Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell

Jill Mansell is one of my favorite authors.  Her books are always about communities and how our stories are often interwoven with those in our community whether we know it or not.  This story is about the town of St. Carys and their intertwining stories.  Jill Mansell’s characters are matchless.  They are immensely relatable and wonderfully developed.  I feel like I could slip into St. Carys and become friends with them all.

Clemency is late for a plane through a simple mistake.  She is sure her seat mate is annoyed at her and ignoring her, but after they start talking, they realize they have a connection.  Clemency gives him her business card, but discovers he is married and doesn’t see him again for years . . . until he shows up on the arm of her stepsister Belle.  

Belle and Clemency have a completed relationship.  Their parents married when they were teenagers.  Clemency and her mother were poor while Belle and her father were rich.  

 Misunderstandings and relationship woes have happened in the past and Clemency just wants to get along with Belle.  Willing to help her out is her work friend Ronan, who Belle has always had a crush on.  Ronan has relationship woes of his own compounded on the fact that he would really like to look for his birth mother, but doesn’t want to hurt his adopted mother’s feelings.  And there is more . . . 

I love all of the characters and the storylines that go with them.  They are all tied up nicely at the end too so you aren’t left wondering what happened to your favorite side character.  I read through this book too quickly as I now find myself wishing I could read more about Beachcomber Bay and it’s in habitants.

My favorite quotes:

 “When he’d gone out on the evening of this twenty-fifth birthday, Sam had never intended to meet the love of his life.”

“And Marina, thinking What am I like?, discovered she was so British she was incapable of refusing the command and found herself submitting to a hug from the ex-husband she hadn’t seen for over five years.”

“The physical contact with her baby boy, which she’d longed for but been unable to allow herself to experience until now, was like nothing she’d ever felt before.  Never had she felt so happy, so complete.”

Overall, Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay is a delightful novel full of interesting and well-rounded characters.  The setting in St. Carys makes the story complete and really makes me want to visit someday.  I loved this book!

Book Source:  Review E-Book Copy from Sourcebooks.  Thank-you!