There, Annie meets Keaton, a local painter with a big heart; Mellie, the reclusive landlord Annie is determined to befriend; and Britt, a teenager with a terrible secret. With them her broken spirit starts to heal.
Then events threaten Annie’s new idyll. And when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in her lap, she is torn between the excitement of a new journey and the pull of the haven – and the man – she has come to call home. Will she be able to make her new-found happiness last?
I'd like to thank Becky at Arrow Publishing for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and sending me a copy of Cottage by the Sea to review.
Annie Marlow had everything a woman could want, a loving family, a good job and great friends but then a natural disaster and one phone call turns her world upside down. She is left alone struggling to cope with survivor guilt despite the love and support of her aunt, cousin and friends. An off the cuff suggestion from her cousin to find her 'happy place' takes her back to the place where she spent many happy childhood holidays and she soon lands herself the perfect job and rents the cottage her family used to stay in. Maybe she will finally be able to grieve, heal and build a new life for herself after all.
As I was reading the opening chapter my heart really felt for Annie as I cannot even begin to imagine how I would have felt in her situation, especially when her family had invited her to be there with them but she had other plans. I know what it's like to lose someone suddenly without the chance to say goodbye so could totally understand the pain, guilt and how lost she was feeling.
Annie was such a strong character who despite dealing with her own grief manages to have a positive impact on those she comes into contact with. Keaton, despite his physical size, was a man of few words who preferred to stay in the background as childhood bullying and an unloving home life has had a negative impact on him. Mellie had her own story to tell, once an outgoing teenager she is now a shadow of her former self and has not stepped outside of her door for years. If it wasn't for Keaton and his friend Preston she would never see anyone especially newcomer Annie. And then there is the teenage barista Britt, her younger brother Logan and their mother Teresa, all of them going through something completely unimaginable until fate steps in.
Each of the characters, the main and secondary, had problems and issues that they were dealing with but with the friendship and support of each other they are able to take the steps to creating new lives for themselves and in a way become their own little family network. Debbie Macomber is known for her feel-good stories, and heartwarming romances, but there was so much more depth within this book than first met the eye due to the seriousness of the topics featured. Although I have loved many of her previous books, to me this was her best one yet. I loved the fact that it simply wasn't just people meeting and falling in love, but there was so much more going on alongside the romance as we all know that life isn't always a fairytale.
I feel like a broken record, as I said this for her festive book Merry and Bright, but Debbie Macomber really does have the knack of writing books that could be perfectly adapted for a TV movie and Cottage by the Sea is no different. I would love to see the lives of Annie, Keaton and co. come to life as this story was a sad but uplifting read from start to finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment