Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen @MaggieChriste33 #ContemporaryFiction #SecondChances @rararesources

It’s my pleasure to join the blog tour organised by Rachel’s Random Resources, and share my review for Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay.

My Thoughts

I didn’t realise Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay was part of a series when I read the book but I can honestly say it works as a stand alone. 

Bev Cooper owns the Pandanus Garden Centre and Café in Bellbird Bay. She’s worked hard to build the business which, over time, has grown into a very successful enterprise. She’s an independent lady, happy with the life she’s made. Her distressing backstory becomes apparent as the story progresses.

Bev’s twin brother, Martin and her best friend, Ailsa are planning to be married and would love to have the ceremony at the garden centre. This gives Bev the chance to realise an idea she’s been toying with in order to expand the business, not realising the trouble it will cause her.

Iain Grant has taken early retirement from the established architectural business he and his partner have built up over the last twenty five years. It’s a wrench but he can’t see another solution. His grieving son needs a change of scene. Relocating from Sydney to Bellbird Bay with Bryan and granddaughter Mia where the family spent happy holidays would hopefully be the right move.

Iain heaved a sigh of relief. While it wasn’t an unqualified agreement, at least Bryan sounded as if he was willing to go along with him. When he’d seen the house to rent, it was as if it was meant to be. A house opposite the beach in the small coastal town could be exactly what all three of them needed.

Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay is all about second chances, especially unexpected ones. It’s refreshing to have likeable and  mature protagonists who are written so well and believably. They were were both handling the fall out from tragedy, even if one was long ago and had been kept a secret, it was still casting a shadow. Ongoing relationships feel realistic although it took me a while to warm to Iain’s son, Bryan.  Securing a job at the garden centre was a step in the right direction for him.

The setting is beautifully atmospheric, with houses backing onto a boardwalk, the beach and ocean. Bellbird Bay also has a wonderful community who are there when help is needed. However, an unexpected twist just as things seem to be working out might prove too much for those concerned.

Thirty-five years ago, tragedy forced Bev Cooper to cut short her university studies and seek refuge in her hometown of Bellbird Bay. Today, as the owner of the thriving Pandanus Garden Centre and Café, Bev has moved beyond the past and is happy in her solitary existence.

Following the tragic death of his son’s wife, Iain Grant takes early retirement and moves with his devastated son and granddaughter to the peaceful coastal town of Bellbird Bay hoping it will provide the change of scene they all desperately need.

When Iain’s son accepts a position at Bev’s garden centre, the pair find themselves drawn into each other’s lives. But as they begin to enjoy an unexpected attraction, issues from the past threaten to derail their growing relationship.

Will the healing atmosphere of Bellbird Bay work its magic and provide a second chance in life, or will Bev find it too difficult to put the past behind her and enjoy her own happy ever after?

A heartwarming tale of family, friends, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.

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

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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