Lily's review posted on Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews 
 3 STARS 
 Review copy provided for a honest review 
 The story starts off in a somber tone with Annie Hewitt down on her luck and making her way to her mother's cottage on this remote island near Maine to find the legacy her mother alluded to right before she died. Annie is hoping that this legacy will help her finances get back on track. 
 She grew up on the island, but it's not the place she wants to be. She dreads seeing Theo Harp, who is an angry, reclusive writer who lives in his family's gothic-style mansion. She hates him for all the things he did to her years ago. 
 Through a series of events, the author builds a suspenseful story which lightens up halfway through the book. This coincides with Annie learning a bit more about Theo and the man his is today. And throughout the book, there's an abundance of entertaining internal dialogue between Annie and her puppets. That was a bit confusing at the beginning of the story but once I got past that, I was able to follow Annie's story. 
 While I enjoyed the story up to a point, I found the various storylines running through the book distracting. Was this a romantic suspense novel or a light-hearted romantic comedy? While I'm not one to expect a book to clearly define itself, I felt a bit thrown off at times and wasn't sure if I was supposed to be more afraid of what was going to happen next or laugh out loud at some of the puppets' comments. What held the story together was that Annie stayed true to herself and I do enjoy strong heroines who can get overcome the circumstances around them. Theo was equally entertaining as the misunderstood hero.