nooreza88

Great book. Highly recommended. I'd already guessed who Rosie was. It was no surprise :)1 nita haight6

Don't bother

Stopped right in the middle of a paragraph. Should have warned reader in the beginning. I wouldn't have bothered to order this.1 Bookfan36333

Brief synopsis from the book cover:

Robyn Wright isn’t merely knocking on the door to middle age—she’s hammering on it with both fists.

And to make matters worse? Her boyfriend of more than a decade won’t seal the deal. Her former dream job is now barely paying the bills. Her eighty-year-old father is getting married again…to a woman young enough to be Robyn’s daughter.

Summer is approaching. And so is the time for a change.

When Robyn takes a part-time job as the companion to an elderly woman who lives in a beautiful harbor house on a small island off the North Carolina coast, she’s expecting a few months of solitude and a chance to reset…until a walk on the beach uncovers a message in a bottle and a decades-long mystery that Robyn feels compelled to solve.

And in unraveling the story of the lost lovers from so long ago, she might just uncover a few surprises about herself along the way.My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 3 out of 5 stars
Character development: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3.5out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Women’s Fiction



Review:

This is a nice uncomplicated feel good story about new beginnings. The writing flows well and the description of the scenery is very vivid, it makes you want to go and visit Thristle Island yourself. The characters are interesting and very able people. The story flows well and captures you from the start. This is book one in the Tristle Island Series. The only negative for me is that the story has no ending; it stops midway and you have to read the rest of the series to find out what happens next. So you can’t read it as a standalone, otherwise it’s a enjoyable read.
Dianne S83 1 follower

Wow, I'm so angry right now. No-one s to be cheated or ripped off and this is what Ms Kent does as a writer.

This isn't a novel. It isn't even a short story. Nor is it even worth being called part one in a series. A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Even books that form a series generally have these three parts to them.
This book is a beginning. It doesn't even get far enough to have a middle. It stops in the middle of a conversation!

If you want to read the whole story Ms Kent expects you to buy 5 more books -all of them about 200 pages each. Even combining the six books into 3 doesn't make them long stories. With a good editor (and the books need a good editor!) These six books could have been combined into two great books.

The sad thing is Ms Kent has a great story here. If she got herself an editor and combined them I'm sure she'd sell a great deal more copies.

As it is there's no way I would pay any money to a writer who treats her readers as nothing more than gullible saps she's trying to leech for every penny she can get. So glad my copy of this book was free. Jan RomesAuthor 40 books98

First time reading this author. I enjoyed meeting Robyn & Helen as the main characters. Helen being 98 years old & in need of a caregiver-companion, Robyn filled that capacity and also became her trusted friend. Within the story, there was an undercurrent of expectation for something to develop romantically between Helen's nephew Levi & Robyn, yet there were unresolved feelings in Robyn's heart for Keith who she recently broke things off with after years of his continued refusal to commit to marriage. In the midst of all of the uncertainty and life changes for Robyn, and the quest to find out if true love exists, she finds an incredible message in a bottle that gives her hope. While this was a good story, it ended too quickly, with a few situations left dangling. I'm sure it had been done that way to lead into book two. 1 D. Logan (loganloveslit)249 1 follower

3.5 ?? Robyn is going through a tumultuous time: a boyfriend who won’t commit, a milestone birthday, and losing a job she once loved. When she sees an ad for a live-in caretaker for an older woman on Thistle Island, she decides to take it. What she discovers is a small section of the world that is quiet and serene - without hotels or a bustling tourist industry. She also discovers more about herself and the townspeople around her revealing a secret long kept.

This book was an incredibly fast enjoyable read. It’s not going to surprise you, but it will keep you reading happily as though you’re releasing a sigh. The beautiful descriptions of the scenery, all the possibilities of a new life and a possible love interest or two, are light and enjoyable. This is book 1 in a 6-part series, which IMO is too many considering how short this was but okay. We’ll see. Anne 163

A story with hope

Robyn was hoping the man she had known and loved for ten years would propose to her. She could not live another day with him when her birthday came and went without a ring to seal their love. So Robyn set out for Thistle Island to be the caretaker of a woman in her nineties. Her career was in journalism, but she needed a change after being laid off from her long held job. After arriving at Harbor House, she found Helen to be pretty independent and full of life. She was not in need of twenty-four hour care. So Robyn had more time on her hands than expected. She found something on the beach one day that changed her perspective on life and love. Solving the mystery about what she had found made her heart hope again. Shamika LindsayAuthor 3 books18

Too sweet to handle

Do you know those books that transcends space and time? The ones that make you want to curl up and get lost between its pages? One that reminds you of vacation, meandering here and there, experiencing, loving, living...

I have to admit, this isn't a genre I frequently read, if at all. But I absolutely adored this story. I loved every last drop of it. Was it overly romantic? No, but that's the selling point. Seek peace in the things you do have and not in what you don't.

I feel so mellowed out by this beautiful prose that I don't want anything to ruin it. I want it to remain ingrained in my psyche for the simplistic beauty it is. Michelle Palmer443 1 follower

Quick and enjoyable read

Robyn loses her job as a reporter/ writer for a magazine after decades there. It's her birthday and her significant other of 12 years doesn't propose as she had hoped and given an ultimatum to do so by this birthday. Angry and heartbroken, Robyn finds a job on Thistle Island helping an elderly woman stay in her home at 91. A fascinating mystery falls into her lap. Robyn and her friends work hard to find answers to the mysterious messages in a bottle that have been washing up on the beach for many years.
A great story and characters are so fun to get to know Nan266 3

Thanks to the book cite where I got this one free!! It turned out to be a novela - and part 2 you have to order! It is a fun story with some interesting history thrown in on an island - Thistle Island - that sounds somewhere you want to go. Robyn ends up there to escape a lost job, lost partner and family upset. She takes a job as companion, help mate to an elderly lady who is just a hoot. After finding a classic "note in a bottle" she finds an interesting mystery on the island and the fun begins. Lisa260

A light read in a town that would be a great vacation place. Sometimes I just need a book where everyone is nice, friendly and welcoming with no drama attached. A read that describes each day wanting me to go on a beach vacation. This is the first in a series and even though this ended with you not knowing how everything worked out. I’m ok if I don’t read the series. Un other I read, I d that I can fill in the ending the way I would the book to go.
A story where you can pick up and move on if that’s what you feel is right. nook-books-i-own Sharon Dubuque659 5

Great story!

Robyn waited ten years for something in her relationship to lead to marriage. It never happened. So it was time to move on, she also lost her job and living with her ex she also lost a place to live. Upon answering an ad, she was moving to Thistle Island. She was going to be a caretaker/helper to an elderly lady. Well things start to turn into an adventure when she finds a bottle with a letter in it, a love letter. Jeannine Wickliffe975 22

Great start to a new series

Robyn has needs a new start. She has been living with her boyfriend for 10 years and he will not commit. She sees an ad for companion to a Lady on Whistle Island. Robyn immediately connects with Helen and others on the island. Then she finds a bottle with a love letter and starts her and her friends in a search for the writer. Great story and can't wait to read the other boots D.G. DriverAuthor 24 books88

This was a sweet story. I d the setting, and all the characters were delightful. A pretty idyllic little town full of very nice, upbeat people. The book ended rather abruptly, I thought. I know there are more books in the series, but it seemed this story wasn't quite finished yet when it came to an end. However, if you're in the mood for a story where everyone makes you feel comfortable as soft pillows, cushy blankets and warm tea, this is a good choice.books-with-mcs-over-45 Judy Emig3 1 follower

Great book

I am so excited about this book. It touches on so many different feelings in everyday situations. The writing is so great that it pulls you in to the situation and there were a lot of tears shed while reading this book. Everything seemed so real and you feel the
Situations of each of the characters as events unfold. I’m looking forward to reading more books about these characters. Wonderful book!!!!! Doris Snyder87 7

Refreshing

Not only did Mia write a poignant and beautiful story, it is refreshingly wholesome. It was also the first book I’ve read in so long that wasn’t riddled with mistakes; both in wording that made no sense or countless misspelled words. ( I can criticize as per my high school counselor I am “borderline retarded.”) However, I am so looking forward to the continuing story. Julie Angstadt275 2

Interesting story

Robyn has worked as a,writer for a magazine for years. She gets laid off at the same time as her birthday. She believes that her boyfriend of 10 years will propose. But no ring, and no proposal. She breaks up with him, realizing she will need to find a new place to live, along with a new job. She is hired as a caretaker for an elderly woman, and the job includes a cottage. Can she go on with her life? Linda Rorex906 10

Robyn Wright is a middle aged woman who is living a mediocre life then decides to take a job in Thistle Island Harbor taking care of an elderly woman. While walking along the shore she discovers a message in a bottle with a letter of long lost lovers Rosie and John. Robyn goes on a quest to find out more about Rosie and John and find out what happened to them. I really enjoyed this wonderful contemporary women’s romance novel. Lynne242 2

kindle reader

Loved the story and the characters. Would love to visit the island. The amount of romance was good and I d the interactions. I don’t when a story leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I feel set up and frustrated that I need the next book for the rest of the story-maybe to finish. Mamagross106

A good little beach read, but not an entire story. You have to buy book two to see how this story ends and I’m pretty sure it will be the style of this author to keep that style of writing going. I’m not a fan of it. I feel it tricks the reader. It certainly frustrates, to say the least. Disappointed and will not continue the series. Mary Anderson62 4

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