Narrated by Amanda Collins.
Released 8th February 2022 by Brilliance Audio.
From the cover:
A woman strives to move beyond her devastating past in an uplifting novel filled with hope and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart.In the wake of her daughter’s unexplained suicide and her husband Jim’s sudden abandonment, Liddy Bryant is determined to move on and make some positive changes in her life. In her hometown of Wyndham Beach, the neglected and shuttered bookstore is also in need of renewal, and Liddy recognizes an opportunity to get herself and the bookshop back on track. With a little help from her friends, she’s well on her way.
Local contractor Tuck Shelby has been a friend of Liddy’s forever. He’s made himself indispensable in the rehab of her shop - and in her life - but now he wants out of the friend zone. Then Jim returns with a long-overdue apology, hoping for forgiveness and a chance to start over, and Liddy has a life-changing choice to make.
Into a year when Liddy’s faced changes and the shocking truth of a well-kept secret comes not only a second chance at love, but a second chance at life.
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Liddy Bryant is Wyndham Beach born and bred. She has never quite recovered from the unexplained suicide of her daughter Jess, or the way her husband Jim abandoned her a year later when she was lost in her overwhelming grief, but she now feels up to some new challenges.
Her new project is the town's faded bookshop, which has been much neglected in the years since its previous owner was diagnosed with dementia, and she aims to give it a new lease of life with the help of her friends. The fact that this was one of Jess' favourite places in Wyndham Beach gives her great comfort, and keeps her going through all the many trials and tribulations this involves, along with the undying support of her oldest friends Maggie and Emma - and the technical know-how of Maggie's daughter Grace.
The refurbishment brings Liddy closer to local contractor Tuck who she has always seen as a friend, but the prospect of a romance starts to rear its head as they spend more time together. Perhaps the time is right to dip her toes back in the water after the failure of her marriage? But things become complicated when Jim appears back on the scene with an apology and wants to start again...
Meanwhile, Grace is tentatively settling in Wyndham Beach after deciding to move in with Maggie following the breakdown of her own marriage, and she is loving the chance to make a new start - especially the opportunities that have been opening up to her through Liddy's bookshop. Tired of intruding on the relationship that has been rekindled between Maggie and her first love Brett, she sets about looking for a home of her own - a project that brings her into contact with Tuck's handsome contractor son Link.
Second chances are in the air, as Liddy and Grace both try to come to terms with where life has brought them and work out what the future holds. Liddy in particular has some tough choices to make, especially when a secret comes to light that might just help her deal with the pain of the past.
Goodbye Again is the second book in the Wyndham Beach series about three old friends - Maggie, Liddy and Emma. Book one An Invincible Summer (find my review here) centres on Maggie, and her daughters Grace and Natalie, following widowed Maggie's decision to move back to her childhood home in Wyndham Beach to spend more time with her old friends Liddy and Emma. It's a truly lovely story of friendship, new beginnings and coming to terms with secrets of the past.
This second book picks up right where book one ends, shifting focus to Liddy's story, and continuing with Grace's tale now she has followed her mother here after her own personal and professional lives fell apart. I will admit to finding it took a little while to settle into this change of direction, as I had become very fond of Maggie. Liddy is a very different personality to Maggie, and Grace was not one of my favourite characters from the first book which made things tricky, but I was soon pulled in by the bookshop story-line and got completely caught up in Liddy's sad tale - and I even warmed to Grace after a while. Having the same narrator for audio books one and two really helped here, as the characters had the same voice and feel to them.
The book follows a very similar structure to the first one, with lots of detail about real life. It's gentle and heart-warming and you really get to know the characters. The older women, Maggie, Liddy and Emma are written with authenticity, which is very refreshing and their close friendship, and relatable hopes and dreams, are very touching - but there is something here for everyone if you enjoy stories of family, friendship and community. Stewart threads the story with themes that are very poignant too, tackling them with sensitivity, very much as she did in the first book - this time suicide, sacrifice, mental health and dementia are very much front and centre, and they give your heart-strings a good hard tug - tears were shed!
I definitely feel that a piece of my heart lies in the Wyndham Beach community now and I am very much looking forward to the prospect of book three, which I am hoping will shift focus once again to delve into Emma's life.
Goodbye Again is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
About the author:
A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and two rambunctious rescue dogs amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she savors country life, tends her gardens, and works on her next novel. She’s the proud mama of two fabulous daughters who―along with her equally fabulous sons-in-law―have gifted her with six adorable (and yes, fabulous) granddarlings.
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