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422nd out of 510 books
—
400 voters
Surrender Bay (Nantucket #1)
by
Denise Hunter (Goodreads Author)
Once childhood friends, Samantha and Landon are now separated by distance and secrets. Will Samantha's return to Nantucket bring her the peace she longs for?
Samantha Owens' estranged stepfather has died, leaving her his cottage in Nantucket--a place she fled years ago, never planning to return. As a single mom, Samantha can't afford to pass up a financial windfall like oce...more
Samantha Owens' estranged stepfather has died, leaving her his cottage in Nantucket--a place she fled years ago, never planning to return. As a single mom, Samantha can't afford to pass up a financial windfall like oce...more
Paperback, 293 pages
Published
January 11th 2011
by Thomas Nelson Publishers
(first published November 6th 2007)
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I love a romance with deep emotion, a bit of angst, and plenty of romantic tension. Well this story packs a powerful punch in all three areas. It's an allegory and one of the coolest examples I've ever read. There are many, many women in this world who are just like Samantha, and there are many people in this world who are running from Christ as well. If He only knew what my heart was really like, they think, then there is no way He could love me. Wrong. And this story so beautifully illustrates...more
Let me start by saying that I enjoyed this story of love and forgiveness very much and I'm going to start #2 in the series today. I was a little concerned though because this is in the Christian Romance category but there is absolutely no mention of God. I kept expecting to find a conversion moment in the book and was surprised when I got to the end without finding one. About 3/4 of the way through, I did begin to connect that the author was trying to help us visualize how God's love is for us....more
This past weekend, we were in my husband's hometown, and my mother in law was telling me how she liked Denise Hunter's books. She offered to loan me a couple, and I accepted, knowing it would be good to have something to read on the way home. When I saw the title of this one, I laughed to myself at how cheesy it sounded. I know she really enjoys her Christian romance stories, but this seemed way too sappy for me.
And okay, a lot of it is hokey, but it wasn't as nearly as bad as I thought. In fac...more
And okay, a lot of it is hokey, but it wasn't as nearly as bad as I thought. In fac...more
Oh my goodness, I just loved this book! Denise Hunter has found a fan in me! This is only the second book by Denise I have read, the first being - "The Convenient Groom" which I also loved. See my review HERE.
You know the feeling you get when you start reading a book and you just know... you know you are going to love it within the first chapter? You start reading, you settle into a comfy chair and get settled into the book and you know you are in it for the duration of the night. This is one of...more
You know the feeling you get when you start reading a book and you just know... you know you are going to love it within the first chapter? You start reading, you settle into a comfy chair and get settled into the book and you know you are in it for the duration of the night. This is one of...more
At the end of A Cowboy's Touch, there was an excerpt from Surrender Bay and it sounded good, so I checked my library and found it. I liked it, but I don't think it quite lived up to the compelling first chapter I read.
Sam left Nantucket under difficult circumstances and finds that returning to her hometown isn't easy after 11 years away. Her childhood best friend and first, unrequited love, still lives in Nantucket and he still loves Sam. She's a woman of secrets that we know will finally come o...more
Sam left Nantucket under difficult circumstances and finds that returning to her hometown isn't easy after 11 years away. Her childhood best friend and first, unrequited love, still lives in Nantucket and he still loves Sam. She's a woman of secrets that we know will finally come o...more
I enjoyed it. I hadn't realized when I picked the book up at the library that it was actually categorized as Christian fiction, so I had already started it by the time I happened to read it on the back by the upc code. There really isn't anything in the story itself that was blatantly religious; it was pretty much metaphorical, and so I was able to relax and enjoy the story.
While reading this, I found myself really empathising with Sam and how she tried to push everyone away. In fact, there wer...more
While reading this, I found myself really empathising with Sam and how she tried to push everyone away. In fact, there wer...more
My first Denise Hunter novel and I enjoyed it. There is a Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers flavor to the story and I thoroughly enjoyed the heartbreak and journey toward healing for the hero and heroine.
There is something about best friends as kids who life separates and the beauty of God using circumstances to bring them back together. The hardest things to see are the ones that have been there all along.
My absolute two favorite moments are early in the novel, when young Samantha is pulling we...more
There is something about best friends as kids who life separates and the beauty of God using circumstances to bring them back together. The hardest things to see are the ones that have been there all along.
My absolute two favorite moments are early in the novel, when young Samantha is pulling we...more
Great read! I read all 23 chapters in one night. Sam, the main character is a very sad, empty, angery woman. Through a series of terrible events she has become a damaged person who has strayed away from her once strong faith. Her father died and her mother abandoned her. When Sam graduated highschool her dreams came to a crippling halt when she unexpectantly become pregnant. Her abusive stepfather kicked her out. She ran away from Nantucket to Boston. An call from her island home telling her of...more
I started reading this book late in the evening and stayed up until after midnight to finish reading it. Somehow it just pulled me in and kept me reading all the way to the end.
Samantha, Sam, is a tortured soul. She thinks that anyone she loves is going to leave her. Mostly because they all have. She has done some things in her life that she feels keep her from deserving love.
Landon has always loved Sam. They were best friends most all of their lives. He finally admitted his true feelings for he...more
Samantha, Sam, is a tortured soul. She thinks that anyone she loves is going to leave her. Mostly because they all have. She has done some things in her life that she feels keep her from deserving love.
Landon has always loved Sam. They were best friends most all of their lives. He finally admitted his true feelings for he...more
Amazing! I didn't want to put this book down. Denise did an incredible job keeping things real in this story.
Fear is one of our greatest enemies. It imprisons us in bars that only God can sever. Even for those who belong to God, we know we shouldn't allow our fears to reign and yet we struggle to fight against them. The God we trust, the God we should trust, the God we want to trust, we are afraid to trust in many circumstances. Even knowing this is a tool of the devil, we are so afraid to let...more
Fear is one of our greatest enemies. It imprisons us in bars that only God can sever. Even for those who belong to God, we know we shouldn't allow our fears to reign and yet we struggle to fight against them. The God we trust, the God we should trust, the God we want to trust, we are afraid to trust in many circumstances. Even knowing this is a tool of the devil, we are so afraid to let...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Not one to oversell Christian fiction because of it's usually predictable nature, I must confess that this book fell into that same category. I do respect, though, how the author did not create Christian characters, nor infuse Christian dialogue, in order to get her point across. The love story was an allegory of the relentless love of Christ for us. In the author's afterword, she notes that Jesus' parables were similar in nature - never did Jesus explain "Now the dad in 'The Prodigal Son' is Go...more
It seems to me that the female characters in this book and Denise's book "Seaside Letters" thought it was okay when you were down and feeling really bad to get drunk and sleep with guys. Whoa! So the main character guys were upstanding great guys with good morals, but their female counterparts weren't? Hummm. I absolutely loved the first two books I read of Denise's, "A Cowboys Touch" and "The Convenient Groom". It seemed like I was reading a totally different writer with the clean content in th...more
The narrative is about Samantha's psychological problem caused basically by her cruel step father, Emmett. Because of his verbal abuse, Sam keeps pushing emotions like love away, not able to trust them. She especially continues to reject Landon, who she grew up with, but now he is deeply in love with her.
The story moves forward very slowly. Doesn't seem to be enough conflict/action, until the last two chapters, and it becomes rather repetitious.
The characters are quite well portrayed, and the th...more
The story moves forward very slowly. Doesn't seem to be enough conflict/action, until the last two chapters, and it becomes rather repetitious.
The characters are quite well portrayed, and the th...more
This book was okay but I found Samantha really really annoying. I know she had a bad childhood but after listening to her fight with herself in her head over and over again, I just wanted to tell her to man up and go out with Landon. He should have given up on her long ago. Way to much baggage there, plus you can't date someone who's been with a member of your family. ew. At the end in the reading group questions it mentions God alot, apprently the story is actually about your relationship with...more
When I first bought this book, I was afraid of being disappointed in my expectations of it. I had read Seaside Letters first and loved it, so I figured this one probably wasn't going to be as good as I was hoping. I was so wrong. I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in by the characters and plot, just as with the last book by Denise Hunter. I think she does a great job of portraying the male lead character. Another thing I love about these books is that it keeps you feeling so many different...more
I thought this story was a little bit too much of a downer for my taste. I started to get really frusted with Sam. I mean how cruel could she get and why oh why did Landon keep sticking around?? I felt like he was a sad puppy that she just kept beating and he just kept coming back for more. Also, the "horrible" thing that Sam did...I do not understand how on earth Landon could forgive that so fast. It also ended way to fast. Over-all I think the author had an interesting idea but it just came ac...more
I love Denise Hunter's books. This one was definitely no different. I loved the concept and Landon's constant love and perseverance. The characters were great. The emotions were pretty convincing and the message was good.
The only part of this that I wasn't satisfied with was the ending. Sure, it was a happy ending. I just felt that there were a lot of threads left lose at the end and some major problems that the characters had faced that were overlooked. While the ending was happy, there wasn't...more
The only part of this that I wasn't satisfied with was the ending. Sure, it was a happy ending. I just felt that there were a lot of threads left lose at the end and some major problems that the characters had faced that were overlooked. While the ending was happy, there wasn't...more
I have a bit of back story regarding this book. I knew the author. Back in middle school, Hunter and her husband went to the same church as my mother and I. At the time they had two boys that I occasionally babysat. We let the church when I was in high school and I lost track of them. A few months ago I was talking to my mom about my reading challenges. When I started to discuss my issues with Christian fiction, my mom remembered that Denise wrote Christian novels. I didn’t know that at all. So...more
Denise Hunter's books are blowing me away one book at a time. First I read A Convenient Groom years ago. I loved it, but I have always been more into historical fiction, so regrettably, I did not look the rest of her books up.
Regrettably, being the key word.
Surrender Bay took me a while to finish... which was the first clue that I loved it. I had to put it down just to dwell on what the characters were going through. Such turmoil! Such conflictions! Such love! And such an ending!
Oh yeah, I forgo...more
Regrettably, being the key word.
Surrender Bay took me a while to finish... which was the first clue that I loved it. I had to put it down just to dwell on what the characters were going through. Such turmoil! Such conflictions! Such love! And such an ending!
Oh yeah, I forgo...more
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This is the first book I have read of Denise Hunter and enjoyed it. The way to describe her writing is that she's a combination of Nicholas Sparks & Christian author Karen Kingsbury. The book is based in Nantucket and loved how it described some of the scenery. This is the first book that is based in Nantucket. I believe there is three more of them that are on different characters, unlike most series. I look forward to finding more of her books to read. If you have a hard time finding this b...more
Another fantastic read by Denise Hunter! A while ago I read her book The Convenient Groom and totally loved it! Really pulled me into the story. This one took me a little while to get into, but once I did I had a hard time putting it down. I found myself wanting to shake Sam, the main character, for her constant rejection of Landon. Though I have suffered loss in my life multiple times, I have not endured the type of loss that Sam went through and had to bear the dark secrets that she carried. S...more
I found this book sad, moving, compelling, romantic, depressing and hopeful all rolled into one.
Sam was happy as a child living in Nantucket with her mom and dad. Then her dad died. When her mom remarries Emmett who is abusive things get worse for Sam. Then when she was 13 her mom just leaves and leaves Sam behind with Emmett. Things continued to get worse. When Emmett gives Sam advice to never love anyone because they will leave she engraves it upon her heart believing it is true since that is...more
Sam was happy as a child living in Nantucket with her mom and dad. Then her dad died. When her mom remarries Emmett who is abusive things get worse for Sam. Then when she was 13 her mom just leaves and leaves Sam behind with Emmett. Things continued to get worse. When Emmett gives Sam advice to never love anyone because they will leave she engraves it upon her heart believing it is true since that is...more
This was such a sad story. It made me feel so sorry for everyone in it, it was hard to find anything to be happy about. Sam was starving for forgiveness and for love, and she wasn't even aware of it. Landon was patient, kind and forgiving above and beyond. Although it is required for all of us to forgive, forgetting, going on and getting over something of this magnitude is still a little much to swallow. It was very well written, but a little too much of a downer for me.
I hesitate to pigeon-hole this book as Christian fiction even though that is how it is categorized. Unlike some books in this genre, not once does the author ever bring God or faith into the story. Her plot line was feasible and how each person dealt with their issues was well-written. My only problem with this book is that now I look at my husband and wish he could be romantic like Landon Reed!!! At the back of the book Denise explains how her story is an allegory of a certain story or scriptur...more
This is the first of a four-book Christian fiction series that I thought I'd try out. I really enjoyed getting into the characters in the story, but was disappointed to find out that the other three books in the series are set in the same location (Nantuckett Bay), but involve different characters -what a bummer because I was really looking forward to seeing how the story continued... As a stand-alone title though this was a great easy novel and worth a read.
Here's another perfect beach read. A young unmarried mother inherits the old cottage where she grew up. There are not many happy memories in that place but she returns to the town to try to get the cottage ready for sale. During her month back in town, she encounters many things from her past, including her dearest friend. Can she figure out that it is safe to tell her secrets and trust anyone? And just what will happen when she does?
I really liked this book, because the relationship between the couple (the main characters) represents that of God and us. It is about forgiveness and unconditional love. I really enjoyed reading this one. I think that I like "Surrender Bay" more than "Seaside Letters". It was a unique and inspirational story about a girl who suffered with a lot of hurt and guilt who gradually learned unconditional love, forgiveness, and hope.
I loved this book. When I got to the end, I was a little disturbed that there was no real evidence of Christianity on the part of the characters in the book. Her explanation at the end gave me a little understanding, and I think she achieved her goal. However, I think she still could have made at least one of her characters a Christian. Otherwise, however, it is a good, clean novel and very well-written.
I really liked this book. While I was reading this story, I had to double check that this author was a Christian author. At first, I was a little thrown off by the lack of God references, but it was then that a friend told me the significance behind the story. That's when it all came together for me. I totally see the symbolism behind this story. Time and time again people will turn away from the love of God because of their tainted past. But the beauty of this allegorical story is that God is u...more
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Denise Hunter is the award-winning author of 20 novels, including The Accidental Bride and Convenient Groom.
Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, an...more
More about Denise Hunter...
Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, an...more
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Jan 27, 2013 07:14pm