North to Home

by Crissi McDonald

Overview

After her divorce, Nolee Burnett leaves the dusty plains of West Texas for an island cabin nestled in spruce trees in the Pacific Northwest, determined to craft a new life for herself. Next door is her mysterious neighbor Keet Noland, who owns and is the Captain of a sailboat charter company. Weary of his own unhappiness, Keet plans to leave the island, and the life he's built there, behind.

Rumors surrounding Keet intrigue Nolee; he swims in the cold Salish Sea at night and seems as comfortable in the water as the large male orca Nolee spots swimming in the bay outside her cabin. Keet has an unusual affinity with the local killer whales, and Nolee is drawn into his world, even as she rebuilds her own.

As Keet and Nolee get to know one another, they embark on an odyssey of discovery, leading them to experiences neither could have imagined. This is a story about choosing to love despite differences, and the liberation that happens when we tell ourselves the truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781736967386
Publisher:	Elk Tooth Books
Publication date:	05/13/2022
Series:	North to Home , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	520
File size:	539 KB

Editorial Reviews

2022-09-22
A woman starts her life over and meets an unusual man in this contemporary romance.

Dog trainer Nolee Burnett is headed to Puget Sound from Texas after the end of her marriage. She lands on Camas Island. She has a quiet, mysterious neighbor who introduces himself as Keet Noland when they finally meet. Keet runs a tour boat company and invites Nolee to go boating with him. As Nolee adjusts to her new life in the Pacific Northwest, she and Keet get to know each other. They kayak to a pod of orcas several times and explore the area, which McDonald describes in glorious detail (“The forest is cool against their skin, the undergrowth still lush”). Nolee, who tends to notice animals first and humans second, also fills her time volunteering at an animal shelter and working part time at a pet store. Keet doesn’t bother with pop culture and lives a quiet life, which makes Nolee’s time with him feel a bit like they’re in a bubble together. Keet has a pretty big secret, though, one that puts his life in danger when fishermen discover the pod of orcas. The novel focuses on Nolee—who tries to discover who she is now that her marriage is in her past—as McDonald immerses readers in the Pacific Northwest and languid, precise descriptions of the orcas: “The orca rotates, gliding upside down underneath the surface, his white belly seen only by the gulls that fly above, keeping their shiny black eyes open in case he feeds and leaves fish scraps floating on the surface.” It’s a sweet story, but there isn’t much conflict between Nolee and Keet for most of the first half of the novel, so the pages turn slowly. The pace picks up in the novel’s last third when Keet reveals his secret—a shocking and not necessarily welcome surprise. The ending feels rushed.

Rich scenery buoys this slow, unusual tale.

Kirkus Reviews