Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for Coming Home To Merriment Bay Part 1: A Reunion. My review is written with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book via the publisher.

Blurb:

A heartwarming four-part serial about finding the strength to put the past behind you and to reach out for a future filled with happiness and love.

After eighteen years apart, reclusive Cat Devon still recognises her mum’s handwriting. Plucking up the courage to open the letter, its contents send Cat and her teenage daughter, Kyra racing to Merriment Bay, the seaside village where Cat grew up.

But Cat is shocked to find the situation is worse than expected. Despite everything, Cat considers herself to be an optimist at heart and Kyra takes after her. Looking on the bright side may not improve things, but it definitely can’t make them worse.

Clearing out the house that, even now, Cat fondly thinks of as home, she stumbles upon more than just memories in the battered leather trunk in Granny Viola’s bedroom. She discovers a faded photo of an RAF pilot, a pile of unopened letters, and a mystery waiting to be solved.

Who is the man in the – clearly treasured – photo? Cat and Kyra are intent on finding out. But that’s not all Cat’s determined to do. It’s time she came to terms with her past and made peace with her mum and her gran. All the while avoiding bumping into the one man she never quite got over … and keeping a few secrets of her own.

This is Part One of a new, four-part serial. The other three parts are:

Coming Home to Merriment Bay – Part Two: Sparks Fly

Coming Home to Merriment Bay – Part Three: Christmas

Coming Home to Merriment Bay – Part Four: Starry Skies

This is the start of Emily Harvale’s Merriment Bay series which is interconnected to her Wyntersleap series. Each series can be read alone, but several characters appear in both series.

Review:

Coming Home To Merriment Bay Part 1 :A Reunion is quite different to the books I usually read, but I have to say I enjoyed every page of it. Harvale’s writing is absolutely beautiful and I was immediately drawn into both the landscapes and the way of life in Merriment Bay.

I have not read any of Harvale’s previous work and I was not aware that Coming Home To Merriment Bay Part 1: A Reunion was connected to it. Despite this, I felt that the characters were introduced really well and although the book is a short novella, I felt I learnt a lot about them and I am certainly intrigued to know more.

As the first book in a new series, Coming Home To Merriment Bay Part 1: A Reunion provides the reader with lots of questions which I hope will be answered as the series continues. I must admit to being slightly misled by the bright cover, as some of the issues raised in the novella are actually very serious. There are questions surrounding family history, war and relationships and I am really looking forward to finding out what happens next!

Coming Home To Merriment Bay Part 1: A Reunion is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: