In this atmospheric novel set along the North Carolina coast, Lane Kramer moves away from her ex-husband and memories of a miscarriage to a quaint inn she decides to run. During the off season and in the middle of a violent storm, a professor stumbles upon Lane's inn asking to stay. What Lane doesn't realize is that Michael has arrived under false pretenses, and the story that unwinds is both a mystery and romance novel. Memories and events of Michael's past unravel as Lane befriends a local woman who spends her days looking out upon the sea. A great read!

Sarah M. / Marathon County Public Library
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The wishing tide is a bittersweet story of facing your past in order to be able to move on with life. The main character Lane has spent the last 5 years of her life isolating herself out in South Caroline running a bed and breakfast. When she found herself divorced and trying to heal from a miscarriage it seemed like starting over was the best option for her. Until the fated night when Michael showed up at her door, determined to rent a room from her for the whole winter off season. This is where the story begins. Lane finds herself each day drawn to a woman that each day comes and sits on the sand staring into the sea. Mary is the town “bag lady” a crazy woman by local standers, more or less ignored by everyone in the community, except Lane. Lane is determined to learn Mary’s story, not knowing that Mary’s story will truly change everything.
This story is a story of love, forgiveness, growth and all that comes with it. I loved how much the characters grew and changed in this story. It was an amazing read, not only the love story or Michael and Lane, but also Mary’s story. I have not read a story I truly loved as much as this in a very long time.
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This is a lovely story set in North Carolina in a fictional island village called Starry Point. Five years previously Lane Kramer left a failed marriage in Chicago and ended up in The Outer Banks, opening a bed and breakfast called The Cloister.

As the story begins, a tropical storm is moving into the area and Lane has just closed the business down for the winter. Nevertheless, when an English professor traveling from Vermont, Michael Forrester, appears at the door, she can hardly turn him away.

Lane finds Michael undeniably handsome, but he seems moody, opinionated, and reclusive. When he asks to stay for the winter though, she accepts; she could use the money, and besides, there have been a rash of break-ins on the island lately; she would feel better with someone else in the house.

Every morning Lane takes a walk out to the lighthouse, and she has started taking along tea and baked goods for a disheveled older woman who also walks out on the dunes every day. The woman gives her name as Mary, and Lane feels drawn to her; at the very least, she worries that the woman has no one else to talk to her. Lane is curious about who Mary is, and what brings her to the dunes every day.

One evening not long after Michael arrived, Lane and her mother have a fight over the phone, and in an effort to get her mother off of her back about her being alone, Lane tells her she does have a boyfriend, and he is living with her. But this only complicates matters: Lane’s mother appears on her doorstep unexpectedly to meet this new boyfriend, and a panicky Lane is saved when Michael picks up the ball and plays the role of the boyfriend. Both of them find they like this play-acting a lot.

Meanwhile, the mayor has announced he is shutting down Hope House, the halfway house where Mary lives, because he suspects the residents of being behind the break-ins. Lane is incensed - the mayor has no evidence, and she vows to help Mary.

Michael, Lane, and Mary have a lot in common: all three have been badly hurt suffering grievous losses, and all have given up fighting for better lives. They are all running from, instead of running toward something. As the lives of these three as well as Lane’s mother intersect, they come to realize the enormity of what is at stake.

Discussion: The author has an excellent skill of evoking loss, and the thought processes that accompany it. At one point, Mary explains:

“We never dream we might lose those we love, because it’s too terrible, too inconceivable. They are simply the furniture of our lives, to be sidestepped, rearranged, and even stumbled over. Then one day they are simply gone, erased, and you’re left with only empty rooms and the echo of what once belonged to you.”

Such passages really make you think about the loved ones in your own life - how much we take their presence for granted. As Jhumpa Lahiri observed: "The best sentences orient us, like stars in the sky, like landmarks on a trail.”

The author also must be commended for the absence of “insta-love” in this book. The relationship between Lane and Michael develops in a dance of one step forward, two steps back, with the outcome of the movements far from a sure thing.

Evaluation: This is a good story, and well told. The characters seem real, and are all quite likable. The Outer Banks is more than just background to the story, and holds its own in the cast. And while the quote I included is about loss, this is an uplifting story. The characters discover that blame takes up a lot of space in the heart; if you can only figure out a way to let it go and forgive, there may once again be enough room for love. ( )

Mary, Lane, and Michael. Three marvelous and completely different characters when put together make the pages of THE WISHING TIDE come alive.

Lane owns a Bed & Breakfast, Mary is homeless, and Michael is the mysterious, unwanted guest who arrives during a storm for what appears to be for more than no other place to stay for the night.

All three characters blend together with things in common that they don't know about, and they fill the pages of THE WISHING TIDE with a splendid, beautifully told story.

There is something about Mary that you can't help liking. Could it be her elusiveness, her purple bag, her ability to read a person, or just her constant presence?

Lane is a character you will feel sorry for even though she seems to have it all.

Michael seemed sinister, and is someone who appeared on the scene more than by chance and with secrets of his own to work out.​

THE WISHING TIDE is an emotional ride about life's lessons, personal secrets, and personal relationships.

The writing was beautiful, detailed, and flowed nicely. The descriptions have you hearing the sea, smelling the sea air, and feeling the sand as well as vividly visualizing the buildings, the quaint town, and every scene.

I enjoyed THE WISHING TIDE simply because it was a cozy, comforting read with outstanding characters, an intriguing storyline, and a magnificent setting.

The entire book and especially the ending wraps you up in a warm, homey cocoon. Don't miss reading THE WISHING TIDE. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review. ( )