Although part of a series it can be read as a standalone book. I’m intrigued about the other books since reading this one.

We all love a good summer read and this one was easy to read with some great characters. There’s also a lot of plot lines running through and it never got confused.

Definitely recommend.

A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley
3.5/5

I thought this was such a cute and interesting novel. It is the third novel of Phillipa Ashely’s Porthmellow Harbour series; however, I had not read the first two novels in the series and I believe that this was fine to read as a standalone novel.

When I began reading this, I knew that this was a typical light and airy summer read, and I personally love the writing and storytelling style of many British authors and Phillipa Ashley did not disappoint. To my surprise, there were a couple instances where I was a bit blindsided by the events of the book. I know some might have seen the turn of events from a mile away but it surprised me!

I enjoyed how this novel follows the stories of two cousins, Tiff and Marina, as well at their respective romances. It was nice to see the differences and similarities demonstrated between these two women, the men they choose to pursue relationships with, as well as the different natures of said relationships.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to someone who wants to escape to the beautiful Cornish seaside.

Marina and Tiff are cousins - and Tiff chooses to spend the summer in Porthmellow when her love life and career meet disaster. Marina is also facing a tough anniversary and they find comfort in having each other. Brooding men add a romantic highlight and you are hoping that they will all find a happy every after despite all the heartbreak and issues.
I love books set in Cornwall and could just imagine Porthmellow with the steep paths and a harbour life saving lookout. It makes me want to be back in Cornwall- even though this summer is likely to be very different.
I am already keen to read the next book.

You can always rely on Phillipa Ashley to write a heartwarming story.

This is the third in the Porthmellow series and it was good to return to the beautiful Cornish coast.

This book focuses on Tiff, who having lost her journalist job visits her cousin Miranda, a teacher who volunteers at a local coastal watch team, a scheme she had set up after losing her husband at sea seven years earlier.

This story has likeable lead characters, with their flaws and vulnerabilities.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

This book is part of the Porthmellow series, but can be read as a standalone. Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

The book tells the story of 2 couples, Marina and Lachlan and Tiff and Dirk, all of whom have troubled past. Marina’s husband was lost at sea and Tiff is running away from her boyfriend’s betrayal. For Marina, it's the 7-year anniversary of her husband going missing and Tiff is escaping to Cornwall to her cousin's cottage to escape the heartbreak.

This was a light and breezy summer read, taking the reader along to the beautiful Cornish beaches and cliffs. The 4 main protagonists are very likable and the supporting characters are very colorful. Overall an enjoyable read, I give it 4 stars.

Love this book....
I like how the author brings the little town alive.
So glad it was a happy ending all around.
Oh my gosh I wanted to slap nate for marina how dare he do that to her.
Can't wait to read this at a in.
Love phillipa Ashley books

What a fab read your so pull into the plot ideas there with them I could smell the sea and the cottage sounded so nice you could see the places so easy input mind it was so clear in my head .the characters become your friends you could relate to them so easily.I think it was wrote it hurtful you so easy to follow you got lost in the story which I like a great read

Nice summerread

A perfect cornish escape is the third novel in the Portmellow harbour serie, but can be read as a standalone.
Tiff is a journalist from Londen who’s lost her job, her lover and her house. Portmellow is a save haven. Her cousin Marina lives in Portmellow, but lost her husband seven years ago on a kayak accident, it’s now time to start a new life. Dirk is part of the coastgard and has a history of a lost love en Lachlan is the stranger and new in town, but with a trauma. The four people are the main characters in this novel.

It’s really a nice summer read, with a lot of humor, but also some heavy theme’s like grieve and lost loves. Also the work of the coastguard is an important part of this novel.
I really like to read about Tiff and Marina and it’s great to see how they grow and become stronger. The setting of a nice place like Portmellow in Cornwall is also great, it makes you feel like being on holiday yourself.

I absolutely loved this book which just got better and better and I didn’t want it to end! A tale of several people, friendship, family and love! Made me want to visit Cornwall again soon! Really heartwarming story that helped me escape!

I love the Porthmellow series!
Each book is based on different characters but with the same Cornish theme.
This book is Marinas story. The story has many twists and turns , another book when real life is put on hold! Thanks Phillipa!
The reader is instantly immersed in the Porthmellow community. There is a lot of drama within this book and I love the way past characters from the series are interwoven within the new book.
I would recommend anyone to read this book, even without reading the previous books. It is very much a stand-alone story
Thank you to Netgalley, Avon books and Phillipa Ashley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

Tiff Trescott's first encounter with the devilishly handsome, Dirk doesn't get off to the best of starts and when she discovers that he lives just a couple of cottages away from where she is staying with her best friend, Marina, well, it's only a matter of time before their paths cross again. Journalist, Tiff is trying to restart her life after a disastrous career mistake in London, and being back in Cornwall with her friend is hopefully going to allow her a new start. Meanwhile, Marina is nursing her own sense of loss, and when she meets the enigmatic, Lachlan, it may just be possible that she can start to put her traumatic past behind her.

This lovely story takes us right back to the gorgeous Cornish town of Porthmellow which we have visited before in previous stories. It's so nice to be back amongst the townsfolk who make this little corner of literary Cornwall their home. I especially enjoyed getting to know this new set of characters who leap onto the page as familiar as friends we have known for a while. The sizzling sexual chemistry between Tiff and Dirk is nicely done, and the quiet impact of Marina's burgeoning relationship with Lachlan adds a gentler, but no less passionate, tone to the story. However, it's not all about romance as the story covers a rather sensitive story which involves something which has happened in Marina's past, and which affects the way she views her relationship with Lachlan.

Beautifully written and a lovely summer read - A Perfect Cornish Escape was just the escape I needed during this difficult time of lock down.

This was my first Phillipa Ashley book that I have read, and I really enjoyed it! Being the third book in the series, I was slightly apprehensive, but this book can be read as a complete standalone, without worry of missing anything from the previous books.

Set in the Cornish village of Porthmellow, Ms Ashley writes this small-town romance with humour, wit and a storyline that keeps the reader interested, wanting to continue turning the pages to find out how the story pans out.

We have Marina and Tiff as our main female characters, with Marina a long-term resident of Porthmellow and Tiff coming to stay with Marina for a respite from her career as a journalist in London after a heartbreak and a scandal. Marina lost her husband at sea 7 years ago after a kayaking accident and spends her days teaching and volunteering at the Wave Watchers, a lookout that keeps an eye on swimmers, boats and kayakers who partake in water activities in the harbour and coves of Porthmellow.
Neither Tiff or Marina are looking for love, but maybe love will find them anyway?

I loved reading about village life, the quirky characters and relationships of the villagers. Throw in some drama, a bit of mystery and of course, romance, and you have a lovely 5 star read that is A Perfect Cornish Escape.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my early copy. This is an honest review with all opinions my own.

Whether you are a lover of this series or are reading this as a standalone, it's a great read.

Marina's husband Nate disappeared at seas seven years ago. She has learnt to live again by focusing on her teaching and volunteer work. Having her cousin Tiff to stay as she runs from her imploding London life is just what she needs. Meeting Lachlan is unexpected and lovely, but both have painful pasts, which they need to overcome.

Tiff's reputation is in ruins. After her lover's betrayal, she's sworn off men too. Dirk dislikes journalists, but he is irresistible at least physically. This is a tumultuous relationship full of anger and passion.

The main protagonists are likeable, and the romance is diverse and lovely. The community is full of colourful characters, some familiar. The Cornish setting is stunning and wild and provides the location for, the wave watchers and the lifeboat rescues.

There is plenty of conflict and twists, and even if you guess the main one, I did, it still an engaging, exciting romantic read.

I received a copy of this book from Avon Books UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The stories of cousins Marina and Tiff.

It is nearly 7 years since Marina's husband was lost at sea. It finally seems like she is moving on, after meeting Lachlan, when there is a twist in the story.

Tiff has just lost her job and has come to stay with Marina. She doesn't expect to meet Dirk and is heading back to London soon. She didn't expect to fall for him, so what will happen when it is time for her to leave?

A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley is the third book in the Porthmellow Harbour series which can be easily read as a standalone book and even more so than the first two I would say. This new story returns to a familiar setting and once again the author builds upon the fantastic picture she has painted of the small Cornish coastal village that is Porthmellow. I felt I got an even deeper appreciation of its beauty and the community spirit that thrives within it as the coast and the sea play an important role throughout the book.

This time around we have new characters to get to know. Old familiar faces from the previous two books do make fleeting appearances but it’s literally just in passing and, in a sentence or two told from our main character Marina’s perspective, we get an update on their situations. It didn’t bother me in the slightest that we didn’t get to hear more from characters I had previously been deeply invested in because in all honesty their story had been told and now it was time to get to know Marina and her cousin Tiff as a promised summer of new beginnings seems to be on the horizon.

I felt A Perfect Cornish Escape was a much deeper and more emotional book than I had become familiar with in this Porthmellow series. Some thoughtful and sobering issues, life situations and emotions were explored but all done so in a nice easy manner that meant the book didn’t stray into sombre, hard to read territory. This wasn’t a light and fluffy read by any means either. Instead the perfect balance was struck between joy and happiness and loss and coping with trauma and heartache. Seven years previously Marina’s husband disappeared whilst fishing in his newly bought kayak. His body was never recovered and for all that time the loss hangs over Marina and is something she cannot shake. She knows their marriage wasn’t perfect and many things have come to light since Nate left her life which have changed her opinion of him. But Marina has weathered the storm and got herself back on her feet, financially at least, but perhaps the same can’t be said for her emotional state.

To honour Nate, Marina established Wave Watchers on the cliffs above the village bringing the disused and run down lookout station back to life. Through sheer hard graft and a lot of fundraising Marina and her many volunteers have re-established the lookout and now her guilt is eased somewhat as she knows there is always someone there watching out for any boats, people or children in trouble and she knows herself or her volunteers can contact the coastguard and help will be on its way within minutes. If Nate couldn’t be saved many others can be. With the seven year anniversary fast approaching and the time upon her for Nate to be legally declared dead, is now the turning point for Marina and can she cope with a new stage in her life considering she always feels like the past is waiting to catch her out preventing her from moving forward?

Tiff, Marina’s cousin, arrives from London needing somewhere to stay. She is escaping from the rat race having been let go in disgrace from her job as a newspaper reporter after an expose went disastrously wrong. Her name is mud in the London newspaper industry and she hopes that time away will give her a fresh perspective and perhaps some ideas for her next move. Both Tiff and Marina had similarities in that they were both trying to figure out what their next life step should be but Tiff was a real city girl and Porthmellow was a small village with a slow pace of life. What could it possibly offer her in the long term? But I loved how Tiff adapted and made the best of a bad situation. She could have been all doom and gloom and just moped about the place bemoaning what had befallen her in London but no that wasn’t the case. I thought she began to show many sides to her personality and that she wasn’t a hardened reporter who was always out to get the scoop. She demonstrated genuine compassion, warmth and kindness towards Marina. She allowed herself to become a shoulder to cry on for Marina and in turn they began to discuss their problems and offer sound and practical advice. She gets a job on a small local newspaper and although writing articles on conservatories may not be the highlight of her career at least it is something.

The story moved along at a nice, relaxing pace, really quite perfect for a summer read when you just want to read in the garden and to let the hours drift by as you enjoy an uplifting, sweet, cosy read. There were times though that I felt nothing much happened and midway through I felt things kind of stalled for a bit. Yes, we had a great chapter or two set around the fundraising day for the coastguard and Wave Watchers, but I needed a little bit more excitement to occur. I thought there was just that little bit too much repetition as to how Marina was feeling. I knew from the start that she still couldn’t fully let go of Nate, I didn’t need to be told this several times. Her absolute guilt if anything went wrong with Wave Watchers or if things didn’t go to plan when watching out for people in the water just became too much at times. She really needed to ease up a little bit and not take every little single thing on board that might go wrong and blame it on herself. I understood her passion for the project and her reasons for establishing it but after seven years and the circumstances that Nate left her to deal with maybe this summer truly was the time to move on?

Of course we had to have some male characters feature and they were both expertly crafted and portrayed. For Tiff she gets off to a bad start when she meets local lifeboat mechanic Dirk Meadows as she is asked to bring something to his cottage literally upon the minute of her arrival. It was clear the sexual tension between the pair ignited the minute Dirk opened the door to Tiff but whether they would act on it was another matter altogether. As we get to know a bit of background story to Dirk and his personal life, his stand offishness at times and his reluctance to open up and talk became more understandable and I thought his own story tied in and connected up with Tiff’s very well. I became more understanding of him even if I just did want to give the pair a slap and say oh why can’t you get it together you are just perfect for each other?

As for Marina, the day she rushes from the watch tower to a small cove to warn an absolute god of a man that the currents are dangerous to go swimming is the day maybe she starts to allow a change in her emotions and opinions to come forth. Lachlan is newly arrived in the village and is working for Aaron at his security firm. Lachlan has physical scars and Marina wants to know his story. I was so glad there wasn’t this great big mysterious secret as to his background, that we weren’t left literally guessing until the very last minute. This wasn’t that kind of story instead it was more of a focus on the characters well being and emotional state of mind. Lachlan had an awful lot to deal with in his past and this is where the more serious issues I mentioned up above come into play. He was an interesting character who could say what had occurred with him but still in a similar way to Marina he hadn’t quite reached that point where he could safely move on with his life. I could understand why this was the case because he was so traumatised with everything. Would he be the key to unlocking the stance Marina has established for herself these last years and could Marina do the same for Lachlan? Only time would tell.

All the main characters featured in A Perfect Cornish Escape need to take steps into a brave new world and put the past behind them for good and with the help, support and guidance from each other they can perhaps achieve this. Whether they do or not you will have to read this delightful book to find out all the answers. I think this is the best book in the series so far. I enjoyed how everything came together and that twist in the tale I had wondered would the author venture down that route and all along I was hoping she wouldn’t but the way it was written she pulled it off and it didn’t seem too out of place.

I hope there will be another visit to Porthmellow in the not too distant future but I do know there is a lovely Christmas book to look forward to from Phillipa A Surprise Christmas Wedding and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for that.

I enjoyed this nicely written book. The characters are believable and there's a lovely sense of community and setting. I will be seeking out the first two books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Marina is devastated when her husband goes missing when out fishing in his latest money-making venture. She felt so helpless that she decided to do something positive to help all those in danger on that stretch of coast and founded ‘Wave Watchers’ a look out service to keep watch on those venturing into the sea. Marina spots a swimmer who should be more careful and introduces herself. Lachlan is reticent and taciturn but she finds out he is new to Porthmellow and has had a difficult past too meaning they have a lot in common. Another enjoyable instalment of drama and romance set in the beautiful west country village of Porthmellow.

This is the first book I have read by Phillipa Ashley and whilst I didn't realise it was part of a series, it can definitely be read as a standalone book. The story follows Marina who lost her husband some years ago in a tragic accident and her cousin Tiff who has lost her journalist job in London and has come to Porthmellow to lick her wounds. Enter two eligible single men in the form of Lachlan and Dirk, who help both Marina and Tiff to find their way back again.

For me the story took a while to get going, with not much happening for a good quarter/third of the book, other than getting to know the key characters. I also had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen in Marina's story so when it eventually did the impact was a bit lost on me as it felt just a bit too predictable.

Tiff's story was a bit more interesting and I felt her growing attachment to Porthmellow was well done and the subsequent conflict she feels when the professional opportunity she had been hoping for comes to fruition. I felt more satisfied with the ending for Tiff as it wasn't such a straight path whereas I feel Marina's story was pretty obvious.

I really liked the setting and wound be interested in reading some of the other books in this series. For me it was an easy likeable read, there were a few things that stop me from giving it five stars but on the whole it was good read.

It is always a joy to dive into one of Phillipa Ashley's wonderful stories where community spirit and inner strength always shine through, and A PERFECT CORNISH ESCAPE is no exception.

Seven years ago Marina lost her husband, Nate, when he disappeared at sea. It was the hardest loss that she has ever had to endure and while their marriage hadn't been perfect, Marina loved Nate and grieved deeply for him. But setting up the Wave Watchers lookout had given her purpose and strength and she was determined to stop other families suffer in the same way that she had. She would always love Nate but she knew that she was ready to move into her future and when she befriends a new resident in the village who also has a tragic past, there is a gentle connection there that makes Marina look forward to what could be, for the first time in a very long time.
Meanwhile, Tiff, Marina's cousin, has arrived in the village to escape her humiliation. After being duped by someone she thought she loved, losing her career, and being black-listed, spending some time at the coast with her beloved cousin doesn't seem like a bad idea. Marina has gone through a lot after losing Nate, even though Tiff had never liked him for the way he treated Marina, and Tiff was hopeful that maybe she could nudge Marina into moving on. What Tiff didn't expect was a handsome, brooding, next-door-neighbour who lit her soul on fire. But Tiff knows that love never works out and she isn't going to stay in Cornwall forever, but what's the harm with a little fling?
​
But as the past comes back to haunt everyone, can this small community rally around when it is needed the most and can love overcome even the most surmountable of odds?

​With a beautiful setting and a community that you will fall head over heels in love with, A PERFECT CORNISH ESCAPE by Phillipa Ashley is everything you could possibly want in a novel and more. While Marina and Tiff are both so opposite, they are both completely loveable and I desperately wanted them to find the strength to take a chance and be happy. There is drama, twists, kindness, and friendship brimming in these pages, and I could not put this book down once I turned the first page. An excellent novel by an excellent writer, I can't wait for more!

Having just lost her job and her relationship, as well as being fed up of London life and backstabbers, Tiff escapes to the beautiful sunny Cornwall and joins her cousin, Marina, who had become a widow seven years previously. Together they comfort each other and realise that life gives everyone a second chance and loving another man is still possible after all the heartbreaks.

Beautiful, heartwarming book, full of mysteries- some expected and some unexpected. It is one of those books that kept me awake all night.

Thanks #Netgalley, #PhillipaAshely and @AvonBooksUK publisher for letting me read this book. Will definitely be searching for more of Phillipa Ashley.