The Holiday Cottage by the Sea

by Holly Martin

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Bookouture for letting me be part of this tour. I am a HUGE fan of Holly's work not only her romance novels but also her YA Fantasy series. (If you haven't read that and you are a YA fan then I would HIGHLY recommend it). Anyway let's get back to Holiday Cottage by the Sea. I have so many thoughts running through my head about this book I don't know how to put them into coherent sentences so excuse me if I ramble today.

Holly never fails to draw me into a new location. This books is the first of a new series set in Sandcastle Bay. At the moment we know there will be a second book but I have my suspicions there will be a third later this year. The location is a beautiful seaside town in the south west of England.

Tori's best friend Melody moved to Sandcastle Bay almost a year ago and Tori has missed her dearly. When Tori decides to spend two weeks in Sandcastle Bay to catch up with her friend she doesn't expect her life to change so drastically. Tori is used to the fast paced life of living in London and Sandcastle Bay is a world away from that. I really liked Tori. She is fun, passionate and, like me, a bit of a worrier. She thinks about what she has said or done and how that has made other people feel. She also over thinks a lot of things. Tori's Dad left when she was quite young and she hasn't been in contact with him since. My parents split up when I was fairly young too but unlike Tori I still saw my Dad. I totally understood the way she felt about her Dad leaving. Her Dad leaving really affected her ability to trust people. For me Tori was a really easy character to identify with.

Tori is staying at Blossom Cottage which is owned by Aidan Jackson....excuse me while I swoon! Wow Aidan (an to be fair the other 2 Jackson men) is one hot cookie. He's tall, rugged and handsome. But Aidan had is heart broken before and doesn't believe in love anymore. I think Aidan Jackson is my new favourite Holly-book boyfriend.

We also have a whole host of other characters that I have to talk about. First lets talk abut Agatha. Well she is my favourite. She had me howling with laughter over her antics. I won't tell you what they are you need to read the book for that but honestly you will have tears of laughter.

I've already mentioned Melody and then we also have Isla, Melody's older sister. Isla and Melody moved to Sandcastle Bay almost a year ago. I really liked them and I'm hoping to learn more about them as the series continues. I also want to mention Melody and Isla's nephew Elliot. He was another of my favourites. Elliot is 5 years old and like all 5 year olds he has no filter. Which is both hilarious and cover-your-eyes-I-can't-watch-this-bit-can-the-whole-world-swallow-me-up-please embarrassing for the adults.

Finally I want to mention the animals in this book. We have Dobby, the Turkey that thinks he is a dog. He is so funny. The first time we meet Dobby is one of the best scenes in this book. We then have Beauty and Beast. Beauty, named because she is a rather ugly dog and Beast because well he's huge. I really loved these dogs and Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney film!

Once again Holly had me feeling all the emotions. I was laughing, I was crying, I was angry, I was stressed and I was very very happy. I honestly cannot wait for the next book in this series.