Synopsis
As summer comes to the tranquil shores of Micklewick Bay, Maggie Marsay is on cloud nine. She can barely keep up with orders for her handmade teddy bears, turning her crafting hobby into a thriving business. And after trying for a baby for some time, she has joyful news to share with her devoted husband Bear who she lives with in an idyllic clifftop cottage alongside their cheeky Labrador.
But an unexpected visitor casts a shadow over Maggie’s sun-drenched bliss. Robyn, a ghost from the past Maggie hasn’t seen in twelve long years, arrives on their doorstep. What could have brought Robyn back into Maggie’s life after so long? Is she truly sorry for her past mistakes, or is she up to her old tricks?
Maggie welcomes Robyn into their home, trying her best to forgive and forget. But when Robyn starts to drive a wedge between her and Bear, Maggie’s close-knit group of friends and neighbours rally around. Can they help Maggie weather this storm and find her way back to happily ever after? Or is trouble here to stay?
My Review
I am a huge fan of Eliza’s work and have been for a while. I have to admit that I haven’t caught up with everything that she has written but that is something that I hope to rectify one day. I must admit that at the moment I love the series set in Micklewick Bay. I loved the first book in the series and I have been impatiently waiting for the second book in the series to be released. Well ladies and gents, the wait is over because the second book in the series is called ‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’ and it was released on 1st May 2024. I thought that the first book was good but for me, ‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’ is even better. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’ but more about that in a bit.
As soon as I started that was it for me. I knew that I wouldn’t be moving very far and I certainly wouldn’t be putting the book down until after I had read the very last word on the very last page. My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story. Part of the reason why I enjoyed the book so much has to do with the main characters of Maggie and Bear and their adorable but loopy Labrador. I warmed to them all from the start and began to think of them as friends. Maggie and Bear have been through some tough times and have hit bumps in the road so to speak. I loved the Labrador although I may be slightly biased since I have two OAP ASBO yellow Labradors myself. Without going into too much detail, I just hoped that the story would have a positive outcome for all three of them. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I was so wrapped up in the story and desperate to find out how it ended that I didn’t realise just how quickly the time was passing and the speed with which I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’. I found ‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’ to be a delight to read from start to finish. It’s perfect escapist reading.
‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Eliza J. Scott. Eliza has an easy going writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact Eliza’s books read more like a chat between friends rather than reading a book. Eliza certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention, draw them into the story and make them feel as though they are part of the story themselves. Eliza’s love for her characters shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. Eliza makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. As I mentioned earlier in the review Maggie and Bear ended up feeling more like friends rather than characters in a book. There are some difficult subjects in this story but Eliza writes about them with compassion and sensitivity.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Summer Days At Clifftop Cottage’ and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to other readers. I look forward to reading much more of Eliza’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
gingerbookgeek 