Fog Harbor Series by Nicole Deese

Every once in a while, we find an author that speaks to us…Nicole Deese is one of those authors for me. As often happens, I was first attracted to the cover of The Words We Lost. As I picked it up two things stood out on the front, first she is a Christy Award-Winning author and second, she was endorsed by one of my favourite authors.

The back cover reads Three friends. Two broken promises. One missing manuscript. Obviously, the book made it into my purse and arrived on my side table that very night. As a book-buyer I have hundreds of books come across my desk each year and simply cannot read them all (but I would sure like to!)  This book however seemingly had it all and I was completely hooked within the first couple of pages!

We start at Fog Harbor Books, a publishing company located in San Fransico where Ingrid Erikson is a Senior Acquisitions Editor. After the death of her best friend, she has lost her ability to escape into the manuscripts she represents jeopardizing her career. Her only hope is to find best-selling Cecelia Campbell’s lost manuscript. Then arrives the letter, will Ingrid be up to the challenge of having to solve the riddle with the help of her ex-fiancé Joel Campbell as they strive to honour the last wishes of their beloved friend Cecelia?

I could not put this book down...it was a rich, vibrant, emotional work that resonated with me and tugged at my heart strings. Nicole tackles many tough subjects in this novel with the utmost care and understanding and reminds us that many lives are full of circumstance and past traumas others might not see or understand.

Last week I was able to get a copy of The Roads We Follow which is the second book in the series. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was just as compelling as the first…I cannot wait to finish the last few chapters. Nicole is masterful in carving out journeys of grief and complicated relationships. Her prose is almost poetic at times, her pacing impeccable, and her characters are deep and complex. You cannot help but lose yourself in her beautifully crafted stories of loss, love and healing. If you are willing to pick one up, I am positive you will not be disappointed!