I recently read and reviewed Eclipse Lake by Mae Clair for Rosie’s Book Review Team.
Here’s my review (5 Stars)
A dramatic and heart warming tale of forgiveness, love and redemption.
Dane is the successful and millionaire CEO of a security company in San Diego. He’s been a widower for three years, and lives with Jesse, the teenage child he adopted when he was six years old and married his mother.
He’s never told Jesse about his past, until the day he takes him for a visit to Onyx, the small town in Pennsylvania he left fifteen years ago, when he was seventeen.
‘You told me your parents were dead.’ (says his son)
‘Sometimes people say things because it’s easier than explaining the truth.’
Dane has been telling plenty of lies to his son, especially by omitting details about his past, but the time has come for Jesse to own up and make peace with his dark teenage years.
His parents are dead, but his only sibling, Jonah, a Park warden at the beautiful Eclipse Lake resort, the local tourist attraction, is very much alive and not pleased to see his rebellious and criminal brother at all.
Once there, the reader will meet all the other locals, the teenagers such as Page and Zach, who will befriend Jesse, the unfriendly sheriff, April, the deputy, and Ellie, a photojournalist who will become a significant person in Dane and Jesse’s lives.
Coinciding with their arrival, a skeleton is found at Eclipse Lake, initiating a murder investigation, which directly affects Jesse and his family.
This beautiful novel is a family drama, a crime story, a romance, and a young adult novel, all rolled into one.
It deals with themes such as redemption, honesty, friendship, mature love and relationships, adolescent relationships, and complex family dynamics.
At the centre of the story is the relationship between Jesse, Jonah, and Dane. It’s about the relationships between brothers, between father and son, and uncle and nephew.
It’s a dramatic, but also heart warming story about second chances, forgiveness, redemption and the power of romantic, filial and brotherly love.
Eclipse Lake is so well written that by the time I finished reading, I felt I knew the characters and had even visited Onyx and Eclipse Lake, myself.
It was a pleasure to read and review for Rosie’s Book Review Team (#RBRT).
Buy links: Amazon US and Amazon UK
Author bio
Mae Clair opened a Pandora’s Box of characters when she was a child and never looked back. Her father, an artist who tinkered with writing, encouraged her to create make-believe worlds by spinning tales of far-off places on summer nights beneath the stars.
Mae loves creating character-driven fiction in settings that vary from contemporary to mythical. Wherever her pen takes her, she flavors her stories with conflict, mystery and a dash of romance. Married to her high school sweetheart, she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about folklore, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail and cats.
Discover more about Mae on her website and blog,
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Rereading Jane Eyre 
Wonderful review, Luccia! I haven’t read this one, but I’ve read some of Mae’s Point Pleasant series and highly recommend it. Need to add this one to my TBR.
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Thank you.💗 I enjoyed it very much.
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Thanks so much, Teri 🙂
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Thank you Luccia.
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Luccia, thank you so much for that lovely review. I’m honored and humbled to know how much the book and my characters resonated with you. Thank you for sharing!
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You’re welcome 💗 It was a pleasure to read and review.
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