#BlogTour and #BookReview: Coming Home to Brightwater Bay by Holly Hepburn (@HollyH_Author)

I am delighted to be today’s stop on the blog tour for COMING HOME TO BRIGHTWATER BAY by the lovely Holly Hepburn. Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster and Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to join the tour and providing me with a review copy of the book.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 21 January 2021

**The BRAND NEW series from Holly Hepburn, perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley and Katie Fforde** 

On paper, Merina Wilde has it all: a successful career writing the kind of romantic novels that make even the hardest  hearts swoon, a perfect carousel of book launches and parties to keep her social life buzzing, and a childhood  sweetheart who thinks she’s a goddess. But Merry has a secret: the magic has stopped flowing from her fingers. Try as  she might, she can’t summon up the sparkle that makes her stories shine. And as her deadline whooshes by, her  personal life falls apart too. Alex tells her he wants something other than the future she’d always imagined for them and  Merry finds herself single for the first time since – well, ever.

Desperate to get her life back on track, Merry leaves London and escapes to the windswept Orkney Islands, locking  herself away in a secluded clifftop cottage to try to heal her heart and rediscover her passion for writing. But can the  beauty of the islands and the kindness of strangers help Merry to fool herself into believing in love again, if only long

enough to finish her book? Or is it time for her to give up the career she’s always adored and find something new to set  her soul alight?

The brand new series from Holly Hepburn, first published as four ebook parts: BROKEN HEARTS AT BRIGHTWATER  BAY, SEA BREEZES AT BRIGHTWATER BAY, DANGEROUS TIDES AT BRIGHTWATER BAY and SUNSET OVER  BRIGHTWATER BAY

 

What can I say, I LOVED this book!  It proved to be the perfect bit of escapism on a grey and miserable mid-pandemic weekend.

After a setback in her relationship (i.e. being unceremoniously dumped by her long term boyfriend), Merry finds herself on a bumpy plane ride to Orkney, a group of islands off the north-eastern coast of Scotland. It’s certainly a change of scenery after her bustlingly busy life in London and I adored the setting. With hundreds of miles of rugged coastline, unspoiled views and such a rich history, it is the perfect setting for this tale. I’m trying to persuade my husband that we should make a visit to Orkney once the current restrictions are finally behind us, as it sounds a truly marvellous place to spend time.

Merry is a very successful romance writer, yet has been suffering from severe writer’s block for the past 6 months or so, and with a deadline fast approaching, she hopes that taking the position of ‘Writer in Residence’ for the Orkney Literary Society will get her creative juices flowing once more. How can someone authentically write about romance when their heart is broken? All she really needs is to find a story that triggers her imagination and reminds her what romance really is. Fortunately for Merry, a trip to the wilds of Scotland may prove to be good for her sole in more ways than she imagined.

Merry finds herself warmly welcomed by the Orkney community, who treat their writers like rockstars, and quickly finds herself feeling very much at home, embracing life on the island. Between exploring the island with Niall Gunn, the librarian with a likeness to Clark Kent, a very sexy Norse named Magnus Olafsson and Gordon the visiting goat, life is certainly not boring for Merry!

Not only did I fall in love with the setting, but also with the characters. Merry is an absolute delight – kind, clever and big-hearted, and there is a great cast of supporting characters in the enthusiastic islanders. Readers will undoubtedly fall in love with them all. I particularly liked Merry’s llama-farming neighbours, Hugh and Clare Watson, and Sheila the 79 year old cliff running enthusiast. Holly Hepburn certainly knows how to write some very appealing and likeable characters. The big question left to ask is which one would you choose – librarian or Viking?

This book has it all – comedy, romance, drama, librarians and Vikings. What more could one girl need? Warm, witty and lots of fun, I struggled to put it down. If you decide to give COMING HOME TO BRIGHTWATER BAY at try, I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did (and I’m pretty sure you will!).

Holly Hepburn is the much-loved author of commercial women’s fiction. She lives near London with her grey tabby cat,  Portia. They both have an unhealthy obsession with Marmite. Follow Holly on Twitter @HollyH_Author.

 

 

 

AMAZON UK  |  AMAZON US  |  GOODREADS  |  WATERSTONES  |

GOOGLE PLAY  |  KOBO  |  APPLE BOOKS

 

You can follow the rest of the book tour by visiting the blogs listed below: