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Summary
Summary
New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips is back with a delightful novel filled with her sassy wit and dazzling charm
Deepest winter.An isolated island off the coast of Maine.A man. A woman.Puppets. (Yes, puppets . . .)And . . .A mysterious house looming over the sea . . .
He's a reclusive writer whose imagination creates chilling horror novels. She's a down-on-her-luck actress reduced to staging kids' puppet shows. He knows a dozen ways to kill his characters with his bare hands. She knows a dozen ways to kill an audience with laughs. But she's not laughing now.
Annie Hewitt has arrived on Peregrine Island in the middle of a snowstorm and at the end of her resources. She's broke, dispirited, but not quite ready to give up. Her red suitcases hold the puppets she uses to make her living: sensible Dilly, spunky Scamp, and Leo, the baddest of bad guys. Her puppets, the romantic novels she loves, and a little bit of courage are all she has left.
Annie couldn't be more ill prepared for what she finds when she reaches Moonraker Cottage or for the man who dwells in Harp House, the mysterious mansion that hovers above the cottage. When she was a teenager, he betrayed her in a way she can never forget or forgive. Now they're trapped together on a frozen island along with a lonely widow, a mute little girl, and townspeople who don't know how to mind their own business.
Is he the villain she remembers, or has he changed? Her head says no. Her heart says yes.
It's going to be a long, hot winter.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When 33-year-old ventriloquist Annie Hewitt returns to a Maine island and the isolated cottage where she spent her teenage years, she only expects to recover her health and search for a legacy left by her mother. She doesn't expect to find widower Theo Harp in the manor house on the hill, or Jaycie Mills, the quiet woman who once saved her life, working as his housekeeper and raising a mute four-year-old daughter. Phillips (What I Did For Love) uses hints and references to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca to create a sometimes tense atmosphere, using the structure of the older book to both fulfill and subvert the reader's expectations. Theo fulfills his role as the stereotypical brooding hero, and Annie is much more independent than her counterpart as she learns about her past, helps Jaycie's daughter overcome trauma, and investigates the mysterious occurrences that are trying to drive her off the island. Details of smalltown New England life round out this powerfully successful homage. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Sick, broke and homeless, AnnieHewitt must retreat to the cottage her mother left her, even if it is on aremote island off the coast of Maineand even if Theo Harp, the boy who triedto kill her when they were teenagers and who is now a best-selling horrorauthor, is ensconced in the Gothic mansion next door.After making her narcissistic mother's last days as pleasant as possible, Anniefalls ill with pneumonia and bottoms out financially. Desperate, she makes herway to Moonraker Cottage, the small home Mariah loved and bequeathed to Annie,along with a deathbed promise of a valuable legacy hidden there. Annie hasavoided the island since she was a teen, when she developed a huge crush onTheothe psychopathic boy who played on her emotions and ultimately tried tokill her. She'd like nothing better than to never see him again, but once shearrives, in the dead of winter, she finds herself drawn into the lives of thepeople at Harp House: Jaycie, the injured housekeeper with a tragic past; hermute daughter, Livia; and Theo himself, sexy as sin and, she realizes,completely different from the evil teen she remembers. The longer Annie stays,the more it becomes clear that someone doesn't want her there, but for thefirst time in her life, she feels a sense of purpose and belonging, and she'snot going anywhere without a fight. Harp House and Moonraker Cottage bothconceal a wealth of secrets, and finding the truth could offer the wholeisland a better future. Ventriloquist Annie, with her cozy puppets andemerging fierceness, might save everyoneespecially Theo, whose past hasconvinced him he's a villain but who is really a hero at heart. Romance starPhillips takes a new and intriguing direction that reads like an homage to theclassic gothic novel yet maintains her typical pitch-perfect characters andcompelling, complex plot.Heart-wrenching and uplifting, with witty dialogue, emotional depth, anddetails that give substance and texture to an already entertaining, engrossingstory. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Still recovering from pneumonia and struggling with a massive load of debt accumulated while taking care of her dying mother, Annie Hewitt has come to Peregrine Island because her mother promised her that somewhere in Moonraker cottage, she left Annie a legacy worth lots of money. All Annie wants to do is find her inheritance and get back to civilization without running into anyone from her past. Of course, with the way her luck has been running, who should Annie first encounter than Theo Harp? Years ago, when they were both teenagers, Theo tried to kill Annie, and from the current look in his eyes, he just might be considering the idea again. In her latest, Phillips (The Great Escape, 2012) takes all the iconic elements of those classic gothic novels of the 1960s and '70s and deftly combines them with her own signature literary calling cards of realistically quirky yet all too relatable characters, polished writing, tart humor, and an abundance of potent sexual chemistry. The result is another romance to treasure from one of the genre's superstars, and proof positive that good things come to those readers who wait.--Charles, John Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Starred Review. Returning to Moonraker Cottage, her childhood summertime haunt on Maine's remote Peregrine Island, ventriloquist Annie Hewitt wants to stay only long enough to fulfill the terms of her inheritance and find a mysterious legacy left by her mother. She definitely doesn't want to have anything to do with popular author Theo Harp, the stepbrother whose cruel betrayal almost killed her as a teenager and whose twisted horror novels prove he's only gotten worse. When their interests collide, the aftermath is unexpected, throwing everything Annie believes into chaos. Old secrets, renewed passions, and hidden scandals combine with rapier wit and smart, sharp comments from Annie's puppet alter egos in this nonstop, red herring-laced romance. VERDICT In a stunning change of pace, Phillips reveals a brilliant flair for the gothic as she channels the Brontes, Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt, and Phyllis Whitney in a riveting, updated tale featuring a brooding, dangerous hero, a threatened (but definitely not classically helpless) heroine, and a chilling, foreboding setting (complete with a windswept cliff-top mansion). An unforgettable, deliciously spicy romance that readers won't want to put down. Phillips (The Great Escape) lives in the Chicago suburbs. [See Prepub Alert, 5/19/14.] (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
