The Homecoming
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

In the sixth book in Carr's Thunder Point series (The Promise, 2014), Seth Sileski, onetime local football star who ended his nascent career in the NFL in a high-speed car crash, returns to town as the officer in charge of the sheriff's department's local substation. As a kid, he and Iris McKinley had been best friends, but something happened just before their high-school prom that destroyed their relationship. Seth wants to patch things up with Iris, even though it has been 17 years since their falling out, but he doesn't know that what he did to Iris as a teen had a devastating effect. He thought he had simply made and broken a date for prom, while her experience was profoundly different. As Iris fends off the proposal of a gorgeous, smart, fun teacher in her school, Seth tries to regain her friendship, while, in her professional life, she deals with the case of a high-school cheerleader who seems to be the victim of abuse. Readers of the series will be delighted to catch up with the denizens of Thunder Point met in earlier stories.--Tixier Herald, Diana Copyright 2014 Booklist

The captivating sixth installment of Carr's Thunder Point series (after The Promise) brings up big emotions in the tiny coastal Oregon hamlet. Hometown boy Seth Sileski left in triumph with a football scholarship and went on to play in the NFL-until a serious injury ended that dream forever. Iris McKinley, now a guidance counselor at the Thunder Point high school, is the girl he's never been able to forget. When Seth returns to run the sheriff department substation in town, he can't understand why his former friend is so icy, until Iris reveals a secret she's carried around for years: in a drunken stupor in high school, Seth took Iris's virginity. Seth, who has no memory of the encounter, is devastated by the revelation and is determined to make up for it, but Iris won't accept his apology quickly. Carr's gift for writing lovably flawed heroes and heroines is evident on every page, and she includes a host of enjoyable side characters and glimpses of the subjects of earlier books. While laying the groundwork for the next installment, she delivers a first-class happy ending. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Although they were next-door neighbors and best friends since childhood, it took only one disastrous misunderstanding to drive impulsive Iris McKinley and football star Seth Sileski apart, leaving Seth in clueless confusion. Now, 15 years later, Seth is back in town to head up the sheriff's office and, wiser but still in the dark, is determined to reconnect with Iris. But high school guidance counselor Iris is not about to trust her heart to the man who broke it, even though she knows he is the only one for her. Faulty communication, domestic abuse, teenage relationships, and family strife ramp up the action as Thunder Point continues to blossom in Carr's expert hands. VERDICT A hero with fences to mend and a heroine who needs to trust her heart sort out their feelings as they deal with everyday issues in a laughter-laced story that overflows with familiar faces and small-town warmth and admirably continues Carr's engaging, soul-satisfying series. Carr (The Promise) lives in the Las Vegas area. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.