Debbie Macomber is the lifeblood of the romance novel and she doesn't disappoint in this beautiful novel set in her much loved Pacific Northwest. Annie experiences a devastating tragedy and goes to the place of happy family times in an effort to recover. She stays at the rental cottage her family stayed in when she was a child, trying to find peace after losing her entire family. Keaton remembers Annie from when she visited as a child, and from when he loved her from afar. He never forgot her. As Annie discovers her place in this new world she also finds Keaton and the love that has spanned the years. Can she accept it? And him? A beautiful, satisfying story that will leave you believing in love.

Reading Debbie Macomber is like coming to a familiar home or place of comfort its warm fuzzy feeling. Annie has had the unthinkable happen to her she lost her whole family(mother father brother niece and sisterinlaw) in a terrible mudslide in Seattle. Sixteen months later Annie is still fluttering trying to stay sane after her unspeakable lost. One day her cousin Gabby suggested to her in order for her to heal and recover find a happy place or time in her life that brings her comfort. Annie eventually remembers that every summer going to Oceanside (a small town away from the big city Seattle) with her family enjoying the ocean and hanging with the family they rented the cottage from. Eventually Annie makes the decision to move back to Oceanside and ends up working at a clinic. Along the way she meets Mellie who is the granddaughter of the family who once rented to her family. Mellie does not remember and has become a recluse and hoarder who never leaves her home, there's Keaton the gentle giant who barley speaks but has the kindest heart Annie ever met. Along with Annie and Keaton this story is filled with characters who has had tremendous loss and sadness and are dealing with their pain in various ways. This book touch pulled at my heartstrings just the touching way Ms. Macomber allows you the reader to see into the hero and heroine soul and seeing how they deal with their loss and and being able to communicated their hurt with each other and overcoming to have a fulfilled life. Review goodreads and amazon.

Excellent! Debbie Macomber, once again, did not disappoint. I got "lost" in the story and stayed up all night reading it.

It is hard for anyone to imagine the devastating "one-shot" deal of wiping out of existence an entire family. To survive such a tragedy is triumphant in itself. But to locate the survival and emergence from the ashes of despair in the exact location of previous family joy is brilliant. Loved the "SILENT MAN"....and the slow but steady growth of friendship between landlady and tenant

I just adored this book !! I loved how people were there for one other throughout this book through different trials and tribulations !!

Annie and Keaton met once, briefly. Annie scarcely noticed, but for Keaton, who watches everyone from afar, It becomes a cherished memory. Keaton who expresses himself via painting, and he includes the image of Annie in one of his murals in town.

Flash forward, and Annie returns to the seaside site of many happy memories with her family, who she has lost in an unbelievable tragedy. The sea and the memories, and a job to make her feel useful and connected again, all are healing balms to her soul. And so is her blooming connection to Keaton.

Well worth the read, touches the heart again and again.

Another winner from Ms Macomber. Enjoy the stand alone novels more than the series one. A good story with a happy ending all around.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Loved this book. Loved the descriptions of Keaton, so realistic, characters are realistic and problems are relatable.

I knew from the first of the story that I was going to love it ~ and I did! Debbie Macomber is one of my favorite authors. She tells wonderful stories and her characters are very realistic. Annie is the heroine of this book. There is a horrific family tragedy in the first of the book that shapes Annie’s life. I would love for Annie to be one of my girlfriends. I don’t want to give away the whole story so I’ll just say, Annie and her eclectic friends are worth getting to know. You’ll be glad you spent some time with all of them. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this story. The characters are wonderful and the setting is beautiful. This is in the the top five of the Debbie Macomber books I've read.

I absolutely tore through this book and got it all read in one day, which shows how quickly it got and kept my attention. After a devastating tragedy, Annie moves to her childhood family vacation cottage, where she begins to heal. Really all of the characters in the story are scarred by their pasts in one way or another, and this was a sweet story of connection and friendship. The romance was there, certainly, but the several friendships (including the romantic one) were what resonated with me.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for letting me read this book early. It was just what I needed for a stressful week!

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I am a big fan of Debbie Macomber but was really disappointed in this book. it started out really good but just was boring the rest of the way through.

I have reviewed "Cottage by the Sea" by Debbie Macomber for New York Journal of Books (www.newyorkjournalofbooks.com) where this review will be posted on July 17, 2018

"Cottage by the Sea" by Debbie Macomber
Ballantine Books
July 17, 2018
10: 0399181253
978-0399181252
Contemporary Women's Fiction
352 pages

Physician’s assistant Annie Marlow, happy with her life and job in southern California, feels guilty when her mother pleads with her to come home for Thanksgiving. Given a four-day weekend, she wants to spend the time with her friends and cousin, Gabby, who is flying in to join her. Annie loves her family and looks forward to being with her parents, brother, sister-in-law, and their toddler daughter, though she plans to be with them during her December break.

Imagine her horror and shock when she learns her family's home near Seattle is swept away in a mudslide early Thanksgiving morning and all five inside perish. Annie realizes if she were there, she too, would have died, and now she is plagued with survivor's guilt. This loss takes a tremendous toll on her emotions and for 16 months she wallows in depression and self-pity. The only ones left are Gabby, her mom, and her aunt Sherry. Worried about her, Sherry and Gabby push her to move on.

No longer wanting to go back to her Los Angeles job, she remembers the summers when she was young and they rented a cottage in Oceanside. She impulsively drives there and she sees a job posted at the local clinic, for which she submits her resume believing when she is hired this is where she is meant to be. She moves there looking to rent the little house they stayed in for many years.

Unfortunately, it along with the main house is in disrepair, but Annie is determined. When she informs the real estate agent of her desire for the house, she is dissuaded, but a guy painting the office overhears her request and tells her he'll talk to the owner, Mellie Johnson. This is a woman Annie's brother had crushed on while they were on vacation, but who is now a recluse. Somehow this strapping, yet handsome man, Seth Keaton, convinces Mellie to give Annie a year's lease.

"Mellie has been unwilling to rent out the cottage, but eventually she'd relented. Mellie depended on him [Keaton]. He'd never asked her for anything . . . he was asking now and he wasn't taking no for an answer. He made sure renting the cottage to Annie was important to him. Naturally, being Mellie, she had a list of requirements."

Thrilled and awestruck by Keaton, a man of very few words, Annie and he become friends. Annie settles in, realizing she is where she is supposed to be. Though she still carries a heavy burden of grief, she discovers she's not the only one. Keaton and Mellie both have hurtful scars they hide behind their façade, scars Annie hopes to heal.

As a closeness forms, Annie finds herself falling for Keaton, unknowing he has loved her since the first time he saw her at age 14.

"Keaton didn't know what had brought Annie to Oceanside. All he cared about was that she was back. He'd been given a second chance, and by all that was right, he intended to put this new opportunity to good use."

As with all of Debbie Macomber's novels, she delves into the crux of emotion, striving to conclude with a "happy-ever-after," of which she never disappoints. Her well-fleshed characters convey their pain and vulnerability, with which readers will empathize, making for a delightful read.

After an unthinkable tragedy destroys Annie Marlowe’s blessed and happy life, she is forced to rebuild everything dear to her. Trying to fight out of the resulting dark depression, she returns to the “Cottage by the Sea” in Oceanside, Washington, a place that holds happy memories and, hopefully, a renewed peaceful state of mind. Debbie Macomber’s newest book examines what makes a family as several disparate people, all bearing deep scars, come together to help one another and, ultimately, build a new family where none was before.

The prologue features Keaton, then a terribly tall, awkward teen who is withdrawn and solitary. In the brief scene, Annie shows him kindness where others don’t. This leaves a lasting impression on him and he loves her from then on. He recognizes her when she first arrives at Oceanside and slowly they build a real relationship, sometimes with a one step forward two steps back type of progress. There are several other characters in the book, also floundering and scarred. 

While I enjoyed this book on some levels and appreciated its message, most of the time I found it terribly sad and a bit plodding. This isn’t my favorite Debbie Macomber book. Three stars.

I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions stated are solely my own.

Annie didn't want to go home. She wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her cousin and party. Afterall, there's always next year's Thanksgiving to go home for. And so party she did. But the next morning her entire world changed. The family home disappeared in a mudslide with everyone but her asleep inside. Debbie Macomber never shies away from covering difficult topics and in this enchanting novel, she deals with survivor guilt. Annie is mired in depression and guilt until she decides to return to a favorite place she remembers from happy family vacations. Gradually Annie moves on but the pain she is going through is palpable. Macomber does a great job adding additional characters as new acquaintances for Annie. These characters have flaws too and it is interesting to watch as their lives all intersect. Annie isn't the only one with problems and survivor guilt is seen in another character also. As in life, healing doesn't happen overnight and requires work. While this novel is a stand-alone book, it certainly would be well suited for a series. I found all the characters to be realistic and Macomber didn't avoid examining each character's foibles. She has done an outstanding job and this book is one that all readers new and old will enjoy. I loved this book and have already recommended it to my mother-in-law and her book club!

COTTAGE BY THE SEA is Ms. Macomber writing from her heart with the deepest understanding of loss.
Annie is devastated beyond belief when she loses every member of her family in a mudslide. For the first year she is immersed in paperwork and lawsuits barely surviving herself when her therapist suggests she go back to a happy place. Annie gets in her car drives to the cottage by the sea where her family spent summers together. Walking along the beach Annie, encounters Lennon and Keaton. At first he can’t believe the girl from a long ago summer she is back. The one he never forgot.
Ms. Macomber does a wonderful job of capturing the depths of hurt the characters experience and gives hope of healing through love!

A wonderful new book by Debbie Macomber bringing us a great cast of characters. Main character, Annie Marlow has had her world torn apart and wonders if she will ever be able to fully function again. In her grief, she seeks to find somewhere, someone, something that can help her recover. She decides to return to a seaside cottage where she and her family had spent a week every summer.

Many residents of the community have a profound effect on her. There is a “gentle” giant of a man, a reclusive landlord/neighbor, a family being abused, teenagers in love and in trouble, plus others who play a very important part in Annie’s healing.

A story of love, loss, forgiveness and healing, this book will appeal to all. I highly recommend it. It is a book you do not want to put down until you have read it all.
I received a copy of this from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine through NetGalley.

Debbie Macomber does it again! I have never been let down by a Debbie Macomber book. This book is absolutely wonderful. I loved the main character. I loved how she took a damaged heart and found the repair for it. It wasn't just about the love of another person to repair it, it was about so much more. I love that the character found healing in doing the basic things in life, like creating a garden. I think we, as a society, often look for other people for our healing, but healing comes from within. Healing comes from a whole package of things. We cannot depend on other people for this but must find it on our own and with a desire to move forward. This book shows exactly that. I loved that the two main lovers didn't have to be super wordy. It was fantastic to see that love can be equally as strong in silence. I didn't want to put this book down, and if life didn't interfere, I wouldn't have. Haha! Fantastic Read!

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

This is one of those clean, heart warming romances! As always Debbie Macomber doesn't disapoint her readers by creating a great romance novel!

Cottage By the Sea is another winner by Debbie Macomber. Annie loses her whole family to a natural disaster. She becomes very depressed and decides to return to a seaside location where she and her family vacationed when she was a teenager. Here she not only begins to come out of her depression but she helps others recover from their own pain. I really enjoyed the story. The only negative criticism I have (and it really isn't negative) is I had a hard time rationalizing Keaton's non-verbal skills. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story very much. The characters and their emotions were very vivid. Debbie Macomber outdoes herself with every new book.