Sunday, September 21, 2025

Review - Smuggler’s Cove

Title:   Smuggler’s Cove
Author:  Fern Michaels
Publisher:  Kensington 
Series:  Twin Lights
Genre:  Women's Fiction; Romance
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   280
Date of Publication:   August 26, 2025
My Rating:   5 Stars 

DESCRIPTION:

Book 1 in the brand-new Twin Lights series from the beloved author of The Sisterhood!

In a fresh, new series for fans of Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, and Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels introduces siblings Madison and Lincoln Taylor, whose Jersey Shore inheritance plunges them into a world of mystery and mayhem . . .

Growing up, Madison Taylor and her younger brother Lincoln lived in privilege, but their sheltered existence abruptly ended when their father was arrested for fraud and the family assets were seized. Since then, Madison has carved out a new path, studying fashion and working her way up to editor in chief of La Femme magazine, while Lincoln teaches wealth management at a small college outside the city. Both have separated themselves from their family and their past—until an unexpected bequest arrives from their late uncle.

Madison and Lincoln are now the new co-owners of a marina at Smugglers Cove on the Navesink river. Instead of a fabulous, Hamptons-style property, Smugglers Cove offers little beyond a dilapidated dock, a few gas pumps, and a handful of clam boats. Madison’s plan to sell the property goes awry when a dead body is found floating under their dock and transforms their new inheritance into a crime scene.

Suddenly, Madison is swapping her city-girl wardrobe for cargo pants and flannel shirts, while she and Lincoln receive a crash course in small-town Jersey shore life, complete with quirky characters, pirate legends, and a mysterious treasure map. They’re discovering more about themselves and each other every day, but with a mystery to solve, and big decisions to make, these are lessons they’ll need to learn fast . . .


MY THOUGHTS:
 
Fern Michaels begins a new series, The Twin Lights, with siblings Lincoln and Madison and how their lives have been affected by the actions of their parents. That is how the description portrays the story.

What I do as I read a book is to make notes. As the story began with Gwen, then Rita Taylor, hers sons…well, I was lost for a bit. I was certain that I was reading the wrong book. I jumped back a few times, reread the blurb a few times, because…who was Gwen? Who was Rita? How and why was this book labeled a mystery?

My apologies, but this is not a series that I will be continuing. I have vacillated for three days as to whether or not to even review this title. I will post this, but out of respect for the author, I will not share it on my socials.

Many thanks to Kensington and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:    
 
Fern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.

As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.

I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.


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