Spring at Blueberry Bay (Hope Island, #1)

by Holly Martin

[Leah]

Holly Martin is one of my favourite romance authors. If you’ve ever feeling down, a Holly Martin book can pick you back up and there always filled with warmth, love, humour and romance, not to mention the picturesque settings. Spring at Blueberry Bay is no different, filled with Martin’s trademark humour and wit and filled to the brim with tons of spark and charm. Bella, in particular, was a hoot because she was just so feisty and instead of just letting sleeping dogs lie (or Isaac get away with lying to her) she never gave a second thought to barging into someone’s office or room to give them a piece of her mind. I admire that in people, because I am a wuss; I can’t stick up for myself to save my life. People just walk all over me, and I would love some of Bella’s fire and spirit.

Having finished Spring at Blueberry Bay I’m not quite sure what the plot was… Because it seemed mostly to be about how attracted to each other Bella and Isaac were, despite how hard they tried to fight it, considering Bella wanted to work at Isaac’s charity, The Umbrella Foundation not to mention the fact they only met because Isaac went undercover as a homeless person, Zach, to see how Bella would react (inviting him into her home and kissing him… make of that what you will). It was quite a sneaky opening to the novel, but I loved it. It’s a clever way to see what potential employees will actually do when faced with a homeless person and even though Bella’s reaction is not how most would react, I liked it. So sue me. It certainly grabbed my attention and the pace from there was quite frantic, almost a bit insta-love-y, but I don’t care.

I loved Bella and Isaac. Their spark was undeniable and there really was something there, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. I thought it was going to go a bit 50-Shades for a minute which was terrifying. I liked how they just clicked and they just got on with it. Yes, Bella had a few parent-related issues (which when it was all explained kind of made me wonder why her Aunt Lucy and Uncle Finn hadn’t explained it all sooner?) and there were other things that got in the way (the fact they work together and he’s her boss, etc) but I just loved the romance of it all. I loved them as characters, and it just made me a bit swoon-y.

My only issue with Spring at Blueberry Bay is this weird thing British authors have with the word ass. It’s used so many times in this book and it just sets me on edge every time because this is a British book, with British characters and a British author, so why the heck do they say ass? It’s arse and it baffles me that it didn’t get changed in editing because it’s an AMERICANISM. It’s such a stupid thing to get riled up over but are we all suddenly going to start talking in American slang with American accents? Apart from that I loved the book. Holly’s such a good storyteller and you really feel like you’re there with the characters the entire time and, once again, I would quite like to go and live on Hope Island. I hope Holly’s next book is set there, and I hope it’s Rome’s story. I fear it will be Eden’s, but I want to know more about Rome. This was another brilliant read from Holly Martin and I look forward to her next one.