When coming home is not how you expected…

Synopsis

Weeks after boarding a train to Paris in pursuit of her writing dreams, aspiring novelist Maisie Clark is right back where she started: on the idyllic shores of Port Hewer in Cornwall, luggage in hand and heart filled with anticipation for what lies ahead. Except that nothing seems the same as Maisie left it, from her place among the staff at the hotel Penmarrow to her budding romance with groundskeeper Sidney Daniels, who isn’t quite ready to overlook the painful consequences of her sudden departure.

Losing Sidney would be unbearable, but Maisie can’t help fearing it might be true if the rift between them proves too deep to heal. She knows her feelings for him are unchanged, but whether he feels the same remains to be seen—particularly since she stopped him from expressing them in the first place. And to make matters worse, her position at the Penmarrow has been filled by another, there’s nowhere for her to live in the village, and her savings are finally dwindling to a pathetic number – with her book still unpublished after her startling discovery about the author helping guide her towards success.

But one thing which hasn’t changed is the drama and excitement at the hotel Penmarrow, where the staff is awaiting inspection from the dreaded owner Ms. Claypool. Stirring up trouble in the meantime is the owner’s special guest ‘Mad Ludwig’, an eccentric architect whose demands are definitely driving everyone on the staff a little crazy. And then there’s the hotel’s mysterious new desk manager, whose behavior ignites Maisie’s suspicions and causes her to become entangled in yet another form of intrigue—one that could unwittingly jeopardize the future of the Penmarrow and everyone who works there, unless Maisie can find a way to undo the harm.

With everything that matters to her most at stake this time, Maisie faces her biggest challenges yet…and her deepest question of the heart as she confronts the reason she returned to Cornwall and the Penmarrow in the first place.

My review

After her adventure, Maisie Clark is heading back to Cornwall. Yet a lot of things have changed while she was away…
She has no job at the Hotel Penmarrow anymore, and Sidney is even more distant even if her feelings for him are the same.

Meanwhile the staff of the hotel are anxious for the inspection of the owner. And how ill the staff manage to keep eccentric architect Ludwig satisfied? And what is going on with the new desk manager?
It’s not an easy coming home for Maisie, but is there still a chance for her?

I was so happy that Maisie was going back to the place that felt home for her. When her latest adventure wasn’t exactly what she expected, I wanted her to find her happiness again in Cornwall, with Sidney.

But when she finally got home, the welcoming back she received, made me sad. Instead of everybody being happy to see her again, it was like she was one of the guests in the hotel, and not someone they bonded with in time.

Also Sidney’s reaction was not what I expected… I just wanted Maisie to be happy again, yet it was not on the agenda for her.
Somehow I understood Sidney’s reaction, it’s not easy to see the woman you are having a connection with, going away.
But anyway, she opened her heart for him, and then being rather cold, well, it was harsh…

Maisie wouldn’t be the Maisie we all love if she would just give up. Slowly she finds a way to come closer again to Sidney by totally opening up. And she shows she truly loves him, by accepting not knowing everything about him yet.

This part of the series was not about writing a book, or a big adventure. But more about realizing where your true home is. And that even if sometimes it seems that things have changed for the worse, there is no reason for giving up. And you have to dare to be totally honest. Sometimes all love needs is an extra nudge in the right direction.

Yet we are not there yet at all! I cannot wait to read how the story will end!