I listened to this as an unabridged audiobook and if it weren't for the fact that I was trapped in a car with no other form of entertainment to be found I more than likely would've given up on this one mid-way through. The characters were too blah to hold my attention and their attraction to each other just didn't come alive for me.It turns out this story is the third in a series but it easily stands alone since its plot isn't exactly complicated. Octavia Brightwell is relatively new to Eclipse Bay and runs a successful art gallery. She arrived in Eclipse Bay to soothe the rift between the Madison & Harte families that her dear departed aunt caused years earlier. Once Octavia realizes the feud has been mended without her help she decides it's time to leave. She's also desperate to get away from gorgeous, heart-breaker Nick Harte who continually pesters her for a date. When she finally makes up her mind to high-tail it out of town she agrees to the date with Nick (don't ask). They soon become romantically entangled and banter back and forth denying their true feelings. Before long the two find themselves partners in the search for a valuable missing painting and, well, I bet you can figure out the rest . . .These two are very much stock characters. We have Nick who lost the love of his life years earlier and has never allowed himself to fall in love again (and has a reputation for loving 'em and leaving 'em before the night is over) and then we have the "free spirit" Octavia who sort of floats through life and avoids romantic entanglements. Stock characters are all fine and good when they're written with depth and emotion but these two were just flat out bland and their relationship lacked any sort of spark. Nick also has an annoying habit of referring to Octavia as a "fairy queen" that made me cringe every time he uttered the words.There are also pop-up appearances by characters who I only guess starred in previous books. They add a little to the story but their visits did not convince me that I need to search for the previous books in this series. There are also far too many over the top weird/quirky/culty/odd speaking secondary characters populating this story to be believed.The few bits of fun banter and Nick's enjoyable little boy Carson are about all that I'll be remembering about "Summer In Eclipse Bay" once I finish writing this review.
Nick's way of putting people in their places and standing up for Octavia was swoon worthy .. he was also kinda of adorable whenever he tried to make Octavia happy by going along with her plans. Octavia was a little bland but her scene with the two gossipers in the supermarket had me giggling uncontrollably *instant like* love a heroine that can stand up for herself and do it with attitude. I liked Jeremy and enjoyed the little bits and pieces of him with Gail and I liked how he and Nick repaired their friendship , what I didn't like about this book was Carson .. oh he's five pfft could have fooled me .. the kid speaks almost as good as most adults .. his vocabulary and his attitude wasn't childlike at all , I know we were told he was a bit advanced for his age but no matter how advanced a kid could be .. you'd still be able to tell he's a kid but Carson felt like a grownup. I love seeing heroes with their kids there's just something really sweet and tender about it but I never got that in this book .. the relationship between Nick and Carson lacked depth and most importantly lacked any "father and son" kind of feeling to it , Carson didn't feel like a kid and Nick never felt like a father also there wasn't any kind of bonding between Octavia and Carson .. no one seemed to really care about that .. sure Carson liked her but that was it .. Carson didn't seem to serve any purpose in the plot nor affect the characters in any way .. his character was strange and completely wasted. The mystery part was ok but it had a boring conclusion , overall I only enjoyed the romance but the rest was flawed.
Summer in Eclipse Bay2 StarsSynopsisOctavia Butler has come to Eclipse Bay to heal the rift between the Hartes and the Madisons caused by her aunt. But Octavia finds more than she counted on when she becomes the object of affection for heart-breaker Nick Harte as well as the prime suspect in the case of a missing painting. ReviewUnfortunately, Nick and Octavia are as bland as a couple can get and it is difficult to care about their romance.The mystery of the stolen painting is trite and the investigation utterly predictable.Only Nick's adorable son Carson and the reappearance of Rafe and Hannah stop the book from being a complete waste of time.
—Lauren
This is the third book in the Eclipse Bay trilogy and I liked it the best.This book revolves around Nick Harte and Octavia Brightwell.Nick is Hannah and Lillian's brother. His wife Amelia had died in a plane crash nearly four years ago leaving Nick and his now five year old son, Carson. Nick has developed a reputation for not letting any woman get close to him in a relationship and has acquired the nickname 'Hardhearted Harte'.Octavia Brightwell is a successful art gallery owner and the niece of the woman who was the cause of the infamous Harte-Madison feud all those years ago - Claudia Banner.Nick and Claudia are attracted to each other but Claudia tries not to give into her feelings, because of Nick's reputation and because the Hartes and Madison don't know that she is Claudia's niece and she expects they won't be too pleased when they find out.However the attraction between Nick and Octavia proves too hard to ignore and when Octavia becomes the target of rumours accusing her of stealing a painting from Arizona Snow, Nick is determined to find the real thief and clear Octavia's name.There was great chemistry between Nick and Octavia with good dialogue and great supporting characters. Nick's son Carson added another dimension to the story and the mystery of the art theft was nicely done. It was also good to revisit Rafe and Hannah in this book.This series started out quite averagely but it turned out to be pretty good in the end with each book getting better.
—Debbie
Author: Jayne Ann KrentzFirst published: 2002Length: 190 pages (in anthology)Setting: Contemporary. Smalltown off Oregon CoastSex: Explicit. Infrequent.Hero: Father of 6yo. Author.Heroine: Owns an art gallery/shop.Enjoyable ending to the trilogy. Good story and nice romance. Would have enjoyed seeing more wooing with the boy involved but otherwise it's a light, easy story.And a good HEA.Eclipse Bay Trilogy:Book 1 Eclipse Bay - Hannah Harte and Rafe MadisonBook 2 Dawn in Eclipse Bay - Lillian Harte and Gabe MadisonBook 3 Summer in Eclipse Bay - Lacey Holbrook and Jed Merlin.References:Author's website: http://jayneannkrentz.com/summer-in-e... (note as on 20-8-15 this is a description of a very different book!)(Read in Together in Eclipse Bay ISBN 0-425-19250-4)-CR-
—Cruth
