It’s such a pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour for the latest book from Maggie Christensen, and sharing my publication day review – Happy Ever After in Bellbird Bay is published today (13th February) and is the ninth (and final… sob!) book in this lovely series, set within the small beachside community on the Queensland coast that I now feel I know so well. It’s now available both as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback via Amazon in the UK and US. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to both Rachel and Maggie for my advance reading e-copy.
All good things have to come to an end… but this is a series I’ve so enjoyed with its vividly drawn setting, second chance romances, and characters that have felt like friends. If you’d like to read my reviews of the earlier books in the series (and of many of the author’s other books too, including her lovely Granite Springs series) just pop her name into my search box on the right hand side of the page. And once again, I really must tell you that you really don’t have to invest in reading a whole series – all Maggie’s books are complete in themselves, with a beginning, middle and end, but with the special treat (for those of us who know our way around Bellbird Bay) of bumping into others and finding out how their lives are going. If you’d like to start one of her series from the very beginning, it’s not too long to wait for the first book in her next, set in nearby Pelican Crossing – perhaps I’ll see you there?
But first, let’s pay our final visit to Bellbird Bay…
It’s been over twenty years since Cass Marshall’s relationship fell apart, and she returned home to Bellbird Bay. Now, although happy with the success of her beachwear business, Cass often longs for someone special to share her life.
Nursing the wounds of a failed marriage, Mick Roberts has finally accepted his ex has moved on with her life. Determined to avoid his daughter’s attempts at matchmaking, he immerses himself in his whale-watching business.
When family sickness brings the two together, Cass wonders if her life is about to take a turn for the better. But with Mick’s ex-wife also being Cass’s best friend, a seed of doubt emerges.
This doubt intensifies when Cass’s recently widowed ex arrives in town, determined to use any means to drive a wedge between Cass and Mick as he fights for a second chance.
Can Bellbird Bay work its magic again and provide a happy ever after for Cass and Mick, or are they destined to spend the rest of their lives alone?
It was a failed – and perhaps rather unwise – romance that brought Cass home to Bellbird Bay, where she’s made a real success of Sassy’s, her beachwear boutique. Every morning starts with coffee with her best friend Greta who runs the nearby Birds of a Feather, and – as you might already know – has recently found happiness in her life. It’s made Cass reflect on her life a little – she’s contentedly alone, but might like to find a relationship of her own – but the only man who’s piqued her interest is Greta’s ex-husband Mick, and that would be far too complicated for all sorts of reasons.
Mick himself had always hoped he might get together with Greta again, but that wasn’t to be. In his younger days, he had a bit of a reputation for womanising – but, after a few recent health scares and taken in hand by daughter Jo, he’s now a reformed character, known around town for his successful whale-watching business rather than his romantic exploits. His daughter would like to see him settled in a new relationship though, pushing him towards a friend she works with – but the only woman he’s ever found himself attracted to, even though she seems uninterested, is Cass.
Cass acquires an unexpected guest – her nephew arrives from England, sent by her sister to for an extended stay to get him away from some troubles in his own life. And when he starts working for Mick on his boat, it begins to bring the pair closer together – but there are real obstacles to them ever being more than friends, and more than a few false starts, misunderstandings and unwelcome complications along the way.
I really think this might have been my favourite in the series – the tentative mature second chance romance I always so enjoy, but laced with family issues, friendship complications and emotional dilemmas that made the whole story particularly relatable while adding real depth to the story. And the wonderful community of Bellbird Bay certainly plays its part too, with plenty of opportunities to catch up with old friends – but, as always, no issues in picking up the threads of their stories for a first time visitor.
Yes, of course, I’ll miss my walks on the beach and along the boardwalk, choosing from the menu while sitting on the balcony at the surf club, popping into the shops and stopping for a coffee with whichever of my friends might be sitting at the pavement tables – and watching the next generation of surf champions finding success. But it’s time to move on to Pelican Crossing, glimpsed during Mick’s outing to find a second boat to grow his business – and I’m very much looking forward to finding out more.
This really has been the loveliest series, and this book provided the most perfect conclusion – very much recommended to all.
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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Thanks so much, Anne 🙂