Lantern Lake by Lily Everett is a January 2014 St. Martin's Press Publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.Cooper is on Sanctuary Island for the wedding of his friend Mile's wedding. He can not believe it when Greta invites Vivian to be one of the bridesmaids. But, maybe he can turn the tables on the lovely Vivian. She left him without a word and now although it has been ten years, he is still angry and embittered. So, how would Vivian feel if he seduced her and then just left without so much as a goodbye? Sounds like plan... until he has the chance to get his revenge and it turns out not be all it was cracked up to be. Vivian has changed since he last saw her. Yes, she is still beautiful, but there is a sadness about her and she has built a protective wall around herself. It is obvious to Cooper that something happened to Vivian all those years ago and it wasn't good whatever it was. Will Cooper discover what caused Vivian to leave him all those years ago? What has she been doing the last ten years that has changed her so much? Will the magic of Sanctuary Island work it's magic on Cooper and Vivian or will Miles lose the bet he made with the Billionaire Brothers?
This is the third book in the Billionaire Brothers series. This chapter deals with a romance that ended suddenly and without explanation ten years ago. Cooper is the type of person that needs to exact revenge before he can move on. The more he learns about Vivian and the terrible times she had over the past ten years, the more he wants to let go of his long held resentment toward her, but he feels the need to exact justice on those that hurt her. Vivian is a person that was never happy until she met Cooper. He was the absolute love of her life. But, Vivian succumbed to pressure by her parents and she has regretted it every day of her life since then. Now that there is the slightest hope she and Cooper could have a second chance at love, she just wants to live in the here and now and look to a positivie future. But, can Cooper let it go and just be happy with the life they could have now?
This is a really sweet story and Cooper certainly gains our sympathy once we know what happened between him and Vivian. But, once Vivian's story came out I felt bad for both of them. They both lost ten years of happiness together because of the greed and manipulations of others. We watch Cooper come to terms with the old feeling he harbored for ten years and slowly allows his long buried love for Vivian to come to the surface. Vivien never stopped loving Cooper and although she made a big mistake and hurt him really bad , she has the chance to find peace and a second chance with Cooper. Who doens't love stories like this one? I always melt like butter when two people scarred by circumstances have the last laugh in the end. In this case Cooper and Vivien may have had a little help from the magical Sanctuary Island. Overall this one is an A.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lily Everett grew up in a small town in central Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Although she’s lived many other places since, from college in Philadelphia to her first publishing job in New York City and her current home in Austin, Texas, she never forgot the beauty and warmth of her little hometown. She is thrilled to be writing the Sanctuary Island series full time because it allows her to combine her longstanding love of romance with the memories of her childhood home.Lily’s alter ego is Louisa Edwards. Under that name, she is the author of the Recipe for Love series, sexy contemporary romances with hot chef heroes set in the high-stakes, fast-paced world of professional restaurants.
