This instalment in the Jewell Cove series opens during summer, when tourists and locals alike throng the seaside town. In TREASURE ON LILAC LANE Jess Collins runs a shop selling handmade items, and her good friend Abby is shortly going to marry Jess's cousin. For the day, Jess, as bridesmaid will have to spend time with a best man, Rick, who has been unreliable since returning from time in the Marines and who anyway has a best-not-remembered past with Jess when they were kids. She's not looking forward to this, but she'll cope.

Rick Sullivan returned from war with only one hand and working on a chartered whale-watching boat hasn't been easy. He's also lost his mother recently and life just seems unfair. He's teaching himself painting as a coping mechanism. Clearing out his mother's clothes, he accepts help from Jess who suggests donating them to a women's shelter. She doesn't mention that when a past relationship went wrong, she had to spend time in the shelter herself. That ex can't go far enough away to suit her. She's learnt that men can't always be trusted, and on the trip to the shelter the friendly talk is interspersed with childish sniping. Why does Rick always get on the wrong side of her?

The handcraft store is really well realised, and the two main characters each come across as well-rounded individuals, occasionally repeating teen patterns of behaviour but knowing they should be more mature. I liked Jess despite her impatience with the unstable man, because she clearly has a good heart, is loyal to her friends and works hard to run her small business. I was quite amused by Rick's belief that being an artist is unmanly, and he needs to keep it secret from testosterone-fuelled locals although his works, including Christmas baubles, are good enough to sell.

Both Jess and Rick have suffered losses and been knocked back in confidence, so we have to admire their fortitude. The reader is kept guessing about several aspects of the developing relationship as the characters work out their troubles. TREASURE ON LILAC LANE is far from a simple story and author Donna Alward deserves credit for presenting the reality of life for a disabled veteran. Romance readers and those who enjoy general women's fiction will be rewarded with another great read from Jewell Cove.

Book Summary

Sometimes the journey home is its own reward.

Once upon a time, Rick Sullivan had a promising future. One of Jewell Cove's star athletes and reigning heartthrobs, he joined the Marines and had the world in the palm of his hand...until it all came crashing down. His honorable discharge doesn't make him the hometown hero everyone wants him to be, and there's little reprieve from the demons that haunt him at night. Still, even though it seems that all hope is gone, fate has something else in store...

Just hearing Rick's name is enough to give Jess Collins a headache. Years ago, they'd been close. Now she barely knows the man Rick has become since his return from service...then again, Jess isn't that same young, naïve girl anymore either. And while there's a powerful attraction between them--one that yields a greater passion than Jess could have ever imagined--both are wary about opening their hearts to love...and loss.　

But happy endings don't come easily when long-buried secrets insist on rising to the surface. Will their pasts tear them apart--or can love find a way to heal them both?