Sea, Sun, Surf – And Cake!

Celebrations In Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen is a most delightful contemporary novel. It is the eighth book in the charming Bellbird Bay series but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading the previous books first in order to get to know the residents of Bellbird Bay.

I thoroughly enjoyed my return visit. I loved catching up with familiar faces and meeting new ones. Bellbird Bay is very much community minded. “We care about each other here.”

Bellbird Bay is the place where people look out for each other. There is an eclectic mix of characters and always those who are happy to match-make! People pull together, helping each other and supporting local businesses where they can.

Relocating from Sydney after a disaster, a character re-connects with her old roots. With a fifteen year old daughter in tow, she returns to the Bellbird Bay of her youth. As she re-connects life becomes much fuller, compared with the anonymity of suburban Sydney.

There are community activities for all ages. As well as events to raise money for local charities such as victims of domestic abuse.

Characters bond over sea, sun, surf – and cake! All the characters are wonderfully drawn. Most are not in their first flush of youth. The lead characters are in their forties and also an octogenarian.

People escape to Bellbird Bay for all sorts of reasons. We meet an Afghan veteran who is suffering from PTSD. He feels guilty for being alive – not only due to losing colleagues in Afghan but also due to a childhood tragedy which saw the death of his twin brother. He is drowning in loss and guilt. He feels no use to anyone. However, the truth is that he has so much more life to live and to love.

I always enjoy my visits to Bellbird Bay in my head. Everyone needs a Bellbird Bay to escape to. It is a place I never want to leave as I feel loved and included in the fictional lives of characters who become friends. Maggie Christensen writes with such warmth, care and love.

I received a free copy via Rachels Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON

Celebrations in Bellbird Bay: An uplifting, emotional and festive story

Sandy Elliot is devastated when a fire destroys her new business and doesn’t know how she can go on. When she receives a call from her grandmother’s old friend seeking her help, a trip to Bellbird Bay seems like the answer to a prayer.

Rob Andrews is proud of what he has achieved with Bay Bikes, the business he set up when he returned from Afghanistan. But the memory of his time there still plagues him and has always prevented him from forming any close relationships, afraid his deep-seated guilt and recurrent nightmares would scare off any woman foolish enough to become involved with him.

Upon meeting, it’s certainly not love at first sight. Sandy hates his beard and tattoos while Rob, though attracted to Sandy, doesn’t believe he deserves to find happiness.

But Bellbird Bay is a small town, and their paths continue to cross, making it impossible for them to ignore each other or to deny the attraction between them.

With the festive season approaching, can Sandy and Rob overcome their pasts and enjoy a celebration of their own?

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/CelebrationsinBB

Author Bio –

After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations, and historical fiction set in her native Scotland. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her trips to visit family in Scotland, in Oregon, USA or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them. Maggie has been called the queen of mature age fiction and her writing has been described by one reviewer as like a nice warm cup of tea. It is warm, nourishing, comforting and embracing.

From the small town in Scotland where she grew up, Maggie was lured to Australia by the call to ‘Come and teach in the sun’. Once there, she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of over thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!

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