Book review: The Edge of Too Late by Jan Sikes (@jansikes3) Book Five of the Harbor Pointe Series

The Edge of Too Late is the next book in the Harbor Pointe series, which is a collection of eight novellas by Story Empire authors. Each story takes place at the historic Harbor Pointe Inn, overlooked by an iconic lighthouse, in a fictional California town. See my previous posts for reviews of books 1-4.

Brandon Miller has it all – a great job, lots of money, and a silver Mercedes Benz convertible. The only thing he doesn’t have is the gorgeous woman in the car with him on the way to a romantic weekend at the Harbor Pointe Inn. Angela Cooper is recovering from an abusive marriage, and while she treasures her relationship with Brandon, who is the opposite of her ex-husband, she shudders at the thought of marrying again.  Brandon has an engagement ring in his pocket and he plans to propose this weekend, even knowing her reluctance. And he’s reserve the honeymoon suite, a small building that used to be the lighthouse keepers cottage.

Angela, or Angie Baby, as Brandon prefers to call her, always has her camera with her. When they arrive at the Inn, an emergency vehicle is just leaving at a high rate of speed. Nevertheless they are charmed by the Inn and Angela snaps pictures of everything, until she spots someone on the Widow’s Walk of the lighthouse, which is closed.

One of the lights is out in the cottage and while they are relaxing in the hot tub, Jeremiah arrives to fix it but gives Angela a long, lascivious and very uncomfortable stare. While exploring the beach, a homeless man with the scent of rotten body odor passes by them, and his dark spirit scares her. At dinner, a face in the window causes one of the diners to scream, and Angela, who is an empath and sensitive to spirits, is further shaken. Coincidences pile up.

The next day things improve as they take a day sail on the schooner, but Brandon is unable to talk to Angela about marriage. When Angela once again see a figure on the lighthouse’s Widow’s Walk, and this time she sees her jump, he is unsure how to handle the situation.

Angela is torn – she knows she is being unfair to Brandon by stringing him along, and her anxiety grows, aggravated by her ghost sightings and encounters with the creepy maintenance man. Are all these things explainable coincidences?

Jan Sikes paints the Inn and its grounds beautifully in bright colors while embracing the ghosts and spirits of the place. She also does a great job of describing the nuances of Brandon’s and Angela’s relationship, and Angela’s stress at the thought of marrying again. Best of all, like the surf below the Inn, she really whips up the tension surrounding Angela as the story line grows.

This novella works well as a standalone in the series and for me, ended too quickly! I wanted more!

About the author:

Jan Sikes has been an avid reader all her life. There’s nothing she loves more than losing herself in a story. Although she never had an ambition to be a writer, she wound up in mid-life with a story that begged to be told. Not just any story, but a true story that rivaled any fiction creation. The tale came to life through fictitious characters in an intricately woven tale encompassing four books. Not satisfied to stop with the books, she released music CDs of original music to match the time period of each story segment. And to bring the story full circle, she published a book of poetry and art. I was done.

Then her story ideas keep coming. She love all things metaphysical and often includes those aspects in her writing.

She is a member of the Author’s Marketing Guild, The Writer’s League of Texas, Story Empire, and the Paranormal Writer’s Guild. Also an avid fan of Texas music and grandmother of five beautiful souls. I reside in North Texas.

Connect through Jan’s website: http://www.jansikes.com

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJanSikesBooks

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JanSikes3

And on her blog: http://www.jansikesblog.com