ARC Review: Twin Lights #1

Smuggler’s Cover by Fern Michaels

Publication Date: August 26, 2025

Summary from Netgalley:

Growing up, Madison Taylor and her younger brother Lincoln lived in privilege, but their sheltered existence abruptly ended when their father was arrested for fraud and the family assets were seized. Since then, Madison has carved out a new path, studying fashion and working her way up to editor in chief of La Femme magazine, while Lincoln teaches wealth management at a small college outside the city. Both have separated themselves from their family and their past—until an unexpected bequest arrives from their late uncle.

Madison and Lincoln are now the new co-owners of a marina at Smugglers Cove on the Navesink river. Instead of a fabulous, Hamptons-style property, Smugglers Cove offers little beyond a dilapidated dock, a few gas pumps, and a handful of clam boats. Madison’s plan to sell the property goes awry when a dead body is found floating under their dock and transforms their new inheritance into a crime scene.

Suddenly, Madison is swapping her city-girl wardrobe for cargo pants and flannel shirts, while she and Lincoln receive a crash course in small-town Jersey shore life, complete with quirky characters, pirate legends, and a mysterious treasure map. They’re discovering more about themselves and each other every day, but with a mystery to solve, and big decisions to make, these are lessons they’ll need to learn fast . . .

ARC provided by Kensington Publishing via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

This is my first book by Fern Michaels, and I don’t know if this is typical for her work, but I have very mixed feelings about this one. I probably won’t continue this series, but I just might give another of her books a try.

This book felt more like a prequel to a series. There was no mystery but one was set up at the end. I actually had to go and look at the summary for the book after a few chapters, because the first half of the book has nothing to do with a marina and a mystery. It felt more like a biography with an extensive family history for the two main characters, Madison and Lincoln. It just felt like there was a lack of cohesion between the first half of the book and the second.

Once we got to the part where Madison and Lincoln inherit the marina, it got a little bit better. Both characters are now 40 something and very successful in their careers. However they often read like very young twenty somethings. Especially the dialogue and their interactions with the townspeople in Smuggler’s Cove. There is also a developing romance between Madison and the coast guard officer she meets at the marina. It was kind of cute, but not sure that it really worked for me. But I really liked the quirky side characters that they meet in the small town. They added a nice bit of fun to the story.

The plot felt very disjointed, especially the first half in relation to the second half. Once a body is found at the marina, I really thought the story and the mystery or treasure hunt would take off, but it didn’t. There was no murder, and the treasure map is thought to be an interesting artifact that is found in their uncle’s office. So, nothing really happens much in the plot until the end when we are left with a cliffhanger. So all of those things that I was promised in the summary, just never really materialized which was disappointing.

I’m not sure what to think of this book. It was somewhat disappointing as I was looking forward to a treasure hunt and a mystery, which never materialized. But I did like some of the characters and I found the setting quite charming. Not sure I can recommend this one, unless you are a fan of the author.