That Deep River Feeling (Alaska Homecoming 3) by Jackie Ashenden-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 27, 2021

-An independent woman dedicated to protecting her town—and her heart
-A mysterious mountain man with a past shrouded in secrets
-A small Alaska town that’ll take your breath away

Zeke Calhoun doesn’t care much about Deep River, but he’ll do just about anything to keep the promise he made to look out for his best friend’s sister.

As the sole police officer in Deep River, Morgan West won’t be bossed around, but Zeke is irresistible. He’s tough, challenging, and all kinds of sexy, but getting involved is the last thing on her mind. Or is it…?

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REVIEW:THAT DEEP RIVER FEELING is the third instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult ALASKA HOMECOMING romance series focusing on three friends who inherited the small town of Deep River, Alaska. This is bush pilot Zeke Calhoun, and Village Safety Protection Officer Morgan West’s story line. THAT DEEP RIVER FEELING can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: Thirteen years earlier Silas Quinn (Home to Deep River 1), along with his best friend Caleb West, swore never to return to Deep River but with Caleb’s death came the ownership of the town of Deep River, owned by the West family for close to one hundred years. When the sole surviving West refused all ownership, the town of Deep River was passed on to our heroes Damon, Silas and Zeke.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Zeke and Morgan) THAT DEEP RIVER FEELING focuses on Zeke Calhoun, the final partner in the privately owned small town of Deep River, Alaska. For two months Zeke has been MIA; no contact with his friends Silas and Damon, and in this Silas and Damon struggle with potential offers to buy Deep River, Alaska. Deep River sits upon a ‘gold mine’ of oil, oil that a Texas company is hoping to own, while secretly approaching the people in an effort to buy what’s left of the town. Morgan West is the only member of the local law enforcement, and the only surviving West family heir, and with it comes the knowledge that someone is hoping to gain access to the Deep River oil. Enter Zeke Calhoun, the third partner bequeathed ownership of Deep River, Alaska and the man with whom Morgan West will fall in love. What ensues is the struggling romance and relationship between Zeke and Morgan, and the potential fall-out as Zeke’s secrets are about to be exposed, as our hero struggles with issues of rejection, trust and low self-esteem.

Zeke Calhoun worries that once the truth is revealed, his friendships and relationship with his best friends Damon and Silas with spiral out of control. Having suffered through a dysfunctional relationship with his family, Zeke prefers to live life on his own terms but meeting Morgan West stirs something deep within our story line hero. Morgan West has lived all of her life in Deep River, Alaska, and like Zeke, struggles with demons from the past. Believing she is unworthy of love, Morgan finally opens her heart only to discover that Zeke’s time in Deep River, comes with an expiry date. The $ex scenes are limited but intimate and passionate, without the over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include Silas Quinn and his girlfriend Hope Dawson; Damon Fitzgerald and Astrid, James; Astrid’s son Connor; Zeke’s sister Izzy Montgomery, as well as Filthy Phil, all knowing, all seeing elderly gentleman -the people of Deep River are very protective of our story line heroine.

THAT DEEP RIVER FEELING is a story of secrets, family, relationships and love. The premise is entertaining; the romance is captivating but I struggled to feel any palpable sexual attraction between our leading couple. Perhaps it was Zeke’s less than stellar attitude towards everything, or his need to move on without the woman he loved.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Come Home to Deep River
Deep River Promise

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy