The Cottage on Sunshine Beach: An utterly gorgeous feel good romantic comedy (Sandcastle Bay Series)

I thought I wouldn't like the next book in the Sandcastle Bay series as much as the first (The Holiday Cottage By The Sea) as I thought I wouldn't like Melody and Jamie more than I did Aidan and Tori's story. But I was wrong! I actually liked this book better. It seemed shorter to me (I'm not completely sure since I have it on Kindle which one is longer) and went by a lot faster. I absolutely loved and adored the character development of Jamie and Melody. As a rather clumsy person myself and a similar childhood background to Melody's, I felt I could really relate to her struggles and self-perception. Perhaps because they'd known each other for years, Jamie and Melody felt more realistic to me than Aiden and Tori (though I loved that the book continues to follow their story!) did. Like the first in this series, you're transported to this idyllic seaside town that is loaded with positive energy and apparently a lot of sexual tension lol. Plenty of romance and just enough sexiness and satisfying endings to make this a very enjoyable read. I felt happy and relaxed the whole book and right now that is exactly what I'm looking for out of novels.Being new to Holly Martin's books, I didn't realize that most of her books are done in series so I'm glad I got lucky and had picked the 1st in this series to read first. I wouldn't say reading these out of order ruins the books but since the story follows up on previous characters' stories, I wouldn't read them out of order at all. I'm looking forward to reading about Leo and Ilsa and Elliott, who are set up beautifully in this novel for the next. That's coming on paperback to me so I'll have a little wait until I can complete this series (though I'll be sad when it's over!).

And there are things I genuinely love about the characters -- emphasis on family, on respecting the very real struggles each has with their respective issues, loyalty, to name a few. But "utterly gorgeous" is a bit of a stretch here. Tendency toward too much Basil Exposition on emotional states via dialogue, and the conventional , contrived pairings off across several couples got wearisome. I get it's a typical romance novel trope, but the best offer a defter, and more subtle touch than this one. Similarly with the mother's sudden about face (oh, I just realized I never told you all the good qualities I see in you -- oops, sorry for the last twenty years). Yes, we get a sense of what might be softening her, but here is where more context and exposition would have been helpful (and a bit more believable).

Although I feel I could love these characters and loved the sense of family, I could not get passed all the talk about if they were gonna do it or not. I mean, do people really talk to all family members and the whole town about if your having sex or not? I live in a very small town and we assume if your dating a while the time will come, no one asks after each date did you have sex or not? Just too stupid for me to finish.

This is the second book in the series. I read them out of order,however, the really made no difference. All three books are basically the same... You read one and done. I skipped over a bit of this one. There is a lot of weird sex stuff in these books... Thrusting, groaning, moaning, blah, blah, blah. Sorry holly this book was crap.

A continuAtion of the previous story. Waiting for the. Next book . Quick read caM be reAd as a stand lone story

It was a good read with humor and romance. Family, friends and dogs, on the beach, what could be better for a summer of fun.

I truly enjoyed reading this book, it kept me interested from the beginning to the end. I do recommend this book as a great read. Also, I look forward to reading more content from this awesome author in the future.

I love the stories by the ocean its so relaxing feels like I'm on the beach myself. Great read. Enjoy.

I chose this rating because, although a really lovely story, it would have been just as successful without all the sex and sexual references in every single chapter . That was all so unnecessary. To me, a good romantic comedy does not need gaps plugged in the story just to pad it out. The author has far more imagination and the obvious talent to not need all the romps. This book sadly left me feeling a bit disappointed. Otherwise, I loved the characters, the story line and the romance based around a seaside arts and craft community. I could have become very fond if reading Holly Martin but sadly i am put off because of the xrated content.

After reading the first instalment regarding Aidan and Tori I didn’t think anything could top that, this time we are looking at Jamie and Melody’s complex relationship with these you are immediately thrown in which I love and we get to find out the missing gaps(book 1) what it all means and if it is what we were thinking.With both there is plenty of romance, very good comical moments/ no filters when we say something but believe we are thinking it which is so good how these are interwoven into the crux of the story. I was really pushing for it all to work out and it is so interesting to see how past experiences and behaviours can still effect relationships as we move forward. I really like how we still get to see all characters and family in all three books and totally feeling like you are present in that moment. I personally would of liked to see a little more down the road on this one, just have to hope for another instalment and all these characters will stay with me and hopefully benefit you in similar experiences.

I have enjoyed Holly Martin's books in the past but this was just tedious. The whole book was based around sex with too few topics included that were not sex related. All the characters seemed to be obsessed by sex, either talking about it, thinking about it or doing it. I ended up skimming through a lot of it. Also too much detail in places. One couple were having beans on toast and we're told in minute detail what they are doing. She opens the can, pours the beans in a pan and puts it on a low heat while he gets 4 rounds of bread out and puts them under the grill. Do we really need that much detail as if we don't know how to make beans on toast. It felt like the author was just padding the book out. I was disappointed with this one.

The cottage on Sunshine Beach,- by Holly Martin. I finished this book in two days, I could not put it down, it’s the perfect summer read. I absolutely love the way it’s written so delicate and passionate. I love al the characters in this book, Jamie and melody were so perfect for each other and reading their side of the love story was so beautiful and funny, I have laughed out loud so much while I was reading this book, it’s so funny and heart warming ! I absolutely loved it and the ending to this beautiful series was so perfect and so happy and magical everyone had their perfect ending , 💗 thank you holly for another perfect book!

Having read all holly books couldn't wait to read this one and was not disappointed have never had so many laugh out loud moments for a long time with the fabulous melody and charismatic jamie gosh what a wonderful rollercoaster of romance there love for each other was totally perfect I laughed and cried happy tears can't wait for the next instalment of this fabulous story worthy of more than 5 stars FANDABBIEDOZIE.