A Cottage By The Sea by Carole Matthews

 

Grace's marriage is in trouble. After eight years together, she and Harry seem to have drifted in different directions and Grace is afraid they won't be able to reach each other again. So when Grace's friend invites them to spend a week at her remote cottage by the sea, Grace jumps at the chance, hoping time away from work and Harry's obsession with social media will do them good.

Ella and Art lead busy lives and, as Art is the manager of bands popular across Europe, they spend the majority of their relationship apart. Their lifestyle has always suited the pair but Ella has been re-evaluating her life lately and is drawn more and more to the tranquillity of the cottage.

Flick shared a house with Grace and Ella while they were all at university. She's always been unreliable and flaky, hopping from lover to lover but when she arrives at the cottage with her gorgeous new boyfriend, Noah, it seems she's finally ready to settle down.

The three friends arrive at the cottage for a week of relaxation and fun on the beach but will all leave with their lives turned upside down.

A Cottage By The Sea is a great summer read, from the fabulous setting to the hunky men and an array of secrets waiting to be spilled. I loved the idea of Cwtch Cottage, sat on a cliff in the middle of nowhere and cut off from technology and civilisation. It is the perfect place to switch off and hang out with friends for a few days.

Grace and her friends are a diverse bunch; Grace is quite serious and has never really let herself go while Flick is the complete opposite and is quite selfish in her quest to have fun in life. Ella is somewhere in the middle, living with her rock star wannabe boyfriend but acting like a mother hen to the group. You wouldn't necessarily put them together but they've been best friends for ten years and always look out for each other.

I was really enjoying A Cottage By The Sea until the end. I don't want to spoil what happens but it didn't sit well with me. Grace always puts others before herself but her understanding goes to the next level and she is on her way to sainthood by the end of the book. It wasn't a believable reaction to me and I couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed.


Thank you to Sphere for sending me a copy to review.