Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber – a Review

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Description:
After tragedy strikes, Annie moves in to the summer cottage where her family vacationed when she was a child. Soon Annie finds herself making new friends, even developing a romance with a quiet and mysterious painter. And as she becomes part of the community, Annie learns that the surest way to heal is by making a difference in the lives of those around her.

Review:

Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber is another one of her wonderful romantic standalone novels.  We meet Annie (our heroine ) in her younger days, when she was with her parents and brother vacationing at Oceanside. She caught the attention of Keaton (our shy and non-talkative hero), who despite his school mates constantly picking on him, he found himself wanting to befriend Annie.  But shortly afterwards, her family left Oceanside, and each summer Keaton would look for her, but she never came back.

Years later, Annie is a Physician’s Assistant, and happy living in Seattle, with the friends she has made.  When her mom tries to convince her  to come home to visit, Annie begs off, as she wants to stay with her friends.  The next day, Annie learns there was a terrible tragedy, with a mudslide destroying many homes and lives.  She is devastated as not only was her mother and father killed, but so too was her brother, his wife and their baby. Alone and in deep mourning, Annie is pushed to get out and find a happy place to try to snap out of her grief. 

Annie will eventually travel to her happy childhood days at the beach in Oceanside, and decides to stay for a while, since she begins to feel peace again.  She will get a job with the local doctor as his assistant, with a contract for a year.  When she discovers the cabin she and her family stayed in was still there, but in disrepair, she tries to rent it.

Keaton, who recognizes the grown up Annie, will help her rent the cabin by the recluse owner, Mellie.  What follows is a wonderful sweet fun story that has a fantastic group of secondary characters, a slow build romance, as well as a couple we rooted for from the start. 

There were many issues surrounding some of the characters.  Keaton had his own issues, being a very talented artist, but unable to communicate very well, as well as having a father who was not nice.  Annie was trying to overcome her deep grief, which she blames herself for surviving.   Mellie was another wonderful but crazy character, as she was cold and unfriendly at the start, with a phobia, not leaving the house for 5 years. 

It was so much fun to see Annie slowly force Mellie to open up and eventually become friends.  Annie also earns the respect of the townsfolk, as she is very caring and knowledgeable in helping care for them.  She becomes involved in helping a woman and her children from an abusive husband/father.  This was a very good addition to the storyline.

With the slow built romance, it was wonderful to see Annie bring Keaton out of his shell, and in time they both knew they were falling hard for each other.  Keaton fears that after a year, Annie will leave and go back to Seattle.  Will Annie leave Oceanside and Keaton?

Cottage by the Sea was a wonderful heartwarming story that had us unable to put the book down.  I loved every moment of this book, as Macomber outdid herself with this one.  If you enjoy a story that grabs your attention, with wonderful, if not flawed characters, and a romance that was sweet, but stayed mostly in the background, then you need to read Cottage by the Sea. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher