Love in Catalina Cove (Catalina Cove Series #1)

by Brenda Jackson

Overview

In her brand-new series, Brenda Jackson welcomes you to Catalina Cove, where even the biggest heartbreaks can be healed…

In the wake of a devastating teen pregnancy that left her childless and heartbroken, Vashti Alcindor left Catalina Cove, Louisiana, with no plans to return. Now, over a decade later, Vashti reluctantly finds herself back in her hometown after inheriting her aunt’s B and B. Her homecoming gets off to a rocky start when the new sheriff, Sawyer Grisham, pulls her over for speeding, and things go downhill from there.

The B and B, a place she’d always found refuge in when it seemed like the whole world was against her, has fallen into disrepair. When a surprising benefactor encourages Vashti to reopen the B and B, Vashti embraces a fresh start, and soon old hurts begin to fade as she makes new memories with the town—and its handsome sheriff…

But some pasts are too big to escape, and when a bombshell of a secret changes everything she thought was true, Vashti is left reeling. With Sawyer and his teenage daughter determined to see her through the storm, though, she’s learning family isn’t always a matter of blood—sometimes it’s a matter of heart.

Don’t miss The House on Blueberry Lane, the next book in The Catalina Cove series by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson!

The Catalina Cove series
Book 1: Love in Catalina Cove
Book 2: Forget Me Not
Book 3: Finding Home Again
Book 4: Follow Your Heart
Book 5: One Christmas Wish
Book 6: The House on Blueberry Lane

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335005649
Publisher:	Harlequin
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Series:	Catalina Cove Series , #1
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	70,043
Product dimensions:	4.18(w) x 6.61(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

Brenda Jackson is a New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred romance titles. Brenda lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and divides her time between family, writing and traveling. Email Brenda at [e-mail] or visit her on her website at brendajackson.net.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2018
Jackson (the Protector series) opens the Catalina Cove contemporary series with a dramatic but messily constructed tale of love, social ostracism, and motherhood. After Vashti Alcindor loses both her beloved Aunt Shelby and her dream job working at a luxury hotel, she returns to her hometown of Catalina Cove, La., to handle her aunt’s estate. On her arrival, she gets a speeding ticket from the local sheriff, widower Sawyer Grisham, in a fantastical scene of instant attraction; readers may find it hard to believe that a creole woman being pulled over in rural Louisiana is unconcerned for her safety, thinking only about how hot the sheriff is. The two of them strike up a steamy romance, though Vashti has been hurt before and is hesitant to trust Sawyer. Vashti left Catalina Cove in disgrace after a teen pregnancy turned the town against her; now she finds the town to be warmer and kinder than when she left. But skeletons of the past are lurking, and Vashti must eventually face an unbelievable truth about her long-ago pregnancy. Hilariously bad sex scenes (“She was moaning and purring all over the place as he greedily mated with her mouth”), flat characters, and cheesy dialogue diminish the intriguing plot. Agent: Pattie Steele-Perkins, Steele-Perkins Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Jackson was the first African-American author to make both the New York Times and USA Today romance bestsellers list. And after twenty years in the business, books like Love in Catalina Cove prove that she's still a prevailing force in romance." -BookPage

"Jackson again straddles the fine line of romance and suspense with skill." -RT Book Reviews on Seized by Seduction

"Jackson's deft plotting and effective red herrings keep the suspense high as her multidimensional characters command the reader's attention...The only flaw of this first-rate, satisfying sexy tale is that it ends." -Publishers Weekly on Forged in Desire (starred review)

"Leave it to Jackson to take sizzle and honor, wrap it in romance and come up with a first-rate tale." -RT Book Reviews on Temptation

"Brenda Jackson is the queen of newly discovered love... If there's one thing Jackson knows how to do, it's how to pluck those heartstrings and stir up some seriously saucy drama." -BookPage on Inseparable

"Welcome to another memorable family tree created by the indomitable Brenda Jackson, a romantic at heart." -USA TODAY on A Brother's Honor

"[Jackson] proves once again that she rocks when it comes to crafting family drama with a healthy dose of humor and steamy, sweaty sex. Here's another winner." -RT Book Reviews on A Brother's Honor, 4½ stars, Top Pick

"This deliciously sensual romance ramps up the emotional stakes and the action.... [S]exy and sizzling." -Library Journal on Intimate Seduction

"Jackson does not disappoint...first-class page-turner." -RT Book Reviews on A Silken Thread, 4½ stars, Top Pick

"Jackson is a master at writing." -Publishers Weekly on Sensual Confessions

From the Publisher

2018-08-21

For a Louisiana woman-turned-New Yorker, going home to her coastal town means facing an old loss—and finding new possibilities in love and life.

Vashti Alcindor thought she would never return to Catalina Cove after the way the community reacted to her teen pregnancy 16 years ago. But inheriting her aunt's B&B and getting laid off from her job at a Manhattan luxury hotel—all this on the heels of a divorce—lead her back to her roots, and then an unexpected business offer makes her rethink her plan to return to the big city. Vashti's electric attraction to the town's sheriff, Sawyer Grisham, is another unforeseen complication. The setup is reminiscent of a classic B&B romance à la Nora Roberts. Sawyer is a widowed father, and he (and his daughter, Jade) feels that Vashti is right for him, but she is reluctant to commit to anything that would put her heart at risk and invite gossip. Despite the detailed sex scenes and episodes that show a deepening of Sawyer and Vashti's connection, Jackson (An Honorable Seduction, 2018, etc.) is veering into women's fiction territory here. The most intriguing parts of the novel have to do with the revelations about Vashti's youth and her parents' meddling in the choices she made and the ripple effects of those actions in her current life. Related to these is the large cast of characters, which not only includes people in the Cove (including some who will become couples in future romances), but also in other states. As the plot inches toward the climax, a huge coincidence threatens to turn the story into a soap opera, but it stops short of treacly melodrama.

More loosely paced than ideal—there are numerous trips and a tiresome number of references to people eating blueberry-infused food—but the heroine's unusual backstory and the passages on local history and Creole identity add some freshness to this small-town inn-owner romance.

Kirkus Reviews

10/15/2018
After 14 years away, New York hotel executive Vashti Alcindor never thought she'd be back in Catalina Cove. She's inherited her aunt's beloved yet rundown seaside resort and learns that some of the townsfolk are trying to stop her sale of the property to a developer, leaving her no alternative but to head to the small coastal Louisiana town where she was once happiest—and the most miserable. Of course, a speeding ticket from no-nonsense but seriously hot Sheriff Sawyer Grisham doesn't improve her mood. When she discovers that the same by-the-book lawman is also on the zoning board, she knows it will only get worse. A surprising welcome, a dash of nostalgia, a sizzling yet inexplicable romantic attraction, and a stunning offer soon have her rethinking her plans for the old resort—and her future as well. A heroine struggling to make peace with her past and a widowed sheriff raising a teenage daughter have their lives and their budding relationship thrown into chaos when the past bursts into the present. VERDICT A cruel lie revealed, a profusion of realistic locals, and a startling coincidence that shocks the characters but not readers add up to a heartwarming romance, enhanced by a dusting of Creole culture and a plot that leaves no ends dangling. Jackson (At Long Last) lives in the Jacksonville, FL, area.

Library Journal