What they say: Weeks after boarding a train to Paris in pursuit of her writing dreams, aspiring novelist Maisie Clarkis right back where she started: on the idyllic shores of Port Hewer in Cornwall, luggage in hand and heart filled with anticipation for what lies ahead. Except that nothing seems the same as Maisie leftit, from her place among the staff at the hotel Penmarrow to her budding romance with groundskeeper Sidney Daniels, who isn’t quite ready to overlook the painful consequences of her sudden departure. Losing Sidney would be unbearable, but Maisie can’t help fearing it might be true if the rift between them proves too deep to heal. She knows her feelings for him are unchanged, but whether he feels the same remains to be seen—particularly since she stopped him from expressing them in the firstplace. And to make matters worse, her position at the Penmarrow has been filled by another, there’s nowhere for her to live in the village, and her savings are finally dwindling to a pathetic number–with her book still unpublished after her startling discovery about the author helping guide her towards success.But one thing which hasn’t changed is the drama and excitement at the hotel Penmarrow, where the staff is awaiting inspection from the dreaded owner Ms. Claypool. Stirring up trouble in themeantime is the owner’s special guest ‘Mad Ludwig’, an eccentric architect whose demands aredefinitely driving everyone on the staff a little crazy. And then there’s the hotel’s mysterious newdesk manager, whose behavior ignites Maisie’s suspicions and causes her to become entangled inyet another form of intrigue—one that could unwittingly jeopardize the future of the Penmarrowand everyone who works there, unless Maisie can find a way to undo the harm.With everything that matters to her most at stake this time, Maisie faces her biggest challenges yet…and her deepest question of the heart as she confronts the reason she returned to Cornwall and the Penmarrow in the first place.
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The Review: Exhales. Wow.
There are times as a writer, you’re so inspired, and other times you want to run away because the craft and imagery spun by an author is so awesome it makes you realise there’s an unattainable level you’ll never get to. This series somehow puts me in both camps, with outstanding, mesmerising imagery, drama, and fantastic characters. But, as always, I digress.
So, following on from Maisie’s stint away, she returns to find things have slightly changed and, now staying as a guest, she’s not sure where her place is in anything or even what her future holds.
As always, the descriptions of the area blew me away, I was so thrilled to be back at the hotel! We gained insights into how the hotel was going, got swept along with the drama of people who were not who they said they were, including a possible break in that made me worry for Maisie, while also looking at the relationship between Sidney and Dean, as we learned Dean’s feelings on his own disability.
I’ll admit I cried when Dean described how he felt, it was hauntingly beautiful, and I must have been on a bit of a roll because I sobbed when they mentioned Colin Dexter (the writer, I was a huge Morse fan as a teenager, both books and tv series!)
As Maisie picks apart her book and the future of a writing career, she is also trying to work out Sidney, and the resulting romance was stunning. Actually on top of that the writing was spell binding, and it left me clamouring for the next book. Thanks so much to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the book in return for an honest review and for allowing me to be part of this publication day push!
About the author

Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller ‘A Wedding in Cornwall’. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones withpolka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.