Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – The Seas of Time, Book 4 in the Harbor Pointe Series by D. Wallace Peach

Published on by dgkaye

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Diana Peach’s engrossing story – The Seas of Time. This is Book 4 in the Harbor Pointe series, a collaboration of 8 books written by different authors, all taking place at Harbor Pointe. As always, Diana never disappoints as she takes us on a two time-line journey through the decades from a stow away slave on a ship to California.

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Blurb:

The Harbor Pointe Inn has loomed on California’s cliffs for generations of Hawthornes. For some, it’s been a blessing. For others, a curse. Travel through two centuries of stories to discover the old inn’s secrets.

In 1858, a ship carrying ice from Alaska wrecked off the coast of California, and little does Taliah Keldan realize how that tragedy will impact her life in 1972.

When Tali decides to quit college and become a civil rights activist, her disappointed parents encourage her to think it over. What better spot for contemplation than at her aunt and uncle’s Harbor Pointe Inn, a charming seaside getaway with its own lighthouse? The place is under renovation and empty of guests. All she’ll have to deal with is the construction crew.

But the inn is far from peaceful.

Tali discovers an old Bible hidden in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage. Strange prayers angle down the margins, all but one ruined by the sea. When she deciphers the crude writing, a dark portal gapes open to a pre-civil war night when an escaped slave in a foundering ship prayed to his voodoo God. A winged creature emerges from the watery void, and her stay transforms into a nightmare.

With the aid of the construction foreman, Tali is determined to send the beast back through time, a choice that will risk their lives, test her convictions, and change her future.

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My 5 Star Review:

A two-timeline story that begins in 1858 with Samuel, an escaped black slave stowed away on a foundering ship and his voodoo prayer to Damballah, the ancient sea god, recited from his bible in his cries for freedom. That same bible is found in 1972 by Tali, a college student fighting for civil rights, while visiting her aunt’s Inn in Harbor Pointe for a college timeout. After Tali finds the bible in the lighthouse and recites the barely almost legible only prayer that hasn’t been washed away by sea water, all hell breaks loose.

Peach is known for her wonderfully woven fantasy stories, and this story is an exciting twist of both, the real world, racism, mixed with paranormal fantasy as Talia makes a dangerous mistake by reading out the prayer passage from that bible, and unlocks a portal, unleashing a gargoyle. While the Inn is under construction, the only others around are the work crew and Greg the foreman who becomes ensnared in this fantastical story as he enters the cottage where Talia is struggling to deal with the almost compassionate beast that is now taking over the cottage. The struggle is to try and send gargoyle, Zam, back to whence he came. And eventually, as Tali and Greg struggle to tame the beast, on a wild journey they find themselves back in 1858 where they piece together the origins of what transpired back then.

Peach is a masterful writer of fantasy whose stories never fail to draw us in with her page-turning evocative stories and prose. I am looking forward to reading all the books in this stand alone series.

©DGKaye2024

134 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – The Seas of Time, Book 4 in the Harbor Pointe Series by D. Wallace Peach”

  11. What a lovely surprise to wake up to, Debby! I’m so glad you enjoyed Tali and Zam’s story. It was a fun (and meaningful) one for me to write as part of the Harbor Pointe project. I hope that in addition to the adventure, you enjoyed some humor too. Thanks for the wonderful review, my friend, and have a great Sunday and week ahead. Hugs. ❤

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    1. Hi Diana. Thanks so much for visiting, and so glad you liked my review. Oh yes, I might have forgot to mention to the humorous moments as I was wrapped up in what was going to happen to Zam. Brilliant. ❤

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  16. Hi Debs, Gracias for the promising review of Diana’s latest book. I have read many samples of her beautiful prose, but normally don ‘t read fantasy, but bet I’ll succumb one of these days…Look after your dear self! Love Joy xx

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    2. Thanks for the kind comment, Joy. If you ever want to try a bit of fantasy, this one is short! And there’s a bit of humor to lighten up all the adventure. Thanks for checking out Debby’s wonderful review. Hugs.

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  21. I’m sure Diana is pleased at your stellar review, Debby. I can tell this book has a strong sense of place. And with a main character with the unique name of Taliah Keldan, I imagine there is some mystery involved too.

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  22. I’m sure that Diana is pleased with this stellar review, Debby. I can tell this book has a strong sense of place. And with a main character named Taliah Keldan, intriguing too!

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    2. Ha! What a fun comment, Pete, about creating “interesting non-human characters.” They’re fun to come up with because there aren’t many barriers. No one’s going to question whether gargoyles really act that way, right? Thanks for stopping by Debby’s and for the wonderful comment.

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    2. Thank you, Jan, for the lovely supportive comment. I was tickled by Debby’s review and know she’ll enjoy the rest of the series. We’ve gotten such a kind reception from this wonderful community. Hugs.

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  26. To explain: Just before my reply here, I ran a virus-blasting program called Onyx. It does more than that, but one thing Onyx does after it runs maintenance is eliminate all of my history, which makes me sign-in to all blogs again. Apparently, that’s the reason for the double entry here. I’m glad you got rid of the anonymous one. 😀

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    1. Thanks for explaining Marian. That’s interesting to know as I’ve seen a few regular followers come up as ‘someone’. That must have been a drag signing in again for each blog. Oye! 🙂

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      1. Signing in again is not too much of a drag because some details are “autofill” and I consider the tuneup a small price to pay for the (wee bit of) inconvenience.

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      2. Well, I’ve certainly learned after 2 grueling months of glitches galore with WP to COPY my comments before I hit send, because they often disappear. 🙂

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    2. Thanks for stopping by Debby’s, Deborah. 🙂 The review was a wonderful surprise and made my day. I’m tickled to know that the book will come up for you at some point. It’s relatively short and a little different than my usual medieval-ish fare. I hope you enjoy it. Hugs.

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    1. Thanks bunches Sue. I hope you’ll get a chance one day to read something by Diana. And I know well what you mean not enough reading time. My reading time has been short for awhile. I surely hope to rectify that on my winter break! Your brushes have been very busy as the pen has been busy on this side of the pond. LOL. Sending you back more love and hugs across our Atlantic! ❤ xox ❤

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      2. Lol Diana, it’s frosty, but after that ugly storm we had a week ago, there’s barely any snow on the ground. I suppose it’s waiting for me to go away so it can storm on the day I fly out, as is the usual norm, lol. I’m blog breaking in two weeks and leaving mid Feb. It’s already hotter there than usual. Can’t wait. And with my new camera tricks who knows what I’ll come up with. 🙂

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    2. Thanks so much for the comment and I’m delighted that you enjoyed the book!!!! As Debby mentioned, WP has decided that your comment is anonymous (sigh), but so appreciated! Have a wonderful day.

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    1. Hi Janet. That’s a great question – who came up with this great idea? I’m sure Diana will pass by here again and let us know. But if you love lighthouses, I think you would enjoy this stand alone series. 🙂

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    2. Great question, Janet. I’m too old to remember what happened last year (lol) but it did start with someone from the Story Empire gang tossing out the idea of a group project. The idea of a lighthouse came up and nobody objected. Then the real discussions began about genres, time period, and location. We decided to go with maximum flexibility, but a lot of shared elements had to be worked out too, like the owners’ genealogy and what the inn, and lighthouse looked like through time. There were definitely some “herding cats” moments, but we’re a friendly group and we persisted! Thanks so much for asking. Have a beautiful day.

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      2. I’ll be writing a Story Empire post about what we did and what we learned (in March). Parts of the process were effortless and there are certainly things we’d do differently. 🙂

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    2. Thanks for taking the time to read Debby’s review, Lisa. The first book was wonderful, wasn’t it? Mae’s a fabulous writer and I loved her characters. If you give this one a try, I hope you enjoy it. 😀

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