Secrets at Cedar Cabin

In Coble’s uneven third Lavender Tides novel (after 2018’s The House at Saltwater Point), nurse Bailey Fleming flees her home in Rock Harbor, Mich., shattered by her discovery that her husband is a bigamist and pursued by her mother’s killers. She takes shelter in a cabin that her husband deeded her in Lavender Tides, Wash., where she encounters FBI agent Lance Phoenix, who’s investigating a local sex-trafficking ring that he believes has captured his missing sister. As romance sparks with Lance, Bailey discovers her connections to the community are deeper than she suspected, but her presence in Lavender Tides threatens a powerful man who will stop at nothing to protect his secrets. Coble’s Christian message and emphasis on abstinence before marriage will resonate with readers who share her beliefs, and series fans will appreciate appearances by beloved characters from previous novels. Those willing to overlook saccharine platitudes and overwrought prose (“Sudden clarity surged into his eyes”) will be satisfied. [em]Agent: Karen Solem, SpencerHill Assoc. (Jan.) [/em]