Review: The Homecoming by Robyn Carr

Title: The Homecoming   

Author: Robyn Carr     

Series: Thunder Point, #6     

Published: August 2014, Harlequin MIRA   

Format: ARC e-copy, 400 pages   

Source: Netgalley  

In a small town, reputation is everything. In her latest novel, #1 New York Times
bestselling author Robyn Carr explores the burden placed on a young man
returning home to face his mistakes—the first step in claiming the life
he was meant to live …

At the age of nineteen, Seth
Sileski had everything. A superb athlete and scholar, handsome and
popular, he was the pride of Thunder Point. Destined for greatness, he
lost it all in a terrible accident that put an end to his professional
football career when it had barely begun. The people in his hometown
have never forgotten what might have been.

Seth has come to
terms with the turns his life has taken. But now he’s been presented
with an opportunity to return home and show his father—and the people of
Thunder Point—he’s become a better, humbler version of his former self.

Winning over his father isn’t the only challenge. Seth must
also find a way to convince his childhood neighbor and best friend, Iris
McKinley, to forgive him for breaking her heart. With his homecoming,
will Seth be able to convince the town, his family and especially Iris
that he’s finally ready to be the man who will make them all proud?

My thoughts:  This is the 6th book in Robyn Carr’s Thunder Point series and I just love this series. I love how she is able to take a serious issue and pair that storyline with a romance storyline – it just seems to balance itself out so that the book isn’t too heavy on the romance or too heavy on whatever topic she chooses to explore. 

I will say I found this story to be more heartbreaking and heartwarming than the previous books. Primarily, this is Seth and Iris’s story. They have quite the past and with Seth moving back to Thunder Point, that past begins to edge it’s way into both their lives. In order to move forward, they need to address what happened, but it’s clear that whatever it is that happened in the past – there is still something between them now. By providing the history between these two characters, it was easy to really empathize with both of them and understand their motivations. All the flashbacks were integral in building this up such that you could really feel their hurt and frustrations.

The other storyline was a touchy one – it involved an abusive relationship going on at the high school. I think the reason this story worked so well is that Iris was involved as the school counselor, and Seth was involved as the new sheriff. It connected in a way that really brought the two stories together almost seamlessly instead of it feeling like two disjointed story lines. 

With each book I read in this series, I fall more in love with the town of Thunder Point. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be the last book in the series, but I’m happy to say it’s not. There are at least two more books to look forward to next year, both of which I have just added to my TBR list!

Books in this series:  

1. The Wanderer                          7.  The Wish – due out 2015
2. The Newcomer                        8.  The Hope – due out 2015
3. The Hero
4. The Chance 
5. The Promise
6. The Homecoming