A charming story of family secrets. Find yourself in the charming Devon village with Rosie,. Returning here when her mother dies she uncovers secrets that will change her life and enable her to find her home again. Lovely story.

Love, lies, secrets always perfect in a book.. great characters that kept me entertained to the very end.

A nice, light read with likeable characters. Rosie, the main character, comes back to her childhood home due to the death of her mother. As she she gets reacquainted with childhood friends, she discovers a secret her mother had kept from her. And what a secret it is.
I enjoyed reading this book. It kept my attention and had some nice, heartwarming moments.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have previously read and enjoyed Liz Eeles previous Cosy Kettle Cafe series. This book is not quite as lighthearted and amusing as the Cosy Kettle books, it is emotional in places, but it is still a nice and easy read.
The location of Heaven's Cove in Devon sounds lovely, with its Cliffs and sea view. Although it is difficult to keep your life private, with villagers like Belinda, seemingly knowing everything about everyone. Despite this, Rosie discovers that her recently deceased Mother has been hiding secrets from Rosie, which even Belinda doesn't know about.
When Rosie is searching for the elusive 'J' I thought that I knew who it was, but I was wrong. It was interesting to see how Rosie unravelled her Mother's secrets although some of it was sad.
There were several unpleasant characters in the village. It wasn't nice to see how Rosie was ostracised over her Mother's death. There were also some nice characters who were more welcoming.
I enjoyed reading this book, it was a nice escapism, and a heartwarming read. I am looking forward to reading more books by Liz Eeles.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

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

A feel good book with a lovely story of finding who you really are and how well we know those close to us.

I loved the setting for this book, a village just be the sea.

It was good that both perspectives were given from a male and female side.

What I really liked was the mystery part of the story, which kept me from putting the book down, meaning I read it in one day.

I didn’t like the character Katarina. She, I felt was rude.

Another fabulous book by Liz.

Recommend it.

Rosie had always felt suffocated by the small village she grew up in and also by its nosey (and not quite nice) inhabitants. That's why she's living in Spain when suddenly her mother dies and she has to go back to take care of the house and the funeral.
She is anxious to settle her mother’s affairs and return to her life in Spain and to her boyfriend, but a series of secrets held by her mother for a very long time start to unfurl and Rosie has to come to term with them. In the meantime her view of village and villagers swift to a more positive one and she starts to appreciate and really feeling the place as her own home.
This is a very enjoyable book, a good uplifting, heartwarming story. Very well written indeed. My first one by this author, and I'll certainly have a look to other ones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book and cannot praise it highly enough. Totally adictive and unputdownable. Love, loss, secrets and lies, all good components of a great story. Rosie returns home to Heavens Cove from her life in Spain after the sudden loss of her mother. Can the place and people she once turned away from, become the place she turns towards to help her through this tough situation she finds herself in? I heartily recommend this book.

Loved the book!! Rosie's mom was full of secrets. I'm surprised shows able to keep so many, because it seemed like everyone in Heaven's Cove knew each other's business. You couldn't keep anything a secret with all the gossip that went on. Hated how all the villagers tried to make Rosie feel guilty for not being there when her mom unexpectedly died. Enjoyed the story, characters and writing style. Driftwood House seems like a lovely place to stay, I can understand how Rosie feels conflicted with the thought of the house being torn down. Even though she hasn't lived there in many years, it's still her home. I was convinced I knew who "J" would turn out to be and of course I was wrong.

Definitely recommend the book. I hope this is the first book in a series. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Loved the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Coming Home, But is it Really Home?
Coming home to bury her mother and finding too many secrets causes Rosie to rethink her life. This is more women's fiction than romance but contains both. We watch as our heroine re-sorts her 29 years of life, her ambitions, and her childhood. This is a very emotional story that goes well beyond the grief of losing a parent. We also get to enjoy the author's very good description of the sea and the moors of Devon. This but is so well written that it just flies past. I didn't want to put it down. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

The sudden death of her mother brings Rosie back to her childhood home, a small seaside tourist town she has seemingly outgrown. Upon arrival, she is met by old high school acquaintances she would rather avoid and the declaration that her childhood home never belonged to her mother. After hearing the home will likely be demolished to build a new hotel, Rosie begins the fight to save her home and all the memories of her mother. Will Rosie's efforts fall flat?
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Good, entertaining read. Most of these stories contain the same themes so I would not say this book has any new fresh concepts. But otherwise entertaining, likeable characters, easy reading flow.

Thank you Liz Eeles, Bookouture, and Netgalley for this ARC!

4 Stars
There’s nothing the view of the sea and the sky from the window of your childhood home. And the occasional mist that surrounds the house and isolates you from the rest of the world can be peaceful, stifling, or terrifying.
Rosie Merchant feels all of these and much more as she stands in the empty Driftwood House, located in the small seaside village, Heaven’s Cove. Her mother passed away when Rosie was in Spain, enjoying her life and work.
She gets back home to the village she couldn’t wait to escape from. What else could she do? But her plan of packing her mother’s possessions and catching the next possible flight crumbles when she receives a notice.
Confused between listening to her mind and her heart, Rosie finds it hard to come to terms with her mother’s death. One decision leads to another, and secrets start to trip her in the most unexpected ways. Was her life even real? What other secrets did her mother hide? How would it change Rosie's future?
Include a handful of villagers- Nessa, a single mother who fast becomes Rosie’s friend again, Liam, the school’s heartthrob, who is now a farmer with sad eyes and troubles of his own, Belinda, the lady who knows everything and can gossip from day to night, Katrina, who manages to inspire strong feelings without even trying, and a few others; the book is a mix of people we come to like and people we’d love to hate.
The setting and its descriptions are the highlights of the book. As a fan of settings, this pleases me to no end.
Luckily, the characters, too, were well developed to add more weight to the story. There is a good mix of show and tell, which set a steady pace for the narrative to create interest and hook the readers’ attention.
The story is neither too heavy nor too light. It has moments of smiles, chuckles, and sadness. Of course, we can guess the secrets, but then, this isn’t a thriller. The author keeps us invested in the characters, and we find ourselves wishing for something good to happen.
Yes, there is some romance as well. I found it quite nice to see how it develops over time rather than take us by surprise at how fast it seems to have proceeded. The story has a happy ending, and that made me very happy.
Overall, this is a warm and bittersweet book with wonderful locations and easy-to-understand characters.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bookouture and am voluntarily leaving a review.
P.S: I’ve come to expect more from the books by this publisher. The covers are fantastic and make me want to read them all.

This is a real feelgood light read in the beautiful setting of a small seaside town in Devon. Rosie returns after years of living abroad and to sort out her family home following her mother's sudden death. It seems that her mother kept a myriad of secrets that Rosie begins to discover and one secret just seems to uncover another. Alongside this she has to manage coming back to the place she grew up where old friendships and rivalries abound. There are some delightful characters here, and both likeable and otherwise, and a romance as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of this book. The comments and review are my honest opinion.
Rosie has been reluctant for years to return home to the small village where she grew up. Now she must, as her mother died suddenly. Anxious to settle her mother’s affairs and return to her life in Spain and her boyfriend, Rosie unfortunately learns that the home she grew up in didn’t belong to her family. This hits her hard, but as she is coming to terms with this unexpected twist, she learns something else that will change forever what she thought was her life before.
A feel good book that shows that going home is often better than where you are.

Rosie returns to her childhood village after her mum has passed away, all she wants is a super quick sort out of affairs and be on her way, away from Driftwood House. However things aren’t quite so easy, when she finds an old photograph, what does the writing on the back mean? This book had me gripped and wanting more as each chapter progressed, I had to tear myself away from reading to head off to work ; which had me thinking do I really need this job?! Haha, absolutely loved this book.

This book is a feelgood story with themes like finding yourself, who are you really, how well do we know the people closes to us, changing and running away. It has a very cosy setting in a small English village by the sea which will satisfy all readers want for a feelgood setting. I liked that part is from both the male and the female perspective, which is not so usual in feelgood stories, from what I have seen. I liked the mystery part of the story, it kept me reading and I read the last half of the book in one sitting.
Somethings did not make sense to me. Like the character Katarina. Why did any one actually voluntarily hang out with this person? No one was forced to; you can leave when a person is openly rude to you.
Overall, I really liked this book and are very curious to pick up previous books by the author because it contained everything I want from a good feelgood story. I also liked that it did not contain any cheating from the main character.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Sometimes what you need is a nice uplifting feel good read and this is certainly the book for you. Loved it.

We are taken to the beautiful Devon seaside village of Heaven’s Cove where Rosie Merchant is returning home following the unexpected death of her mother, Sofia. Rosie, despite being born in the village, left years before to live in Spain to escape the busybody neighbours and the gloomy weather. All she needs to do is get through the funeral, clear her mother’s belongings and sort the house out so she can return to her life. Finding secrets hidden away at Driftwood House, Sofia’s clifftop home, makes Rosie wonder if she really knew her mother at all…

Wow, wow, wow!!!! I absolutely loved this book!!! Straight away, I was captivated by Rosie’s story, returning to a place she hadn’t been to for years. The tears began flowing before I got to the end of the first chapter as my heart literally broke for Rosie following the death of her mother. I loved Rosie’s character, and really connected with her. She comes across as a strong woman but as the story moves on you quickly see chinks in her armour, particularly when she’s on her own, and all you want to do is give her the hug that she desperately needs! The village is full of memories for her and it was really heart-warming to read these and see Rosie being welcomed back home with open arms by the residents of Heaven’s Cove who knew her as a child.

The book is full of unforgettable characters and there is a real eclectic bunch who live in the village. Local farmer, Liam is quiet and moody, and is one of the first people Rosie meets when returning. As the book moves on his story is revealed and this, coupled with him looking after his parents on the farm, more than excuses his surliness at times! Rosie’s relationship with Liam is interesting, especially given their opinions of each other as teenagers, and it’s fun to see how much they have both changed. Rosie, having a boyfriend back in Spain and still very much grieving for her mother, is not looking for anything romantic, and it was lovely to see her and Liam’s friendship develop.

There is an element of mystery within the storyline when Rosie discovers there are things which Sofia never shared with her. Anonymous flowers left at the funeral and the contents of an old tin, showing a letter and a picture of Rosie as a baby, brings further secrets out into the open. I have to admit, I did guess where the storyline was going before it was revealed, but this didn’t spoil my enjoyment at all, if anything it made me read faster! Overall, this was such a wonderful book and it ticked every single box for me! It was light-hearted enough to make me smile, but still emotional enough to have me wiping away the tears on more than one occasion! The location was stunning, the characters were all so likeable and the storyline kept me hooked until the very last word. I’ve read many of this author’s books before, but I have to say that this is definitely my favourite one so far. I had such a feel-good feeling by the time I had finished it, and was genuinely sorry to leave the little village behind! I’m really hoping that there will be another book to carry on Rosie’s story! Loved, loved, loved it!!!

Imagine growing up and looking out of your bedroom window, in fact any window in your house and seeing nothing but ocean, rugged landscape surrounding you as nature does what nature does best, carries on around you with no thought of what you might be going through. 

This is how I feel Rosie Merchant our main protagonist in the story feels. She has returned to Driftwood House, the house of the title, to deal with her mother's unexpected death. She just wants to move on, return to her life in Spain and forget that this was the place she felt she never belonged. 

But the house and the village of Heaven's Cove which the house looks down on, seems to be drawing her in piece by piece and it isn't going to let go. 


Rosie comes across old school friends and acquaintances that have not left the village but have made it their home. Nessa, now a single mum reconnects with Rosie and reminds her of all the good that is around, no matter what happens to you. Liam, a former schoolgirl crush of Rosie's is now a rugged farmer and dealing with his father's slow decline whilst still trying to turn a profit on the farm, difficult when you rent land from the local landed gentry the Eppings, a family not well liked in the village. 

Rosie makes the biggest discovery of all when she finds out her childhood home does not belong to her, but the Eppings as well. Then a photograph of her as a child seems to open up a Pandora's box of secrets that can no longer be contained. 

If Rosie has to face the truth of the past she needs to decided what her future is going to be, where it is going to be and with whom. 

This is a great start to the Heaven's Cove series and has all the right mix of likeable and disagreeable characters for you to fall in love with, laugh with and strangle in some cases! I look forward to returning because I think there are plenty of other stories to discover about some of the residents and the stunning backdrop of the setting is a winning feature for me. 

A warm comforting read to get completely lost in. Perfect.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of Secrets at the Last House Before the Sea. This was a gem of a novel! I loved the way the story flowed. Beautiful characters in a beautiful story!

I enjoyed this book, nothing too serious and a good ending. Particularly liked the descriptions of England, I could feel the weather that the author so vividly described. I would like to go back and read some oh the author's earlier book, but finding them difficult to locate. My library does not carry any of her books. I will recommend however as I think some readers would enjoy this in these dreary times.