Summer at Coastguard Cottages by Jennifer Bohnet

Jennifer Bohnet returns to the blog today with a lovely, summery read that is sure to entertain and leave you with a smile. Please read on for my review of

Summer at Coastguard Cottages

The second title I’ve read from Bohnet, what strikes most obviously is the characters and their growth and transformation, even as they are in a ‘familiar to them’, at the Coastguard cottages. The cottages are four summer cabins, each owned by one of the four characters in the story: Bruce, Megan, Carrie and Guy, who all are having their own moments of crisis and hoping the setting will help them come to decisions. With insets from secondary characters, and plenty of soul-searching, the stretch for each to find their own new path while basking in the gorgeous coastal setting is a seemingly simple, yet decidedly complicated story. In all the best ways.

From coming to terms with life without his beloved wife, to the dissection of a marriage on the rocks, a search for a birth mother after a windfall from an unknown and unmet father to the simple task of healing, each character comes alive and palpable: allowing readers into their own lives, stories and struggles as they completely burrow into your heart and head. Who hasn’t had those moments of questioning: who you are, why you are there, just where should you go now? With gentle interactions and friendships renewed and rekindled, the characters each find answers and new determination to move forward, changing their trajectories or finding comfort in the old and familiar. Bohnet gives moments of engagement and insight into each character: allowing them to develop and grow, even as you find yourself worrying for them, cheering them on, or wondering just why they don’t do things your way. Easing readers into the story that doesn’t just focus on each character’s moments of trial or interior monologue, but allowing for the interactions and subtle insets of each person’s story to unfold, presenting a rich tapestry of a tiny community, brought together by chance but bonding in support, camaraderie and shared struggles.

Dialogue is natural and flows, with distinct voices of each coming through clearly: you feel the sorrow that weighs heavily on Bruce and Guy, feel Hazel’s frustrations, understand the tentative approach to the world that stands out from Megan as she struggles with redefining herself as wife or divorce, and then there is Carrie. Adopted and now searching to discover her beginning without the worry of money from an unexpected inheritance, her voice shows the questions as she works to define herself with the newfound knowledge and unending questions she has lived with forever. A wonderful read that shows that taking time to truly discover yourself in a setting that is familiar yet different from your everyday can help you to grow, discover and decide on your next moments.

Summer at Coastguard Cottages by Jennifer Bohnet

Title: Summer at Coastguard Cottages
Author: Jennifer Bohnet
Genre: Contemporary Woman's Fiction
Published by: HQ Digital
ISBN: 0008262713
Published on: 23 August, 2017
Format:eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Pages: 384
Rated: four-stars

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See this Title on Goodreads

Escape to the seaside this summer with Jennifer Bohnet’s fabulously feel-good beach read!

Eight weeks to change their lives!

Bruce is learning to live again after the recent death of his wife.

Megan is counting on this summer to patch up the cracks in her marriage.

Carrie is looking for her birth mother, after inheriting a fortune from the father she never met.

Guy is still dealing with the trauma of the last few months and needs time to put the past behind him.

Hazel is hitting a mid-life crisis and struggling to cope with her stroppy teenager.

A summer at Coastguard Cottages looks like the perfect remedy for everyone. But after eight weeks, unexpected events will change their lives forever…

Perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson, Ellen Berry and Caroline Roberts.

A copy of this title was provided via Publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

About Jennifer Bohnet

Jennifer Bohnet is English, originally from the West Country but now living in the wilds of rural Brittany, France. She's still not sure how she ended up there! The saying 'Life is what happens while you're deciding what to do' is certainly true in her case. She's always written alongside having various jobs: playgroup leader, bookseller, landlady, restauranteur, farmer's wife, secretary/p,a - the list is endless but does provide a rich vein of inspiration for her stories.

For three years she wrote a newspaper column in The South Hams Group of Newspapers (Devon)where she took a wry look at family life. Since living in France it is her fiction that has taken off with hundreds of short stories and several serials published internationally.

Allergic to housework and gardening she rarely does either but she does like cooking and entertaining and wandering around vide greniers (the French equivalent of flea markets) looking for a bargain or two. Her children currently live in fear of her turning into an ageing hippy and moving to Totnes, Devon.

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