Maeve McKenna is under doctor’s orders. Having worked herself into the ground as a sought-after interior designer in London, she’s in need of some serious TLC. After running away from home to escape a broken heart, it’s time to face up to her past…
Philomena Duffy is a little lonely. After losing her husband, their crumbling mansion, Willow House, feels awfully empty.
In desperate need of a time-out, Maeve visits her aunt Philomena in Sandy Cove, where she once, as a teenager, kissed a wild, mysterious boy – a kiss she has never been able to forget. On the rugged western shore of Ireland, where the night’s sky is dotted with stars as far as the eye can see, Maeve is world’s away from her chaotic life in the city.
The fresh sea breeze and a blossoming friendship with her aunt is just the remedy – even if the old house is falling down around them. But as Maeve loses her heart to Sandy Cove, throwing herself into restoring Willow House back to its former glory and uncovering its secrets, reality calls. Can she bear to leave this beautiful place behind, just when she’s starting to piece together her heart?
My review
Sometimes what the doctor ordered is exactly what you need to shine a different light on your life.
What I really like about the books by this author I already read is that she puts middle aged people in the limelight. Often society thinks the only thing they can still look forward to is to spend some time in the old people’s home, but there are a lot of ‘golden oldies’ who are perfectlly able to do a lot more than that. And rightly so!
This story takes us from busy London to quiet village on the Irish seaside where the lives of auntie Phil and Maeve are about to make a u-turn.
Being alone is often synonym for being lonely and you can keep on feeling sorry for youself or you can yourself a mental kick and go for it. Somtimes all it takes is the cry for help in unraveling a secret.
The story makes you realize that you are never too old to find love, a special friendship or a new purpose in life. Choices have to be made. Are you better off with you devil you know or will you risk a dive in the unknown?
I enjoyed this lovely story very much and it made me want to visit Ireland (in the summertime LOL). Auntie Phil is quite a character and you just have to love her and ‘the old birds’. I would like to know what will happen next. 5 stars.
Thank you, Susanne O’Leary, Bookouture and Netgalley.
About the author
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre.
The wife of a former diplomat, she has also been a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a rambling house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or doing yoga, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
B for Bookreview 