I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. Christie Ryan passed up a beach vacation with her fiancé, Derek to attend her grandmother's funeral in a small town in Australia. What she thinks will be take a few days while she disposes of her grandmother's estate , including her home, becomes a much lengthier stay after she discovers some letters and a painting her grandmother had left in the attic. While she tries to solve the mystery of the letters, she makes the acquaintance of a local artist, Martin. He is rude and unfriendly but makes her feel so much more than her fiancé, Derek. Should she just leave the mystery of the letters behind her or should she stay and create a new future?

This story has a bit of a cheesy start and I almost passed on finishing it, but I'm really glad I stuck with it. In fact, I just downloaded the sequel-so I highly recommend it!

This will be posted on my blogs Monday, October 9, 2017, approximately 9:00 am.

The Stationmaster’s Cottage

Posted on October 9, 2017 •Edit "The Stationmaster’s Cottage"


A River End’s Love Story, Book 1

Phillipa Nefri Clark

Feb 14, 2017, 340 pages

Also available in paperback

Genre(s) Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance

Source NetGalley

Other books in this series:

Jasmine Sea Book 2

My Disclaimer:

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.

~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

What it’s about…

Christie is a professional make-up artist just back from a big photo shoot. She lives with Derek.

Derek is a real estate developer with tickets to go on holiday to Lizard Island before Christie’s even unpacked. No problem, he’s packed for her. Let’s go!

But just as they are going out the door, Christie receives a telegram from Angus, a long-time family retainer, telling her that Gran has died and Christie is needed for the estate and the funeral. Well, of course, she is. Gran was her only relative. Gran saw to her after her parents died. And now she’s dead.

Christie arrives in River’s End grieving for Gran, confused about Derek and their relationship, and exhausted beyond belief desperately trying to understand what’s going on or more accurately, what’s happened.

She needs sleep, answers, and support. None of which is going to happen anytime soon, it seems. Why has Gran left her the cottage? What is the story behind the damaged painting in the tube? Why were the love letters never opened? Who was the older woman in the cemetery? What does the handsome surfer have to do with all of this? Why is his dog so sweet and he’s so surly? And why has Derek left her to deal with all of this on her own?

Technical Tidbits…

I loved the cover with the parchment as a reference to the old letters. The picture of the old cottage with the key to the cottage or the box were nice touches as well. And the red ribbon to tie the letters up was another nice reference to the story. Together they all created a charming cover for a wonderful story!

The storyline was great. The author took us back and forth between the two main relationships and time to tell the whole story, which created nice depth to both stories. It added nice depth to the characters as well as you learned things that happened before and during their youth and current times.

The pace was good throughout. Each time I thought it might start to lag, it would pick right up. It was just time to take a breath before moving in another direction.

The tension never lets up from page one until the end. It holds your attention in a way that doesn’t let you relax enough to put it down until you know all the answers to Christie’s questions. The quality of the writing is such that you are able to work things out right along with her and sometimes a bit before her. No magical surprises at the very end that you couldn’t have foreseen

And this is where you STOP reading if you don’t want to see any SPOILERS…

The good, the bad, and the ugly…and how much it lit up my life… ✰✰✰✰✰

Here sits Christie with the funeral of her last relative, so she thinks, and a complete mystery on her hands; and her boyfriend has gone off on holiday and is scheming with another woman against Christie. Me? I would have had a bit more to say before my flight and I would have blocked all Derek’s calls. I would never have taken a single one of them. Instead, she’s justifying what’s going on and planning to straighten their relationship out when she gets home. How they have to support each other. Be more aware of each other’s needs. Hmmm. No.

All this time, Derek is partying and planning to do a real estate deal along with his friend Ingrid. They want to develop the land the cottage is on. And everyone seems to know this but Christie! I thought they did her a favor when they interfered with her next job. It gave her the excuse she wanted to change the focus of how she worked. She can be angry about their meddling, but she really can’t be upset about the outcome.

Martin Blake, a local artist building a wider renown with his colorful paintings. So different from his grandfather’s work.

He’s drawn to Christie but doesn’t like the trouble that comes with her. His dog, Randall, adores her and he trusts Randall’s judgment about people.

Now, if Martin would only stop shutting down and sit and talk with Christie about things. And if Christie would share her part of the story with him, they would have the story all put together probably by lunch on the third day with just a few gaps. Gaps that Angus can help them fill in by reading Gran’s letter to Christie so she can find the last puzzle piece. But, no, neither one can share what they know. Of course, if they did this would be a short story instead of a novel.

Frannie claimed to love Thomas and to be the best friend of Martha, Gran’s younger sister. The three of them were always together, friends. Thomas and Martha had just had their engagement party when Frannie played the first part of her nasty trick that split them up. What kind of best friend would do that? That’s not loving. That’s possession, control, jealousy. Then to follow through with the second act, that was just evil. For a sister to stand by and knowingly allow it to happen is unforgivable. And to keep that secret from the two involved for 50 years is inexcusable. To pass it off to an unknowing young woman is cowardly.

I loved the times that Christie got to be alone in the cottage and to explore and discover its treasures. She had learned to care for plants from Gran. To find that the cottage had orchards and gardens made her very happy. It was something she had been missing in her city life. She even enjoyed cleaning it and making it her own. Making it a home. These were the breathing moments among the mad tension of the mystery about the letters, the painting, the lovers, and the handsome surfer.

1074 wc

Two love stories generations apart.

I love time slip novels and this book did not disappoint.

If you are fans of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley then i think you will enjoy this book.
The cover drew me immediately to this book, an old scroll, ribbon interlacing rings, a key and an old photo – were all elements that told a story of its own.

I was a little disheartened with the start of the book and struggled to get into the story but I can promise you, perseverance is vital.

And once you have connected with this book you will not want to put it down. The writing completely immerses you into the story and the rest of the world fades into the background and the book takes over.

Christie Ryan is a successful makeup artist whose love life is on the rocks so her fiance Derek plans a romantic getaway for them in the hopes of reconnecting them both and some well needed time together.
Unfortunately Christie’s grandmother dies unexpectedly and even though she has been estranged from her grandmother she decides to attend the funeral whilst Derek goes ahead to their holiday destination Lizard Island.

When Christie arrives in River’s End she finds that her estranged Grandmother left her a cottage, and the mystery surrounding the cottage.

She discovers an old painting and a bundle of old love letters that draw her into the heart wrenching world of Thomas and Martha in a fifty-year-old mystery. They set Christie off on a journey into the past, revealing much about her grandmother, great-aunt and a mysterious man named Thomas Blake.

She soon enlists the help of a local artist, Martin Blake, a local resident and relative of Thomas Blake. The cottage has many secrets to share but some secrets don’t want to be shared.

Tied to Christie’s story is her great-aunt Martha’s story which takes us back in time and reveals a tragic past, defined by misunderstanding and unfortunately matters left unsaid, leaving a trail of broken hearts that reverberates across the decades..

Heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure this book is an emotional rollercoaster that had me in tears.

This book is simply beautiful and i can not recommend this book highly enough and it will be a book i will read again.

If you love romance books with mystery entwined you need to read this book. Breathtaking, heart wrenching, beautiful book spanning over 5 generations.

Read this book, you won’t regret it! Congratulations Phillipa Nefri Clark on this book and I can’t wait to read your next book 🙂

I will be honest about this book, I did not want to read it after a few chapters. It felt like a cheap, cookie-cutter Hallmark movie. But I kept with it and I am so glad I did. 

Christie Ryan is a successful makeup artist in Hollywood. She and her fiance Derek are going through a rough patch in their relationship, mainly due to Derek not liking Christie being gone for long periods of time. Derek spontaneously plans a romantic getaway for them, but Christie's grandmother dies unexpectedly. This leaves Christie to deal with her Gran's funeral alone while Derek continues on to Lizard Island and his getaway.

At the funeral, Christie discovers that Gran has left her a cottage, and with it the a mystery to the past. Christie is intrigued by old letters and a painting she finds in the attic. Martin Blake joins her in restoring the painting, but keeping his own secrets. As Christie unlocks the past, she discovers more about herself and what she wants for her future.  

I got halfway through this book, and I was almost ready to set it aside. I'm not a fan of clique romances found in every chic movie. But as the mystery got deeper and the character cast grew, I flew through the rest of the book. And I ended up crying happy tears at the end. 

Blog Review Publication Date: 9/8/2017

Christie travels to her grandmothers funeral alone when her fiancé leaves on a luxury vacation. To her surprise, her grandmother has left her a cottage along with a plea to heal a rift 50 years in the making. While I loved reading about the beautiful Australian countryside and the restoration of the cottage, the men in her story are creepy. Even the hero(es) are downright stalkerish.