Review: A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island by Cara Putman

Join attorney Alanna Stone as she returns home despite her determination to never set foot on Mackinac Island again. Once again in close proximity to Jonathan Covington, her first love, she vows to protect her privacy and her heart from the man who still makes her pulse race. But when her worst fears are realized and history repeats itself—landing her in the midst of a murder investigation—Jonathan may be her only hope. Will they be able to lay aside the past and let God heal their hearts, or will reconciliation come too late?

This is the first contemporary novel I’ve read by Putman. Set on Mackinac Island, the setting becomes a character in itself.

I’ve never been and didn’t know much about the island [other than it exists], but Putman did a wonderful job of making it come alive.

Alanna Stone left Mackinac after a cloud of suspicion follows her brother – and by extension, her – following the drowning death of a classmate. She’s moved on and vowed never to return, but she has to and the first person she runs into, literally, is Jonathan – her high school sweetheart. The “one who got away”.

But he has a new woman and a small child in his life.

The secrets of the past won’t stay buried long. New mysteries arise before the old ones are solved. Alanna and Jonathan are forced to work together to figure it all out and protect herself, her family and her heart. Jonathan finds himself torn between the past, the future he’d imagined for himself as a teen and the future he saw before Alanna reappeared.

Putman kept me guessing whodunit until nearly the last minute. I did suspect, but the motive escaped me until she revealed it. Looking back, I can see the hints strewn throughout but I wasn’t quite smart enough or with it enough to put them all together.

If you like your romance with a dollop of mystery and suspense, this is the book for you.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10

Thanks to Cara and Barbour for a free influencer copy of this book.