2021 Carol Award Finalists: Irene Hannon & Starfish Pier

Hello again on this beautiful Saturday in the Atlanta metro area! As you no doubt know by now, through September 11th (culminating with a list of winners), I have the privilege of chatting with all of the 2021 ACFW Carol Award Finalists! Today I’m continuing with Irene Hannon and her romance Carol Award finalist book Starfish Pier! You can check out a list of all the finalists HERE and you can follow along with the posts HERE.

FYI – There will be 2-3 posts per day, many of which are offering a giveaway, so make sure you catch them all!

STARFISH PIER
SERIES: Hope Harbor #6
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Revell
RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020
PAGES: 349

A year ago, ex-Delta Force operator Steven Roark left the rigors of combat behind to run fishing charters in Hope Harbor, decompress, and talk some sense into his kid brother. Business is good–but making peace with his past is more challenging than he expected.

First-grade teacher Holly Miller leads a quiet, low-profile existence–until she’s recruited to advocate for a cause that’s dear to her heart. When she solicits Steven’s assistance, sparks fly–especially after they find themselves on opposite sides of an issue that disrupts their placid seaside community.

As these two seemingly incompatible souls search for common ground, might they discover a deeper connection–and find that love can banish darkness and light the way to a future filled with promise?

Bestselling and award-winning author Irene Hannon invites you back to Hope Harbor–where hearts heal . . . and love blooms.

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I asked the author…

What do you most want readers to take away from starfish pier?

Three things: A deeper appreciation for the value of life in all its stages…the magic that can happen when lives intertwine and we open ourselves to others…and the power of love to heal and transform.

One other point about this book. So often romances are criticized for portraying heroes and heroines as perfect physical specimens—i.e. Hollywood glam types. I’ve had any number of books where I broke that stereotype—including this one. My heroine, Holly, isn’t perfect in the eyes of the world. But she’s perfect just as she is in the eyes of God…and in the eyes of the hero. Which makes him even more swoon worthy in my book—literally! 🙂

Irene Hannon is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than sixty contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels. She is also a three-time winner of the RITA award—the “Oscar” of romance fiction—from Romance Writers of America and is a member of that organization’s elite Hall of Fame.

Her many other awards include National Readers’ Choice, Daphne du Maurier, Retailers’ Choice, Booksellers’ Best, Carol, and Reviewers’ Choice from RT Book Reviews magazine, which also honored her with a Career Achievement award for her entire body of work.

Millions of her books have been sold worldwide, and her novels have been translated into multiple languages.

Irene, who holds a BA in psychology and an MA in journalism, juggled two careers for many years until she gave up her executive corporate communications position with a Fortune 500 company to write full-time. She is happy to say she’s never missed the rush-hour commute, corporate politics, or a Blackberry that never slept.

To learn more about Irene and her books, visit www.irenehannon.com. She’s active on Twitter and Instagram, but most enjoys chatting with readers on Facebook.

Make sure to like & comment on this post and enter my monthly giveaway for THREE books of your choice from my duplicates stash! After you’ve liked & commented, claim your entries HERE.

What about you? What makes you want to read the romance Carol Award finalist Starfish Pier by Irene Hannon? Or, if you’ve read it already, what did you love about it?