The Holiday Cottage by the Sea by @HollyMAuthor #Review #RomCom #Contemporary #Series

Escape to Sandcastle Bay, where you’ll discover a charming little seaside village brimming with heart-warming friendships, quirky characters and plenty of sunshine.

The perfect place to fall in love this summer…

Series: Sandcastle Bay #1

Title: The Holiday Cottage by the Sea 

Author: Holly Martin

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 249

Published: April 12th, 2018

Rating: 5/5

This is the first book in a new romcom series by this talented author and, as usual for her books, I loved it. It is definitely one of those stories where I respectfully suggest you grab yourself a copy and read it yourself rather than reading my review of it! It is an emotive page turner story of loss, secrets, community, traditions, romance and new opportunities and I didn’t want to stop reading it till I had reached the end.

The setting and community are brilliantly portrayed and developed, brought to life throughout the story. I really felt as though this is a place I could easily visit and go to meet the superb characters. Mind you, I’m not sure I’d like to meet the meddling matchmaker extraordinaire and future predictor Agatha, who is the aunt of the hero, Aidan, though it could prove to be a laugh!  Not all the characters are human. One of the funniest animal characters is Dobby, though Beast also has his moments… Even the place names are evocative – who could resist popping into The Cherry On Top Café or visiting Sandcastle Bay?

There is plenty of drama throughout the story which takes readers through the whole gamut of emotions. The community events, the harvesting, ‘boat’ race and everything in the story made me feel like I was there, witnessing it all. The dilemmas faced by Tori and Aidan as their attraction pulls them together are brilliantly described, making it easy to relate to them both. I also particularly enjoyed five year old Elliot with his honesty accidentally revealing secrets! I really hope future stories in this series will involve Aidan’s brothers, Leo and James as well as Tori’s friends Isla and Melody. One thing is certain – I can’t wait to read them!

I requested and was lucky enough to be given a copy of this novel, via NetGalley, with no obligation. This is my honest review of the book after choosing to read it.

Synopsis:

Tori Graham is in need of a holiday. Trying to piece her heart back together after losing the love of her life, she escapes to Blossom Cottage, with its picturesque views of the sea. And plans to spend the summer in gorgeous Sandcastle Bay, where her best friend Melody Rosewood lives.

Tori’s not expecting her summer by the beach to be eventful, until she meets handsome and mysterious Aidan Jackson…

Aidan looks after the holiday cottage Tori is staying in. Healing from past hurts, he wants to avoid any further chance of heartache. But could this newcomer be the breath of fresh air he needs?

Finding herself embracing life in the coastal community, Tori starts to fall in love with Sandcastle Bay and its welcoming cast of residents. But that’s not all she begins to fall for, as Tori is swept away by Aidan’s genuine heart and mischievous sense of humour. The attraction between them is undeniable, but will a simple holiday romance be enough?

As Tori’s stay in Sandcastle Bay comes to an end she has a tough decision to make…. Has her heart found a new place to call home?

A joyously romantic summer read that will make you laugh, cry and fall in love. If you enjoy reading Sarah Morgan, Jenny Oliver and Lucy Diamond this book is for you.

 

Amazon Buy Link:  myBook.to/THCBTSSocial

 

About the author: 

Holly lives in a little white cottage by the sea. She studied media at university which led to a very glitzy career as a hotel receptionist followed by a even more glamorous two years working in a bank. The moment that one of her colleagues received the much coveted carriage clock for fifteen years’ service was the moment when she knew she had to escape. She quit her job and returned to university to train to be a teacher. Three years later, she emerged wide eyed and terrified that she now had responsibility for the development of thirty young minds. She taught for four years and then escaped the classroom to teach history workshops, dressing up as a Viking one day and an Egyptian High Priestess the next. But the long journeys around the UK and many hours sat on the M25 gave her a lot of time to plan out her stories and she now writes full time, doing what she loves.

Holly has been writing for 8 years. She was shortlisted for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romance. Her short story won the Sunlounger competition and was published in the Sunlounger anthology. She won the Carina Valentine’s competition at the Festival of Romance 2013 with her novel The Guestbook. She was shortlisted for Best Romantic Read, Best eBook and Innovation in Romantic Fiction at the Festival of Romance 2014. She is the bestselling author of 18 books

Follow her on Twitter @HollyMAuthor

Many thanks to Bookouture for providing me with a copy of this book to read and materials for this post, as well as organising the tour. If you’d like to check out other blog stops on the tour here is the itinerary: