Who doesn’t dream to live in a castle with the person they love?

Synopsis

Welcome to Pepper Bay, where you’ll find love, drama, and a happily ever after.

Snuggle down with this cosy, feel-good, comfort read that whisks you away to a beautiful bay on the Isle of Wight – Perfect for fans of Christie Barlow, Alison Sherlock, Rachael Lucas, and Holly Martin.

The Pepper Bay books are standalone stories that intertwine with recurring characters. Best enjoyed when read in order.

Castle on the Mead: Harrison Connell leads a quiet life, but Ashley Hadley is determined to get him to come out of his shell. When she gets the chance to move into his castle, she sets about putting the old building back on the map. Harrison doesn’t want his home to become a tourist attraction, but that’s the least of his worries, as someone seems determined to destroy him, or maybe it’s Ashley they want to hurt.

My review

Ever since Harrison Connell arrived, Ashley Hadley has been in love with him. Even if Harrison is rather closed up and on his own, Ashley tries to break his high walls and hopes that one day she will win his heart.
The fact that they have shops nearby for sure helps Ashely to get slowly closer to Harrison. That is until the landlord, Viktor Blake, decides to sell all the shops, as a reaction to Ashley’s rejection of his advances. And when Ashley’s place is once again flooded, Harrison surprises not only Ashley but also himself by offering her to stay in his castle.
A castle for which Ashley starts to have wonderful ideas for, but Harrison is reluctant of having people around. A castle that perhaps could work its magic and will be the place where Ashley and Harrison may find love in each other’s arms, showing that love trumps any kind of fear? 

Oooh what a delight to return to Pepper Bay!  

At first I thought that I missed the initial chapters in the book, as it immediately takes off. There isn’t the first meeting of Harrison and Ashley, Ashley slowly falling for the mysterious Harrison, nope, that’s all taken place already! But that didn’t diminish the joy getting into the book! 

I saw a lot of myself in Ashley, the better I got to know her. She knows everyone and everything, yet despite her constant chattering, she is also a bit of an introvert. She doesn’t like standing in the spotlight, and she even has fears that may seem absurd to others, but are real for her. Well, that’s me in a nutshell too! 

But what I liked the most about Ashley is that she sees more in Harrison than others do, and more than he sees himself.
She knows that something happened to him, making him even more on his own than before, and she wants to show him that she and everyone in Pepper Bay don’t care about the way he looks. Because Pepper Bay is a welcoming and warm and kind place to live in, where everyone looks after each other, without prejudice. 

Ashley also has very found and wonderful memories about her grandfather, and that made it so understandable to see why she wishes to make all these changes in the castle. But she doesn’t do it only for herself and her memories, but she wants that everyone can make such wonderful memories for themselves. 

While it may seem pushy of her, trying to persuade Harrison to do something he doesn’t really feel like doing, she does it for Pepper Bay, but also for Harrison himself, making him slowly get out of his shell and see the beauty of living in Pepper Bay. 

And Harrison may sound like unworldly, but my heart broke for him. His preference of being alone and on his own for sure is understandable, but also unhealthy…
He also doesn’t seem to understand why Ashley is so drawn to him. But I for sure could! Because there are people who don’t care how someone looks like, but they care more about someone’s character.
And Harrison for sure is a wonderful character! He doesn’t show it always, but he is so caring, kind, loving and understanding. And even if he is more the reserved type of man, he also has his own fears he is still facing daily. But understanding his fears and knowing how to deal with them, he is able to help Ashley too. 

I found it great to see how Ashley and Harrison are living together in the castle, how they are able to break down each other’s walls and how their feelings are slowly growing and growing. There are so many moments in it that are so film – worthy! 

It’s also heart – warming to see how the whole family, the whole community comes together in aid when someone is jeopardizing everything Harrison and Ashley are working so hard for. Again proof that Pepper Bay is an amazing place!  

There is just one tiny thing that annoyed me, and perhaps it’s because I just don’t understand it… I know that ‘Harrison’ is a mouthful to say, but the abbreviation ‘H.’… well, I don’t get it and it gave me a little chill every time Ashley called Harrison like that. But this is just on me! 

Because putting this little issue of mine aside, I adored reading this story about two characters that elevate each other to a higher level. They both manage to pick each other up when they are feeling down.
And that is the beautiful thing about love, no matter how fast those feelings appear to grow, it doesn’t look at appearances, but at someone’s heart. And when two lovely hearts find each other, there is nothing or even no one that can break them.