When two people at crossroads in their lives find each other

Synopsis

Bestselling author Alex Nelson is slowly coming apart at the seams after a failed marriage and an abrupt change in career leave him at a crossroads in life. When an unexpected opportunity arises to escape to the idyllic village of Mermaids Point, he’s hot on the heels of his brother, Tom, who has recently moved there. Buying a rundown bookshop might be just his latest harebrained scheme, but Alex has never been one to do things by halves.

After spending her early years caring for her mother, Ivy Fisher is finally ready to start living her own life. But when the impossibly charming, impossibly good-looking Alex Nelson swoops in and snatches her dream out from under her nose, it really is the last straw. Forced by circumstances to spend more time with him, Ivy finally gets a peak of the real man beneath the confident exterior, and she likes what she sees.

But just when things are starting to come together for them, Ivy is reminded why men can never be trusted. Is Alex who he says he is, or is he using Mermaids Point as nothing more than research fodder for his next bestseller?

My review

Having lost her mother, after years looking after her, Ivy Fisher can be finally living her own life. Looking after her mother wasn’t a sacrifice for Ivy, but now she can finally think what she wants to do. When her dream is snatched away from her, no matter how hard she tries, she cannot hate Alex Nelson… Because the more she gets to know Alex, the more she likes the person she sees, even if somehow he is still haunted by his failed marriage and a case of writer’s block.
And while Alex has bought the bookshop in Mermaids Point Ivy had her eyes set on, dire circumstances force them to spend time together.
But even when everything seems to fall together, with a shocking secret, will Ivy be able to learn to trust Alex, and men in general again? Or is once the trust is broken, it can never come back?

Now, when reading a book, I always imagine me walking alongside our main characters. And while I have read about beautiful places, not always I had the desire to live there myself.
But Mermaids Point is one of those places I truly wished I could be living in.

And if there is one character that should be used in a dictionary as example of unselfish, caring and loveable despite everything she went through, it surely is Ivy!
Not only was she amazing while taking care of her mother, but even growing up with a father that abandoned them, didn’t break her.
If you don’t like her, there is honestly something wrong with you!
And obviously, when her mother loses the fight she fought for so many years, Ivy is lost… What will she do now?
And to make things worse, while she (and also her mother) thought everything was taking care of, the devastating news that not everything is what it seems, makes things only worse!

What I liked about her even more, is that she makes the right decisions, even if it would be easy to hold a grudge over some people. And when the unthinkable happens (again…), she again shows her great heart and reaches out to the hurt party.

My heart literally melted when Alex showed up at Ivy’s mother’s funeral, offering his services as shoulder – to – cry – on, tissue – supplier, shutting – people – out’er etc.
He knew what Ivy needed the most, and just was there, even if they don’t know each other that well.
While I understood why he keeps his career and his accomplishment a secret, especially as his book wasn’t a very nice one, I knew that when it would come out, it would result as a disaster.
But I understood that he wants Mermaids Point, and especially Ivy, to see him as the man he is now, and not the broken man he was when his marriage ended.

And again, what a wonderful community Mermaids Point is, even the greatest gossiper included! The way they all, every one of them, stand by Ivy’s side during her hardest moment, warmed my heart. Seeing also how her friends understand her, but also make her see what she doesn’t, just marvellous!
And Lucifer… that is not a normal cat!!! But I loved Lucy anyway!!!

I loved every bit of this magnificent chapter in Mermaids Point! Sarah Bennett managed again to put everything that is beautiful in a great story, and even turned the uglier bits in something amazing!
Because despite of what happened in the past, and how it scarred us, being scared is normal, but sometimes being scared together is the solution to be happy together!