I love Christmas stories and this was a sweet, emotional read. Tansy and Davin's story is a great with to cuddle up with. Expect all the feels with, though!

Feel Good Read.,,
The first in the Seasons By The Sea series where the reader is introduced to Tansy Merriweather and her camoervan on a Dorset beach. A heartwarming and feel good read with a well crafted cast and a pan engaging storyline.

I hate to DNF a book I'm reviewing, but after two years, I just have too many other books on my TBR pile to come back to this one.

This was a nice easy ready. Enjoyable story. Wonderful character with love for her dog. Wonderful vivid descriptions of Dorset. Pure escapism

A bit more emotional that your average romcom Christmas read!

Tansy has lost everything and escaped to Dorset in a camper van.

Davin is a famous actor, filming a soap opera on the beaches close by.

When their lives collide, there relationship grows from frosty, to friendship, to love, all filled with drama and revelations.

There is no hidden deep meaning to this book, it is an easy reading romcom, but with a little bit more of a storyline threaded throughout it. The characters have flaws which sometimes make them unlikeable, but also more realistic than some of the plastic stereotypical leading characters in such novels. There are some genuine LOL moments and some nail-biting page turning moments.

All in all, a charming, heartwarming and entertaining read.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this early. I have never read anything by this author so i was excited when I was granted access. I saw this cover and wanted to read it immediately. Sadly it wasnt as fluffy as the cover led me to believe, but it was still such a good read.

I like Jane Lovering's books. They are funny, romantic, and have engaging characters. They aren't as fluffy as the covers might suggest. I enjoyed this one. A seaside setting, dogs, Christmas, plenty to like about it.

An enjoyable and absorbing book that is far deeper than the title and blurb suggest. Dealing with themes of hiding our true selves, loneliness, guilt, loss and starting over/reinvention, this book is a contemporary fiction read that makes you think. Its simple writing style will have you fooled - it’s got levels of depth that other books in this genre can only dream of! There’s some great characters - particularly Rory, Karen and Keenan - who all have roles to play and could well feature in future books (now I know it’s the first of a series).

4* as a little slow to start (tansy, the main character is a bit whiny but makes sense as the book progresses) and a little predictable in places but has depth - and would be a great discussion at a bookclub

Charming and quirky, this book was such a delight. A rugged landscape, fun characters and some sweet dogs made this an excellent read.

A fantastic read. And kudos to the author for sensitively including baby loss as part of the characters back story. A really tough topic to get right and one which is often overlooked and as a loss mother myself I could wholeheartedly relate. So thank you. At the beginning of the book i felt like it started a little hap hazardly and didn't quite know if I was going to enjoy the book but soon found myself hooked. The characters were all exceptionally relatable and I found myself rushing to read the next chapter.

To start with, it was amazing. I was a bit confused in the beginning, as in what the hell is happening, but that was probably because I didn’t remember the blurb properly. But after sorting things out, it all made sense.

No to begin with cover, it is splendid! I mean just look at it, pause, and then think that it’s going to be an amazing read. Moving on to the title, well, there were plenty of secrets in here. I mean there were parts that were hidden up till the end and that too very beautifully. The love and the tragic that has been brought in here doesn’t appear to be an act, it gels well with the plot and the whole background of the story.

I was really glad that the suspense was maintained at least for more than half of the story. It didn’t appear as if the author had to do much work in progressing the story and it was being dragged. It appeared to be a natural.

Moving on to the characters, I don’t think there was anyone in here, well apart from one or two but I guess that’s kind of like a mandate (no fun if there isn’t one character that appears to be a stupid, idiot and blubbering mess), that I didn’t like. There were moments wherein I was annoyed by some of the characters but otherwise they were gems. I kind of appreciate that because it was like more than meets the eye, and at the same time being realistic.

At this point, I honestly don’t know what I am writing considering I don’t have much time, but it was a beautiful, emotional, sensitive and humorous read. Did I mention dogs? No? Then definitely sweet as well as cute 😉

A lovely story with drama and tensions thrown in. Definitely recommended to those who enjoy reading this type of book.

I felt that it was a cute read without a lot of Christmas really in it. I loved the characters, would have liked to have seen a wee bit more development. The setting and premise were great.

I thought it was a good read and really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it. I look forward to more in the series!

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sweet and heartwarming. A perfect story to read after some of those heavy ones we read that take too much time and are hard to review. This one is light and fluffy and left me happy ....

I think I have found a new favourite author! This book has everything, humour, emotion, beautiful scenic location and a hunky Irish leading man! I would strongly recommend this book and can’t wait to read others by Jane Lovering.

I laughed so much while reading this novel and I cried a fair bit too. Gorgeous scenery, interesting characters (human and canine) and an intriguing back story. All in all it was pretty much a perfect read in every way.

Lovely book to curl up with. Looks at building new relationships after a massive upheaval and traumatic experience. Lovely characters and 2 gorgeous dogs!! Well worth a read for the dogs alone who are hilarious with their antics. Thank you for letting me review this book.

Lately, I've been all up into stories out of the early 1900s. So Christmas Secrets by the Sea was a nice change of pace. I'm not usually much into straight-up romance tales either, but this had me smiling, laughing and crying a couple of times as well. I enjoyed spending time with the characters Tansy, Karen, Rory, and Davin... and last but definitely not least Brian. This story had it all. I loved the attention to the details, the slow build of the relationships, the antics of the dogs. Oh! And the description of "THE" storm - whew!!! I think I will have to follow along with these characters, see what brews up next.

A couple of hard emotions to deal with, if your sensitive to the subject of miscarriage at this point in life, I'd find another book to read.

Christmas Secrets by the Sea is a romantic comedy about Tansy, who has lost everything, including her business and the man she loved, and Davin, an ordinary guy with a painful past, who just happens to be a handsome and famous actor.

This book is both hilariously funny and heartbreaking. You find yourself both laughing and crying, and the well written characters definitely touch your heart. There are two other stars in this book, the dogs, Seelie and Brian, who are integral parts of this story. If you love romantic comedies, and I mean real romance and the problems that come with it, you will love this book. If you are a dog lover you will love this book.

Although this is set at Christmas, it can be read anytime. This is the first book I’ve read by Jane Lovering, and I’m definitely going to read more.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

5 Words: Friendship, family, survival, expectations, community.

This is not a super-Christmassy book. It's more a case of the story happens around Christmas. Which is great as it turns out that was what I needed. It wasn't really heavy on the romance either, which is also something that it turns out I needed!

Christmas Secrets by the Sea is very much a slice of life story - one of my favourite kinds. It wasn't full of huge revelations and shock twists, although it did have its fill of the small dramas that make up life. I liked the was the story focused a lot on communities, on the way they change and develop.

I couldn't say that I really connected with any of the characters. Which is weird because I couldn't tell you how and ordinarily if I don't connect with characters then I don't enjoy the story. I think it's because it was just so lovely and made me laugh a lot.

I really enjoyed the dogs - the cute snapshots of every day life as a dog owner, the shenanigans that the pups got up to. And the chaos that they created.