Angie Tompkins is back today with a closer look at Cass and Jeff, the pair at the center of Hauntfest at Harbor’s Hope. Their autumn festival plans come with some unfinished business.
By Angie Tompkins
Cass Whitley has plans for the lantern route. She wants Hauntfest to succeed, and taking the lead gives her a chance to prove herself. Working with Detective Jeff Harker was never part of the arrangement she hoped for.
He is the man who failed to believe her when she needed him most.
An apology matters, of course. But Cass has a festival to organize, and she has every reason to watch what Jeff does after he says he’s sorry. Can he listen when they disagree? Will he take her seriously when it would be easier to assume he knows best?
Jeff knows he owes her more than a few careful words. Helping with Hauntfest gives him time beside the woman he hasn’t stopped thinking about, even when their conversations turn into arguments he almost enjoys.
That is the part of their relationship I want to share with you today. A lantern walk can give two people a lovely place to talk. It cannot do the work of rebuilding trust for them. Cass and Jeff still have to decide how they will treat each other once the conversation gets difficult.
There are masquerade preparations, autumn evenings, and strange happenings at an old boathouse, too. A family mystery draws them further in, while Cass starts to wonder who Jeff might be beyond his badge.
Hauntfest at Harbor’s Hope is a clean coastal romance with a touch of mystery and a happy ending. It can be enjoyed as a standalone.
If you’d like to read early, visit my Smartlink for the Hauntfest ARC options. You can also find the preorder on Amazon. Thank you for welcoming me back, Sylvia.