The setting in this story is without a doubt stunning. I did enjoy that part however I felt some things that were hinted at the beginning of the story, like the Literary and romantic commitments of the Lead character, were not touched on well enough. Instead we got a gist of them at the very end and the romantic interests were just amiss and a complete 360 turn at the end.

I'm a massive fan of the author and the Star and Sixpence series, and this immediately reminded me why. I love all the little details Holly Hepburn includes such as the job advert, event posters, descriptions of real-life places and cultural references in this case to one of my favourite films 'The Holiday' - all of which really help bring her stories to life. I also love her characters, particularly the 'support acts' such as mischievous goat Gordon, formidable Sheila and hot librarian Niall. Once again this was a charmingly warm and witty read, with all my favourite ingredients - village setting, two very different love interests (Clark Kent like Niall and Viking warrior Magnus), strong female characters and community spirit. My only reasoning for four stars rather than five is that it wasn't quite as good as my beloved Star and Sixpence......

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Ii have read other books by this author and they didn’t disappoint and neither did this.

A lovely story of Merry, a struggling writer, who has writers block. She goes to Orkney, on a Writer in Residence secondment to see if she can get back into doing what she loves, writing, fabulous books.

The characters were wonderful and so were how the places on Orkney were described. This place is definitely on my Bucket List.

Fabulous cover for a fabulous book.

Recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Suffering from writers block Merry finds herself taking up a post of Writer in Residence on the Orkney Islands. I absolutely loved this book and I am so glad that I was reading it as a complete edition rather than the 4 parts it had previously been published in.

From the setting in Orkney to the characters everything just fell in to place. A wonderful read.

This is a lovely book set on the Orkney Isles, which makes a change from the usual settings. Holly's descriptions of the Isles and the scenery make you feel as though you are there. Some lovely characters in Merina and Niall who were very engaging.

Coming Home To Brightwater Bay is a delightful, escapist book about second chances, healing and the wonders of Orkney.
I have a soft spot for Scotland having enjoyed many holidays there but I haven't yet been to Orkney, however its landscape, history and library are legendary! I was so thrilled this book covers all of these as well as many more attractions of the islands and incorporates them effortlessly in to the story of writer Merry's 6 months as "Writer In Residence". I was filled with such a desire to visit, imagining the characters' Scottish accents, the welcome of the community and the breathtaking cliff views.
Holly Hepburn writes Merry's struggles with such warmth and tenderness you can't help but instantly like her, she's brave, kind and at times hilarious. There's a gentle balance here of romance, fun, intrigue, tragedy and misfortune that really created a page-turner of a book. The delve in to the way a book is written/published, the realities of author life as well as the happenings at the library were very authentic. I can see some wouldn't be as happy with Merry's final choice but that I can understand, however I was very much satisfied with the ending, plus I hope there's a future book or 2 that follow on some of the other characters' subplots.
Gordon the goat's cameo sealed this 5 star rating and stole the whole show for me!

The best thing about reading is that even when we are in lockdown we can discover so many new places we never even knew existed and that is exactly what happened when I got swept away in Holly Hepburn’s new release Coming Home to Brightwater Bay.
What makes this book even better is that our main character Merry is an author and Merry is struggling with writers block along with a breakdown of her relationship. An opportunity to escape everything and to attempt to find her love of writing and some inspiration arises with a Writer in Residence retreat to the Orkney Islands, but will the words flow and will she find more than she hoped in Brightwater Bay?
As much as I love reading I am also interested in the author journey, how they find inspiration for their novels, the research they take to make their stories come to life and the pressures of deadlines and writers block that the majority of authors face at some point and so this book was an absolute dream to read because we follow Merry through each of these points and I found it really insightful.
I was blown away by the animals and places the author introduces us to in this novel and I was completely shocked that I had never even heard of Skara Brae, I instantly found myself Googling the place just to check that it was real and it is now somewhere I am desperate to explore myself after lockdown. The way Holly Hepburn describes each place she visits made them so alluring, they were easy to visualise.
There is a love triangle (at one point a square!) that added to this already wonderful storyline and I never quite knew if Merry’s heart was going to be stolen by the steamy Magnus or the dependable sexy librarian Niall or if indeed romance would truly blossom at all and the suspense of this only added to my enjoyment of the storyline.
There is a wonderful community spirit bringing so many friendly characters together and they all helped Merry in one way or another during her stay. Although the book was released in four parts I am pleased I waited to read the whole book as one as I don’t think I could have waited for each part to be released!

Really enjoy Holly Hepburn novels and this is no different. Really loved reading about Merrie and the local area and loved the relationship between the main characters.

Really enjoyed this book. Loved the characters and the descriptions of the local area. Made me want to visit!

Dumped and with writes block, Merina ends up as a writer in residence on Orkney. I loved the descriptions of the island and it's attractions, ome of which I had never heard of - makes me want to go and visit and see for myself.

Orkney soon works it's magic for Merina, as she gets to work on her new novel and meets some new men along the way.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

This is the first book I have read by this author and thoroughly enjoyed it so I will look to read her previous ones.

Dumped by her boyfriend and suffering from writer's block, romance novelist Merry’s life is in turmoil. When she is offered the opportunity to become Writer in Residence on the Orkney Islands, Merry packs her bags and leaves London. But will the wide open spaces and the breathtaking views of this beautiful island provide Merry with the inspiration she needs to reignite her passion for writing again?

A great book with a nice mix of characters which was a fun and entertaining read.

I am pretty sure this is the first book I've read by this author, but certainly won't be the last - I have already downloaded another 3 to my kindle!!
An absolutely charming story of Merry, a writer struggling with writers block who flees to Orkney on a Writer in Residence secondment to try and find herself again.
An inspiring story with wonderful characters, and the descriptions of the places on Orkney have made me want to visit, I could picture it all.
Fabulous book, looking forward to reading more of her work.

A great read. Loved how it started.. The description of Orkney was lovely. I loved her runs with her neighbour. You wanted to be there on the island. The live element was there. A fab good feel book

"Someone enjoys my book so much that they forget they're even reading, it means I've done my job properly" is a quote from this book and I think it sums up how I felt about Holly's writing.

It's the first book of Holly's I've read but it wont be the last. I loved it. I felt like I was there on the island. It is definitely a place I would love to visit one day.

The story itself is beautiful. It is a an amazing love story with a couple of twists along the way. There were a few scenes in the book where I hoped and prayed that Merry would choose the other guy and it kept me in suspense the whole way through.

Beautifully idyllic and I cant wait to read more of Holly's work.

What a lovely cosy read from Holly Hepburn set in the gorgeous sounding Orkney islands. I loved the stories about the island locations including the history and mythology, it really did bring the location to life which is the closest any of us can get to a holiday at the moment! The characters were varied and well written with strong personalities and Merry the main character had a good voice. The storyline was gentle but provided great escapism and overall was a lovely relaxing read.

This was originally published in 4 parts and now made into 1 full book which I loved.

We meet Merry a best selling author, who has writer's block, after a break up Merry decides to take the position of Artist in Residence on the Orkney Island for 6 months and leaves Chiswick behind and needs the change to get back her mojo.

While in Orkney she meets two very different men and gets the inspiration she needs, will Merry ever want to go back to London?

A funny read, beautiful settings. Orkney sounds just stunning.

I really enjoyed reading this one and really felt as if I was there.

What a lovely book to curl up with and forget about the outside world. I have not read many of Holly's books but I will certainly be from now on, it was just what I needed. Merry is the main character who goes away to write a book, she meets many interesting characters along the way but feels a fraud as she has only come away as she has writers block, not able to tell anyone she begins her journey by living in a clifftop cottage in the Orkney Islands. She hopes she can get some writing done being away from people but the locals are keen to get to know her maybe some more than others. The Orkney Islands are some where I have always wanted to go and haven't read any books set there, it was the perfect winter warmer for me. It was pure escapism.

This is the first time I’ve ever read a Holly Hepburn book in one hit – usually her stories (like this one) are published as 4 smaller novellas, spread across a year, with the whole story being published as a whole a few months later. This story was published as: Broken Hearts at Brightwater Bay, Sea Breezes at Brightwater Bay, Dangerous Tides at Brightwater Bay, Sunset Over Brightwater Bay.

The story starts with Merry (Merina), a Sunday Times Bestselling author, having a romantic meal with her fiancé Alex, her childhood sweetheart who she has been with for 16 years – the only boyfriend she’s ever had. Over dinner, Alex breaks Merry’s heart and leaves her to re-evaluate her life. She’s missed her deadline for her latest novel and is suffering crippling writer’s block when she sees an advert for a ‘writer in residence’ in the Orkney Islands for 6 months. With nothing to lose, Merry applies and we next see her 3 months after her heartbreak flying to her new life.

On Orkney, Merry soon adapts to her new life and makes friends quickly with the locals – who treat her like a rockstar! She decides to keep some of her life secret from her new friends and neighbours and soon begins to regret this when she meets someone who takes her breath away.

The book was a fantastic read during lockdown – I needed the relaxed vibe and escapism offered by reading this. It’s funny because Merry talks about wanting her books to be easy reads and this is exactly what this book is – I think Merry actually says something like “just because a book is an easy read, doesn’t mean it was an easy write”. Something I’ve thought about a lot (especially around this genre) this last few months.

I found myself Googling many of the locations while I was reading this (as well as Googling “hot Vikings”!) and have put the Orkney Islands on my list of places to visit assign as we can travel again.

I can’t wait for Holly’s next series….and maybe we will revisit the Orkney Islands again in the future!

It was the sunny, tranquil cover that first grabbed my attention. This was quickly followed by the intriguing blurb which hinted at a warm tale of an author’s rollercoaster book writing journey. How could I resist?

A harsh prologue set the scene well for Merry’s escape to Orkney, I could almost feel her shock jumping off the page at me and this meant that I quickly took her character to heart.

I found myself willing Merry to rediscover her writing mojo and hoping every new encounter on Orkney would be the one that sparked her creativeness. The island seemed kind of magical and the residents were more than welcoming so I guess it was more a matter of when than if it would happen. Being an avid reader, following the thought processes of an author as they write a novel is always interesting so I particularly enjoyed this aspect of Merry’s story.

Magnús was an interesting addition to the storyline and threw a spanner in the works of my initial romantic prediction. In fact, Merry’s love life was surprisingly unpredictable and managed to keep me on my toes throughout!

Favourite Moments:

* A rooftop visitor
* Running coercion
* A nervous reading
* Drunken phone calls
* An unwanted romantic hero

This was a warm and welcoming read which beautifully demonstrated that inspiration can sometimes come from the most unexpected of places!

I loved it completely. The setting was beautiful, the main character is delightful and the men are gorgeous. I loved meeting Merina and falling for Orkney with her. I particularly loved seeing her find herself whilst on the island and seeing her become an even more awesome version of herself.