Simply Angela : Echo Lake by Carla Neggers

In snowy Swift River Valley, unexpected romance is just around the corner…

Heather Sloan has landed her dream job—the renovation of Vic Scarlatti’s stately 1912 country home overlooking the icy waters of Echo Lake in Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. It’s the perfect project for the family business, but for once, Heather is in charge.

Diplomatic Security Service agent Brody Hancock left Knights Bridge at eighteen, a few steps ahead of arrest and the wrath of Heather’s older brothers. Though Brody had never planned to return, Vic, a retired diplomat and friend, needs his help.

Staying at Vic’s guest house makes it impossible to avoid running into a Sloan at every turn—especially Heather. Seeing her again has affected Brody more than he wants to admit. But Heather is wary of Brody’s sudden interest in her, and she suspects there’s more to his homecoming than he’s letting on….

Set against the scenic backdrop of a New England winter, Echo Lake is a captivating tale of family, friends and the possibility of new love.

Series: Swift River Valley #4 | Author: Carla Neggers | Publisher: Harlequin MIRA | Source: Publisher | Rating: 3.5 Cups

I’m always excited to see what’s going on in Knights Bridge, so I knew I had to get my hands on Echo Lake, the latest Swift River Valley novel.

Brody left Knights Bridge at the age of eighteen after a fight with the Sloan brothers. Now he’s returned as a DSS agent looking into the strange events going on at Vic Scarlatti’s home that is being renovated by none other than Sloan and Sons.

Heather Sloan is in charge of renovating Vic’s house. It’s the job she’s dreamed about and for the first time since working for her father’s company, she’s in charge. She’s attracted to Brody, but she fears that the feud with her brothers will get in the way.

I’m on the fence about this one. I liked the book—the pacing was great, the characters were interesting, there was a cute puppy named Rohan—but I felt that it was slightly lacking.

Heather is the youngest Sloan and the only girl. By taking on the renovations of Vic’s home, she’s proving that she can do the same job as her brothers but she’s also going through a self-discovery stage.

Brody left town because of his feud with the Sloan brothers, so now that he’s back and interested in Heather, he’s worried that his actions as a teenager will have a negative impact on his relationship.

I don’t feel as though I got to see enough about Brody. What I did see, I liked but more of him would have been nice

While the attraction between Heather and Brody was there from the start, the two shared little page time together. I would have liked to have seen more of them together.

Mixed in with Heather and Brody’s plotline is the mystery of what’s going on with Vic. I was hoping that this was going to go a bit deeper and be just a tad bit more complex but sadly, I had it figured out from the start.

Overall, I enjoyed Echo Lake—I read it from start to finish in a few hours—but I felt that it was a little weaker than the previous books in the series.