Title: Escape To Seahaven Bay [Seahaven Bay #1]
Author: Nicola May
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
Source: Rachel’s Random Resources / Netgalley
Blurb: Seahaven Bay has always been a place where the sparkling tides bring laughter, love and a lot of fun. But when Rita Jory’s beloved husband Archie dies in a tragic accident, she’s left alone on their failing Cornish farm with nothing but her grieving heart, a mountain of debt and some very badly behaved goats. Faced with selling the home she loves or finding a way to make it pay, Rita has a moment of desperate inspiration. She decides to transform her beloved Seahaven Farm into a place where broken souls can heal by the sea.
With help from her sharp-tongued mother-in-law, loyal best friend, daughter and new friends, the rundown farm soon blossoms into a haven of healing, creativity and community. Rita dares to believe her future might still shimmer with possibility – and even admits her growing attraction to Jago, the gorgeous neighbouring farmer with whom the Jorys had a decades-long feud.
But just as Rita begins to find peace, long-buried secrets about Archie’s past begin to surface, forcing her to question everything she believed about the life they built together.
Rita must discover the truth and decide if she’s ready to open her heart again – to love, to hope, and to the possibility that even after loss, life can still be full of surprises.
Review: Few do seaside cosy like Nicola May! If the dreary, rainy days of February are getting you down, pick this book up!
May writes in a beautiful, flowing way and packs her books with heart, humour, and charm. Her characters leap off the page. I desperately want to be best friends with heroine Rita – she cracked me up often. Which might seem odd for a character that’s lost her partner, but as a divorcee, I got it. Of course she mourns, but the best way to remember someone is to life your life.
That said, working in a romance could have seemed rushed. However May builds the relationship between Rita and Jago in a very real way. It does help that this is a sort-of-second-chance romance, but it’s nice to see a genuine friendship blossom first.
I have to mention the setting. It’s so well described, it feels like somewhere you could visit. Somehow May captures the sights and sounds and smells and puts you bang in the centre of the little town. I very much wish she could do that for real!
If you loved May’s Cockleberry Bay series, you will adore this new one!
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