Review: Stunning debut
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2014
I had the good fortune of meeting Penelope Louleas earlier in the year at a signing, and I have been waiting for Harbour ever since. With the level of my anticipation for Harbour, my expectations were high and Louleas didn't disappoint.I identified with Harlow on so many levels, always the chubby girl I understood her need for comfort, for staying in a relationship that wasn't good purely for the comfort it provided, for the safety she felt in it, but what I admired about Harlow is that when things got rough and when she stood at a crossoads - she made the right choice, she chose the life she should be living not the one she had always believed she deserved. Harlow was strong and when push came to shove she finally put herself first.A whirlwind trip to the US and the beginning of a new life Harlow is carving out for herself and we meet Lincoln, sexy, charismatic and hiding past regrets and secrets, he is finally living for himself and trying to become the man he wants to be. A man who see's beauty in Harlow, he see's her kind spirit, her quiet strength and knows that his life is forever changed just by knowing her.There is so much beauty in this story, there is pain and heartbreak, there is jaw dropping panty wetting sexiness but more than that for me Harlow Manning is the stories hero, her growth from the girl who accepted what she got in a relationship because she felt she couldn't do any better, to the woman she became, she proved for me that while having a man tell you you're beautiful shouldn't change how you see the world, it can be the push you need to look deeper at yourself, at those things you think are flaws, to realise they are the same things others see as beautiful, the things they love inspite of your self doubt.Harbour left me wanting for more of not only Lincoln and Harlow's story, but for all the secondary characters, I want, no I need to see how their lives, their stories play out. Congratulations Penelope Louleas on a stunning debut, I can't wait to see what you do next.