Veena’s Duckies Do Series review of Home to Harbor Town Series by Beth Kery
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Special Edition

I discovered author Beth Kery a few months ago and have very much enjoyed reading her Home to Harbor Town series featuring a small town in Michigan and the love stories and relationships that blossom amongst the very real people who live there. Derry Kavanaugh was drunk when he caused a fatal accident, forever changing the lives of three families. As we start with the first book, fifteen years have passed since that tragic day, but the feelings of anger, blame, and guilt are still fresh as though it might have just happened. I lived the stories with the family members, silently cheering for them as they began the process of healing and finding contentment and joy in the new relationships they forge.

The Hometown Hero Returns
22 Mar 11

Mari Itani and Marc Kavanaugh loved each other deeply as teenagers, when they were abruptly parted upon the death of Mari’s parents in an accident caused by Marc’s father Derry. Now years later they meet by chance in the foyer of a hotel in Chicago, as though the past never happened and their attraction to each other still burns red hot. A sensual, passionate night follows and then silence as Mari regrets allowing the night to happen, until they both meet up again, this time in Harbor Town, back where it all began.

What a great role model Marc makes. He’s prepared to do what it takes to win Mari. He’ll battle all odds and humble himself for love. It seems the family has lived in stasis for the last fifteen years, and, with this first relationship, the ice begins to melt and paves a path for the healing to slowly begin as the other members of the family start to emerge into the sunshine.

Grade: A

Summary:

At eighteen, Marianna Itani thought she’d found the man of her dreams in Marc Kavanaugh, the quintessential boy-next-door. That perfect romance flew to pieces when an unspeakable tragedy tore them apart. Yet when Marc appeared in her life fifteen years later, the sparks that flew were as explosive as the day they first met.

Now their reignited passion was changing their lives in more ways than one: Mari was pregnant! She was set on putting the pain of the past behind her—not reopening scars that had never truly healed. And their baby might bring these star-crossed lovers back together—forever!

Read an excerpt.

Liam’s Perfect Woman
|19 July 11

Liam Kavanaugh is next up. He’s given up his high-stress job with the Chicago PD and moved to Harbor Town to take over as the new police chief. In the few vacation days he has between jobs, he’s approached by Natalie Reyes, who was a passenger in her mother’s car and severely injured in the crash. She still has nightmares about the accident and wants to know what really happened that night to impair Derry Kavanaugh’s judgement which set off such a chain of events over so many years.

Natalie and Liam might never have met and developed a relationship, but, through this investigative process, both Liam and Natalie come closer together and finally heal the scars on the inside, those scars left on both their souls. This is a great second book in the series. We get to learn more about the various members of the three families and other blossoming romances. We also learn a lot more about Derry’s state of mind that night and the events that led up to to his tragic mistake. Given the right circumstances, could it have been prevented?

Grade : A

Summary:

IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER…

The moment Liam Kavanaugh first glimpsed the exotic beauty dancing across a moonlit beach, he was smitten. But he was in for the surprise of his life when she turned out to be Natalie Reyes! The big-city cop had returned to Harbor Town to be the chief of police. Instead, he was battling an intense attraction to the woman who was forcing him to confront his past….

The lone survivor of the crash that had destroyed their families, Natalie needed Liam’s help to finally move past the tragedy that shattered her life. Yet the innocent beauty wasn’t prepared for the passion that flared between them. And now her very future was in the hands of a man who just might be able to heal her heart with his loving touch…

Read an excerpt.

Claiming Colleen
21 Feb 12

Boy, was I ready and raring to go when I dived into Colleen Kavanaugh’s book. We had glimpses of this romance throughout Liam and Natalie’s story, and this one builds beautifully since it features Liam’s sister and Natalie’s brother. Well, Eric used his part of the settlement to go to medical school and is one of a select group of orthopedic surgeons who has returned to practice medicine in Harbor Town. He lives in a beautiful house on the shores of the lake with private beach access. From a mother who worked hard cleaning other people’s homes, Eric has come up the social ladder in a big way. He’s always viewed Colleen Kavanaugh as an untouchable princess growing up, but now she’s the one who’s trespassing on his private beach.

Her son has an accident and Eric is the surgeon on the case and she’s very impressed by his bedside manner, as well as his skills as a surgeon, and her children are quickly his fans. This middle book is a family romance. It’s as much romancing Colleen as romancing her family. She comes as a package and, boy, does Eric know it. I think it’s so cute that Eric proposes marriage to both her children before he actually proposes to Colleen.

Grade: A

Summary:

FROM FORBIDDEN CRUSH…TO FOREVER LOVE?

In high school, small-town princess Colleen Kavanaugh had had it all, and Eric Reyes was the outsider with his nose pressed against the glass. Then a sudden change in circumstance led to a reversal of fortune. Now Eric was a wealthy, successful, arrogant surgeon who rubbed the onetime golden girl the wrong way.

When an ironic twist of fate forced Eric and Colleen back together, the single mom found herself drawn to the irresistible doctor despite their dark history. Sure, she’d felt something for Eric when they were teenagers, but those memories were long forgotten—or so she thought. It wasn’t long before he wooed her into his arms…and his bed. But could their newfound passion lead to the happily-ever-after of their dreams?

Read an excerpt.

One in a Billion
24 Jul 12

While the mystery of Diedre and the reasons for why she’s estranged from her mother starts to become clear as Liam’s investigation into his father’s accident reveal long-hidden facts about his parent’s marriage, we finally get to meet the mysterious Diedre and find her a warm, likable character struggling for acceptance. She finally finds her father, only he’s dying and she has precious little time with him. After Lincoln passes, she finds that he has left her a heiress, dividing his fortune equally between her and Nick Malone.

Nick has been groomed all his life to be Lincoln’s heir, and because Diedre knows nothing about running a billion-dollar corporation, he has some questions he’d like answered: is Diedre truly Lincoln’s daughter, Lincoln fully and mentally aware when he made changes to his will. As Nick attempts to answer these questions, he finds himself falling in love with a beautiful, deeply vulnerable woman. Will she believe that he truly loves her for herself and not the fortune she inherited that he has to share with her? This is a beautifully poignant love story as Nick and Diedre come together and Diedre can truly put her past behind her and rebuild a relationship with her mother.

We are almost at home stretch with only Ryan’s love story remaining. He’s made brief cameo appearances in the other books and now that he’s out of the Air Force, he’s ready to settle down and start a family.

Grade: A

Summary:

FROM PRODIGAL DAUGHTER-TO BILLIONAIRE HEIRESS?

The discovery that corporate mogul Lincoln DuBois had left her half his company rocked Deidre Kavanaugh’s world. After all, she’d only just learned that the billionaire could be her real father. And with his right-hand man, Nick Malone, up in arms, claiming her share of the inheritance wouldn’t be easy.

Charismatic tycoon Nick Malone had his doubts about Deidre’s paternity claim, but it was hard to remain aloof when all he wanted to do was kiss her! Nick couldn’t seem to stop wanting to protect the rebellious beauty-or silence the desire to make her his own. And if her claim was true, Nick could lose half his inheritance. So why was he focusing on what he could gain…a lifetime of love with the woman of his dreams?

Read an excerpt.

The Soldier’s Baby Bargain
18 Sep 12

Ryan is the last holdout who still resents the Kavanaughs like a dark cloud on a sunshiny day. He’s happy for his sister Mari and the love she’s found with Marc and her growing family, one beautiful daughter and another baby on the way. He feels alone in the midst of all the love and forgiveness and babies. Wanting the same thing, he reaches out to the only woman who has always been the one for him, even as she has been totally out of his reach.

Nature takes a hand and a moment of passion results in a baby. Faith is pregnant and Ryan is determined to sieze this moment to make her his own. In finding his true love, Ryan is finally able to put his past behind him. He reaches out to Marc in friendship, finally accepting the hand that Marc has always extended to him. This is a slow, sweet loving as it ties up all the lose ends and leaves the reader with a great sense of satisfaction that all is well in Harbor Town.

Grade: A

Summary:

UNEXPECTEDLY EXPECTING!

She’d been his best friend’s wife…then widow. And air force pilot Ryan Itani has been enthralled with the very idea of Faith Holmes even before they met. They say grief makes one do crazy things—well, chalk sleeping with Faith as one of them. Then finding out she was carrying his baby… What was a man of honor to do?

But Faith wasn’t about to let him into her home, much less her heart. If there was any chance to be a part of her and their child’s life, he needed to prove he wasn’t just another carefree flyboy. Ryan had risked life and limb before, but this was about to be the soldier’s most important mission.

Read an excerpt.

What a series. Read these books, you won’t regret it. This is romance the old fashioned way in true Harlequin style.

Overall Grade: A