Portobello Book Blog

Isn’t that such a pretty cover? All those little houses by the beach and the sea looking so inviting. It looks like a lovely place to spend a summer holiday. Talking of houses, I’ll be sharing a lovely post from Angela Britnell about the houses which sparked the idea for this book in a couple of weeks time, so watch out for that. Now then, let’s find out about the book and what I thought of it.

About the Book

What would you do if you inherited a Cornish cottage by the sea?

If you’re Thea Armitage, sell it as soon as possible. Whilst there’s no denying that Seaspray Cottage has its charm, it just holds too many bad memories for Thea to consider keeping it – although at least spending the summer preparing it for sale gives her a distraction from troubles back home in Tennessee.

What Thea didn’t count on was her worst Cornish memory moving in right next door. Local bad boy Harry Venton played no small part in Thea’s decision never to return to Cornwall twenty years before – and now he’s her neighbour! Could things get any worse?

Except Harry isn’t the boy he was, and as Thea comes to realise that her opinion of him was built on lies and misunderstandings, perhaps things will start looking up for her summer at Seaspray Cottage …

My Thoughts

First of all I have to say how much I enjoyed the Cornish setting of this book. I never grow tired of reading about pretty villages and close knit communities. I particularly enjoyed the warm way the residents of Chough Cove were portrayed. With some Cornish dialect included, I could almost hear their voices in my head.

Harry and Thea were madly in love as teenagers till some poison pen letters led their families to force them apart. With Thea living in Tennessee, there was certainly a huge distance between them. But it was clear when they met again that the attraction was still well and truly sparking away between them. Was that going to be enough to reignite their relationship twenty years on? I couldn’t wait to find out! It wasn’t going to be an easy path not least because of the very difficult relationships they both had with their fathers. Also what happened in the past had a huge influence on how both of them approached serious relationships.

Houses play an important role in the story. Thea lives in a small fisherman’s cottage inherited from her aunt and Harry is building a very different, modern kind of house. The issue of housing for local people in popular tourist areas is also touched upon. I felt a lot of this book was about what makes a house a home. It’s not just the building but the people and love that fill it. I have to mention Harry’s commitment to a programme giving troubled young people a chance by involving them in his building company. It just showed what a deep down highly principled person he was, somewhat changed from the rebellious teen he was.

Summer at Seaspray Cottage is a very enjoyable romance, with plenty heat between the main characters, making it an ideal summer read.

Buying links

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3uqkiry
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3bNvGar

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3QbBfz9
Nook: https://bit.ly/3QeSW0H

About the Author

Angela was born in St. Stephen, Cornwall, England. After completing her A-Levels she worked as a Naval Secretary. She met her husband, a US Naval Flight Officer, while being based at a small NATO Headquarters on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. They lived together in Denmark, Sicily, California, southern Maryland and London before settling in Franklin, Tennessee.

Angela took a creative writing course in 2000 and loved it so much that she has barely put her pen down since. She has had short stories and novels published in the US. Her novel Sugar & Spice, won Choc Lit’s Search for an American Star competition and was her UK debut.

Follow Angela on Twitter: @AngelaBritnell
Like Angela on Facebook: Angela Britnell