I’m delighted today to be helping launch the blog tour for Safe Harbour in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen – the fifth book in this lovely series, every book entirely readable as a standalone – and sharing my publication day review. Published today (8th April), it’s now available for kindle (free via Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback. My thanks, as ever, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation to join the blog tour and for her support, and to both Rachel and Maggie for my advance reading e-copy.
Ok, so I know I tell you this with every new book, but this is a series I really love – the mature romances, the wonderful Pelican Bay setting, and the many friendships among in its close-knit community. The first book in the series, The Restaurant in Pelican Crossing, was Poppy’s story (one of a group of female friends who regularly meet for lunch, and support each other in so many different ways) – her developing romance with Cam, all those family complications and a fair bit of drama too (you’ll find my full review here). The second, Secrets in Pelican Crossing, was Liz’s story – another very touching romance, more family issues, some emerging secrets and a little more drama to make the pages turn faster (my review of that one is here). The third, A New Dawn in Pelican Crossing, was Gill’s story – once more filled with everything I enjoy (you can read my review again here). And it was so easy to identify with Rachel’s emotional rollercoaster in the fourth, A Christmas Surprise in Pelican Crossing (review here). And this time? It’s rather nice to see the return of mayor Joe’s sister, Erica…
An emotional and uplifting story of friends, family and second chances
After the death of her abusive husband, Erica Masters returns to Perth, eager for a fresh start and the birth of her granddaughter. But when she learns her husband has changed his will in favour of their son, leaving her with nothing, she flees to seek refuge in Pelican Crossing, the place she once called home.
Having sold his fishing boat after a bitter divorce which left him to bring up his two teenage sons, Jamie Whittaker has found success with his fishing charter business. Thrilled by the arrival of his first grandchild, he is stunned when his teenage flame, Erica, reappears in town.
As the pair reconnect, old feelings resurface, but Erica remains guarded after her painful past. Jamie, determined to win Erica’s heart once again, manages to break through her defences until a family tragedy turns their lives upside down.
With everything unravelling around them, can these two troubled souls build a future together?
If you enjoy emotional reads, you’ll love this gripping tale of love and second chances.
Having returned to Perth after the death of her controlling and abusive husband, Erica finds that he’s still casting a shadow over her life. He left their home and business – a struggling one – to their son Kieran, who needs to make some changes to keep the family’s heads above water. Faced with the prospect of an uncertain future when the family home is sold, she remembers that she has a refuge, a place that already feels like home and where she’ll have a warm welcome – and travels again to Pelican Crossing, at first staying with her brother Joe, intent on making a totally fresh start. She finds a temporary home of her own on the quayside, resumes her nursing career, and rediscovers the joy she discovered in swimming with friends in the early mornings. But her life with her husband has left her damaged – lacking in confidence, slow to trust, and feeling comfortable in her new life is going to take some time. And she does also have lingering concerns about her son – and whether he might be following the example set by his father.
Jamie lives nearby – a fisherman, and owner of a charter boat business, with two adult sons also making a success of their lives – and he’s delighted to see Erica’s return. In their youth, they were a couple – and he really hopes there might be a chance of them getting close again. At first, she resists – although there’s an attraction, her experience with her husband has made her understandably wary, doubting her ability to recognise a good man from another wrong one. But he – very slowly, and particularly gently – makes her realise that she really is deserving of some future happiness, and that it might lie in them being together.
But there are family complications. Erica particularly needs to put to rest her fears that her son is being abusive with his own family, and provides a place of safety for her daughter-in-law and grandchild for a while: and Jamie has problems of his own, his former wife making an unwelcome reappearance during a family emergency. But love does finally find a way – helped along by the support of friends and the warmth of the whole community.
As always, this was a beautifully told story – a slow-build romance between two individuals I really took to my heart, both so deserving of the happiness they hope to find together. Their issues are very sensitively handled, their challenges easy to identify with, the emotional turmoil they both go through very real. There’s that real warmth to the story that I always so enjoy – the wonderful community at Pelican Crossing wrapping itself around them, helping them make the decisions that are right for them both. And the main characters are so wonderfully drawn – I could tell Jamie was exactly the partner Erica needed from the very beginning (such a lovely man!), it just took her rather longer. A perfect addition to this long-running series, and a book I’d very much recommend.
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.