Review: Turning the tide - Christine Stovell

Genre: Fiction
Pages: 336
Published: June 2010 Choc Lit

All's fair in love and war? Depends on who's making the rules. Harry Watling has spent the past five years keeping her father's boat yard afloat, des...more All's fair in love and war? Depends on who's making the rules. Harry Watling has spent the past five years keeping her father's boat yard afloat, despite its dying clientele. Now all she wants to do is enjoy the peace and quiet of her sleepy backwater. So when property developer Matthew Corrigan wants to turn the boat yard into an upmarket housing complex for his exotic new restaurant, it's like declaring war. And the odds seem to be stacked in Matthew's favour. He's got the colourful locals on board, his hard-to-please girlfriend is warming to the idea and he has the means to force Harry's hand. Meanwhile, Harry has to fight not just his plans but also her feelings for the man himself. Then a family secret from the past creates heartbreak for Harry, and neither of them is prepared for what happens next.

This one was another lovely story, and it had this kind of calm pace that fitted it. Things happened and all that (arson for instance), but there was a nice lingering feeling over it all. It was like you were there in this run-down town where people struggled to go on and there was no hope for the town. But then something started to build, and build.

The story is about Harriet, aka Harry who took over her father's boatyard when he died. It's not easy, and the bills are piling up. In waltzes Matthew Corrigan with big plans. He has bought a place nearby and is turning it into a fancy restaurant and now he wants her land to build luxury houses. She is not happy since this is all she has left and Matthew seems to be turning the whole town around to his way of thinking. But she is standing her ground, even when all falls apart around her.

Harry was one tough woman, she works day and night trying to keep the place alive, her only help is George, an old buddy of her dads. This place is everything to her, and later she does seem that Matthew is bringing life to town, but her land, she wants to keep it, and have it to be a seafront for everyone, not just a chosen few. She is stubborn, and underneath it all she is really vulnerable, but I come to understand her.

Matthew is all money and ideas. At times he charms me, at times I growl at him. But he really thinks this is best for all. He has a good heart in the end. And he is also fighting this odd attraction for the angry girl at the shipyard. They have such a hate love thing going on. Hating each other, but at the same time the attraction is there.

There is also the family secret in the book, and without saying anything more. It made sense, and there was finally peace.

There is a varied cast of characters in this book. The young woman who wants something more from life, the guy couple who owns the florists, and of course George, who wants the best for Harry.

It was a warm community and it was lovely to see it start to blossom again. As for romance, oh that was not an easy part, and Stovell really made them work for it, I mean really. But that was great cos like they were, all cat and dog, it had to be hard for them to see each other in a more romantic light.

The place is a character in itself, and in the end I am happy to see it survive, and wish it the best.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Lovely and true to the book

Reason for reading: From the publisher

Final thoughts: A lovely book about a seaside town, a woman fighting to keep what is hers, and a man slowly loosing his heart.

PS. Milka over @ ReadReadRead is giving away this book. Open until September

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