Member Reviews

I love this authors books and this one was no exception. Charming and heartwarming. A delightful read.

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I enjoyed read this Holly just hooks me into her books from the first few pages it was just great fun characters great plot a fab read

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I thought I had read all of this author’s books, but when checking recently I realised I hadn’t! This is one of the books I’ve missed! It is book #3 of the White Cliff Bay series, and strangely I had read the first two books of the series so wasn’t sure how I missed this one! You can however read this one as a standalone book.

This was such a delightful read! The cover of the book straight away pulls you in with its blue skies and golden beaches, and the main focus of the book – the lighthouse – smack bang in the middle. How summery does this book look? It is the absolute perfect summer read (I would say beach read, but I’m not sure if we will manage to get to any beaches this year!) The main characters are Darcy Davenport and Riley Eddison. Darcy has moved to the little town of White Cliff Bay for a fresh start. Her aunt, who had recently passed away, was a resident of the town and Darcy used to visit when she was younger. Riley Eddison lives in the lighthouse, which has been in his family for years. He’s very much a loner and prefers to keep himself to himself, that is until Darcy comes to town! He finds himself very much drawn to her when she begins a petition to save the lighthouse when the local council want to tear it down!

I know I say this about all this author’s books, but I loved this one!! Darcy was a fabulous character! She obviously has some self esteem issues brought on by how her parents treat her, but she needn’t worry as she’s such a lovely person! She does, however, have a little bit of clumsy streak and I have laughed my way through this book, particularly at the school fete where Darcy’s luck wasn’t really on her side! Riley is a character who you know you are going to love eventually, but at the beginning he does come across as a bit of a misery! He is obviously very pleasing on the eye, judging by the amount of town women who agree, but he only has eyes for Darcy! The storyline follows the usual ‘will they, won’t they’ but you just know that there will always be a happy ever after in books like this!

I loved the ‘sea life’ theme running through the book and it perfectly suited the location and characters! Darcy is what you would imagine a mermaid to be like, and I have to admit I did think it was going to turn into a fantasy at one point in the book and she would turn out to be a real mermaid!! The storyline of saving the lighthouse was lovely, and I loved the tour of it, describing all the rooms! I was particularly in awe of the basement room with the big glass windows, although I think I’d be really frightened that the glass would break with the weight of the water for me to spend any time down there! If this book has given me anything though, it’s the idea that I really want to live in a lighthouse now!

Overall, it was the perfect romantic story with a few added extras thrown in! Yes, it does have some sex scenes, but they are all very tastefully done! The characters are all likeable, the location is to die for and the storyline flows along so nicely that you can easily lose track of time as you will definitely be hooked by the end of the first chapter! Absolutely perfect, and I’m so glad that I realised that I hadn’t read it!! Would definitely recommend!!

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A magical summer read from the queen of the rom com! Holly Martin has done it again with this will-they-won't-they enemies-to-lovers romance. Darcy and Riley can't stand each other at first, but soon they begin to see they have more in common than they first realised. Holly builds their relationship beautifully, as well as the conflicts that keep their love story interesting, namely Darcy's struggle to choose between supporting Riley and fitting in with the locals of her new home. The characters were loveable, the setting was gorgeous and this was another great read from Holly.

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I DNFed this book at 25%. I was not liking the writing style nor was I connecting to the characters. This book was just not for me.

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This is the first book that I have read by this author and I was pulled in right away. I had no clue dear that this was a series. That did no t matter, a mermaid, an American, sharks, a light house and dogs bringing people together. The relationships were well written, and I could tell that the author did her research. The sharks mentioned peaked my interest and I found myself looking them up to see what the actually looked like. This book made me seeth, laugh, cheer, and everything in the end worked out as it should.

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Martin is so adept at drawing you into a warm, humorous heart felt read. The characters are great and the love story is wonderful. Highly recommend.

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I loved Book 1 of the series. I loved Book 2 of the series.. ..... and guess what!! I ADORE book 3 of the White Cliff Bay series! Loved, Loved, Loved it!!

Holly Martin has such a fabulous way of writing that I was hooked from the first couple of pages! She fills her books with characters that you immediately warm to, settings that you want to move to and sprinkles the right amount of humour amongst it all and creates another wonderful reading experience!!

This is the story of Darcy who feels like a failure in whatever she does. Especially to her parents - nothing she ever does seems good enough for them. So when she leaves London to escape the rat race to take up a position in White Cliff Bay for the council, she knows she's letting them down again. But for her it brings back all the wonderful memories she has of the place when she used to spend time with her Aunt there and learning to love Scuba Diving and the sea life which led to her career as a marine biologist.

Riley is an American who is living in the White Cliff Lighthouse, but that looks all set to change soon with the council planning big changes for the area. He keeps himself to himself as to not get involved with the local community, but still has the female population swooning in his prescence! But there's something different about Darcy when he first meets her - and the feeling is mutual!

With the help of the community though a plan is put into place to try and save the Lighthouse and it is always wonderful to read of people power in such a small community.

Another wonderful story from Holly and I am hoping there'll be more from this wonderful setting in the near future as I'm always eager for more!!

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This is the 3rd book in the White Cliff Bay trilogy, but you do not have to have read the first two to enjoy this one. I haven't read them but will go back and read them now. In this story, Darcy Davenport has returned to live in the seaside resort town she used to visit as a child. She loved visiting her aunt, who was an artist, and was happiest in the water. Darcy's parents are overbearing, stifling, dream killing and extremely critical of everything she does, whereas her aunt was the complete opposite. When Darcy was fired from her dream job as a Marine Biologist, her parents blamed her and her self-worth and confidence plummeted. She tried various jobs, but nothing worked. When she found herself a job in the White Cliff Bay area she took it in an effort to escape her parents and return to a place where she was happy. Darcy loves people and wears her heart on her sleeve. She wants to be liked and welcomed in the community and just being herself makes that happen quickly.

One thing she remembers is the importance of the Lighthouse in all her Aunt's paintings. When she finds our that it is going to be torn down, she joins with the residents to save the Rose Island Lighthouse tower. The owner and builder was the Eddison family and Riley Eddison, an American has renovated the living space and is now living in it. Riley is running from problems he encountered in his small hometown in Texas. He craves the solitude of his ancestral family home, the lighthouse, and certainly didn't anticipate the council compulsory purchase order taking it from him with the intention of demolishing it. Notices had been sent about this issue, but as no one was living in it at the time, there was no response and now it is too late. And then there was the red-haired mermaid that swam to his rocks and captured his heart, much to his chagrin. What is he to do.

I love Holly Martin's writing, it is so descriptive. She pulls you right into the lives of the characters and the little town. I would love to visit there and meet these people. They are friendly, lovable, and real. I love how quickly news travels from one end of the town to the other, arriving before the person walking. The battle to save the Lighthouse was well written. Anyone who has joined a campaign to save something would feel the turmoil and anger of the residents as someone from outside their community comes along to make decisions.

I really enjoyed the development of Darcy and Riley's relationship. Yes, it was love at first sight, but it was not acted upon. They had to get through some baggage, push aside some of their barriers and decide if their burgeoning love was enough to surmount the obstacles in their path. There were some unexpected twists in the story that I enjoyed and helped to show that relationships can survive if you are willing to fight for them. A thoroughly enjoyable romance. If you have not read this one, then it is a perfect summer read for any romance lover out there.

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Ya know, this one was just middle of the road. Nothing really stood out or made it special. But also, nothing was just awful with it either.

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