Holly has trouble at work and is suffering panic attacks. Her boss suggests she has a break and she ends up in Wishington Bay. I loved the bay and the scenery but I found the plot predictable as it was a guy-next- door plot that has been done before. Gabe is Australian and loves surfing (cliché). His dog is so cute! I was not really too interested in the conversation although I did want life to work out for Holly. I didn't feel like the novel was gripping enough.

This is the second novel by Maxine Morrey that I have reviewed after My Year of Saying No. I hoped I would like this one more. While I liked the scenery and the dog, unfortunately nothing else apart from Holly's life concerned me in this book and I lost interest.

Thanks to Maxine Morrey, Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

2.5 stars

What a lovely, relaxing read this is - ideal to escape into during these trying times! It is a delicious story of fresh starts, community and non-judgemental friendship. Sometimes you don't share everything to protect yourself and not for any nefarious reasons and that is certainly true about Sophia. She accidentally found herself living in Wishington Bay and is working as a cleaner and waitress to pay her way after leaving her cheating husband and unsupportive family behind. She's never been as happy, despite the changes, as she now has true friends who say things as they are and can be trusted to do right by her.

When Nate McKinley comes to stay in the home of his brother, Gabe, Sophia agrees to see to the cleaning and making sure things are right for him as Gabe and his wife will be away on holiday. Nate's wife has left him, leaving Nate reeling, so this change of scenery is also to give him space to recover whilst writing a book. Initially Sophia and Nate clash, but her forthright honesty and unwillingness to pander to him are just what he needs to get him out of his slump - and a four legged friend also helps! However, as their relationship develops, Sophia still has secrets that she's keeping, a lazy, vindictive colleague out to cause trouble and, of course, they each have a cheating ex still to be divorced . . . .

This is a great story, with plenty of drama and a delightful romance. The revelations of Sophia's secrets and the reactions of the people who know her just demonstrate what real friends are like and showcase the difference between her life now and in the past. It is a fantastic read that I have absolutely no hesitation in highly recommending and I'll definitely be looking out for more by this talented author in future.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

-- Read this review, and others, on my blog at https://hookedbythatbook.com --

Sophie ran away from her life after her divorce and she decided to settle in Wishington Bay. She works two or three jobs, she has a small and cozy apartment, and she has made great friends. She has found her new comfort zone. Then Gabe and Holly ask her to look after Gabe’s brother. Nate is staying at their newly renovated place while they are away on a trip. He is in the midst of his own stormy divorce, and he has serious self-confidence issues. Sophie’s previous life is a huge secret for most of the book, and it was quite a doozy.
Nate and Sophie get to know each other, initially because she came to clean for him and bring him meals. And later on because they wanted to.

I like second-chance romances, but this one was a bit too fresh from the divorce court for me. Sophie and her husband are firmly separated, and the final papers still had to be signed. But Nate’s was a lot more recent. He had just split up with his wife, it was a huge shock to him, and they hadn’t even started divorce proceedings yet. I feel like they should have had some time to discover who they are on their own, before embarking on another serious relationship. And yes, I get that they, like anybody else, are entitled to have some fun, to date people, and be intimate. But Nate wasn’t even into recovery mode yet, he was still mourning the loss of his marriage. And he was very much in love with his wife. Obviously, Sophie helped him a lot to get his head in a better place. A lot of their conversations also revolved around their failed marriages. And when Sophie’s old life collided with her new one, Nate didn’t handle it very well.

Apart from that, it was a lovely read. Not too heavy, and the friendship and romance between Sophie and Nate developed slowly.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A heart-warming romance with an interesting twist. I enjoyed the book more as I started to pick up clues on the drama unfolding. The subtle hints at the past lives of the main characters, the secrets they were not yet ready to share.

I haven’t read books by this author before however, I found the relaxed style of writing enjoyable, funny and easy to read. I loved Sophia’s character and her friendship with the lovely Flora. If you enjoy feel-good romance stories then this is definitely one for you to snuggle up on the sofa with this winter.

Oh and for dog lovers there's an adorable dachshund called Bryan, who I want to come and live with me :-)

Thank you NetGalley, Maxine Morrey and Boldwood Books for the book Winter at Wishington Bay.
This is my personal review.
This is the first book I have read by Maxine Morrey but I now know I will definitely read more!
Sophia moved Wishington Bay to be able to find a new life. She made a life for herself, but she was keeping her old life to herself. She wanted to be loved- needed and fit in as herself and not who she was in old life and keeping that secret was the only way she could do that. She knew that she would have to tell her new friends at some time but was not sure when the right time would be.
She worked as a waitress and cleaned for a friend who needed someone to take care of their home while they were on vacation. While they were gone Nate, the brother would be staying at the house. He was having personal issues and just needed a place to stay and work to put his life back in order.
While Sophie was cleaning, she tried to be as friendly as she could to Nate but too many things caused him to have a wall around himself.
There are always second chances for love and this story is so well written you can feel the emotion between Sophie and Nate and well as all the others in Wishington Bay.
I enjoyed the pace of the book and the build up of relationships between the people in the story.

I haven't read the previous book set in Wishington Bay but I will be reading it after this, finding out more about the other characters. A heartwarming, cozy read i want to move to Wishington Bay, it sounds charming.

Sophia moved to Wishington Bay, leaving her old life behind but she hasn't told her friends the whole truth, she's hiding her old identity. What is Sophia hiding? Nate has come to stay, to work and to escape memories of his soon to be ex wife. He's heartbroken. To begin with unfriendly, thinking his brother is playing matchmaker, Holly feels a connection and wants to help him. With her own divorce, she recognises the sadness of Nate. Nate enjoys Sophia's honesty.

A cozy, delightful, winter read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#winterreads #maxinemorrey #Netgalley #WinteratWishingtonBay #bookstagram #boldwoodbooks

Sophia has been living in Wishington Bay for the past eighteen months. Originally a stopping point turned into a new place to call home having left her previous life behind. Working in the local restaurant as well as a spot if cleaning she makes enough money to get by. With her friends Holly and Gabe in holiday, she is tasked with cleaning their home whilst Gabe's brother Nate stays for a while.

Nate has been persuaded to come and stay in Wishington Bay by both his parents and Gabe. Needing to make headway on his new book plus put some distance between his soon to be ex-wife. Their first meeting doesn't go well, with him thinking his brother is attempting to play matchmaker. However, Sophia soon puts him in his place.

Feeling as though they both said things in the heat of the moment they apologise when they next see each other. With a slow-burning friendship forming between them. Nate starting to up open about his relationship with his ex. Whilst Nate knows that Sophia is also getting divorced, he doesn't know anything else about her past - something she is looking to keep private.

With an interfering young waitress, a keen gardener and Christmas festivities thrown in the mix - will they take the leap beyond friendship?

Set in the idyllic community of Wishington Bay Sophia is healing and starting enjoy her new life. She has friends, a job, but still keeps a secret that could destroy it all. Looking after Nate for her friend Holly makes her feel good until she meets him.

This is an enemy to lover second chance romance for Nate and Sophia. The characters are flawed, realistic and easy to empathise. Honesty and trust are important to Nate. He values this in his fledgeling relationship with Sophia. She knows her secrets may damage what they have, but Nate has unfinished business with his soon to be ex-wife too.

This is character-driven reliant on dialogue interchanges between the protagonists to move the story forward. This adds to the realism but slows the pace a little.

The ending, whilst not a shock, does ramp up the external conflict. The ending shows how much the two characters have developed positively.

I received a copy of this book from Boldwood Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Loved it. Two people in the throes of divorces find each other and themselves. A charming and engaging love story. Wonderful friends and not so great family members. I look forward to reading more of this author's works.

This is a lovely, heart-warming love story about second chances. The friendships shown by the characters in the village were wonderful and showed clearly why it healed those souls looking for a new start.
The relationship between Sophia and Nate was very realistic and cautious due to their previous hurts, and the writing means you quickly get caught up in the emotions. A sweet and easy to read tale.

Sophia is hiding from herself and what she needs to finish. She needs closure before she can start a new life , but she hasn’t figured that part out yet.

Nate is in the middle of a difficult divorce. He has finally realized that his wife is not worth taking back time and time again. He has more value and he has seen what his family seen from the beginning, but it only takes him 7 years and lots of money!

But, Nate has been damaged in that situation because his wife has told him that he is not going anywhere and nobody wants to read about airplane accidents. He is there to write a novel. He is so embittered that he is rude to Sophia and she is just there to clean the house and to make sure that everything is going well for her friends brother.

Can Nate & Sophia finally break free of their daunting oppressions? Could they be happy together, but what of Sophias secret? What about Nates messy divorce? Is he really ready to leave his wife?

The journey the two take is an emotional journey of closures for both sides! The author does a great job of keeping the flow of the storyline and developing the characters!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

Lots of christmas romances are out this Autumn so this one grabbed my attention and i am glad it did. WE begin our adventure at Wishington Bay where Sophia runs away from a previous relationship and ends up in this bay with a place to live and a job. She has been working hard trying to make the locals like her and then theres always one who you dont click with and that is the other female Corrine, horrible woman.
Theres also Nate who wants a new life after his ex wife had an affair so hes trying to rebuild his heart too. by staying at Gabe place however, theres a problem with who is there and Sophia has been asked to check up on him and he doesnt know what to expect. They dont hit it off instantly but they meet do in time, Afterall they are similar by holding in secrets to their pasts,
This book was very believable and enjoyable, i wouldnt class it as a christmas book but more a winter one, saying that theres a funny scene concerning a chrismas tree.
Great story, great location and mostly nice characters.
I received this book for a honest review, thank you netaggley and the publishers

A nice second chance romance. I loved the friendship that was portrayed amongst the characters, except Corrine - I just wanted to slap her! LOL!
This was my first book by this author, I’m not sure if it’s part of a series but throughout the book I got the impression that I should know more about the side characters, (as if they had their own book and I’ve missed ) however it was still a fab read and very enjoyable, Bryan was adorable. Both Nate and Sophia are cautious about starting anything due to their previous experiences, and after seeing a snap shot of truer previous worlds you can totally understand why, however together they are better. They bring out the best if each other and are perfect together.

This was another sweet read, very easy to read and put me in the mood for Christmas even though it’s still October!!! I haven’t read any of Maxine’s books before and this was such a lovely read.
I read this very quickly and didn’t want to finish it as I enjoyed it so much. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review

I liked reading about Sophia and Nate in Wishington Bay. A cosy, warm enjoyable romance. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers fro letting me review this book.

A lush book of friendship, understanding, love and a bit of sarcasm mixed in. Nate is a mix of sex on legs with no confidence in himself who comes to wishington bay to clear his head and find himself. However Sophie wisps in to clean the cottage and to make sure he’s looked after re instructions from his brother. Sophie has secrets that she left behind but through a mix of banter and sarcasm with Nate they find friendship which hopefully leads to love

I thought that this was a really lovely story!

The plot was well developed, the pace was spot on and it was a really easy story to read. I have read a few books by this author and she had a wonderful and relaxed writing style that means you can completely lose track of time reading.

I thought that the storyline was good as were the characters who worked really well together and I really warmed to them from the outset too - it is 5 stars from me - very highly recommended!

It was an ok read.
Sophia is running away from her previous life and ends up in Wishington Bay where she finds somewhere to live and a job.
Of course nothing runs smoothly and soon she is falling for a hot guy.
I found Sophia frustrating at times. For a while I couldn't make up my mind how old she was as she did act like a stroppy teenager even though it said she had been married for 15 years.
Also there was a lot of banal conversation between Sophia and Nate which makes it boring at times to read.
It would have been nice to have had more description about the Victorian evening they had.
I liked the characters Flora and Eloise they were mischief makers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Although it is autumn and early (for me) to read books about winter I really enjoyed this nice easy cosy read. Great storyline and nice characters.

3.5 stories

This was a cute story about a little town on Wishington Bay, which seems to be a place that heals people when they are at a point in their life when they just need a break or a change.

Sophia has been in Wishington Bay for 18 months working as a waitress and a part-time maid. The entire town adores her - she is friendly, helpful, hard working and just a nice person. Everyone that is except a fellow bimbo waitress named Corinne - who really just appears to be jealous.

Nate has come to Wishington Bay at the request of his brother, pediatrician Gabe. Nate is going through a bad divorce where his wife has cheated on him with her tennis coach. She eventually left him to live with the coach. Poor Nate never saw it coming as he is a serious workaholic. His wife is beautiful and Nate is still heartbroken over their breakup. Gabe is out of the country so Nate stays in Gabe's place when he first arrives. Little does he know, Gabe has asked Sophia to "check in" on Nate - to bring him home cooked meals and clean the place once per week.

The first time they meet is hilarious. Nate is prickly and Sophia really gives him a verbal lashing. But their interactions start to pull Nate out of his funk and back into the real world. But both of them are harboring secrets - can they find happiness together even though they both say they don't want to enter another relationship? What will Corinne do to release her frustrations against Sophia? What special visitors will Sophia receive that has the entire town in an uproar? You'll need to read the book to learn the answers to these questions.

This book can easily be read in a day. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.