Wednesday 2 June 2021

Guest Review: Winter at Wishington Bay by Maxine Morrey

Part 2 of the Wishington Bay series, read our review of part 1 here!


Eighteen months ago, Sophia Jones finally walked out on her unhappy life.

With a tricky divorce ongoing, money is tight and so when friends offer her a housekeeping job while they’re away travelling, she accepts.

Nate McKinley is hesitant when his brother, Gabe, offers him the use of their home in the picturesque village of Wishington Bay. But he has a book to a write and an imploded marriage to recover from, so maybe a change of scene is exactly what he needs.

As Wishington Bay works its magic, friendship blossoms between Sophia and Nate. For Nate, finally feeling able to be himself with someone who is honest and down to earth is a revelation.

But Sophia has a secret and a jealous colleague is determined to blow her cover. Can she really keep her old life in the past or is it destined to destroy this new, happy one too?

Take a trip back to Wishington Bay this winter and find out…



Review: How nice to be returning to the seaside village of Wishington Bay. This book carries on from Coming Home to Wishington Bay, the first of Maxine Morrey’s works that I read. I love a story that takes me back into a world I have visited before with the promise of bumping into familiar characters and situations. Although that is the case with this book, it can still easily be read as a standalone. In common with the previous Wishington Bay story, I listened to the audiobook version and was interested to note that when the main character appeared in the first book she had a very different accent from her present one, not that this spoiled my enjoyment of the story in any way. I should mention that this book has the most gorgeous cover, skilfully conveying the feeling of a winter outing by the sea.

The central female character in this story is Sophia Jones, who works as a waitress in Wishington Bay’s highly successful restaurant. Always short of cash, she is pleased to be offered an additional job as housekeeper for a visiting Australian writer, Nate McKinley, brother of a character who was central to the previous book in the series. After a not so friendly start, Sophia and Nate, both with failed marriages behind them, begin to bond. However, Sophia is hiding a secret from Nate and everyone else in the village which may jeopardise their relationship when it gets out. Unfortunately, Sophia’s work colleague has her eyes on Nate as well and will do anything to break them apart.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and can highly recommend it. The seaside village is so well described that I felt I could just walk down the sand and dip my toes in the sea, even if it was winter. A lovely feel of community, particularly as the village prepares for Christmas, comes across in the writing as well. The characters and situations are completely believable, and just as I n real life, not everyone is likeable. I was pleased to find that amongst the returning characters was Bryan, the (partly) sausage dog; he is such an adorable chap, rightly taking pride of place on the book’s cover. I loved that there was a mystery going on regarding Sophia’s past. It was cleverly woven through the story until very near the end to keep the reader guessing. I hope there may be more from Wishington Bay and its inhabitants in the future.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

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