Recently I finished Pelican Point a book authored by Irene Hannon, whose works have won the Rita Award three times and is known for writing over fifty romantic suspense novels. This was the first of her books for me to read and based on the reviews and her credentials my expectations were high.

Unfortunately I was bored through most of this book. The characters had little depth and there was very little shared background on each of them. The story had a good backbone to it but there just wasn’t much to the characters except their thoughts.

For example, I kept expecting to dive into Skip’s character more. He was the central force that brought all the characters together. It would have helped to share the same affinity for him as everyone else did. Charlie too. His wise and eccentric character brought color to Hope Harbor and he was entwined with every character as well. Yet, we knew so little about him. What made him the way he was? How long had he known Skip? What memories did he have with Ben? Why the special relationship with sea gulls?

Then there was the two main characters Marcy and Ben. Their romance left much to be desired. It seemed like they barely knew each other and then in a few months time they were getting married. Nicole, the one who brought danger to town was also complete stranger. Aside from a few references from Ben we didn’t know the extent of her jealousy as readers have no insight into her mind or her motives.

I give this book two stars. Normally I finish my books quickly and love them but I had to choose to pick it up and finish. It was hard to engage with underdeveloped characters. As I said before, the story was good but shallow. I expected quite a bit more from such an award-winning author.