I am on the blog tour for Summer In Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen for Rachel’s Random Resources. Thanks to both Rachel and Maggie Christensen for my place on the tour and the copy of the book.
Can Bellbird Bay provide solace to these two broken souls?
When Ailsa McNeil’s marriage falls apart, an invitation to spend the summer with an old friend in Bellbird Bay offers her the opportunity to escape and regroup. What she doesn’t expect is to meet her friend’s twin brother, the first man to stir her emotions when she was an impressionable nineteen-year-old.
As a young man, Martin Cooper couldn’t wait to leave Bellbird Bay. He has spent the past thirty years travelling the world and has accomplished his dream of becoming a celebrated travel photographer. But it has come at a price and, when his career and personal life take a downward turn, he returns to his hometown to consider his future.
When an accident thrusts the two together, their earlier attraction resurfaces. Torn between the desire to protect herself from further hurt and her renewed feelings for the man she’s never forgotten, can Ailsa find happiness again or is it too late?
A heartwarming tale of family, friends, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.
The first book in the Bellbird Bay series. Set in Australia, we meet Ailsa, whose marriage of twenty-five years falls apart as soon as the book begins. She accepts her friend’s invitation to Bellbird Bay to sort her life out.
Bev owns a garden centre in the Bay, and Ailsa finds herself spending the majority of her time there or walking on the beach, attempting to sort her head out. Bevs brother, Martin, arrives back from abroad to consider his future. Can Ailsa and Martin help heal each other and consider their futures?
The cover of this book is gorgeous; between that and the first few pages of the story, there was no going back. I loved how the characters aren’t young and fresh but more mature. Ailsa is 52, so I could relate. The setting is beautifully described. I could visualise the Bay and everything around it.
Maggie Christensen writes a story of how challenges affect everyone, no matter what age. Bellbird Bay is no exception; everyone is susceptible to emergencies and accidents. The strength of the community spirit within Bellbird is one that, along with the characters, helps the healing process and allows the characters to move forward.
A well written and fantastic beginning to a new series that any readers who enjoy a gorgeous book set in a far flung places.
Purchase Link
getbook.at/SummerinBellbirdBay
Author Bio
After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations, and historical fiction set in her native Scotland. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her trips to visit family in Scotland, in Oregon, USA or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them. Her writing has been described by one reviewer as like a nice warm cup of tea. It is warm, nourishing, comforting and embracing.
From the small town in Scotland where she grew up Scotland, Maggie was lured to Australia by the call ‘Come and teach in the sun’. Once there, she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of over thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!
Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/maggiechristensenauthor
https://twitter.com/MaggieChriste33
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8120020.Maggie_Christensen
https://www.instagram.com/maggiechriste33/
Website
https://maggiechristensenauthor.com/
Bookbub
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 