After his mothers funeral, Marcus Beckett had left Sanctuary Island with the intention of never returning. But now, after living the dangerous job he’d had as a bodyguard for some high value politicians, he was ready to return and enjoy a solitary life as the proprietor of a small neighborhood bar in his hometown.

Unfortunately, Marcus had made a huge mistake. He had seduced and then dumped the town’s sweetheart, Quinn Harper. Marcus actually thought he was doing Quinn a kindness – a great gal like Quinn had no business with a broken man like him! Consequently, his business was taking a hit by the customers who thought his treatment of Quinn was not nice and they were now boycotting his bar.

Quinn was worried sick over her parents as her mother seemed enthralled with her latest marriage counselor who seemed more like he was counseling for a divorce than a reconciliation between her parents. As such Quinn came up with a fake four-week courtship where by she would convince Marcus to play along and pretend they were seriously dating, letting he r parents know that all was well in her life and letting the townspeople know it was all right to come and frequent Marcus’ bar again.

*** In this stand-alone story HOME AT LAST by Lily Everett, we are once again visiting the charming area of Sanctuary Island and some of the marvelous characters that you’ve met in previous books from this SANCTUARY ISLAND series. Marcus and Quinn had began a relationship in the previous book of this series which had ended in a humiliating breakup for Quinn. Wanting desperately to save her parents marriage, Quinn begged Marcus to go along with her scheme and even though Marcus was reluctant he couldn’t deny that he really did want Quinn as much as she wanted him.

The pacing was done very well and this was an easy read. The growth Marcus maintained after he finally opened up about his past and came to terms with his aversion of his father made it easier to be honest with Quinn. Loved the storyline regarding the conman marriage counselor and loved seeing him get his comeuppance. Bottom line: A really fun and heartwarming story that is perfectly enjoyable.

Marilyn Rondeau

I felt like I missed most of the story of their relationship because I hadn't read the previous book. I actually didn't know that it was part of a series. I still enjoyed the story of the fake romance turning into a real one. There were some parts I just didn't understand, like why nobody stood up to the guru, but whatever.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Home at Last is book six in Lily Everett's Sanctuary Island series, after the build up from the previous book I was a little disappointed in the overall story. Quinn and Marcus were amusing with their old married couple bickering but in this book you really don't see much of that in this book. The romance between them seemed very easy, I thought the main focus of the book was more on Quinn's parents their problem and her dealing with them. Marcus also dealing with his past and the baggage he carries.

Quinn and Marcus had a steamy relationship until Marcus' and all his guilt and drama got the better of him and he ended things with Quinn. A little later Quinn's parents come back to town after traveling and staying at home with them would drive her crazy, so she kind of pushes Marcus into letting her stay in the other apartment above Buttercup Inn. Quinn's parents are on the verge of divorce and according to Quinn it's not possible, there have never been two people more in love than her parents. On their travels her parents met a relationship guru who has them doubting their marriage and telling them they need to sell their house. Quinn thinks that if she is in a steady relationship then her parents can stop worrying about her and they won't sell their house. Quinn makes deal with Marcus and he agrees. To make matters worse Quinn's mom invited the guru to stay with them and his schemes have all five of them staying at Quinn's childhood home, which is right next door to Marcus' childhood home; a home he has not returned to since the death of his mother. Quinn and Marcus know there's something fishy going on with the guru and Marcus and Quinn dig into his background to discover the truth. Quinn and Marcus' relationship shifts from fake to real but can it survive the insecurity they both feel when it comes to committing.

Overall, I liked the characters and how they dealt with their problems how everything was resolved but the story all in all just didn't do it for me.

With an intriguing premise, this romance novel showed that taking a chance on love can be scary but well worth the risk. It takes a huge gamble for Quinn --toying with the man who'd dumped her to try and save her parent's marriage. That's the kind of woman she is, though, and maybe this will show Marcus that he can open himself to love again, and he might just deserve it.

Quinn Harper had been in love with her neighbour Marcus Beckett since she was small. He hasn't been back to Sanctuary Island since the day he'd graduated and found out that worst betrayal--his mother was dying from cancer and they kept it from him until it was too late for him to say goodbye. That was the last time she'd seen and spoken to him for fourteen years. The town gossip said he'd been in the secret service after he'd left the military.

He'd returned, he'd taken up with Quinn, and then he'd broken her heart by dumping her, thereby causing the town to turn against for hurting their sweetheart. His new bar, Buttercup, was being boycotted. It was dismal the way karma kept kicking his butt.

Quinn has a plan. In order to get her quarreling parents to work on their marriage without their interfering therapist Ron, she's got to get them out of her business and concentrating on theirs. It involves a fake boyfriend for Quinn and hopefully some butts in seats for Marcus's bar.

Sweet and sexy, this romance comes with a truly sweet HEA. Read it!

I really enjoyed this story. Quinn and Marcus have both dealt with life differently, but now they are both back home and things are changing. There were plenty of laughs in this one, but also a lot of poignant moments. We not only follow the main characters, but some of their families as well.

I was really hoping I would enjoy this book more than the previous one in the series. Quinn and Marcus were introduced in that book and I was actually more interested in them than the main characters. I was not disappointed. Home at Last delivered and was everything I hoped it would be.

Quinn and Marcus had an interesting relationship and I liked getting the backstory of Marcus leaving Sanctuary Island. For me, this really added to the story and made me feel like I knew the characters and had a better understanding of them. Quinn's character is light and airy as opposed to Marcus being so uptight and serious. The two characters balanced each other well. I really enjoyed Quinn's parents and smiled at their hippy-ish ways. Reading their storyline made it easier to understand Quinn and her personality.

I really enjoyed the storylines of this book. Not only does the reader get to explore the relationship between Quinn and Marcus but there is also a storyline about Quinn's parents that ties in perfectly to the story. There were a few twists and turns when it came to Marcus and his father and this made the story really interesting.

The pace of the book was great and I liked how the characters grew throughout the book. They all have flaws to some degree but they were willing to take the time to explore them and learn from them. Nothing in the book felt rushed or out of place. I found the story and characters to be well developed and the telling of the story was fantastic.

This book was steamier than the previous book in the series. The "steamy scenes" were tastefully written though and not an issue for me. There were some words that may be offensive to some readers but for me it was all a non-issue.

I would recommend this book to others. It is a quick and easy read.

I was provided a free copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book! It was super angsty but Quinn and Marcus were really hot together. This is a great series and I highly recommend it!

I briefly got to know Marcus and Quinn in Close to Home. I really liked them and could not wait to read their story. After finishing this book, their story is even better than I hoped. I recently finished another book where the male lead had a nickname for the female lead. Marcus has one for Quinn as well. It is "Turbo". Knowing the meaning behind it makes it all that more enduring. Despite a 10 year age difference, it was not felt as Quinn and Marcus interacted with each other. In fact, I think it actually helped their relationship as Quinn was so much wiser beyond her young age. There was so many emotions captured in their relationship. Which I connected with them both as people and as a couple. Plus, their story showed that there is more to love than just sex. While, this book was focused mainly on Quinn and Marcus; the other characters did not just sit by and play second string. Additionally, they had strong presence in this story as well and I enjoyed every one of them. I felt like I had come home with this book. Home at Last is a heart-warming read!

We first met Marcus and Quinn in the previous book, Close to Home, and the two finally got together after years of Quinn following Marcus about in a sort of hero worship daze for years. Now they get their story, and I had great hopes for something wonderful.

Marcus is a hometown boy who left after his mother’s death and made a career as a bodyguard. He’s decided he doesn’t want that stress, so he’s back home to run a bar and avoid Quinn at all costs. From finding her a pesky little girl, to letting his guard down and acting on the attraction he now feels, he knows that he isn’t the one for Quinn, no matter how much he may want to be. Even if she does accept him unconditionally, and life always looks brighter with her around.

For her part, Quinn is the ‘girl from town’ a bit flighty, not known for her ability to stick with things, but she is the town’s Little Girl. EVERYONE watches out for her – and when she is totally serious about Marcus and making him see her as all grown up and worth taking a chance on, she doesn’t seem to be able to get anyone to believe her.

When you add in her parents’ marriage difficulties, and the potential of a ‘fake engagement’ playing in to help Quinn get what she wants (Marcus) it seems as if things are ready to roll forward. And this is where I had problems: Marcus very much showed us that he has lots of issues that he hasn’t come face to face with, yet totally out of character he agrees. And Quinn – well, from the ridiculous “marriage counselor’ that her parents were consulting (think a cross between a lounge lizard and the worst Yahoo answers advice ever) the whole opportunity for the ‘tension’ was lost in caricature. I was disappointed as there was such a wonderful introduction for these two in the earlier book, and the full story fell short.

It’s sad, for Everett’s writing is always wonderful, and the characters are well-built, if completely opposite from expectations, and this does fit into the Sanctuary Island series trajectory, I just wanted more.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility

Home at Last by Lily Everett took me back to Sanctuary Island and all that it is, but it was not as easy to fall into this story as it was the others about Sanctuary Island. Many of the situations and actions of the main and secondary characters were not really believable which made it difficult for me to feel the pull into this book as I did the others in this series. Having said that, the feelings and emotions that the characters were experiencing felt real and as Lily Everett wrote them, I could feel along with the characters.

Quinn is very open, easy to get to know, and seemed very young! Marcus is a mystery man for the most part, and I liked finding out his story over the length of the book. It is a very heart felt, touching, heart breaking story that really made me feel for him! They seem like an unlikely couple, and despite the odd happenings they find themselves in, I hoped somehow they could find a HEA.

In Home at Last, I liked the feeling of finding love, but at the same time facing the struggles of relationships. All kinds of relationships from family, community, to a couple made up Home at Last, and they all linked together well.

As I read Home at Last it did grow on me and I did feel a range of emotions, but it's not my favorite of this series. Home at Last can be read as a stand alone in this contemporary romance series.

I was so ready for this story after reading Close to Home because I really wanted to find out Marcus’s secrets :) And while we do find out a lot, he’s definitely a complicated guy. He's carrying around a lot of weight from his time in the military and as a secret service agent … and even more so from his youth. Lucky for him, Quinn isn’t going to keep to herself. Instead she pokes and prods and makes sure that he looks into some of those areas that he doesn’t want to face. And pushes him to go home again, make things right to give himself a little peace.

Quinn may be young and come across as flighty but she’s got a good heart and good instincts. Both of which she’ll need not only with Marcus but with her parents. It’s a silly idea – pretending to be a couple – that only shows up in romances but that doesn’t stop it from working here. Time spent together forces them to look at themselves and each other a little more closely. And gives Quinn that chance to influence Marcus a little more.

We also get Quinn’s parents rocky marriage here. It’s a nice juxtaposition of an long-standing couple who have hit a rough patch and a potential new love story that’s dealing with a rocky start. Both are full of heart and troubles but with a good amount of hard work and communication they have a good chance of figuring things out.

With her Sanctuary Island series Everett has brought readers well-crafted and wonderfully emotional love stories. Full of small town charm, quirky characters and all the heart you could want, they are the perfect stories for kicking back and just letting it all unfold.

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Quinn Harper is in love with Marcus Beckett, she has been in love with him since she was a little girl chasing him around Sanctuary Island. To her their ten year age difference is not a problem. He left after his mother’s funeral after he finished college and that day she found out that he was enlisting. Now ten years later he is back and he did start things up with Quinn only to end them just as quickly, which has not made him a likeable person on the island. Especially now that he has opened a bar and only two people come in. Quinn finds out that her parents are wanting to sell the family home, and also it looks like her mom and dad may be separating this all because of some new guru that her mother has decided to follow. Quinn’s plan is for her and Marcus to start dating again and by doing so will keep her parents around town longer so they won’t sell the house while she figures out how to fix everything. At the same time it will help his business because he won’t be on the outs with the town people for dumping her. Sounds good and he agrees. What happens next is Marcus finding out that he needs to talk about his past and one of those people is Quinn and the more he shares the more she falls for him and he for her. There are more layers to this story and her parents and for Marcus as well. This turns out to be a very good book, with good characters.

I've really enjoyed each book in the Sanctuary Island series, and Home at Last was no different. I found myself drawn to Quinn and Marcus when we met them in Close to Home and was so happy to see we would get their story in Home at Last.

I absolutely adored Quinn from the moment we met her. Yes she is still finding herself initially, but once she sees Marcus again and starts working with the horses at the rehab facility, I knew she had found her place. I felt like Quinn was just looking for her place to fit in on Sanctuary Island. Yes everyone loved her as she was like the golden girl on the island, yet she has always struggled to fit in. Thanks to Marcus, she finally found a job she loved and even if he wasn't willing to accept it yet, a man to love.

Marcus was such a tough character to really understand. He was completely stand-offish with anyone but Quinn. He had been home for months, yet still hadn't bothered to go visit his own father, who lived next to Quinn's parents. I really felt like the only person he even opened up a little bit with was Quinn and even then it was almost like pulling teeth to get him to tell her much about his life. They had an amazing connection though and I loved that when Quinn really needed him, he jumped in to help her out without question.

Quinn and Marcus had really great chemistry. They started their relationship backwards by jumping into bed before they really knew one another. I loved they really had to start back dating while they were pretending to be engaged. I loved watching them actually learn about each other and seeing them fall in love the more time they spend together. Their chemistry actually grew stronger the more time they spent together.

I liked that Marcus was there to help Quinn and her parents when their relationship seemed to be on the rocks. It bothered me a bit that he wasn't open to talking to Quinn about his relationship with his father. In fact his lack of willingness to share was a pretty big issue for me. I worried there was no way Quinn and Marcus could have a real relationship if they couldn't learn to be honest with one another. I did think both Quinn and Marcus grew closer as the book progressed and though it took some time, I thought they both became more open with one another.

Home at Last was a great addition to the Sanctuary Island series. I love going back and visiting with all my favorite characters from a series, and the Sanctuary Island series remains one of my favorites. Lily Everett remains an auto-buy author for me as she always delivers a beautiful and emotional story that pulls me in from the very first page.

Rating: 4 Stars (B+)

3.5 stars

Home at Last by Lily Everett was a heartwarming and entertaining read.

I enjoyed watching Marcus and Quinn's relationship unfold. They made me laugh, they frustrated me a little and they made my heart swoon.
These two were perfect for each other and totally deserved their HEA after everything they'd been through.

Home at Last is a lovely addition to the Sanctuary Island series and I highly recommend them all!

*Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy*

I was literally swept away by this sweet sexy story. Marcus and Quinn’s story in Home at Last (Sanctuary Island Novel) had my emotions running the gamut while reading. Lily Everett always gives the reader characters that you will care about, but especially this time as they have a brand new second chance.

The writing; making you feel as if you are right there, the story-line of a remembered young girl’s crush, the depth of the characters - main and supporting with the grown-up romance make this one amazing read. Home at Last is a keeper. It reads fine on its own but you won’t be able to read just one Sanctuary Island Novel without wanting to read them all. Highly recommend.

**3.5 Stars**

Home at Last is a second-chance romance that features a woman who grew up infatuated by the neighbor's older son. The small town they live in has subsequently thrown backlash at him after their quick romance ended, leaving his bar hurting for business. So goes her plan...a business proposal that relies on their fake romantic reunion.

I love fake relationships and how they slowly bloom into something real, and I enjoyed seeing Marcus and Quinn's relationship blossom with a nice, slow burn. I hadn't read any of the prior books in this series, though I've heard their 'relationship' is featured a bit in the most recent book, but I can't speak to how that would've helped their story; I didn't really feel like I was missing anything, or enough of something to make it hard to connect. Marcus' broody nature mixed well with Quinn's sweet, helpfulness, and their constant butting of heads kept the pages turning.

I will say, however, that the side story featuring Quinn's parents was featured too heavily in my opinion. It really detracted from the potency of Quinn and Marcus' effect on the reader. I found myself skipping those POVs so that I could get back to the real story. I'm sort of impatient that way, so I'm sure not every reader will feel as I did.

Home at Last was a fun story with sexy characters and the right amount of angst-y romance. It was sweet and romantic, and had the kind of second-chance romance readers love to read about. Small towns and their gossiping ways brought back together a couple that were meant for one another, and I enjoyed experiencing it.

This story between Marcus Beckett and Quinn Harper was not one of my favorites of the series, but I still enjoyed the book very much. Marcus has come home to Sanctuary Island determined to run his bar and make a new life for himself. Quinn has admired Marcus from afar for years, and she envisions a future for herself with this man. Marcus believes himself to be much too damaged for Quinn, and after a brief affair, rejects her. The town is not happy that their darling has been rejected, and they stay away from Marcus and his bar. Soon Quinn and Marcus are agreeing to a fake relationship that will convince the town to forgive Marcus, while Quinn gains time to help put her parents' failing marriage back together.

Quinn and Marcus were interesting characters, and the book had a good premise. I thought the secondary characters added much to this story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

As I said in my review for Close To Home, I had been interested in Quinn and Marcus’s story and romance far more than the main couple so seeing them together in this book made me completely happy.
I cannot claim the book wasn’t predictable (it was) and it certainly wasn’t original… but I liked it. I liked Quinn and Marcus staging a fake relationship to help her parents stay together and also they did it to save his bar because they first break up put him in the small town bad books for messing around with the town sweetheart. I loved the fake relationship and the second chance romance and the basic
I think I enjoyed this book because it was exactly what I expected it would be after reading Close To Home. I knew that Marcus had his reasons for wanting to distance himself from Quinn, the main one being the age difference, and I knew he had his own issues. I knew Quinn had an old crush on Marcus and had issues with people not treating her like a grown up. I knew together they would be brilliant if they could overcome what was holding them back. I knew all this so that when it happened in the book I was in no way surprised, I could simply read and enjoy myself. Basically, this book followed exactly the path I thought it would and as there were no major twists or major angst I could simply sit back and enjoy myself, and I did.
That may sound like a negative, this book in no way surprised me or did anything unexpected, but sometimes you crave a bit of predictability and I love that with romance I know what I’m getting. This was a sweet romance that didn’t get sucked into too much angst or drama to put you off and had plenty of lighter moments too. It was just a really enjoyable read.

3.5 Stars
I was excited to get the rest of Marcus and Quinn's story, which was introduced in the previous book, 'Close to Home.' I was looking forward to their second chance romance, and finding out all the ways they ticked. Marcus was an especially difficult character to read. When he put up walls, he really went all out. Good thing Quinn is an optimistic, positive person - Marcus's opposite - otherwise, there's no way they would have had a second chance. She was just the sunshine needed to help this relationship grow.

Now this story went in a direction I wasn't expecting, with the introduction of Quinn's parents and their marital problems, and their suspicious marriage guru. With Quinn's approach to helping her parents, and the way she obtained Marcus's help in the situation, I found these side-by-side stories quite interesting and intriguing. Though, truth be told, I wanted to shake sense into both couples after a while. There was a bit more back-and-forth, circling-the-same-issue repetition than I would have liked. But I also liked how so many issues were dealt with and resolved, or resolved-for-now, by the end.

Overall, I enjoyed this sweet romance. Marcus and Quinn, once they got out of their own way, were really a great couple, bringing their strengths into their relationship to help each other, and their personalities balanced out the differences in their approach on life. They became not only a beautiful, loving couple, but also created a wonderful partnership.

'Home at Last' is the sixth book in the Sanctuary Island series, but is really only a continuation of book five, 'Close to Home,' where Quinn and Marcus were introduced, though they were just side characters in that book. Since I gave 'Close to Home' 4 stars, and liked this slightly less, I'm giving it 3.5 stars