Undaunted Hope

4.5 stars
There's some tough reading stuff in this one (has elements of man-against-man and man-against-nature types of plots, which really put me on the edge of my seat), as an upper-Michigan mining town struggles against the climate and the local despot. Tessa is determined to make a new, independent start, despite a less than welcoming beginning in the new town where she intends to teach. But soon she comes to realize that unfriendliness is the least of her worries.

I loved her relationship with the Bjorklund family at the lighthouse. In many ways they are the only people in the area with any real degree of autonomy, though the beast Updegraff is ready for any reason to bring them too under his thumb. How much must these characters endure before winter breaks? And who will find true love in the bleak circumstances?

Counting the weeks to book four...