The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay by Lori Wilde is the third book in the contemporary romance Moonglow Cove series. The story in The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay is one that is told by alternating the point of view between the two sisters with a third POV occasionally mixed in.

As with a lot of romance series the setting in the Moonglow Cove series is the common theme with the main characters changing from book to book. With new characters in the stories the books in the Moonglow Cove series can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so.

Harper and Flannery grew up being extremely close with one another due to their mother’s unstable upbringing. Despite their closeness however Harper and Flannery haven’t spoken in the last several years since the day they buried their mother having a huge fight at the funeral.

Harper and Flannery have now both made their way to Moonglow Cove when contacted about their grandmother’s estate, a grandmother they never knew. When the will is read Harper and Flannery find that they must stay at the lighthouse for the next several weeks in order to satisfy the terms of the will to get their inheritance which both women desperately need.

Now to be honest I had no idea when I picked up The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay by Lori Wilde that it was a part of the series and never once suspected while reading only finding out when finished. The story about these two sisters pulled me in and didn’t want to let me go and I never found any hint of missing anything prior. I loved the growth of both women and the romance blended well into their stories as they found one another and themselves. The ending felt a tad hurried but otherwise a great read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Two estranged sister must live together in order to inherit the estate from their grandmother. They didn't even know the grandmother existed. Flannery has a disable daughter that is in a wheelchair and Harper has recently lost her job and wants to repair her image. They must work together to uncover the lies told my so many. Then Flannery's husband shows up and begins to stalk her. They also must keep a 150 year old bread starter alive and win in the yearly contest the town has. There is a lot going on but it flows so well. I loved it. Looking forward to the other books in this series.

THE LIGHTHOUSE ON MOONGLOW BAY – Lori Wilde
A Perfect 10
William Morrow
ISBN: 978-0-06-313594-9
March 15, 2022
Contemporary Fiction

Moonglow Bay, Texas – Present Day

Sisters Harper and Flannery Campbell have been estranged for the last six years, but the death of a grandmother whom they didn’t know existed brings them to Moonglow Bay. Will they get a chance to repair their relationship, or will they once again walk away from each other? The will leaves part of their grandmother’s estate to them and requires that they live together for six weeks and keep alive a sourdough starter that is one hundred fifty years old.

Harper is a high-powered marketing executive based in New York City, but while she is traveling to Texas, she learns that she’s been fired because of a tweet under her name that was actually sent by a co-worker she had given access to use her account. Harper doesn’t know what she will do as her reputation is now damaged, but maybe the six weeks in Moonglow Bay will give her a chance to reassess her life and career. Of course, this means getting along with Flannery. Gray Cooper, the executor of the estate, is younger than Harper expected—and he’s attractive. Will he provide a distraction for Harper while she is here?

Flannery just walked out on her husband, leaving with her wheelchair-bound daughter, Willow, and all their belongings. After four years of marriage, she can no longer take Alan’s lies and abuse. She sees Moonlight Bay as a fresh start for her and Willow. Of course, it means meeting Harper again, the sister who berated and blamed her for their mother’s death six years ago. But their mother, Tia, was manipulative, and nothing could have prevented her death. Still timid after being in an abusive marriage, Flannery feels scared of what she finds at the lighthouse and cottage left to them by their grandmother. But she will need to overcome her fears if she wants to become independent.

Their reunion is stilted at first in THE LIGHTHOUSE ON MOONGLOW BAY, but Harper and Flannery do share a common goal of wanting to cooperate with the requirements of the will. This is keeping and feeding the sourdough starter alive, make bakery items from the castoff starter, and enter—and win—the annual baking contest held in Moonglow Bay. If they don’t, then Harper and Flannery get nothing. Their Aunt Johnnie helps them at first as neither sister knows anything about the care and feeding of a sourdough starter. It’s a new, fresh start for the Campbell sisters and they will be living together in the cottage. This allows them the time to talk about the past, including growing up together and the fight that drove them apart. It also helps Flannery to become a stronger person, because readers suspect that Alan will be coming to look for his wife.

Meanwhile, Harper acts upon her attraction to Gray. He’s been very helpful for them while they navigate the terms of the will. It also turns out his mother was Tia’s best friend growing up. Maybe they will learn more about the relationship between their grandmother and Tia, and why Tia told Harper and Flannery their grandmother was already dead. The lighthouse needs to be rehabilitated and there is an onsite caretaker, Hank Charbonneau, a man with a scarred face. Hank is gentle with Flannery and Willow, which soon leads to them trusting Hank.

It's a journey of trial and tribulation for Harper and Flannery in THE LIGHTHOUSE ON MOONGLOW BAY, but readers will sense that they will somehow make it. I found it to be a hard-to-put-down tale and was glad to see an epilogue to learn what the future holds for the sisters and this is why I awarded it A Perfect 10. It won’t be easy, and they will have to fight each other and work together before they can finally win. The romance takes a mostly backseat to the relationship building between Harper and Flannery. Along the way, there will be tears, joys, and finally, happiness. Don’t miss this enjoyable tale.

Patti Fischer

This book is the third in the Moonglow Cove series - I didn't realize going in it was the 3rd, but it's an easily stand alone story. However, the cove is an interesting setting and the townsfolk are all interesting, I'd go back and read the first two as well.

This story has a lot going on -- Harper and Flannery are estranged sisters, haven't had contact in 6 years since their abusive mother died. They're brought together to Texas for the reading of their grandmother's will. There they find out they need to work together to keep the 150 year old sourdough starter alive and enter a baking contest in order to keep their inheritance. And all along the way are a bunch of side issues, Flannery's abusive husband shows up, they find out more about their family and are forced to face the past in order to move forward. There is also romance, off family members, a ghost in the lighthouse and so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

This is the third in Moonglow Bay series but can be read as a standalone. Having not read the first two books in this series, I look forward to reading them. Lots of secrets with a twist towards the end that I didn't see coming. I enjoyed the characters even with their flaws and was happy with the outcome. Loved the message that generational behavior can be overcome and forgiveness is so important. I liked Willow being portrayed with such a brave, cheerful outlook despite her disability. Recommended.

This story had a lot going on. Two sisters who had not had contact for over 6 years find they have to stay at a ighthouse and enter a baking contest. They had grown up in an abusive household and then had their own relationship fall apart. Harper had lost her job due to a coworker writing something awful on her twitter page and Flannery was trying to escape an abusive marriage.. The story had lots of learning lessons, they had to relearn about themselves and try to be better at communicating. The last quarter of the book had lots of surprises and resolve. This family had been through so much, but they came through with flying colors.
I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

In between learning all there is to know, and then some, about sour dough Lori Wilde squeezes in some fabulous sage advice. Well it’s her characters that do the offering, but you know that all this is coming straight from the creative and caring mind of Lori Wilde. Fans of Wilde know this and will be enthralled by her story telling once again while reading THE LIGHTHOUSE ON MOONGLOW BAY.

Case in point. Getting over anxiety, panic and anger. Support cast member Hank tells the analogy of anger and rage. How simple anger can lead to a story and that story grows until it supports the rage. That rage can then lead to a misdeed. So nip the bud in that anger. See sage advice.

Mend your own fences before you start stringing wire on your neighbors. Good advice and one that both Harper and her sister Flannery need to heed. Both escaped to Moonglow from events that changed their future. Harper was let go from her advertising job by innuendo spread by the very woman she had taken under her wing. You could say that Harper was canceled, something we have all learned about recently. Living and working in NY didn’t seem to have any possibility and so when Harper received word to come to the bay for the reading of her grandmothers will, she packed an overnight bag and left the Big Apple behind. Her plan was for a short stay to get a new plan for herself. Definitely didn’t include making sourdough starter.

Flannery was quite literally running from an abusive relationship. She feared for what might be escalating and had to protect her young daughter Willow. The bay would provide needed space. So Flannery packed up all her belongings and Willow and set out for what she hoped to be a place far removed.

With the sourdough, you must feed the mother dough several times a day. Watch it grow, use portions for baking things, and then feed it some more. Kind of like relationships isn’t it. The genius of Lori Wilde who has you believing the goal is to make the starter when it really is watching this family grow into a healthy one.

The Campbell girls came from Scottish roots. As they say not the most levelheaded but brave. What they lacked in self-confidence they made up for it in intelligence and heart. That’s what the sisters had to discover for themselves. They had to learn how to live with their flaws and move past them to gain that life they wanted and needed. They both needed family, security and acceptance. In the bay they found all three. So now it was up to them to figure out a way to meet the requirements of their grandmothers will. That would be a huge step towards forging ahead with newfound friendships and family long thought lost.

THE LIGHTHOUSE ON MOONGLOW BAY is a graciously written novel about all sorts of relationships. It speaks of the normal ups and downs and addresses the role the past plays in our future. Learning how to build good relationships is a lot like creating bread from the sourdough starter. It takes work, and in the end, you just might end up with something quite delectable. THE LIGHTHOUSE ON MOONGLOW BAY stars a brilliant cast of characters deftly created by Lori Wilde.

The resilience and love of a family that has endured more than their share of trauma is captured in The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay by Lori Wilde.

i had a chance to read this story, it was wonderful i loved the characters. :) I have read other books by this author and really enjoyed them.

An emotional family relationships journey. A little romance. Several tense moments. Love lighthouses, hate elevators, so that struck home. Just when I thought I knew where things going I was surprised. Loved it. More interesting resolutions than anticipated.

Wonderful family drama. Eccentricity runs through this family as do secrets. Two estranged sisters are brought together by a death in the family and they are bequeathed a lighthouse along with living quarters but the must keep the family sourdough starter alive and healthy using it to enter the local bread makers contest.
This isn't a light and easy story.
It's dark and difficult but I really enjoyed it all. Complex and loving.

The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay was a book that kept me reading but really did not pull me into the story.
First let me say I really liked the names the author used for the sisters- Flannery and Harper. I appreciate an author who does not use the common names so many books have in them. Willow as Flannery’s daughters name was a nice selection also.
The sisters had not been together for many years and when they were reunited for the reading of the grandmothers will they were surprised and yet intrigued by what their Grandmother had left them in her will.
The enjoyed reading this book and the process of the sisters reuniting.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House publishing. This is my personal review.

"The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay" by Lori Wilde
William Morrow
March 15, 2022
10-0063135949


"a riveting tale of suspenseful mystery, with a dash of romance, tossed together with a strong desire to create a loving family where there has never been one."

Harper Campbell loves her job in advertising and marketing in New York City. An A-type personality, she worked her way up the ladder, proving to be a real asset to the company. Her work keeps her hopping, giving her barely any time for a social life. It also occupies her mind, keeping her from thinking about her estranged sister, Flannery, whom she hasn't been in contact with for years.

Always wanting to help, Harper hires an assistant named Kalinda, who is down on her luck. Giving her access to her computer, Harper finds the girl posts disparaging comments about a client on Twitter under Harper's account. Though Harper did not post this tweet, she is blamed. Harper is fired immediately, despite all the time and effort she put into her employment. And, there is no contesting the dismissal.

Believing the world is crashing around her, Harper wonders what is in store for her future. She receives a call from a Mr. Grayson Cooper, informing her of her grandmother's death—a grandmother she never knew existed. He tells her Harper and Flannery are recipients of a valuable inheritance, insisting she come to her grandmother's cottage and lighthouse in Moonglow Bay, Texas.

Confounded by this new information, Harper realizes nothing is keeping her in the city, so she throws things together and flies to Texas, anxious about reconnecting with Flannery. The sisters fought at their mother's funeral six years prior, blaming each other for her death. They hurled nasty comments back and forth with the incredibly hateful one: "I never want to see you again!"

Flannery, the youngest, always looked up to Harper. Raised in a dysfunctional home by an abusive mother who had many husbands, they were very close. Harper mourns the loss of Flannery, and that's what made her career was so vital, for it took her mind off her pain.

Flannery is overwhelmed upon hearing of an inheritance and feels this is her chance to leave Alan, her abusive husband. She is also nervous upon seeing Harper. Harper learns nothing about Flannery through the long separation—especially her marriage or her precious five-year-old daughter named Willow, wheelchair-bound with spina bifida.

The two lock eyes upon meeting, both suffering pangs of regret as well as unease. Welcoming them is an older woman introduced as their aunt Jonnie—another unknown relative. Jonnie is toting a ceramic crock, and all Harper can wonder is if it's their grandmother's ashes.

Grayson reads the will: "'To my granddaughters, Harper Lee and Flannery O'Connor, I leave the Campbell family one-hundred-fifty-year-old mother dough,' Grayson read.

"Sourdough? Their inheritance was a sourdough starter? If it hadn't been so ludicrous, Flannery would have burst out laughing.

"Here, she thought this insane inheritance was going to be her salvation. Her key out of her crappy marriage. Instead, she inherited sourdough. She didn't even know how to bake. What was she going to do with sourdough? She had to share it with her sister."

When Harper pipes up with the question is this is all they inherited, he reads: "'As far as the keeper's cottage and the lighthouse go, my granddaughters will inherit only if they complete a series of challenges in the allotted time frame. Otherwise, the property passes to the Moonglow Cove Historical Society.'"

A codicil states the dough—referred to as "the mother dough"—must be kept alive at all costs and preserved the same way it was 150 years ago when their ancestor began the starter after the lighthouse was built. The sisters must enter the annual Fourth of July Bake-Off, competing against each other. There are more stipulations, but they must complete this challenge in six weeks. If any rules are violated, their legacy is forfeited. If they achieve the goal, whoever scores the highest inherits everything.

Both Harper and Flannery need to win, for they have nowhere else to go. Harper is unemployed, and her name is now blacklisted in the industry, so she doubts she can find gainful employment. Though Flannery lacks money or skills and needs to care for Willow, she refuses to return to Alan.

Now, six years later, the siblings are thrown together. Will they mend their relationship? After all, they are all they have, except Aunt Jonnie, who is a stranger to them. Though their baking abilities leave a lot to be desired, they are determined to make this work.

Both Harper and Flannery offer their particular point-of-view in separate chapters. Not only are they dealing with estrangement when family secrets are divulged, but they are also shocked and angry. Can they carry on after skeletons in the closet are revealed and remain at the Bay? Will they ever be close again?

The main focus of this novel is a riveting tale of suspenseful mystery, with a dash of romance, tossed together with a strong desire to create a loving family where there has never been one.

Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay by Lori Wilde is the third book in her popular Moonglow Bay series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone book. This book is an emotional look at a couple of estranged sisters who reunite for the reading of their Grandmother’s will. It involves an old lighthouse, a creaky elevator, and a 150-year-old sourdough starter.

Harper trusted the wrong woman and her high-powered advertising job in New York City is gone, and her prospects for a new job are slim to none. She needs time to escape the embarrassment until her reputation can be salvaged. But first, she’s is called to Moonlight Bay to hear the reading of her recently departed grandmother's will. A grandmother she never knew.

Flannery arrives at the lighthouse for the reading of the will, with all her belongings in the back of her van and her five-year-old daughter, Willow. She left her husband and hopes that the inheritance can give her a chance to start a new life with Willow. She is hoping to re-connect with her sister, Harper, who she hasn’t seen in six years after a falling out at their mother’s funeral.

The Lighthouse at Moonlight Bay is so much more than a story about a couple of sisters reuniting. It’s about abuse, parental abuse, spousal abuse, generational abuse, and trauma. And yet the book is also hopeful and inspirational. There is a mystery and a past that must be unraveled. Each sister bears the scars of an abusive upbringing that manifest in completely different ways for each of the sisters. I thought I was getting a lighter read and was pleasantly surprised that this book is so much more.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves women’s fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced, heartwarming, and it kept me in suspense. The ending was really good, I enjoyed how everything worked out for the two sisters. I am grateful I received this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Two estranged sisters have to work together to receive an inheritance. They have been estranged for years and have a lot of misunderstandings to work thru. This is a story about a family and their patterns of disfunction over the generations. Two sisters have to break the pattern to reconnect and live a happy life. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

A quick read about two sisters who must come together to fulfill the demands of their grandmother's will to receive their inheritance. Kept me reading but I thought that the book was very predictable. I will not be recommending it.

loved this book, two sisters who do not get along inherit a lighthouse from their grandmother and she leaves instructions on things for them to do together. really good story.

Awesome book. I stayed up all night to finish it. Just when you have it figured out a new twist, keeping you on egde , wanting more. This book has it all, family, lies, grief, abuse, forgiveness, disabilities, love.
My first by Lori Wilde but definitely not my last. Highly recommend.

The Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay by Lori Wilde Interest premise regarding generational abuse and trauma. Flannery and Harper's abusive childhood colored their life decisions and relationships. A quarrel at their mother's funeral resulted in a huge misunderstanding, separation and lack of communication between the two sisters. An inheritance from their grandmother brought them together at Moonglow Bay. Working together to fulfill the terms of the will brought Flannery and Harper closer again. Flannery's daughter, Willow is an adorable, sweet and brave little girl. A 150 year old sourdough starter, it's care and feeding and use was a large part of the terms in the will. The different terms relating to sourdough at the beginning of the chapters did not always fit into the narrative of the chapter and were a bit distracting. An interesting story, a satisfying if unexpected ending.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.