The Lightkeeper

By Susan Wiggs

Once, the sea took everything he loved  

Jesse Morgan is a man hiding from the pain of his past, a man who has vowed never to give his heart again. Keeper of a remote lighthouse along a rocky and dangerous coast, he has locked himself away from everything but his bitter memories. 

Now, the sea has given him a second chance. 

A beautiful stranger washes ashore, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Penniless and pregnant, Mary Dare is a woman who carries painful memories of her own. 

With laughter, hope and joy, Mary and her child bring light into the dark corners of Jesse's world. But when their friendship turns to passion and passion becomes love, secrets from the past threaten to take it all away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
• Release date: Sep 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781460317969

Susan Wiggs

Susan Wiggs is the author of more than fifty novels, including the beloved Lakeshore Chronicles series and the recent New York Times bestsellers The Lost and Found Bookshop, The Oysterville Sewing Circle, and Family Tree. Her award-winning books have been translated into two dozen languages. She lives with her husband on an island in Washington State’s Puget Sound.

Reviews for The Lightkeeper

[lindahallmann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jesse Morgan runs away from his painful past. A beautiful stranger washes ashore from a shipwreck. Mary Dare, who is penniless and pregnant is escaping a painful past. Secrets are revealed slowly as they come to love each other.

[bettysunflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jesse Morgan was young, energetic and in love when he married Emily. Jesse, Emily, and their friend, Granger Clapp were all three from wealth families and were friends. When Emily accepted Jesse's proposal, Granger became livid. No one knew that he was in love with her also. Jesse and Emily married and were happy and very much in love. Emily became pregnant and no longer welcomed Jesse to her bed. Being young and healthy this did not sit to well with Jesse who found himself a lover. He realized when his lover started to become very demanding that this could hurt Emily deeply if she learned of the affair. He made plans for Emily to sail to her step-mother's home so that she wouldn't be around when he broke it off with his lover. Unfortunately there was a problem and the snip that Emily sailed on sank and all were lost. Many years later Jesse is the light keeper in the very area where Emily's ship was lost. It was the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington State where the water empties into the ocean. Many ships have been lost there. One morning while Jesse is looking out toward the ocean he sees something on the beach that catches his eye. He ran down to the shore and looked again. After he removed the seaweed he realized that it was a young woman and she was pregnant. She was breathing, but barely. He picked her up and carried her quickly to his house. What happens now is the heart of the book. This is well written with great characters, a multilayers plot and a budding romance. I loved it.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An unconscious pregnant woman is washed up on the beach, and the lightkeeper grudgingly nurses her back to health, still grieving over his wife who drowned at sea. Strong characters and their emotions make this a powerful read, and I was sucked into this very atmospheric book. Mary was a spirited Irish lass, and Jesse was a tortured soul who still blamed himself for his wife's death. At times, though, I felt I was reading a contemporary story more than a historical one. as a lot of the written speech was very modern.