Readers Retreats: Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Lighthouse Keeper by Cynthia Ellingsen

Book Title: The Lighthouse Keeper

Author: Cynthia Ellingsen

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction

Release Date: April 4, 2017

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

Dawn Conners’s parents are famous for finding historic treasures, but she has a knack for losing things—her job, her boyfriend, and now, her reputation. Thanks to a mud-slinging exposé, Dawn’s late great-grandfather is assumed guilty of stealing silver from a century-old shipwreck. Hoping to clear his name, Dawn returns to Starlight Cove, her idyllic hometown on Lake Michigan, where the doomed vessel sleeps beneath the beam of a ramshackle lighthouse.

Her plan: remodel and sell the lighthouse while untangling the perplexing family mystery. Neither task is easy, especially once her well-meaning parents and the quirky locals—including nautical researcher and Starlight Cove’s most eligible bachelor, Kip Whittaker—get involved. Despite their attraction, Dawn is reluctant to trust Kip, or any of the close-knit townsfolk. But as she pieces together the truth, Dawn’s once-shuttered heart opens up. And if she’s willing, the lighthouse might guide her to a place she never expected to find, where the past entwines with a bright new beginning.

“Dawn Conners?” a voice called.

I snapped out of my reverie and stared.

A gorgeous guy in his midthirties dragged a rickety rowboat through the water. His dark hair was windblown, cheeks rough with stubble, and his navy T-shirt clung to a strong upper body. He flashed me a smile I felt all the way down to my toes.

“Are you Dawn?” he called.

“Yes,” I said, smoothing my hair.

Who on earth was he?

I watched as he tossed a bowline knot over a metal pole and cinched it with a firm tug. The rope went taut, along with his upper arms. Then he jogged across the sand and came to a halt next to the boardwalk.

Midnight-blue eyes surveyed my fitted linen dress, bare legs, and low pumps. In a voice much too husky for polite conversation, he said, “You always wear high heels to the beach?”

I flushed.

Even though Libby liked to say that my fitted dresses and pinned-up hair made me look like a candidate for public office, I didn’t expect to hear it from a stranger.

“Depends on the day,” I shot back. “Do you always look like you just rolled out of bed?”

He grinned. “You’re already thinking about me in bed?”

“I have an appointment with Kipling Whittaker,” I said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to—”

“You can call me Kip.”

Arrgh. I couldn’t believe this.

The fact that my mother had led me to believe that this guy was a gentleman of a certain age meant she was up to one thing: matchmaking. In her mind, I came to Starlight Cove for a fun, relaxing summer vacation. That assessment could not be further from the truth. The last thing I wanted to do was waste time flirting with some rumple-haired playboy.

Especially one named Kip.

Cynthia Ellingsen lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and is the author of two previous novels: The Whole Package and Marriage Matters. She loves connecting with readers through her website, Facebook, and Twitter. Visit her at www.cynthiaellingsen.com.