Book excerpt: Truth or treasure? The sea guards its secrets. On the last night of 1888, the schooner Iona runs aground in waters known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. Battling a brutal storm, girl reporter Jo Felch and her friend Amity rush to the scene. Looters descend on the wreck, ignoring the helmsman’s warning that the ship is cursed. Stranded in Astoria, Oregon, survivors of the wreck offer contradictory versions of what happened aboard the cursed ship. With Amity falling for the ship’s second mate, Jo is determined to uncover the truth. But Jo has been duped before, and she’s not sure who she can trust. As she delves deeper into the tangled web of secrets, she finds that someone wants to silence her – for good. In present-day Astoria, a treasure hunter comes into Tidewater Books asking for titles on the wreck. His persistence troubles bookshop owner Olivia Crawford, especially after she discovers her business partner Finn Parsons is in cahoots with the stranger. She hates to let Finn down, but the more she discovers about the cursed ship, the more she fears his involvement could ruin them both. “A wonderful way of intertwining the past story with the present.” “A short, fast-paced tale, a quick read, and one you are going to adore.” “The extensive research behind the tale is obvious, and the story comes alive on the page.” “A wonderful clean read with some romance and lots of mystery that held my interest and kept me turning pages throughout.”