Narrated by Eilidh Beaton.
Released by Isis Audio 8th July 2021.
From the cover:
The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay an old-fashioned escapist romance, set on a windswept corner of Scotland, in a charming fishing village.
When Emma sees the Guesthouse at Lobster Bay for sale online, she knows it is exactly the fresh start she needs to recover from a recent trauma.Emma has one month to get the handsome, terraced house with stunning sea views in order before her first guests arrive at the beginning of June.
And then there's the next-door neighbour, Aidan, the local lobsterman who Emma is forced to turn to for help in a crisis. As Emma and Aidan work together to get the guesthouse ready, they grow closer, but then Aidan is called away.
Emma must navigate unforeseen dilemmas and new friendships. But as she falls in love with Lobster Bay, is she also falling for Aidan?
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The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay is the story of a young woman called Emma, who decides to make big changes in her life after a traumatic event one Christmas Eve causes her to reassess the rut she has found herself in.
When Emma sees an advert for a guesthouse for sale in the tiny Scottish village of Lobster Bay, she sets her heart on recapturing her childhood dream and upping sticks for a fresh start. Little does she know of the trials and tribulations that lie ahead as she tries to give her new home a modern makeover, and get her hospitality business up and running - or about the little secret that the previous owner of the guesthouse has left for her in the laundry room.
As Emma settles into her new life, making friends and finding the sort of supportive community that she has always dreamt of being part of, she still finds herself following the habit of a lifetime by holding something of herself back from those around her. It is not just the guesthouse and making friends that are causing her some tricky moments either - love is in the air in the form of hunky next-door neighbour Aiden, but she is unsure about whether getting involved with him is a good idea with all the baggage he seems to come with, especially since her own mental state is far from clear with the trauma of a difficult Christmas Eve still haunting her. Will Lobster Bay become her forever home, or will the dilemmas she must navigate prove to be too hard to overcome?
This is such a wonderful escapist tale about friendship, family, love, and new beginnings, but at the heart it delves into some very real issues about modern life, mental health and grief that you don't normally come across in a romantic story of this type - with a lovely cast of characters of all ages coping with the pressures that come with relationships, money and human frailty.
Emma is a young woman aware that she is drifting in life, comfortable enough in her job and her choice of partner, but aware that things are stale and not terribly exciting on both fronts. When a traumatic event hits her for six, she knows she must make some drastic decisions about her situation if she is to achieve happiness and she grabs at the chance of a new life well out of her comfort zone, sure that she is strong enough to finally stand on her own two feet.
As the enormity of what she has taken on begins to dawn on her, and the legacy of the trauma she has been through threatens to derail her, it is actually the realisation that it is ok for her to ask for help from others, rather than trying to tackle everything on her own, that really makes this tale something more than a light-hearted yarn. As she learns to open up to friends, family and the possibility of romance, she is finally able to move on and really begin the new life she has been yearning for.
This is beautifully narrated by Eilidh Beaton who convincingly tackles all the accents here with her considerable voice acting skills and carries the story along with just the right amount of emotion. There are laughs and tears galore to be had as the story unfurls, and everything is rounded off with the kind of gorgeous, heart-warming ending that will bring a great big smile to your face.
I cannot recommend this story enough as something to completely engage you from start to finish, and I guarantee it will have you hankering after your own little idyll by the sea before well the story reaches its lovely conclusion.
The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay is available to buy now in audio, ebook and paperback formats.
Thank you to Aimee Hogston at Isis Audio for sending me an audio copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Danielle Price at the Reading Closet for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Author Annie Robertson is a pen name for Nora Brown, the author of four romantic novels, including My Mamma Mia Summer, My Mamma Mia Christmas, Four Weddings and a Festival and When Harry Met Sally Again.
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