Review & Giveaway: Eclipse Lake by Mae Clair

Eclipse Lake

by Mae Clair

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Small towns hold the darkest secrets.

Fifteen years after leaving his criminal past and estranged brother behind, widower Dane Carlisle returns to his hometown on the banks of sleepy Eclipse Lake. Now, a successful businessman, he has kept his troubled past a secret from most everyone, including his seventeen-year-old son.

But memories in small towns are bitter and long.

Ellie Sullivan, a nature photographer for a national magazine, has a habit of ping-ponging across the map. Her latest assignment leads her to Eclipse Lake where she becomes caught up in the enmity between Dane, his brother Jonah, and a vengeful town sheriff. When freshly-discovered skeletal remains are linked to an unsolved murder and Dane’s past, Ellie is left questioning her growing attraction for a man who harbors long-buried secrets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Review:

It 's a mystery very special, different from the usual: the murder to be solved remains a bit in the background, out there are the relationships between the three Carisle and the talk and the memories of a small town.
Dane Carisle was a teenager very difficult, now is a successful entrepreneur. He's widower for just over 3 years and has a seventeen year old adopted son, Jesse. He had promised his wife that he would resume contacts with his families, are 15 who does not see his brother and his mother, who has since died. Dane is hunted constantly in trouble and it was always the big brother Jonah him out. After spending several months in a prison Dane had decided to leave  Eclipse Lake, abandoning his family. He decides to keep his promise and returns Pennsylvania just as two boys found human bones. Another reason why Jonah hates his brother so much is that Dane had seduced his ex-girlfriend Brenda, after that  she is disappeared and has not heard anything about her. Her father, who is now sheriff, is convinced that Dane was involved in her murder. While Dane tries to make amends by his brother and let him know that the guy who knew no longer exists, meets Ellie Sullivan, a photographer who is making a documentary in Eclipse Lake. They begin to attend and was born among them a good story, although Ellie will end up being in the middle of the tension between the two brothers. Jesse is likely to discover the past that his father has always wanted to be silent .....
It 's written really good, with a fast paced and engaging, the characters are very realistic and well characterized. The author is very good at engaging the reader and make him feel and share the feelings experienced by the protagonists: the anger of Jonah, the torments and the attraction of Ellie,  torment, repentance and frustration of Dane.
It 's a complete story, full of mystery, suspense and romance, in which the protagonists are the forgiveness and the chance to redeem himself in life.

                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

Ellie stopped walking and turned to face him. “Why are you here?”

Dane picked up a flat stone. With a flick of his wrist he sent it skimming across the lake. It danced effortlessly across the surface as if he’d done the same thing a thousand times before. “You know that skeleton they found?”

She nodded.

“I’ve got more skeletons than a graveyard. I can’t pick up and go to another place…to the next photo shoot.” He turned to face her. “Half of my life is here and half’s on the west coast. I have to make them fit together.”

The revelation reminded her of the family she’d left behind in Idaho, reawakening a familiar tug of homesickness. In an effort to find more comfortable ground, she changed topics. “You told me you’re from San Diego. I did a photo op there four years ago. What do you do for a living?”

“I get by.” He took her hand and started walking again.

She sent a speculative glance in his direction, recognizing evasiveness when she heard it. He was wearing a Rolex, and though dressed casually, clearly had expensive taste. Yet he’d booked an ordinary cabin rather than one of the exclusive chalets higher up the mountain.

She liked the feel of his fingers around hers, warm and firm. The contact sent a pleasant tingle up her arm. What the hell was wrong with her, getting caught up in his touch as if it were magic? As if she’d waited her whole life for that sensation. He had skeletons in his past, a brother who couldn’t stand the sight of him and a sheriff who wanted to run him out of town. Eccentric, or just plain trouble?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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 mystery and romance. Married to her high school sweetheart, she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about cryptozoology, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail and cats.

You can find Mae Clair at the following haunts:

Website and Blog - http://maeclair.net/

Twitter (@MaeClair1) - https://twitter.com/MaeClair1

Google+   - https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MaeClair/posts

Facebook Author Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mae-Clair/219356774828949?ref=hl

Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.com/Mae-Clair/e/B009I61ND0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1397572548&sr=8-1

Goodreads -http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6468716.Mae_Clair

Purchase ECLIPSE LAKE from:

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Lake-Mae-Clair-ebook/dp/B00L78GM60

Amazon Print - http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Lake-Mae-Clair/dp/1502859157/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Add ECLIPSE LAKE to your Goodreads List - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22483412-eclipse-lake

Mae will be awarding $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway