#Review: Starting Over in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen @MaggieChriste33 @rararesources #blogtour #newrelease #secondchances #BellbirdBay.

It’s such a pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for Maggie Christensen’s Starting Over in Bellbird Bay, and to share my review: the third in her latest series (and isn’t that cover just glorious?), set in a small community on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, this lovely book was published on 23rd August and is now available both as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the author for my advance reading e-copy.

I suspect I hardly need to tell anyone by now that Maggie is very much a personal favourite. I first discovered her writing with The Good Sister (you’ll find my review here) and went on to very much enjoy the rest of her Scottish Collection, followed by almost all (she writes faster than I can read!) of her Granite Springs series, set in a small Australian country town, with mature characters that I found it so easy to identify with and a location I grew to love (you’ll find all my reviews if you pop her name into my search box…). Then there was something a little different, A Mother’s Story – a family saga, the stories of three women, starting in WW2, and I loved that one too (you’ll find that review here).

And I’m very much enjoying her new series – Summer in Bellbird Bay was the perfect start, and exactly what I needed back in February to escape the winter chills (you’ll find my review here). I just couldn’t fit in the second, Coming Home to Bellbird Bay (sorry, Maggie!), published in May – but that’s never a problem with any of her series, every book is perfectly readable as a standalone (with recurring characters as a special treat!). So, it’s lovely to be returning to Bellbird Bay once more…

Following the death of her husband, Cleo Johansen and her daughter moved to Bellbird Bay determined to make a new start. Having carved out a new life, Cleo is shattered when a shadow from her husband’s past throws their lives into disarray.

 

Will Rankin has lived in Bellbird Bay all his life. Now widowed, the former surf champion runs the local surf school and enjoys a close relationship with his son. Content to lead a single life, the appearance of an undesirable stranger is quick to upset his peaceful existence.

 

While neither Will nor Cleo is interested in forming a new relationship, an unexpected attraction surfaces when a mutual friend suggests they spend more time together.

 

Set against a background of sun, sea and sand, can Cleo and Will find a way to move forward together?

 

A heart-warming tale of family, friends, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.

I already feel very much at home in Bellbird Bay – the waves breaking on the beach, the surf club, the garden centre, the boardwalk, the lovely shops and cafes and art gallery – and feel like I made really good friends on my last visit. One of my favourite background players in the first book was Will, with his real edge of sadness, cutting quite a lonely figure – having lost the love of his life, running the surf school, and nurturing his son Owen’s talent in riding the waves. But it seems I’m not the only one who took a fancy to him – he’s having real problems with a distinctly predatory woman, a former pupil, who won’t take “no” for an answer. Owen has moved out, now sharing a home with Nate and Hannah – and that means Will crosses paths with Cleo, Hannah’s widowed mum, also feeling the loneliness of an empty nest. Prompted by friends, they agree to a pretend relationship to throw the other woman off the scent – and find they have more common ground than either of them expect, as their relationship begins to develop into one that might just bring them both some happiness. But there are other clouds on the horizon – a luxury development in the planning stages that’s opposed by the whole community, and a message from Cleo’s husband’s past that brings unexpected shockwaves of its own.

If you’ve visited Bellbird Bay before, you’ll already know that Cleo runs the cafe at the garden centre – and has a good friend in Bev, the owner. But you really don’t need to know your way around or where the characters all fit in to enjoy this one, and that’s something I always really enjoy about the author’s books – she’s excellent at telling you just enough about everyone’s background that you soon know them well as you need to and become engaged in their lives (but I do suspect that reading one book will make you want to read more – that’s how I started!). The warmth of the community she creates entirely draws you in, the characters become people you know well and grow attached to, it’s a slice of real life – and the author has a quite wonderful touch with the more mature characters, making them easy to identify with and to share the range of their experiences. But don’t get the impression that all her characters are from the older end of the spectrum – the family relationships are equally well-drawn, and there were certainly some interesting dynamics between the three younger characters who decided to share the house together.

There’s a nice touch of drama in this one that make the pages turn rather faster, and plenty of other unexpected twists and turns to the story as the past raises its head and sometimes makes life less than comfortable.  I rather liked the way that environmental issues were raised and handled too, with Will taking the lead in opposition to the development – and if I lived at Bellbird Bay, I think I might just be one of the first with a placard and ready to lie down in front of the bulldozers.

I really enjoyed this one – the vividly drawn setting, the very real characters and their relationships, the story itself, the authenticity of the second chance romance – and the author’s writing, with its perfect emotional touch, is better than ever. Highly recommended – I loved it.

The next book in the series – Christmas in Bellbird Bay – will be published on 3rd November and is available for pre-order for kindle. I’m already looking forward to returning to one of my favourite places, meeting old friends again, and being introduced to Libby and Adam…

About the author

After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations, and historical fiction set in her native Scotland. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her trips to visit family in Scotland, in Oregon, USA or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them. Maggie has been called the queen of mature age fiction and her writing has been described by one reviewer as like a nice warm cup of tea – warm, nourishing, comforting and embracing.

From the small town in Scotland where she grew up, Maggie was lured to Australia by the call ‘Come and teach in the sun’. Once there, she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of over thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!

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