Published By: Head of Zeus
Pages: 320
Released On: 01/09/2022
Emmie Weaver has it all – a handsome fiancé and students who love her. So why does she feel so lost?
When Emmie’s estranged grandfather dies, leaving her a barge in Starry Cove, it’s a welcome chance to hit pause. But as soon as she arrives in the Cornish village, it’s clear this won’t be the relaxing break she was expecting. Her grandmother wants nothing to do with her and Jago Moon, a handsome yet hostile town bad boy, is inexplicably determined to not let her boat touch water.
Christmas is fast approaching and so is her wedding date. Can Emmie stay long enough to see snow fall over Starry Cove? And will finding out about her past help her decide her future?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This was my first Nancy Barone book, and I admit it did take me a while to get into it and I did debate whether it was for me or not. I did enjoy it but it didn’t live up to what I expect to get from a festive rom-com.
I did like the way that she’d used novel titles as chapter headings. I’m not sure what the purpose of that was, but as a bibliophile, it was a nice touch.
I couldn’t stand the characters of Stephen, his mother or Lady Heatherton. I know that’s the way they’re written, so it’s a good thing that they were received that way, but they really got under my skin and I didn’t like reading about them. Emmie was a good protagonist but I wish she wasn’t as much of a doormat, I wish she stood up to herself more. I did think there were a few too many characters. I read one book earlier that had over 20 main characters but it was so easy to follow and they all deserved to be there. With this, I just didn’t see why some of them were necessary and I don’t think they pushed the story along at all.
I did like the description of Cornwall at Christmas. I’ve never been in the winter, but just knowing how beautiful it is in the summer (a season I dislike), I can only imagine how gorgeous it is at the festive season.
I did think there were possibly too many things happening; an unhappy engagement, a controlling mother in law, a street account, alcohol dependency, abandonment, death, grief – it all felt a little jarring and I think it would have benefitted by leaving a few of these out.
There’s definitely a feeling of telling the reader what’s happening, rather than showing them, which makes it a little flat to read, and it risks you skipping bits which I admit I did, well, not exactly skip, but I did skim.
It was an okay book but not one I would rush to recommend.
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