The Boathouse by Stepping Stone Bay by Helen Rolfe

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Orion and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

As a kid, Nina O'Brien spent all her summers at her grandparents' cabin by the beach at Stepping Stone Bay. Long, sunny days full of fun and laughter with her best friends, Leo, Adrian, and Maeve, her friendship with Leo slowly blossoming into love. Until one fateful night changed everything for them all...

Twelve years later, Nina must return to the bay to renovate the old cabin and pass it on to a new owner. But not only does Leo still live in the cabin next door, he works at his family's boathouse right there in the bay. As they begin to work through their differences and what happened all those years ago, can Nina really walk away from him twice?

Maeve has finally returned home to face the past. Her eleven-year-old son, Jonah, loves the sea, unlike Maeve who is terrified of it. But she knows she can't keep Jonah away from the sea or the truth forever..

My Opinion

This was a delight to read. This is definitely a feel good story that will have you hooked from the beginning. Helen Rolfe is quite a new author to me but I have yet to be disappointed by one of her books. The book does get off to a slow start, but stick with it, you will not be disappointed.

A lovely heart-warming read.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A close group of friends encountered a devastating accident 12 years ago in Stepping Stone bay that led to the majority of them leaving. As they start to return to the bay they start to face their individual demons. Nina’s grandad has decided to sell his cabin and she has the job of fixing the cabin up ready to sell, knowing her childhood sweetheart and love of her life lives in the cabin next door. Maeve emigrated to Canada with her family who have now returned along with Maeve’s son Jonah. Jonah loves being near the see and helps out Leo in the surf shop, Maeve is terrified of the sea and won’t let Jonah anywhere even close to it. Can Nina bare to sell the cabin once she has spent the time doing it up and can she rekindle her relationship with Leo?
Can Maeve learn to love the sea and allow Jonah to enjoy it?

Great read.

A sweet read but all the drama literally happens in the last few pages of the book. This made the start of the book feel a bit slow and boring. It kind of needed something else.

I received a free copy of, The Boathouse by Stepping Stone Bay, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. When Nina was younger she fell in love with Leo, but things did not end well between them. Back in town Nina is getting her cottage ready to sell unfortunately it is next door to Leo's. Can they get past all the hurt from before and move on? This is a good book, I liked the characters and the setting.

Engaging story written in a sensitive way, interesting characters in a beautiful setting. The cover of this book draws you in too. Thank you netgalley for the advance copy.

Helen is such a wonderful writer. All of her books are full of love, romance, friendship, secrets, drama, friendship, family, community, secrets, challenges, obstacles to overcome wonderful characters and happily ever afters.

I would absolutely love to visit Boathouse at Stepping Stone Bay. I mean just look how gorgeous it looks just by the front cover.

Nina moved away from Stepping Stone Bay over a decade ago. But now her adorable grandfather Walt is selling the family cabin and so it is time for Nina to return to deal with her demon from the past, to bring the cabin up to date and help sell it.

Leo is the person who Nina loved and left behind over a decade ago. Not on the best of circumstances. Leo owns and runs the nearby boating business. He lives, breaths and loves his job.

As more of the old gang start to trickle back it's time for everyone to face up to the things that happeneded in the past. The try and sort out the mess that it left behind and try to find out where to go in the future.

Another wonderful book with great characters.

It’s mentioned in the introductory pages that Helen Rolfe writes stories about family, friendship, secrets, community and characters that often face challenges and must fight to overcome them but there is always a happy ending. Those words sum up in a nutshell what her new book, The Boathouse at Stepping Stone Bay, is all about. It has the most gorgeous, inviting cover and I loved the title so that’s what made me want to give it a go. Given the nature of the cover, I expected this to be a lovely, light and easy read and to be honest I thought it would be the usual girls meets boy and there is a bit of back and forth before they give into their feelings. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth I found in the story as it deals with the continued fall out from a tragic incident in Stepping Stone Bay over 12 years ago. The majority of the group of friends who experienced said event have mostly scattered and moved away from the area. All except for Leo Magowan but now the group are slowly starting to trickle back for various reasons and perhaps the time is ideal for past ghosts, emotions and words to be put to rest? Is everyone willing to go along with this or has too much water flowed under the bridge?

Nina O’Brien has stayed away from Stepping Stone Bay and the nearby coastal town of Salthaven for more than a decade but now that her grandfather Walt is selling the family cabin that holds so many memories for Nina and her brother William, she has taken time away from her nursing job and is going to bring the cabin up to date so it can be sold. It’s a bittersweet time for her. It’s where she felt safe and secure and loved by her grandparents. Especially, when her parents were always away travelling for work and she felt abandoned and unloved. She carries these feelings with her right through to the present day believing that she is not good enough and the feelings of self worth and doubt have come back with her to the bay. Nina is anxious about coming back to the bay for there is someone she left behind. Someone who meant the world to her but she just upped and left leaving said person crushed and devastated and most of all angry and clueless as to the reasons for her sudden departure.

That person is Leo who resides in the cabin next to the O’Brien’s and close by is where he runs his boating business. The business and all that comes with it mean everything to Leo and he loves his life’s work but when he notices some activity around the O’Brien’s cabin he is cautious and the memories of the event that lead to Nina leaving and the mystery as to why she gave him no explanation haunt him. Nina had captivated him as a teenager and their friendship developed into something else. Something solid and real and what felt like it could be long lasting so to be left alone like that eats away at him. When he spots that Nina has returned let’s just say things don’t go that well and really you couldn’t blame him. There is an awful lot of emotions and hurt to process and the pair seem to tip toe around each other. Nina just wants to get the cabin renovated and get back to her job even though it’s so painful that Walt feels he needs to sell it. But at the same time she does understand that now he is on his own in his house having lost his wife Elsie not so long ago that he wants the money the sale of the cabin will bring to make sure he is comfortable in his home in whatever years he may have left.

Leo lives and breathes Stepping Stone Bay and he can’t imagine ever giving it up so that’s also another factor in the confusion and upset he feels surrounding Nina fleeing. But now that she is back it’s the prime opportunity for everything to come out into the open. I desperately hoped that Nina would pluck up the courage to try and at least make amends with Leo and provide him with a solid and reasonable explanation for her past actions. I totally understand the incident which I won’t go into detail about affected those present in so many ways but there had to have been something else that made her stay away for so long. I questioned whether if Walt hadn’t put the cabin up for sale would both Leo and Nina just gone about their lives as they had been without ever facing what still clung close to their hearts? It was evident they would make a great couple and I hoped they had the where with all to navigate the issues and stormy waters that had kept them apart for so long.

It’s not just Nina who has returned to the area, Maeve and her son Jonah have come back from Canada. She had emigrated with her parents many years ago and now that they have returned she feels the time is right to do so too. Maeve is similar to Nina, in that she is apprehensive about coming back. The incident still has not left her mind and she is super cautious when it comes to letting Jonah anywhere near the sea which really doesn’t help as he has struck up a friendship with Leo and helps him out at the boatshed after school. All this is unbeknownst to Maeve as she is busy working at the café at the end of the pier. Maeve is a single mum and has always tried her best when it comes to raising Jonah but I got the feeling her fears and insecurities were holding her son back. She was passing her own worries onto him instead of letting him live a little and experience life as a young boy in the town. You could see he loved spending time with Leo but in my mind Maeve over acted an awful lot. Well, that’s how it came across for a lot of the story until her reasons became clear and I understood her much more.

Leo’s brother, Adrian, has been married and divorced and similar to Maeve and Nina he has come back to the bay. But he is living in isolation and refuses to get back into life in the town where he grew up. Leo is really worried about him and both brothers have buried an awful lot of feelings which they need to work through. I felt that Adrian didn’t feature enough. That he seemed to be on the periphery of things either just mentioned by Leo which is how we got to know him or featuring more so towards the end. His aspect of the overall plot I thought was rushed. I did guess fairly early on as to a connection that becomes apparent and when it does I wanted more explanation and perhaps more of a fight from him instead of accepting things without question. Therefore, it made the ending quite rushed and I would have loved another chapter or two. Especially as I thought the rest of the story had been so carefully plotted and developed. But aside from that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment reading about a great set of characters trying to right the wrongs of the past and find some resolution and happiness in the present.

Characters from a previous book by the author, The Little Café at the End of the Pier, do make an appearance here and I was kicking myself as I have it for far too long on my tbr pile.It’s my own fault for leaving it so long to read that through reading this a lot of the plot of that book was given away here. So in fact, I think I’ll wait even longer to read it so the characters and events of that book aren’t so fresh in my mind. But for long time fans of Helen Rolfe the apperance of said characters will be a welcome pleasure. For me, I enjoyed reading of Nina, Leo and co and their story was covered in a respectful and sensitive way providing me with the depth I hadn’t expected but which I found to be handled well. This story gave its readers something a little bit different from the lighter end of the women’s fiction genre and I appreciated it all the more for it. It’s a heart warming, engaging and interesting story and I would definitely recommend it.

This was an enjoyable read about growing up, second chances and forgiveness. I loved the setting of Stepping Stone Bay.
There were a few secrets, most of which I guessed before they were revealed, but I still enjoyed reading about how the story unfolds and the characters reactions.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

Another stunning book by Helen, expertly written. Lovely range of characters and plot, penned in Helen's expert way. Loved it!

My heart is full having devoured Nina and Maeve’s stories in just one sitting. Full of emotion and history - this is a beautiful story of reconnecting with memories and being brave.
Helen Rolfe has such a way with words and stories and I loved being with the friends at Stepping Stone Bay. I could just imagine watching the waves and hearing the water on the stones as Leo and Nina sat on the veranda of the cabin. Being reintroduced to familiar characters at the cafe was lovely and new additions were wonderful- Jonah was a particular favourite.

I thoroughly enjoyed escaping to Stepping Stone Bay and catching up with Maeve, Leo, Adrian and of course Nina. Nina was so brave to help her grandfather get the cabin ready to sell thinking he needed the money from the sale to make his life easier financially. Jonah was a lovely character and it was good to see Adrian finding out at last that he was his son. A beautifully written story which was a real page turner. It was heartwarming and the closeness of the little community was lovely.

I found this a slow starter but once I got into it, this book is a really good read. Slightly predictable maybe but none the less very enjoyable. I liked the setting and the characters an easy weekend read.

I have to be honest I skipped most of this book, got to 25% through and the amount of time "stepping stone bay" and "13 stepping stones" was used was irritating jumped to 85% and then read most to the end, there were no surprises and had guessed most of it, its an easy read but nothing new or exciting, sorry.

I generally find that a Helen Rolfe book is like a warm hug and this one is no different, I loved the fact that it was sent in the same place as one of her previous books was set and revisited some of the same characters, although this can easily be read as a stand alone book. Lovable characters, gorgeous scenery and a heart warming story, what more can you ask for?

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

Twelve years ago, there was a really bad boating accident which changed the lives of a group of friends. Some of them left Stepping Stone Bay, but some stayed, but not one remained unhurt.

The story is told through Leo and Nina’s perspectives, how their lives were before the incident and after it.

Leo stayed and managed the family boatyard, his brother left and got married which ended in divorce. Nina, left as she didn’t have much faith in herself and so did Maeve who left to live in Canada with her parents.

They’ve all come back to the bay, but not one of them has forgotten what happened, and some have secrets.

This story covered and sensitive subjects in a caring way.

I recommend this book.

The last few chapters of this book really got me. The whole book recounts a fateful night 12 years ago that changed this group of friends lives forever. They all reacted differently, but ultimately all living lives apart from each other, until they all decide it’s time to come home. We get each of their point of view and an update on their life. Then we get to see old sparks reignite and we’re constantly thinking ‘will they it won’t they?’
I have to say the twist at the end about Jonah wasn’t really a surprise as I guessed quite early on, but I still had no idea how the dad was going to react, nor how they really felt about each other until the story progressed further.
Nina and Leo were great together and I liked how they slowly felt their way with reconnecting as friends and clearing the air about past hurts before realising they had more to give other.
All in all it was a nice quick read for a lazy weekend.

I’ve yet to read one of Helen’s books that I don’t love! They are such heart warming stories full to the brim of wonderful, well developed characters who all have such interesting, yet believable, back stories making them real people who you want to get to know. I loved the setting of this one, I could hear the ocean and feel the breeze! I smiled so much reading this, as well as shed a few tears…and there was a wonderful twist at the end! Wonderful read!

Twelve years ago a fatal boating accident affected the lives of a group of friends. Some left beautiful Stepping Stone Bay and some remained, but no one stayed unscathed.
Helen Rolfe is a new author to me, and one I really enjoyed. The chapters alternated between Leo and Nina’s viewpoints, which grave a fully rounded story of their lives both before and after the tragedy.
Leo remained in the Bay and ran the family boatyard, his brother left and made a disastrous marriage which ended in divorce, Nina ran away after losing all confidence in herself and Maeve emigrated with her parents to Canada. but they are all back now in the Bay, all still bearing scars and some with secrets too big to tell.
This book kept my attention throughout and felt with sensitive subjects in a caring way.
Read and enjoy.