What changes will new arrivals bring to a place that is the heart of a village?

Synopsis

A wonderful story of love, friendship and opening your mind and your heart to new possibilities that will enchant fans of Holly Martin and Heidi Swain.

The Copper Plough is at the heart of village life for the residents of Heritage Cove, and never more so than at Christmas, when the tree glows in the alcove and the smell of mulled wine carries out onto the street. So when new owners for the beloved pub arrive and decide to shake things up, not everyone welcomes the changes with open arms.

Local bakery owner Celeste is ready to keep an open mind. But she’s shocked to discover that one of the new landlords is Quinn, a former Navy sailor with whom she had a short but powerful romance years earlier.

Fate may have brought Quinn and Celeste back together, but life seems determined to keep them apart. Can the villagers learn to embrace the newcomers this Christmas? And will Quinn and Celeste find a way back to each other before snow falls over Heritage Cove?

My review

While the whole community of Heritage Cove is worried about what the new owners of the Copper Plough will do to the place, bakery owner Celeste is keeping an open mind about it.
Just because there are new owners, doesn’t mean that everything will be thrown away. But Celeste also tries to make the people comprehend that the new owners do have the right to  run the pub how they want, and that changing its name into ‘The Star And Lantern’ is just the beginning of a new adventure for its owners.
Then Celeste learns that one of the owners is Quinn, a former Navy sailor she had a short but intense romance with a few years ago.
Has Quinn come back to stay and rekindle their relationship? But things aren’t all that straightforward, as Quinn has his own demons to chase away, Celeste keeping her distance despite the attraction. Let’s not forget the community that aren’t all that keen on all the sudden changes. And then there is the fate of a beloved member of Heritage Cove, whose health is taking a turn… 

First of all, how lovely to return to Heritage Cove! If there is a place where community truly sticks together and is more a family than just people living in the same place, it for sur is Heritage Cove! 

Both Celeste and Quinn may not be the typical main characters that you would expect.
Yes, of course they are both lovely, but Celeste has made a choice in her life that perhaps not everyone would understand/ agree with. And Quinn is going through time, which was kind of expected but seeing his struggles aren’t all that easy, especially as it also affects those around him in a way. 

Celeste is a very open – minded young woman. In the sense that she is sad to see new owners taking over the pub, but she is also seeing it as an opportunity for them. While the village is rather afraid to see what the future will bring, Celeste is ready to give the owners a chance.
She knows that change isn’t a bad thing, and that there can be found a middle ground. But a chance must be given. 

With realizing that one of the owners is Quinn, an old flame, I could also understand that Celeste didn’t know how to behave.
On one side, she was happy to see him again, but on the other hand, is she ready to give her heart to him completely? And will he accept her choice? 

Now, before you go thinking the weirdest things about the choice Celeste made, it isn’t a strange one. it’s a choice that perhaps even takes courage to make, and that perhaps not everyone would agree with. But in the end, it’s Celeste’s life and she can live it anyway she wants. 

And then there is Quinn… from his first appearance he somehow made me fall in love with him. And I even liked him more seeing how he respected Celeste’s wishes with their first goodbye… 

But my heart also broke for him, seeing how he has returned.
Because Quinn is broken, in a way we could expect a former Navy sailor would return. But I found it also refreshing in a way to see how Quinn has changed.
Reading how things slowly crept on to him, without an explicit cause, was showing us that his situation can come in different ways, and not just “the one” we all assume. 

We see Quinn struggling, but also we see Quinn somehow ashamed of what he is going through. And how he doesn’t know how to cope with it. And that’s a real struggle for so many people in real life. As a bystander it’s always easy to have a readymade solution, but it’s always easier said than done, and only the person living it can know when the right time has come to take the right step to healing.

This is a slow – burn romance, if we can really even call it that. Because, yes the focus is on Celeste and Quinn and their trying to figure out if they have a chance of their HEA, even if there are several struggles to overcome. 

But after finishing this lovely book, what remained truly fixed in my mind, was the whole community. A community that looks after each other. And just FYI Helen Rolfe, I still haven’t forgiven you for the agony you caused me by doing that to sweet Barney! 😊
And also a community that loves the place they are living, and wary of any change. But also a forgiving and despite their wariness also an accepting community.  

Heritage Cove showed once again the power of friendship and family. A place where home truly is a home, where you can be who you are. A place where perhaps even anything is possible.
And of course, a place that resides several of our old friends that delighted us also in this book with their presence and still being of importance to the main characters!