Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Mara Hughes inherits her late Mothers tumbledown beach house which overlooks the sandy sweep of Magpie Cove.

Sadly, this couldn’t have come at a worse time, as her marriage is on the rocks, her husbands also threatening to take the family home. But, the beach house, holding all the bittersweet memories, might just be the thing that finally sends her world crashing down..

Telling herself, that she’ll sell it and move on and try to rebuild her life, she arrives - to a house in a worse state than she thought.

It has - holes in the bedroom ceiling, a birds nest in the attic and looks like the porch is on the edge of collapsing altogether. But still, she loves it. As it’s the final link to her Mother and she’s determined to keep it within the family.

So she strikes a deal with local handyman Brian Oakley whose also known as the towns heartthrob to save her crumbling Mothers home.

She receives a box which contains letters unopened - its a bequest from her Mothers Will. It appears her challenge to save the house will be put to the test.

It seems that Mara’s Mothers perfect childhood was forever tarnished by one haunting day in July. The letters contain a secret. Will Mara uncover the truth of her family??

This is a lovely story of secrets, of family and forgiveness,

I liked this but it felt a little unfinished, particularly around the story of Abby.
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Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Kennedy Kerr for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
When Mara Hughes’ mother loses her battle to cancer, Mara learns she has inherited a secret property in Magpie Cove. When her husband ends their marriage and kicks her out of the house that same week, she takes her children to the beach house. She’s hoping to sell the house and use the money to get her and the kids settled. What she finds instead, is a run down house with a hole in the roof, rotting wood and in need of more work than she could ever do herself. Enter hot local handyman Brian Oakley. Brian’s relationship is complicated and Mara is sure he's just another pig. When Mara opens a box full of letters her mother left her, she discovers she had a younger brother. She sends a letter hoping to reconnect and instead is melt with anger and hostility. As she reads the letters more of her mother’s secrets come out and suddenly everything Mara thought she knew may be no longer. As Brian and Mara get closer and their chemistry becomes undeniable, Mara’s husband decides he’s changed his mind and she is left with a big decision.
The House at Magpie Cove was a quick and easy read that was easy to get swept up into. I’ll be honest, there wasn’t much that wasn’t predictable except for Brian’s story. This book touched on male infertility and that’s a topic I honestly don’t think I’ve read about? I, myself, have PCOS and infertility is a big topic in my life so I was interested in the male point of view! I’ll admit, around 55% I really didn’t like Brian. I thought he was sleazy and that while he was kind, Mara could and should do so much better. And then when her ex came back into the picture? Geez I wanted to shake them all. Of course that’s not the end or this would’ve started much different! There were a few different plots throughout and by the end of the book things really came together and wrapped up nicely.

This was just a good life book.
I really enjoyed it. I like it, didn't love it. Read it in one sitting.

3 stars

I received an ARC from Bookouture Publishing through NetGalley for an honest review. Mara Hughes finds out her mother left her a beach house and her husband wants a divorce. Her husband wants her to sell the beach house so she can afford a new house because he is keeping theirs.
When she gets to the beach house she sees how run down it is, there is a hole in the roof and no one is interested in buying it.
Brian Oakley is the local handyman and they strike up a deal to fix it up. Mara's twins love the hole in the roof because they can lay in bed and see the stars but it has to be fixed. A box of unopened letters starts to tell a different story of Mara's mother. At the beginning of the story, Mara's life and the beach house were both in shambles. But as the house begins to get fixed up and the secrets discovered, Mara's life begins to get better.
All of a sudden her husband wants her back and it looks like she is going to give up the life she has started to create for her and the twins and go back to the cold, empty marriage she was thrown out of.
She discovers more letters, that add to her mother's story plus she surprises me with her thoughts of her husband.
This was a wonderfully written book of unraveling secrets, facing the secrets that she learned, and watching her change along the way.

A good story with many angles. When Mara's mother dies, she finds out she left her a house on the coast. Very run down house, with a big gaping hole in the roof. With her 9 year old twins in tow, she goes to see what can be done to make it worth selling. With her soon to be ex-husband running off with his assistant, and pushing her to sell it or he will, it adds more stress to her life. Finding hunky Brian helps, as does a box of misc. from her mother. She finds a lot of letters from over the years addressed to Paul, a brother she never knew she had. Overall I really enjoyed this one and had trouble putting it down. The only thing I didn't like was why she even considered going back to her jerk ex. Waste of time. Would highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the setting. Set in Cornwall, with a tumble down house taking centre stage in the story, the Beach House sits – as you might expect – right on the edge of the beach in a small village called Magpie Cove. The picture on the cover perfectly replicates how I imagine the house to be, and it was this cover that instantly attracted me to the book. Wouldn’t you just love to live there?

Mara can’t quite believe that her husband Gideon has asked her to move out of the family home and find herself somewhere else to live along with their twin children. Gideon has found himself a new woman and Mara doesn’t fit with his plans any longer.

As if that wasn’t enough, Mara’s mother Abby has died leaving Mara a house that she had no idea her mother even owned. Abby is hoping she’ll be able to sell the house and use the money to buy somewhere for herself and her two children to start a new life. When she arrives at Magpie Cove and sees the extent of the deterioration of the house, she wonders whether it is even worth selling – who would want to buy a ramshackle house with a hole in the roof and damp in every room.

There are lots of different threads running through this narrative. Mysteries and secrets to discover, this is a story with hidden depths. Why has Abby never taken Mara to the house, and why did Mara grow up without any other family apart from her mum. When some letters are passed on to Mara by her Mothers solicitor, Mara finds answers at least in part to why she had such an isolated childhood and there’s a further shock in store for Mara as she reads through them.

As well as some very moving aspects to the plot there are many, more lighthearted moments running through as well. As Mara spends more time at the Beach House trying to get it ready to sell, she makes some good friends there and at one point seriously considers living in the Beach House herself.

It’s such a good page turner, what with her obnoxious husband to deal with, the lovely carpenter/surfer Brian Oakley adding a little romance here and there, the sadness surrounding her mum Abby and all to the backdrop of the beautiful Cornish coast, it’s definitely a book that will have its readers captivated.

Mara is a recently separated mother of twins, and her mother has just passed away, leaving her a beach house. Mara didn't even know the house existed before it was willed to her, and when she goes to see it shortly after her separation, she is dismayed at its condition and the amount of work it will take to be sold.

Gideon, her husband, is pushing Mara to get the house sold, all the while he is involved with his assistant. Gideon is trying to rush Mara into a quick divorce with all the terms favorable to him. At times I wanted to reach out to shake Mara, she is naive and immature in her actions around the divorce. She didn't even think of legal representation until a friend convinced her to do it!

Along the way, Mara finds a half-brother she never knew about, many community friends who knew her Mom, and a contractor who she eventually makes a deal with to renovate the house. I don't do spoilers, but you can imagine what happens.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Loved the setting for this book, the storyline and also the characters. I really enjoyed it.

A delightful story about new beginnings and healing.
Mara is going through a separation from her cheating husband. She takes her 9-year-old twins to a beach house her mother left her after she recently died. She didn't anticipate that with the house came some unexpected people, secrets, and a charming man next door.

I like the writing and the pace of the story.
The characters are very relatable with situations they are in and how are they dealing with them.
It is a quick and easy read.
Why not a perfect score?
I was just missing more of an emotional connection with the storyline for it to leave a more permanent effect on me. I like it but don't love it.
However, I would recommend it, for all the readers looking for a perfect mixture of a book somewhere in between woman fiction and romance with mature characters.


* Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

I loved this book. Read in a night. Brilliant. The arrogance of Mara's husband was amazing. All the secrets Mara's mother had made a great story. A must read. You wanted to live in the beach house

Mara inherits the house after her mother passes away. She didn't know her mother still owned the house, which holds some family secrets.
In the midst of separating from her husband and looking for a new job and home, she finds more than she expected, including Brian.
After the secrets start to be revealed what will Mara do?

Mara has recently lost her mother and her husband has told her to leave (he's been cheating on Mara). Mara leaves with their two children and goes to a house she has never seen, but has inherited from her mother - a house at Magpie Cove. The house isn't what she expected. It has a big hole in the roof and is generally in bad shape. She needs to get it in some kind of shape to sell so she and her children can afford some place to live.

The people of Magpie Cove are an interesting and welcoming bunch. In fact, I think I would love to live in a place like that. I enjoyed this short novel. It kept my attention and I liked the quirky characters in Magpie Cove. Also, the surfer guy was dreamy!

Thanks to Bookouture through Netgalley for an advance copy.

This was a nice quick story. Mara and her kids go to the beach house that belonged to her mother. It’s falling down and needs repairs plus her husband wants a divorce.
Magpie Cove sounds like a lovey place to visit. Towards the end of the book I did want to shake some sense into Mara.
I enjoyed the story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

With thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
First time reading this author and what a delight.
Totally transported to the wind swept shores of Cornwall for the most intriguing read
Mara totally lost with life trying to rebuild her own confidence and make sure the twins were good this book was full of fabulous surprises i can not praise it enough.